Vermont Shortbread Company

Shortbread Demo at Sweet Clover Market

Just a quick note for passionate localvores: 

Vermont Shortbread Company will be doing a demo at Sweet Clover Market in Essex on Saturday, November 10, from 3-6. 

Stop by for a taste of our famous shortbread and hang out with me for a few minutes.  I love nothing more than to chat with local foodies!   If you'd like to place your order for your holiday shortbread gift box now, I will be delivering to Sweet Clover a few days before Thanksgiving and Christmas so you can pick up your order for the holidays.  By ordering in advance you'll be ensured the freshest product possible in the flavor of your choice. 

If you're looking for some creative dessert ideas, you could consider picking up some Island Homemade Ice Cream, also available at Sweet Clover Market, and choose from a plethora of locally made dessert toppings (so many I can't even remember all the brands).  This is what they've done at Leunig's Bistro in Burlington and I can vouch for the yumminess of their creation!  Heat some shortbread in the microwave for a few seconds, top with ice cream and a topping of your choice and voila, you have an elegant locally made, unique dessert option for the holidays. 

Sweet Clover Market has so many wonderful local offerings.  Another of my favorites is Eddies Energy Bars which we buy by the dozen and keep in the freezer for school snacks and healthy snacks (after the guilt of holiday overindulgence sets in). 

Stop by on Saturday if you're in the area.  I'll try to post photos at a later date. 

Champlain Valley SCORE and Citizens Bank: Smart Tips on Marketing and Selling

Who: Champlain Valley SCORE and Citizens Bank featuring The Shortbread Lady and a host of other wonderful local marketing experts.

Why: To help small business owners stay abreast of the latest and greatest internet marketing and selling techniques. 

What: Smart Tips on Marketing and Selling, $25/person or $40/couple.

When: Thursday, Nov. 8, 5:30-8:30

Where: Citizens Bank, 36 Middle Road (Route 7), Middlebury, VT

For more information, go to www.score284.org or call 802-951-6762. 

P.S. There WILL be shortbread samples! 

Holiday Shortbread Parties

I'm heading to my home state of Connecticut this weekend for a holiday open house hosted by an old college pal.  She started this tradition last year and invited a few of her small business friends to bring their wares and set up shop so guests could do their holiday shopping early and in the company of good friends munching on snacks and sipping wine.  Pretty cool, huh?  All that was missing last year from my friend's party was shortbread.  I remember I had another commitment and I missed out on great pre-holiday sales! 

So, picture this, shortbread friends:

A group of friends gathered in your house, sampling delicious baked goods, sipping tea (or wine, if you prefer) and shopping for the holidays with NO STRESS! Perhaps a fire is gently crackling in the fireplace and your kids and husband have gone out for pizza.  Everyone's relaxing with their shoes off (ever holiday shopped like THAT before?). You're laughing with your friends while a buttery morsel of shortbread melts in your mouth and a "MMMMMMmmmm..." escapes from your lips as you take a sip of Earl Grey tea.  You never knew holiday shopping could be so carefree, so easy. 

You as the host, get a discount off your entire holiday shortbread order and your friends get a 10% discount if they order more than $75 of shortbread products.  Invite your friends who sell homemade jewelry, quilts, whatever to join the fun and sell their stuff and think of all the stress you've saved everyone! 

Want more info on hosting your own holiday shortbread party? 

Email me today - ann@vermontshortbread.com for details and benefits TO YOU.  We're booking fast and there are not very many shopping days left till Thanksgiving and Christmas...so book now while we still have a few openings left! 

Vermont Shortbread Company: Growth Company Showcase

I'll be speaking at Vermont Venture Network's monthly meeting on Thursday October 25th at 8:00 a.m. at the Hilton Hotel in downtown Burlington. 

This is quite an honor as well as an opportunity for me to meet venture capitalists, investors, and local business movers and shakers.   As Vermont Shortbread Company grows, I anticipate the need to move our production to a bigger facility.  And I will need to learn the language of the people who can help me.  I've always had zero interest in this kind of talk...until...I was applying the numbers to my own business, my own life, thinking about my personal future, thinking, on a recent vacation, about my vision five years down the road when I turn 50 and the kids are gone.  Suddenly, it's enthralling.  Yes, it's all pretty big and exciting to this former tech writing nerd who never took a business course in her life and eschews most things left-brained. 

Don't worry, though.  We're not big and famous yet.  Vermont Shortbread Company is still full of homespun, handmade Vermont lore and all-natural ingredients.  It's still made with love, imagination, and tender care by human hands to create that slightly imperfect, unique-like-a-snowflake, gourmet shortbread we've come to know and love.  And yours truly still gets up at ungodly hours to bake, package, deliver, and market. 

It's now been six months since I last walked out of the IBM plant and my technical writing career.  Not a day goes by that I don't think about how relatively easy life was there - a regular paycheck, bosses who weren't breathing down my shoulder, the freedom to work at home as I pleased, a bit of an old boys' country club at times...and how my colleagues and I were always on eggshells wondering, "Will I be the next one laid off?"  Everyone wore the IBM mask marked by grayish facial pallor brought on by dingy metal walls separating dusty, circa 1970 cubicles, a steady diet of Fritos, layoff-phobia, and bad fluorescent lighting. 

While the memory of the actual work I did at IBM is fading (I can't remember product names anymore), my unemployment claim has run out, and I am truly living a financial existence without a regular paycheck and worry often keeps me awake at night (but it doesn't seem so painful if I know I can take a nap or play 9 holes of golf the next day at will), one thing remains constant.  I know that I can never be laid off.  I know I am not a victim of the whims of the stock market and fickle mutual funds.  I do not depend on alimony or child support, not because I can't collect them but because I choose not to.  It's about freedom.  I know that investments into my business are far safer and saner investment than the ones I made into my 401k.  Why?  Because I know the business plan.  I've written the "prospectus"! I know the people in charge.  I trust them.  I trust me. 

So, I'm getting together with a trusted adviser on Thursday night to put together the presentation for the Vermont Venture Network.  It's all new stuff to me.  Numbers, projections, yada, yada, yada...and I'm not going to lie - I'm anxious.  And then I realize...my only job is to give accurate information, endear myself to the audience, and just simply tell my story. 

Oh yeah, I've been doing that for Vermont Shortbread Company for 11 years now.  Practice, schmactice- I know what to do.   Piece 'o cake - ummmmm...I mean...piece 'o shortbread. 

Vermont Shortbread Company at the Women Can Do Conference

I am thrilled to be a panelist at the Women Can Do conference on October 11, 2007 at Vermont Technical College in Randolph Center, Vermont.

The Women Can Do conference is a full day of hands-on workshops in trades and technology for high school girls. Started in 1999 as an outgrowth of a regional conference for trades women, Women Can Do now serves over 300 girls from over 60 schools each year. Its goals are twofold: To support girls who are enrolled in nontraditional programs in technical and career centers; and to expose all girls to the unlimited career possibilities available to them through trades and technology.

As the mother and step-mother to three teenage girls, this is a cause near and dear to my heart.  It's quite an honor for me to have been asked to be a part of this.

I'll be bringing samples of shortbread to the conference for my "show and tell (and taste!)". 

Vermont Shortbread Company at the Big E: September 28

On Friday, September 28, Vermont Shortbread Company will be sampling and selling our famous shortbread at the biggest fair in the northeast, the Big E, (Eastern States Exposition) in West Springfield, MA.  Come to the Vermont building at the Avenue of the States between the hours of 10-5 for a sample and a hello (extra shortbread for you if you bring me my once yearly ration of fried dough).

The Big E History - "Eastern States Exposition, home of The Big E, has presented the finest livestock, the most innovative commercial, industrial and artistic developments, and the highest caliber of varied entertainment to the people of the Northeastern United States for more than eight decades. More than one million people now attend the 17 day Big E, an annual autumn extravaganza of entertainment, exhibits and agriculture - the culmination of a visionary idea first expressed by Joshua L. Brooks at the beginning of the 20th century"

It's an honor for Vermont Shortbread Company to be a part of this year's Big E.  See you there - and cross your fingers for a perfect New England autumn day.   

Yes, We Have No Shortbread...at this Week's Williston Farmers' Market

I'm sorry to report that I will not be at this weekend's Williston Farmers' Market.  I have a family obligation. 

But that doesn't mean you shouldn't go...

Whether you're craving a juicy burger from the grill, freshly picked organic veggies for dinner, beaded jewelry, or a delicious non-shortbread cookie, it's all there: good people, good networking, good local products, a wholesome Vermont tradition. 

I'll be back next weekend, September 1, from 9-1, peddling my wares and schmoozing with the locals.  I'd love it if you stopped by for a shortbread sample and a chat then! 

HOT TIP:  Come close to 1 p.m. when I'm packing up and eager to get rid of my leftover shortbread samples.  You might just score a huge FREE bag of broken, but tasty shortbread pieces if you're lucky...

Save the Date: Meet the Shortbread Lady

As we do every year, Vermont Shortbread Company will participate again in the Shelburne Farms Fine Food and Wine Festival on Sunday, September 16 from 2-5 p.m.  Tickets are $48 apiece and the variety of food, drink and people watching is well worth the price of a ticket.  This event one of the Flynn  Center's biggest fundraisers and the Shelburne Farms coach barn is a perfect setting for this autumnal celebration of food and drink.   

I and a couple of my lucky employees spend the afternoon in the coach barn handing out shortbread samples (and taking frequent breaks to taste the other goodies) to potential customers. 

Here are some photos of last year's shortbread fun. 

Be sure to stop by and say hi if you're there.  And if you bring me a plate of assorted cheeses, you earn extra brownie points. 

Watch for more Meet the Shortbread Lady events like the Fine Food and Wine Festival in our August-September ezine.  We've been on a bit of an ezine sabbatical this summer while the shortbread lady moves into an all-consuming full-time CEO mode, but never fear, we're here and writing tasty content to tickle your palette and nourish your mind.  Be sure to sign up for the ezine and come play with us! 

Come to the Williston Farmers Market for Free Shortbread Samples...and More!

Yes, we have shortbread at the Williston Farmers' Market (every Saturday, 9-1), but check out the "more" too...lots of delicious, fresh, locally grown produce.  Yum, yum, yum. 

 

 

Vermont Farmers' Market Marketing

Last week was my first week at the Williston Farmers Market.  I felt like such a rookie compared to other seasoned vendors, but I learned so much from watching people and came home with enough money to make me feel it was an effort worth repeating.  Join me again on August 11th at the Williston Farmers' Market from 9-1. 

Here's some Farmers' Market Marketing 101 I picked up last week:

1. Bring more change.   I ran out pretty early and had to pull change out of my own wallet. 
2. Bring a new paint brush to brush crumbs off my table.
3. Bring more small products and less gift box shortbread.  Farmers' market customers are not likely to spend $17 on a shortbread gift box, but they're happy to spend $1.75 on a petticoat tail or $6 on a bag of 4 petticoat tails.  Small, immediate-satisfaction items are what sell. 
4. Bring empty bags.  People like to consolidate their purchases in one bag.  Old plastic grocery bags are fine - it is the farmers' market, not the mall, afterall. 
5. Stand up when people come by and greet everyone.  Offer a free sample.  Even though it's right there, most people won't start chatting or tasting unless you invite them too.  This is face-to-face sloooow selling.  It's all about the relationship.  These people don't want to be rushed.  It's Saturday - they want to linger and chat. 
6. Keep it simple.  Too many signs confuse people.  Even if you have signs, chances are they'll ask you questions about everything you thought was explained in the sign.  Farmers' markets are social events - people want to chat with their neighbors.  (See #5.)
7. Use the farmers' market to test market new products I may want to put on my web site. 
8. Get another small table and table cloth so I don't have to put anything on the ground.  Food on the ground, even if it's in bins doesn't look professional.
9. Get some wood blocks on which to position my canopy to make it taller.  While my product is "short", I am tall and wacked my head about a thousand times on the darn canopy I got on sale at Dick's Sporting Goods. 
10. Encourage more people to sign up for my ezine.  Gosh, it was hard to do everything: sell shortbread, make change, keep the samples coming, take a potty break, etc.  I need to be more assertive about the ezine so people will remember Vermont Shortbread Company after the sunny days of summer have passed. 
11. Vermont farmers' markets are a great networking opportunity.  You never know who's going to show up and who they know or what they need in the future. 
12. Plan farmers' market gigs in spring next year (I'd love to do some other local farmers' markets, but it's a lot of work and I would need some help.)  Maybe add 1-2 more to my repetoire.   
13. Do some of my own holiday shopping early while I'm working.  There were some great non-food products that would make unique holiday gifts and I'd be shopping locally and feeling good about supporting my peers. 
14. Bring free treats for the librarians at the Williston library.  We used their bathroom a lot. 

If you're in the Williston area on Saturday, do stop by.  This is the first year for the market and there are some great quality products there.  I bought lots of fresh veggies.  My favorite was the yellow beets which were sweet and juicy.  The beets and the sweet corn that had been picked at 5 a.m. that morning were all I needed to satisfy my cravings for something sweet last weekend.  Who needs chocolate when you have these all-natural sweets?  (Oh, I just realized, shortbread is a sweet...ummm...yessiree, I think you still need shortbread.)

I'll be testing out my Vermont Shortbread Company version of bakewell tart at this week's market.  It's an American adaptation of my English great grandmother's secret family recipe: an individual 4" shortbread tart crust, with a center of raspberry jam, toasted coconut, and almond.  I'm not sure what to call it.  Ideas?  Shortart? 

I'll shoot photos this week, I promise - didn't have time last week!  I'm sure I'll pick up more marketing tips this week too.  And I won't be so nervous and wacky, because I'm no longer a farmers' market first-timer.  :-)