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TODAY IS A GOOD DAY

TO BE CONFIDENT ABOUT YOUR FINANCIAL SECURITY Just because the economy is uncertain doesn't mean you have to be. Talk to me. Alan Paton CFP® B.Eng 705-789-5246 38 Glenwood Drive Huntsville, ON P1H 1B6 © Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, 2011.

Flower power

Partner joins Jane Marshall Flowers' team

See p. 3

Just 4 Kicks

Growing dance school moves to larger Gravenhurst location

See p. 3

Dependable service of office equipment by certified technicians

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January 2012 Muskoka's Business Newspaper Since 1997

A great gift idea from IKEA

BURL BOWL: Muskoka artist Don Thur was commissioned to create thousands of square burl bowls as an IKEA staff Christmas gift. See page 7.

Survey collects branding ideas

By Matt Driscoll What type of town will Bracebridge be known as, and how will it be marketed? These are questions Town officials are hoping the public can help them answer. The Town is currently seeking input from business owners and members of the public on their rebranding initiative, via an online survey on the Town of Bracebridge website. "What would you like our town to be known for in 10 years?" says Cheryl Kelley, the Town's director of economic development. "Like businesses, the majority of successful towns and cities have adopted a brand. A brand is much more than a logo or slogan - a brand is a perception." Kelley says the survey stems directly from a community assessment presentation held last September by Roger Brooks of Destination Development International (DDI), a company that has helped re-brand more than 1,000 communities from coast to coast. During that presentation, Brooks gave a candid take on the successes and failures of the town from a visitor's point of view. One of DDI's key findings was that Bracebridge needs to do a better job of branding itself. "Part of this survey is looking at which direction we should take in a establishing a new tourism brand for the community," says Kelley. "We'll take the results and then work with the consultant (DDI) and our committee to help narrow

Promoting business with video

By Matt Driscoll Small businesses are getting the chance to take advantage of professional production values thanks to an innovation known as a power reel. The short videos tout the business and its product specifically to social media sites. Starshine Video Productions recently began offering the service, and has had good success with the product thus far, says Virginia Hastings, the owner and operator of Starshine. "Most of my clients are larger corporations, and I've been asked for the longest time by smaller businesses, 'is there anything more affordable?'," says Hastings. "I've never really had the time to stop and put something together up until last year. I've now done about a dozen for small businesses since last April and they've done very well." Hastings, who has been in business with Starshine for the past 10 years and is also an accomplished documentarian, says the power reels are roughly two minutes long and give small business owners the chance to address potential customers directly on social media sites about their products and services. "It gives people a platform to work with on social media sites, for their web page, for Facebook, YouTube, anything," she says. BRACEBRIDGE - p. 13 SHOOTING - p. 13

Printing, graphics and marketing - see p. 8 - 11

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