Longview Washington Business Directory Blog

Archive for September, 2008

Guse’s Gourmet Coffee is located in downtown Longview Washington at 1208 Commerce Avenue. A quaint little coffee shop in a building built in the early nineteen hundreds. A beautiful building that defies its age as it has been exceptionally maintained.

This Longview Washington Coffee Shop got its start in 1986 when Ken Guse retired from Weyerhaeuser. Ken wanted something to do in his retirement and was looking for a job when he met Alberto Miranda who was from Costa Rica. Alberto had a history and education in the coffee business. More so he had solid connections in Costa Rico and in other locals that grew high quality coffee beans. Ken and Alberto founded a good friendship and business alliance. Ken Guse learned to roast coffee in a coffee roaster that he himself built with Albertos help. The business got off the ground roasting coffee for locals in the Kelso/Longview Washington area. Ken Guse owned and operated the business until 2006 when his daughter Georgia took over the daily operations. Ken still has a hand in the coffee roasting business and visits daily to meet with some of his friends and enjoy a terrific cup of coffee in the morning.

Today Georgia Guse operates the business much the same way her father did. This gourmet coffee shop only uses organic coffee beans of high quality. I spent almost two hours talking to Georgia and walked away with a new found respect for quality coffee and what goes into it and more so what dictates what is considered a quality coffee. I also learned some interesting facts that were both enlightening and reinforcing in my appreciation of a good cup of coffee.

• A medium roast coffee has more caffeine than a dark roast. When roasting coffee beans from the time a bean is in its medium roast condition to when it reaches a dark roast a lot of oils and caffeine evaporates form the beans.
• When you think of coffee you think of what we see on television, plantation style. Quality coffee beans are grown in the shade of a treed canopy. This ensures the beans ripen slower and develop a richer smoother taste. Grown plantation style is good if you want to maximise the output of the coffee bushes. But when a coffee bean ripens too fast it gets bitter and does not have the time to develop a rich, smooth taste and aroma that is associated with gourmet coffee beans.
• According to coffee connoisseur’s when a coffee bean is grown with insecticides and artificial fertilizers they impart a taste into the bean. Guse’s Gourmet Coffee only uses organic beans grown in organic certified farms. A farm can only be certified after being insecticide free for five years.
• There are basically two types of coffee beans grown. Arabica and Robusto. Robusto beans are easily to detect as they are round. Robusto beans are of a lesser quality than Arabica coffee beans. By nature Robusto beans have a bitter taste.
• After a coffee bean is roasted, it has a shelf life of only twelve to fourteen days. After that the oils in the beans start to evaporate and it goes essentially stale.
• The practice of putting coffee in the refrigerator does little good in preserving the freshness of coffee. In fact when you roast and grind fresh beans you want the coffee to breath so the flavor and oils are readily available when you brew your coffee.

Today Georgia continues in the tradition and care delivering quality gourmet coffee not only to discerning consumers but to some of the Kelso/Longview Washington area’s finest restaurants. Judy’s Restaurant, The Masthead, The Kelso Theater Pub, Brits Restaurant just to name a few. They sell and deliver freshly roasted coffee’s to as far away as Pensylvania to the Brickhouse Cafe. She uses regularly over twelve hundred pounds of gourmet coffee beans in a month. That is a lot of roasting and grinding. Guse’s Gourmet Coffee is one of our Advertisers in The Kelso/Longview Washington Business Directory, LongviewBiz.com.

If you love a terrific cup of coffee stop by and see the difference, maybe take home a pound. They are open Monday through Saturday. They have WIFI available to you if you would like to enjoy a cup and maybe get some work done.

For some additional reading on the subject of Gourmet Coffee here are a few links:

http://www.sancafe.com/

http://www.deansbeans.com/

President Bush and his administration plan for “The Bailout” is taking shape. The 700 billion dollar financial rescue as congress is still working out the details. The Senate Democrats proposal is for our Government to hold ownership in the companies they are Bailing out. A provision being offered by the Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, who by the way is a Democrat would require companies who sell assets to Uncle Sam to give the government shares in that company. In a nutshell the plan is for the government to buy up assets and then sell them at a profit.

I as a citizen of this country have a few questions and concerns of my own that I have not seen as addressed.

1. Why is our Government willing to help the big businesses out like this while ignoring the rest of the population? Where is the government when small businesses are in trouble? If the government is so willing to help out big business, where are they when the mom and pop family businesses are having hard times such as the trucking companies when fuel prices went crazy? Where were they when the lumber companies were having hard times?
2. My next question is since when was our government a for profit agency? Are we to be led into a situation where we are paying our mortgages to the government. I believe this is closely approaching socialism. Our government in my humble opinion has no business interfering with private commerce. This is a capitalistic society where we are free to conduct business. What will happen to our laws and more importantly our lawmakers and politicians when the government is intermingled in private business?

For more on this subject here are some terrific links:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/19/news/economy/will_it_work/index.htm?postversion=2008091914

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/22/news/economy/the_threat_and_the_bailout/index.htm?postversion=2008092208

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/20/news/economy/bailout_proposal/index.htm?postversion=2008092109

http://www.tdn.com/articles/2008/09/22/ap/business/d93bsa3g8.txt

Internet Advertising and Online Marketing is the most cost effective form of Advertising

There are several avenues of Advertising medias at your disposal as a company trying to get your message out in front of the public view. Unfortunately times are changing, all the traditional avenues are on the decline in performance. That is a fact. More so the traditional forms of Advertising are also the most expensive. The Internet is coming of age and it definitely is here to stay. Let me take the time here to outline the traditional forms of Advertising and lay to rest why they are on the decline in value.

Television has lost its shine as a popular form of Advertisingbecause it is getting harder to find the viewers you are targeting. Ten years ago all we had were a few channels to view. Now we have hundreds and it is getting harder by the minute to target you audience. More so we now have Tivo! Now viewers can record their programs they choose to view and also chose to view them at their leisure. How many times have you recorded a show and when viewing it fast forwarded through the commercials? I do on a daily basis!

Newspaper Advertising. I am not going to take up too much time on this subject. Just Google http://newsosaur.blogspot.com/2008/09/newspaper-sales-fall-record-3b-in-6-mos.html This will tell you how newspaper advertising is on a serious decline. Why? Simply people are not reading the newspaper anymore in the numbers they once did. What happened to the telegraph when the telephone came to be? You got it. The Internet is the resource of information in this day and age. I personally think in the very near future the larger newspapers will be folding for good and selling their presses to third world countries.

Yellow pages. When was the last time you or a family member used the phone book? I can do five to six searches on the Internet in the time it takes me to go get the phone book and look up a piece of information.  It truly is barbaric and outdated. Even the phone companies are getting on the band wagon of using the Internet as a form of Advertising. We have all heard of Dex online, this is a overpriced online form of Advertising. In fact it has little web traffic as it is not well received in conception and delivery. Here are some statistics from the Nielsen Ratings.

There are basically two ways of getting your company into the public view.

1. Contact a Website Designer to Design a effective Website. This is a terrific way of advertising as once the website is done and marketed properly it is working around the clock.
2. Advertise in a Business Directory, This is also a terrific way to market your business as a good Business Directory markets your business for you. Business Directories if they are well done have the marketing end of it down and can get you in the public view well. They also have the Internet traffic to display your company to even customers that are not even looking for you! Keep in mind there are two forms of advertising, point of sale meaning when running a ad you expect to see a return immediately. The second is to keep your name and the services and the products you sell in the public view all the time. Name recognition is more than half of Advertising.

Now how do we sum this all up and how does it apply to Advertising your Business in the Kelso/Longview Washington area? Well there is a quote I heard a while back and I may not get it 100% accurate but it goes like this “If you want to know who your competition in business is go to the Internet, your customers do” A major mistake that many business owners do is when we have a business market like we now have business owners and managers cut back on advertising. Major mistake. Let me ask you this if you were a farmer and times were tough would you plant less corn? I don’t think so, planting that corn is your main line of generating commerce. It is not logical to cut back on Advertising when times get lean. Advertising is a Business owners mainline to generating revenue.

There is no doubt that Kelso/Longview Washington has their fair share of Credit Unions. When first looking to Bank here in Longview I wanted to know the difference between a Bank and a Credit Union. This what I found out after researching about them on the Internet.   

Differences between a Credit Union And A Bank

Credit Unions

• Credit Unions are owned by their members.
• Must be eligible to join a Credit Union.
• Most of the earnings are returned to its members.

Banks

• Banks are owned by their stockholders.
• Focused on generating profits, remember stockholders)
• Anyone can become member of a Bank.

In 1937 the United States Congress voted to make Credit Unions exempt from federal income taxes. This was because of the unique business structure. They are owned by the members them selves. This tax exemption was voted on again in 1951 and once again in 1998. This is why Credit Unions wave the fact they offer lower interest on loans. They also say they have better customer service as they have no stock holders to answer to.

Personally after looking into the differences between Banks and a Credit Union we opted to use a Local Longview Washington Bank for our business Banking needs. We also belong to a Credit Union for our personal Banking needs.

 There are several different kinds of Accountant with their own specialties in Longview Washington. I have tried to outline the basic types of Bookkeepers, Certified Public Accountants or commonly called CPA,s and Tax preparers here and their duties. It is not all inclusive but it is informative. Some Accountants, and Accounting firms offer all of these services.   

                                                                                                                                                               Certified Public Accountants or CPA’s perform a range of Accounting Services for businesses and individuals. From preparing annual financial statements to acting as key adviser’s on long term estate planning, CPAs offer a range of services to their clients and must meet strict federal licensing requirements before becoming certified. CPAs often specialize in one or more of the following areas:

·         IRS Audits

·         Financial Reporting

·         Small Business Accounting

·         Savings and Investment Strategies

Bookkeepers perform many of the same functions as a Certified Public Accountant such as maintaining complete financial records and overseeing various data management procedures for individuals and organizations. Bookkeepers typically aren’t involved in tax preparation, but commonly oversee daily Accounting operations such as:

·         Daily Ledger Entries

·         Data Systems Audits

·         Invoice Tracking and Verification

·         Accounts Receivable and Accounts Payable

Tax Accountants are usually either Enrolled Tax Agents who have passed stringent federal tests to become certified in complex Tax law or CPAs who specialize in federal and state tax regulations. These tax preparation experts typically work as freelance consultants or in retail tax preparation offices. Tax Attorneys often work closely with CPAs and other taxation specialists, and are available to assist businesses and individuals in sorting through confusing returns procedures or when legal representation is necessary to resolve tax disputes.

We thought we would take the time to give our readers of this Longview Washington Business Directory Blog a update as to the continued progress on the Longview Washington Business Directory website, LongviewBiz.com.

Up to this point we have been building this Business Directory Website and working the magic that is required to get the website gaining ground in the search engines. If all we were doing is marketing Longviewbiz.com it would be a simple matter. But this website is being built as a portal to Businesses in the Kelso-Longview Washington area. In a nutshell we feel our job is to market our advertisers. That is the sole job of a Business Directory is to put your Advertisers in a position of prominence on the Internet. At this point there are not as many Advertisers in the Directory as we for see in the future. There are three main ways of Designing a Website that has the purpose of being a Business Directory.

1. Business Directory with free submissions allowed, This is the easiest way to build a Website. As a Website Designer it is very easy to build a Website and offer free submission to their Directory and categories. The whole point is to get Businesses to add their information for free. The benefit to the Website Designer is that they get content added to their Website for free. The main problem with this type of Business Directory is when you do offer Advertising to prospective clients, what are you really offering? Bottom line you are not offering them nothing. Why would any Business Owner or manager pay for Advertising in a Business Directory that also has every Business in town also in there for free! It is a insult to their intelligence. I have been in Business for myself for over twenty five years and learned the hard way to Advertise to a captive audience and don’t throw myself into the bullpen with dozens of other Advertisers. Your advertising budget is only being diluted.
2. Building a Business Directory as addition to a existing Website. This is another way of building a Website. We at LongviwBiz.com believe a Business Directory should be just that, a Business Directory. Advertisers at that point just get thrown in to the Website wherever it may fit. As a consumer and avid Internet user when I want information I don’t want to sift through a mess to get to the information I require. A Business Directory should be clean and simple to use. Information in the Website should be easy to navigate to and retrieve. Value for a Advertiser is heavily diluted when their advertising budget is spent on advertising sporadically put where ever it may fit. Question, when you go to the phone book and look for restaurants do you look? Just where ever? No you go to the restaurant section and you find the information you want. When you are in the restaurant section do you see advertising for Doctors, no!
3. The third way to build a Business Directory,is to build a Website that is engineered and Designed to be a clean and simple Business Directory that is easy to navigate. We at LongviewBiz.com subscribe passionately to this philosophy. We believe that we must be loyal to our Advertisers and not allow their Advertising budget to be diluted by putting their ads in with free ones. Our Longview Washington Business Directory is designed to be easily navigated. There is no fluff in our site and never will. But most importantly is our dedication to marketing our Advertisers on the Internet. This Kelso-Longview Washington Business Directory has the job of marketing our Advertisers and getting them seen by the residents of Cowlitz County Washington, that’s it. Although this Business Directory is young the proof is in the pudding. We run analytics on the site every other business day and to be quite honest we are happy with the statistics at this point.

Statistics for the Kelso-Longview Washington Business Directory

• 1100 LongviewBiz.com visits per month. This means that this Business Directory had over 1100 visitors that used this website in the last 30 days to find information on Businesses in the Kelso-Longview Washington area.
• 5405 page views in the Business Directory. This simply means that the visitors to this Business Directory went to 5405 pages in the last 30 days.
• 5.40 pages visited. The visitors that used this Business Directory went to a average of 5.4 pages while in this Business Directory. If a visitor was looking for information in the website they also went to additional categories. Great exposure for our Advertisers.
• 3:45 Average time in this Kelso-Longview Business Directory, This simply means that for our visitors it took them a average of 3 minutes and 45 seconds to go in and get the information they needed. We like this statistic as it is showing how easy it is for our visitors to navigate.
• Loyalty 46%, This is a real time indicator who is using our Business directory. 46% of our visitors are return visitors, our site is quickly becoming the standard for residents to find information in the Kelso-Longview Washington area. We are doing our job and our advertisers are happy, but just important is the fact we are achieving the goals we set for LongviewBiz.com…..to be the Business Directory you want to be in, and use.

We are currently in the process of developing some other facets of our Business Directory. As a continued commitment to establishing LongviewBiz.com as a asset to the residents of Kelso-Longview Washington and of course our Advertisers we are developing three more sub-websites that will be available in the near future.

1. Restaurant Menu’s online. This will be a well recieved addition as it will offer the residents of Longview Washington the opportunity to view restaurant menu’s via our website.
2. Real Estate focus online. This will be a excellent opportunity for Real Estate Agents to have another avenue to Advertise and show their listings. Real Estate Agents will be able to post their listings into their own pages within the Longview Washington Business Directory themselves.
3. Classified section of LongviewBiz.com. We will be adding a Classified section to our Directory as a avenue to advertise things residents have for sale, garage sales, auto’s and the like. We are very excited about this addition.

Here are some other Blog Posts on the progress of LongviewBiz.com, the Kelso-Longview Washington Business Directory.

http://longviewbiz.com/blog/2008/08/longview-washington-website-design-for-business-application/

http://longviewbiz.com/blog/2008/07/progress-on-longview-washington-business-directory/