Cher's Updates and Sample Work

Happy February 2008!

2008-02-05T09:10:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Cher's Blog!

I am thrilled this month to be launching my new website(www.communicationsbycher.com) and blog. It has been a long time coming since I went on my own in 2000 and launching my website marks a transitional period in my business. With my corporate background and the experience I gained in writing for local business owners as well as for my own businesses these past several years, I feel I can now help clients in more ways than ever before.

The goal of my blog is to be a place where readers can see past work I have done for clients as well as read the e-zines I sent out to those who sign up to be a part of my e-mail community. As a reader, I look forward to sharing with you relevant information and success stories to help you connect to your target audiences. I also hope to someday gain you as a client so that I can learn more about your industry and together we can get the word out to even more people about the terrific product or service your business or organization offers. Make it a great month!

Until next time,

Cher

Client - International Search Consultants

2008-01-17T09:05:00.000-08:00

Recruiting Firm shares not-so-obvious questions to avoid while interviewing a job applicant

“Asking a job applicant an innocent-sounding yet illegal question is a lawsuit waiting to happen,” states Ann E. Zaslow-Rethaber of International Search Consultants (ISC), a leading executive search firm in Arizona that specializes in the sales and marketing industry. An interview question such as asking a person’s age may seem obvious to avoid but Zaslow-Rethaber points out that there are many other personal questions that may get an employer into legal trouble according to the Civil Rights Violations Act of 1964 or the Disability Act of 1961.

Listed below are six question topics ISC advises interviewers to avoid asking during the interview process:

Immediate Family Information – Interviewers need to tread carefully when asking questions of a personal nature. Some interviewers might feel it makes applicants more relaxed to talk about something personal – such as how many children they have, if they are married or not or the occupation of their spouse, but all are unacceptable questions to ask. It is also illegal to ask an applicant if they own a home (and how long they have lived there), what arrangements they have made for childcare if they are a parent or if they plan to have a child or more children in their future.

Extended Family Information – An interviewer cannot ask an applicant the native language of his or her parents, the nationality of the applicant’s parents, where they reside or any questions regarding lineage. Asking for an applicant’s birthplace is also unacceptable.

Military – With the Iraq war going on, an interviewer may want to acknowledge someone whose past includes serving in the war. However, it is illegal to ask what an applicant was doing during the years of World War I and II and during the time of the Vietnam War. You also cannot ask an applicant if they served in a war outside the United States.

Religion- Out of respect for an applicant’s religious beliefs, an interviewer might ask what religious holidays the applicant observes during the year not knowing that this is illegal to ask too. You also cannot ask for a reference from an applicant’s pastor or religious leader or if they are a member of a church or other religious congregation.

Misc. questions – asking an applicant if they belong to any unions or other similar types of groups or what they do in their spare time (legally off-duty activities) is not allowed.

Health – during an interview, employers cannot ask how many sick days an applicant took the previous year, if that person has any physical disabilities or if he or she has sought therapy. Moreover, the state of the applicant’s financial health is also a taboo subject and it is illegal to ask the number of an applicant’s credit rating score or if he/she has ever declared bankruptcy.

More about ISC
ISC is prepared to deliver highly qualified sales and marketing candidates and meet the staffing requirements of any company size. To find out more about their five-star service, call them at (888) 866-7276.

Client - Room for Joy

2008-01-17T08:58:00.000-08:00

Designer creates beautiful rooms and brings joy to chronically ill children through Room for Joy
By Cher Knebel

These days, room makeovers are all the rage.

You have probably caught an episode on HGTV or A&E or read about a makeover in the home section of your local paper where a designer takes an unsightly room and transforms it into an efficient workspace, game room or perhaps a tropical retreat.

What about a room makeover that transforms how a chronically ill child feels or in many cases, how he or she heals? That is exactly what interior designer Tory Smock and her volunteers at Room for Joy are doing for children in Phoenix and the surrounding areas.

Mesa-based Room for Joy is a non-profit, faith-based organization that is like an extreme home makeover for seriously ill children. They are dedicated to enhancing the healing process of chronically ill children by providing them with a positive bedroom environment based on their unique interests and needs. This is what they did for 10-year old Sharon, whose bedroom now looks like a garden with flowers, butterflies and blue skies. It is beautiful to look and set up to meet her medical needs.

These makeovers are a passion for Smock, whose previous jobs included a 10-year career with Home Depot as an interior designer. She recently quit her last job to concentrate solely on Room for Joy. The idea came to her in 2003, after receiving inspiration from a program created by Rick Warren, a Southern California pastor who wrote the book, The Purpose Driven Life. She realized that while she loved the creativity of her career, it felt empty to her.

However, everything changed when she heard about a room makeover program for children in another state called Sweet Dreams. A light bulb went off and she knew this was what she was destined to do because it could combine her talent for interior design with her passion to help ill children. After researching the possibility of doing an Arizona-version of Sweet Dreams, she decided to start her own non-profit organization.

It has been a long road for Smock who says she has hit many brick walls on her journey. She got her big break in December 2005 when a pastor at the Central Christian Church in east Mesa heard the idea, made it into an outreach mission, and gave her the funds to makeover two rooms. With her funding in place and the Phoenix Children’s Hospital providing the names of children whose parents needed assistance, she was set to move forward.

“Our first two-day room makeover was for a 12-year old foster child named Andrea and I was deeply humbled by the whole experience,” Smock remembers. “This little girl had bounced around from home to home and for the first time in her life, she had a beautiful room that her foster parents said gave her so much enjoyment and made her smile. It was the first time she ever had a sleepover in her bedroom.”

“Sadly, in this case, Andrea died just four short months later,” Smock continued. “But her foster parents shared with me that she told them before she died, it was the happiest she felt her entire difficult life. After hearing the positive impact it made for this child, I was hooked.”
With her talents as an interior designer coupled with a group of dedicated volunteers and the community support from generous vendors providing everything from meals for the family while they are away to creating a special blanket for each child, Smock is prepared to continue her mission. However, one thing stands in the way and that is funding.

Smock realized that by breaking away from the church and operating as a separate non-profit entity, she has the potential to raise more funds for her makeovers. The challenge is that she has run out of money to finance each $5,000 room makeover and needs financial support to keep it going. The state of Arizona currently recognizes Room for Joy as a non-profit organization and Smock is working on finalizing her 501 (c) 3 tax exemption status with the federal government.

“I have seen first hand that our rooms are making a difference,” Smock said of the three makeovers they have done so far. “Children who were sick and had no desire to get out of bed each morning are now bouncing out of bed and having motivation to do things like inviting their friends over to enjoy their rooms. We have a list of children’s names from the hospital and we can’t wait to do the next makeover and the next.”

Whether you a business owner or employee, a parent looking to get your kids involved in earning money to help other kids, or just someone who has a soft spot for children, than consider donating to Room for Joy. Through your generosity and the talents of Smock and her volunteer team, you can bring joy to children who need a reason to smile. I am sure Pastor Warren would be proud of the influence he had on one woman looking to live a “purpose driven life”. Please visit their website at roomforjoy.com or contact Tory Smock at (602) 619-0209.

Client - My Baby Pajamas.com

2008-01-17T08:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome to My Baby Pajamas.com

If you are a mom like me, don’t you just love your kids in their pajamas! It is a picture-perfect moment when they are fresh from their bath, hair soft and clean and just adorable. Our daily bedtime routine is a precious time for our family, a time to snuggle and read to our children, prepare them for the gift of a good night’s sleep –something essential to growing bodies.

It is in this spirit that My Baby Pajamas was created. We are thrilled to offer the finest quality pajamas in the cutest styles for your precious little ones. For kids, our pajamas are soft to the touch and oh-so-comfy to wear. For parents, the durability of our pajamas is amazing. So much so, that I as well as other customers have passed these pajamas on to other families only for them to return years later, in perfect condition for our younger children to wear. How is that for a good value!

We carry a variety of brands in an array of delicious colors, patterns and trends for each season….and every style is kid tested and mother approved. Our pajamas also make terrific and thoughtful gifts for grandchildren, nieces and nephews and make a wonderful baby shower gift along with a few bath items and a mini chunky baby book.

At My Baby Pajamas.com, our mission is to make it easy for parents and gift-giving others to find snuggly, high quality children’s pajamas that are a good value for parents and easy to maintain. We welcome you to browse our pajama shop (LINK) and purchase one to see for yourself—we think you and the child who wears it will be simply delighted. After all, children are our future and we believe it all starts with a good night’s sleep.

Linda Levine
Owner, My Baby Pajamas
Mommy of Anthony and Jack

Client - The ReStyle Group

2008-01-17T08:49:00.000-08:00

The ReStyle Group Puts Their Mark on the Home Selling Process

AHWATUKEE FOOTHILLS, AZ. -- February 23, 2006—A new realty team in town, the ReStyle Group, believes their fresh approach to home selling will give their clients an edge in selling their home. Their approach includes not only advanced marketing but also staging the home to make it look its dressed-up best.

The ReStyle Group, associates of Keller Williams Realty in Ahwatukee Foothills, consists of three realtors and a certified home stylist. They aim to make each client’s home dazzle with the sights, sounds and scents of a beautifully staged product to attract the most buyers --all at no additional cost to the homeowner.

“Pampered” is how realtors Heather Sanders, Hilary Horton, Kathy Diaz and I.R.I.S. Certified Home Stylist Carrie Baumann want you to feel when working with them. Serving the Southeast area, including Chandler, Ahwatukee, Tempe, Gilbert, and Queen Creek, the ReStyle Group caters to the homeowner who wants someone to tend to every detail of the home selling process.

“We are going for the ‘wow’ factor when presenting your home,” explained Sanders. “We bring out the best features so that it has the look and feel of a model home.” Horton and Diaz added, “We want buyers to have an emotional connection when they step into every one of our ‘restyled’ homes for sale.” For example, from the champagne on ice displayed on the wet bar to the soothing CD tunes, these business-savvy women know from statistics and professional experience, that professionally staged homes sell quicker and for more value than those that are not.

“We stay ahead of all the current trends in home décor not only to help our clients’ sell their homes but to try them out in our own homes,” Sanders stated. “We don’t just use “staging” as a buzz word to get business, it is our passion to make each individual home look its very best.”
In fact, at restylegroup.com, these realtors post photos of well-styled homes, give recommendations of local home décor shops, as well as provide other information to meet their goal of delivering five-star service to their clients.

The ReStyle Group is redefining the home selling process, all without additional fees to the homeowner. With expert marketing, home staging services as needed, and a resource-packed website, this group wants to do more than just sell your home; they want to help you reach your lifestyle goals. Check them out at http://www.restylegroup.com/ or for more information; please call (480) 656-2558.