THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Wednesday, February 22, 1995           TAG: 9502210070
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN    PAGE: 06   EDITION: FINAL 
SOURCE: BY ALLISON T. WILLIAMS, STAFF WRITER 
DATELINE: CARROLLTON                         LENGTH: Medium:   52 lines

POND PRODUCTIONS BEGINS MARKETING THE FIRM OFFERS A WIDE RANGE OF SERVICES TO BUSINESSES.

Dianne J. Pond wants to turn up the heat and bring business to a hearty boil in Isle of Wight County.

``Many of my customers are business owners who tend to get so involved in running the daily operations of their businesses that marketing projects end up sitting on a back burner,'' says the owner of Pond Productions, a new marketing communications firm in Carrollton. ``Marketing creates a lot of opportunities for businesses to grow.''

Pond is a former newspaper advertising representative, and she opened Pond Productions in her Carisbrooke home last fall after she and her husband, George, returned to the county after living in Alaska for three years.

Her two decades of marketing experience are reflected in the myriad of services offered by Pond Productions: coordinating trade shows; writing, designing and producing employee newsletters, brochures and other promotional material; creating logos; and writing copy for television and radio advertisements.

Before moving to Fairbanks, Alaska, where she sold newspaper advertising, the Churchland native was marketing and sales coordinator at Smithfield Station. Its owner, Ron Pack, credits Pond with significantly increasing the budding resort's weekend hotel business through her marketing and public-awareness campaigns and weekend promotional packages.

Although most of Pond's clients are businesses, she also works with individual clients such as politicians or people updating their resumes.

``I am hoping to get most of my customers from right here in Isle of Wight County and Smithfield,'' Pond said in a recent interview. ``Having them so accessible will make it easier for me to be more responsive for them.''

Pond Productions charges $30 an hour for all services. However, if she spends more than 15 hours working on a single project, she will give the customer a small discount.

Pack says Pond Productions fills a void in the county.

``Most people don't have Dianne's expertise to market their own businesses. It used to be you had to go to a major advertising firm to get what Dianne can now provide local businesses. But why not spend the money in the community instead of somewhere else?'' ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by MICHAEL KESTNER

Dianne Pond has opened the marketing communications firm in

Carrollton.

by CNB