The Chocolate Truffle

Local Manufacturer Bacci Chocolate Design is featured on Omaha Steaks Online Store | PRLog

2012-02-03T17:34:00.000-08:00

Local Manufacturer Bacci Chocolate Design is featured on Omaha Steaks Online Store | PRLog

Reading-North Reading Buy Local Show promo

2011-09-15T11:12:00.000-07:00

The 57th Summer NASFT Fancy Food Show in DC was a tremendous Success for Bacci Chocolate Design. | PRLog

2011-08-19T11:20:00.000-07:00

The 57th Summer NASFT Fancy Food Show in DC was a tremendous Success for Bacci Chocolate Design. | PRLog

http://www.destinationweddingmag.com/gallery/2010-bridal-luxury-chocolate-winners?cmpid=enews020211

2011-02-03T12:38:00.000-08:00

http://www.destinationweddingmag.com/gallery/2010-bridal-luxury-chocolate-winners?cmpid=enews020211

8 rules for CEOs | Internet Marketing Strategy: Conversation Marketing

2011-02-01T13:34:00.000-08:00

8 rules for CEOs | Internet Marketing Strategy: Conversation Marketing

A Shift in Focus for Local Manufacturer Bacci Chocolate Design

2011-01-12T06:56:00.000-08:00

A Shift in Focus for Local Manufacturer Bacci Chocolate Design

How I'm Planning to Grow my business in 2011: Desperate People do Desperate Things

2011-01-10T03:59:00.000-08:00

Seeing cash for Gold signs and being invited to Gold Parties stirs up some old feelings from my days in college; scrounging for every penny we could find, searching under all chair cushions and redeeming "empties", just so we could have enough money to buy some cheap beer for the weekend. Desperation. From the Editors of Webster's:desperate a. 1 reckless from despair. Have you ever attended a Networking Event and been approached by a person similar to Jack Lemmon's character in the movie Glengary Glen Ross; desperate to close a sale? As a small business owner there is a difference between "Desperate Decisions" and "Strategic Decisions." Desperate acts are typically quick decisions with little time to weigh the pros and cons. An example of a desperate act: Employees show up to work to find the doors are locked and a closed sign in the window. A strategic decision would have an exit plan and give the employees time and perhaps assistance in finding other employment. It is not easy running a small business, but the success is directly tied to strategic decisions.

How I'm planning to Grow My Business in 2011

2011-01-06T10:43:00.000-08:00

I feel very blessed in all aspects of my life because I have always had a great support network. Network. It's an interesting word with many multiple meanings so in regards to business, what does network mean? According to the editor's at Webster's network means: develop business, etc. contacts
To have a successful business you have to network often and on many platforms and not all "Networking Groups" work for my business so as the new year starts I'm planning on looking at all the avenues where I network and will be writting about my experiences. Please share with me what you're planning to do for your business this year.

Ten Lies You’ll Hear Before Pursuing Your Dream

2010-11-02T03:21:00.000-07:00

Ten Lies You’ll Hear Before Pursuing Your Dream

2010-09-17T09:56:00.001-07:00

One day a teacher asked her students to list the names of the other students in the room on two sheets of paper, leaving a space between each name.

Then she told them to think of the nicest thing they could say about each of their classmates and write it down.

It took the remainder of the class period to finish their assignment, and as the students left the room, each one handed in the papers.

That Saturday, the teacher wrote down the name of each student on a separate sheet of paper, and listed what everyone else had said about that individual.

On Monday she gave each student his or her list. Before long, the entire class was smiling. 'Really?' she heard whispered. 'I never knew that I meant anything to anyone!' and, 'I didn't know others liked me so much,' were most of the comments.

No one ever mentioned those papers in class again. She never knew if they discussed them after class or with their parents, but it didn't matter. The exercise had accomplished its purpose. The students were happy with themselves and one another. That group of students moved on.

Several years later, one of the students was killed inVietNam and his teacher attended the funeral of that special student. She had never seen a serviceman in a military coffin before. He looked so handsome, so mature.

The church was packed with his friends. One by one those who loved him took a last walk by the coffin. The teacher was the last one to bless the coffin.

As she stood there, one of the soldiers who acted as pallbearer came up to her. 'Were you Mark's math teacher?' he asked. She nodded: 'yes.' Then he said: 'Mark talked about you a lot.'

After the funeral, most of Mark's former classmates went together to a luncheon. Mark's mother and father were there, obviously waiting to speak with his teacher.

'We want to show you something,' his father said, taking a wallet out of his pocket 'They found this on Mark when he was killed. We thought you might recognize it.'

Opening the billfold, he carefully removed two worn pieces of notebook paper that had obviously been taped, folded and refolded many times.. The teacher knew without looking that the papers were the ones on which she had listed all the good things each of Mark's classmates had said about him.

'Thank you so much for doing that,' Mark's mother said. 'As you can see, Mark treasured it.'

All of Mark's former classmates started to gather around. Charlie smiled rather sheepishly and said, 'I still have my list. It's in the top drawer of my desk at home.'

Chuck's wife said, 'Chuck asked me to put his in our wedding album.'

'I have mine too,' Marilyn said. 'It's in my diary'

Then Vicki, another classmate, reached into her pocketbook, took out her wallet and showed her worn and frazzled list to the group. 'I carry this with me at all times,' Vicki said and without batting an eyelash, she continued: 'I think we all saved our lists'

That's when the teacher finally sat down and cried. She cried for Mark and for all his friends who would never see him again.

The density of people in society is so thick that we forget that life will end one day. And we don't know when that one day will be.

So please, tell the people you love and care for, that they are special and important. Tell them, before it is too late..

And One Way To Accomplish This Is: Forward this message on. If you do not send it, you will have, once again passed up the wonderful opportunity to do something nice and beautiful.

If you've received this, it is because someone cares for you and it means there is probably at least someone for whom you care.

If you're 'too busy' to take those few minutes right now to forward this message on, would this be the VERY first time you didn't do that little thing that would make a difference in your relationships?

The more people that you send this to, the better you'll be at reaching out to those you care about.

Remember, you reap what you sow. What you put into the lives of others comes back into your own.

May Your Day Be Blessed As Special As You

Phantom Gourmet Food Festival: The Trailer

2010-09-16T09:45:00.000-07:00

Scientists complete cacao genome mapping - Boston.com

2010-09-15T08:47:00.000-07:00

Scientists complete cacao genome mapping - Boston.com

'Wine & Chocolate' to benefit Stoneham Theatre - Melrose - Your Town - Boston.com

2010-09-15T03:30:00.000-07:00

'Wine & Chocolate' to benefit Stoneham Theatre - Melrose - Your Town - Boston.com

Stoneham Theatreâ€™s â€˜Perfect Harmonyâ€™ is all about the singers - The Boston Globe

2010-09-14T10:16:00.000-07:00

Stoneham Theatreâ€™s â€˜Perfect Harmonyâ€™ is all about the singers - The Boston Globe

Local Manufacturer The Chocolate Truffle Receives Multiple Awards for Their Chocolates in the 1st Annual Boston Chocolate Salon Tasting Panel Awards

2010-09-09T08:49:00.000-07:00

Local Manufacturer The Chocolate Truffle Receives Multiple Awards for Their Chocolates in the 1st Annual Boston Chocolate Salon Tasting Panel Awards

RCTV summer workshop - Chocolate Truffle

2010-08-17T15:03:00.000-07:00

What's in Your Wallet

2010-07-07T04:30:00.000-07:00

I love being my own boss because of the flexability especially with raising three children all under the age of ten. I love having a chocolate business because it is an area where there is still tremedous growth. Especially in a down economy, people are still investing in their speciality foods and thankfully our chocolates fall into that category. Even on a day like yesterday where temps reached high into the 90's, customers still came to all three locations for their "favorites". One customer was having a bad day so she bought a box of our hand rolled truffles for lunch. I eat them for breakfast so clearly I won't judge.
Owning my own business, there are so many upsides, but the downsides are really beating me down: The Cost of Running My Own Business
1.Payroll Taxes- any small business owner, and larger one now, will tell you that the payroll taxes are what keeps businesses from growing. During the presidential campaign a reporter noted that if a candidate were really invested in helping our Nation's Economy grow,then they would lower the payroll taxes. I am running three stores now with the same number of employees I had in one store back in 2004. I'd love to employee more people, but there are too many weeks that the taxes are higher then the sales.
2. Small Business Loans- these are an Urban Myth because banks are not loaning to existing businesses and the so called "Economic Recovery Loan Program 'ARC' makes you jump through so many hoops and takes so long to get approval it's easier to moonlight at another job to help bring in funds.
3. Credit Cards- I read an editorial a few years back where the writer stated that the real terroists were those who only use credit cards because they were not putting much needed cash into our sinking Recently I was notified that Visa, MasterCard and Discover are increasing the transaction cost to us (the small business owner) for the convience of our customers using their cards (the banks). So lets explore this further;
The Bank Bail Outs are paid by us (the tax payers) and yet some executinves are receiving bonuses. Most private organizations are not giving pay raises and are even forced to cut salaries to help sustain the business. I for one work fulltime, but don't take a check so that may staff is paid. So the Banks got bailed out, executives are still living high on the hog and the credit card companies are looking to raise capitol through it's customers by increasing interest rates and transaction fees. Do you want more money in your wallet, then use cash. It's old fashion, but it helps keep you disciplined; you only spend what you have. So what's in your wallet?

Happy Customer

2010-05-26T11:19:00.000-07:00

I love hearing from happy customers! Please read what Sarah Masciave wrote:

"I just had to write you a quick note. I saw your van parked down the street and was mortified I hadn't known about you until this week. After eating just a couple of the 12 truffles my husband got me I will never shop anywhere locally for chocolate again. The flavors I enjoyed last night were amazing. The texture of them were also out of this world. Thank you for that. I will be coming to your store fo all my parties, and girls night get togethers from now on. Bravo!!!"

Mommies Who Shop : Details

2010-05-04T07:45:00.000-07:00

Mommies Who Shop : Details

What does it mean to be social as a business?

2010-04-15T07:11:00.000-07:00

I'm relatively new to the whole social media wave, but I'm not new to sales. As the owner of The Chocolate Truffle www.thechocolatetruffle.com with three retail stores in Reading, Lynnfield and Winchester, a manufacturing division Bacci Chocolate Design and a wife and a mother, I value time. So far I've found social media time consuming with little ROI. After reading the attached blog posted by Esteban Kolsky my wheels were spinning.

For my business to succeed I must be social. However, sitting behind a computer isn't the form of social I see driving my company sales. For The Chocolate Truffle and Bacci Chocolate Design, being social is to be out there where people can meet our product. After all, it's the product that I'm looking to sell and I've seen tremendous success with selling through sampling. For my business Twitter and Facebbok help promote brand awareness and create interest, but so far I haven't found too many customers, the ones who actually purchase my product following.

Professional Assistants Week

2010-04-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

Don't forget all the people who help you! The week of 4/1/-4/19 is Professional Assistants Week and we have all sorts of chocolate gift ideas and we deliver!

Phantom Food & Wine Phest

2010-04-08T07:09:00.001-07:00

The Chocolate Truffle will be at the Phantom Food & Wine Phest this Saturday 4/10/10 from 3-8 at the Bayside Expo!

Teh Taste of Winchester was a Success!

2010-03-27T06:25:00.001-07:00

Thank you to everyone who attended the Taste of Winchester, it was a huge success! We sampled The Fig Truffle , the Beer Truffle (last night was Harpoon), the Wine Truffle, the Hazelnut Truffle, the Maple Mousse and the Sea Salt Bar. In order the favorites of the evening were: the Fig Truffle, the Maple Mousse, the Wi...ne Truffle, The Beer Truffle, the Sea Salt Bar and the Hazelnut Truffle. What was your favorite?

A Chocolate Tasting From Milk to Pig

2010-03-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

A Chocolate Tasting From Milk to Pig

The Phantom Gourmet

2010-03-13T07:47:00.000-08:00

Listen for our new Radio Ad on the Phantom Gourmet from 4-7 on 96.9 WTKK http://969bostontalks.com/

Help us REACH our Goal

2010-03-11T17:25:00.000-08:00

The Chocolate Truffle, Suzanne Harring of Discovery Toys and Jayna LaVerde of Portraits by Jayna are working together for REACH Beyond Domestic Violence http://www.reachma.org/ . Together we are building Easter Baskets for children living in the REACH shelters. Please help us REACH our goal of 52 baskets by sponsoring a basket or purchasing select Easter items to go in the baskets and receive 15% off your store purchase. You can also make an appointment for Bunny Pictures with Jayna and she will donate the stitting fee to REACH.

Dipping the Twitter Bird in Chocolate!

2010-02-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

Do you tweet? Well The Chocolate Truffle is keeping it to 140 characters on Twitter. Follow us to some special opportunities like free sample truffles and chocolates, gift certificates, contests and chocolate news and educational clips. You can check out pictures of new products and upcoming seasonal specialties during the holiday season. We have close to 1000 followers from the Boston area and all over the country. Since we offer all our products online our national audience is growing in leaps and bounds and ordering our gourmet chocolates for friends, clients and family. Follow us on Twitter as we fly all around the country with the joy of chocolate! TheChocolateTruffle (TheTruffle) on Twitter

The Chocolate Truffle on Phantom Gourmet

2010-02-24T06:47:00.000-08:00

What an exciting year we are having at The Chocolate Truffle and Bacci Chocolate Design! We were recently featured on the incredibly popular gourmet food show known as The Phantom Gourmet. Our friends at Phantom came to the Reading, MA location to shoot some pretty tasty segments on our all chocolate pizza with toppings like Heath Bar and caramel, Oreo cookies and cream, or the ever popular M & M pretzel! What a great time we had with their amazing crew plugging along and sampling our CB Stuffer Peanut Butter Cups, our chocolate drizzled popcorn and a variety of our hand rolled truffles. Funny, the shoot lasted for days and they slept right next to the chocolate case! We are so grateful to the Andelman brothers for such a great time and for airing the show on more than one occasion. You may just see it again soon but anything you see on the show is fantastic so don't miss them on Saturday and Sunday mornings on TV 38. Welcome to Phantom Gourmet's Online Dining Community