About 10 years ago my husband and I were at the Farmers Market in Roanoke, Virginia, when I noticed a cardboard sign proclaiming "Halifax County Produce." I remarked to him that it was a good possibility that the produce wasn't even from the county, but since Halifax County didn't have a brand or seal for farmers' use, customers would have no way of knowing.

That day was in the back of my mind for years as I continually saw similar situations.

There are lots of Shop Local sites around, but the online store we recently launched for Virginia's Growth Alliance is a bit different.

This groundbreaking project, funded by Virginia Department of Housing and Community Development, provides a free platform for businesses in Virginia's Growth Alliance economic development region to sell physical and digital products online, bringing support to local businesses on a world-wide scale.

• Buyers can purchase from several vendors in one transaction.
• PayPal distributes proceeds directly to each vendor.
• Vendors have full control of all of their products, including pricing and shipping.
• Vendors can create discount codes for use exclusively in buying their products.
• VGA is providing all setup, training, and presence on the website free of charge to vendors.
• A directory of currently 1200+ businesses is included, as not only retail sales are "shopping.”

A 5-Step Recipe for Creating Successful Marketing Campaigns

There are so many marketing tools and platforms available today, we find that clients are often overwhelmed and don't know what to use and when to use it - much less how to actually create a marketing campaign or plan.

We like to keep things simple, so we created our Sandwich Marketing™ concept to help you break it down into steps.

Spring Fever. Now's the time to focus some of that energy on your business.

This is the time of year that we're all opening windows, letting in fresh air, clearing out the stale air and cobwebs. Why not do the same with your business?

Here are 5 ways you can recharge your marketing with some of that Spring energy.