Notes from Jackson Street: 4-year Anniversary fast approaching

By Corby Winters, Marketing and Public Relations

When John Winters asked me, “Would you want to write the column for October?” I responded with “Hmm, well, let me think about that for a minute.” Which lasted about a second.

On the inside, I was basically the picture perfect GIF of a five-year-old doing a happy dance. I love connecting with you, our readers.

We are coming up on our fourth year of owning “The Shopper” and this past May we celebrated the third anniversary of “The Paper,” which we started as a “what to do, see and eat” publication. Our publications and our social media accounts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, make up Winters Media and Publishing, Inc. and give us a platform to help local businesses grow, market themselves and flourish.

We are a family-owned micro publishing house, specifically targeting Coweta County and other surrounding communities. Our team is incredible and does everything from writing, to posting stories on social media, to designing ads to getting our product off to the Post Office. Our columnists cover our favorite joints, the local music scene, what is trending in our area, recipes, chefs,  book clubs and others’ perspective on living life!

We don’t cover what is often referred to as “hard news.” We don’t have to and we like that.  Winters would say, “I have been there, done that for more than 35 years.” Our focus with both publications is to spotlight all that is good in our communities and everything we have right here at our fingertips.

I like to say, “Your business is our business and we want to help you grow your business and maintain long-term economic stability.”  Remember that what you spend here stays here. I don’t want to just sell you an ad, we want to help you grow your business and succeed.

So back to the “no hard news coverage.” We have chosen, however, to cover the COVID-19 pandemic. It has had such an impact on our community that we all agreed we needed to cover it – to keep people informed. So every day we do just that, writing up a very detailed story on hospitalizations, new infections and unfortunately, death as well.

The virus has impacted all of us in some way: shutting down businesses, delaying school, social distancing and so much more.

And it has had a huge impact on something very close to our hearts, local non-profit organizations. Most of our non-profits were birthed out of great loss and heartache. The  founders of these nonprofits stared adversity in the face and took bold actions to make long term change in the lives of others. They continue to do this during the pandemic and we are honored to help them as best we can.

Most non-profits have been forced to cancel their biggest fundraisers, which have a huge financial impact on them. They are now hosting “virtual events”  and our local communities are stepping up to help them continue to raise vital funding to do what they do best … helping others.

I hope I’ve shed a little more light on what we do and why we do it. And on behalf of all of us here at Winters Media and Publishing, we want to thank you for reading, reposting, sharing and picking up The Shopper and The Paper!

And as we travel through these uncharted territories of 2020, don’t be discouraged or grow weary of doing good. There is beauty all around you.  Wash your hands, wear a mask and stay safe my friends.