Writing Effective Service Offers

by Debi Neville, Freelance Writer and Time Trader, January 2011

Four basic items need to be addressed in each offering:

1)   identify the problem or need

2)   offer a solution to the problem

3)   explain how YOU can provide the solution

4)   call to action

Example:

1) Dream of cinnamon rolls like Mom used to bake?

2) A dozen can be delivered fresh to your door

3) I have 20 years baking experience and a wonderful old fashioned recipe, can be made with whole wheat and fruits if you want to try something a bit new, will deliver same day!

4) This weekend curl up with a good book, a cup of coffee and delicious, warm sweet rolls; call to order today!

Words to use which conjure up emotions, wants, answers, memories, needs, etc. which are more likely to get a response:

Warm                                                     Depend

Organized                                              Memory(ies)

Clean                                                     Creative

Spic-span                                               Unique

At your fingertips                                  Experience

Solution                                                 Fun

Finally                                                    Quality

Friendly help                                          Searching

Desire                                                     Direct

New                                                        Now

Vision                                                   This is the year

Worry free                                           Recycle, reuse

Express yourself                                    Thoughtful

Cross off your to do list                           Dessert

Problem solver                                          Do!

Time Trader Spotlight: Mike's Pumpkin Creations

Time Traders often ask to see photographs of the work people offer in Community Weaver. It makes sense -- if someone is offering to make something, seeing a photo of their past work can help you decide if they are the right person for the job.

Periodically we will feature Time Traders here, offering descriptions of their Service Offers along with photos of their past creations. If you are a Time Trader with a talent you'd like to see in the Spotlight, email your photos to timetrader@familyservicerochester.org along with any descriptive information you'd like included. If you have been happy with a service provided by a Time Trader, please feel free to email the same address and any photos you may have along with a request that they be Spotlighted. We will be happy to post these items to encourage the community to take advantage of all the amazing talent Time Trader has to offer!

That said, let's get to our Spotlight:

Have you ever seen those amazing portrait pumpkins on the national televised morning shows? The ones where people's likenesses are carved into the pumpkin? Or the beautiful Martha Stewart styled monogrammed pumpkins? Believe it or not, we have a very talented Time Trader who can do pumpkin carving like that!

This pumpkin has carvings on both sides. One image glows eerily while the reverse side of the pumpkin casts a shadow on the wall.

Mike can also carve watermelons for events in the summer time, with words:

Or images:

Or even creating a 3D stroller/fruit bowl for a baby shower.

He does lovely portraits. This animation shows the process from photograph to completed project. Amazing!

As you can see his portraits are spot on.

The pumpkins above and below are actually the artificial ones that are available at most craft stores in the fall, so they can be saved and used year after year. The pumpkin below is black but as you can see the inside is light colored and it looks amazing when lit from inside.

Mike says, "A 3 sided birthday pumpkin (cake, balloons, photo) takes about 1 to 1.5 hours per side for a total of 3 to 4 hours. A Welcome pumpkin using a previous design took 3.5 hours to cover the full surface.  (New designs and photos take a little longer.)

"In 1998 I used my young daughter as an excuse to carve a couple of non-standard pumpkins.  (She didn't really care and did not understand anything about what was different.)  Who cared that where we lived we had no trick-or-treaters that year!  I just had an excuse to do something that sounded fun.  From there it has been growing to more complicated creations.

"I have figured out that over the years creative things tended to leak out of me at times.  I finally realized how much skill and real interest I have over the last 8 to 10 years.  Looking back, I can see some of it was going on as far back as high school and even grade school.  Some of those old items included carved candles - one of which took more than 10 hours for just the carving.

"I find that I end up doing many things that are ephemeral.  Food carvings, pumpkins, window murals will all be gone after a small amount of time.  Like life, they are to be enjoyed while there and hopefully remembered fondly afterwards."

And here's a photo of Mike so you can say hello to him when you see him at a Time Trader event:

Thanks Mike, for sharing these great photos with us and for sharing your tremendous talent with our community.

New Year's Cleanup Project in Community Weaver!

Hello Time Traders,

It's that time of year when many of us are busy cleaning, organizing, and purging -- something about that whole year stretching out in front of us makes people want to get all aspects of their lives in order.

I am feeling that way about Community Weaver right now. There are a lot of Service Requests and Offers that are very outdated. Please take a moment this month to visit Community Weaver. Once you log in, you'll see a tab on the left that says "My Account." Click on that. Click on the "My Services" tab. Under that there are buttons for "My Services" and "My Requests." You can look over the things you have listed and choose to either "stop" or "edit" them.  If you don't need that service any longer, click stop. The item will be deactivated but it won't disappear. You will still be able to find it by clicking the "Inactive Ads" button at the top. From there you can re-activate it at any time.

That option is great for seasonal ads like offers for lawn mowing. Take it down now, put it back up in the spring. An added bonus is that the ad will look fresh to other Time Traders and will probably get more interest.

If the ad is still valid, click on "edit" and jazz it up. Change the title, add more description, and make it more appealing. One of our Time Traders came up with a handout with writing tips. Feel free to email me and I will send you a copy so that you have some more ideas.

Last, please take the opportunity to add an expiration date to your offer or request. Again, this will not automatically delete the ad, it will simply move it to your "Inactive" tab where you can edit before re-posting. This will help us all keep up to date.

Keep an eye out -- about every 6 months I will put out a note reminding you to do a CW Cleanup -- that will be your cue to check your ads in Community Weaver and update them as needed.

Thanks, Time Traders, for helping to make our community even better.

Introducing the Time Trader Blog!

My name is Jennifer, and I am the coordinator of the Time Trader program. Time Trader is a Time Bank, and there are many time banks operating right now across the United States and the world.

If you're new to time banking, check out the links on the right for more information about how it got started, how it works, and how you can get involved.

Time Trader is located in Rochester, Minnesota and has been operational since September 2008. We have over 200 members in an active community with services such as sewing and mending, dog walking, car detailing, and many more offered.

In addition to individual members we also have some organizational members. Our biggest partner is the Rochester Area Family Y and most of our orientations are held there.

So welcome! I envision this blog as a place for me to share information about Time Trader with its members and the larger community, but I'd also like it to serve as a forum where Time Traders can contribute personal stories of their exchanges, their experiences and the ways that Time Trader has enhanced or enriched their lives.