I like to stop in at the Montgomery Friends Farmers Market, Saturday mornings at the Village Shoppes, just down the road from me. As I was chatting with my longtime friend, Lorette Prudden, I found a young entrepreneurial journalist, Daniel Feng, pitching his magazine to Prudden, who runs the market, asking if he could sell a student-run magazine there.

Prudden knows that I retired long ago, but she introduced us on the off chance I could offer encouragement or advice. The advice that I could come up with ‘on the spot’ to a middle schooler: “Stay curious. Listen and then ask more questions.”

ChitChat magazine, Daniel explained, is a student-run magazine dedicated to the promotion and appreciation of Chinese culture — events, holidays, and everyday life — in the greater Princeton Area.  This bilingual magazine has been printed in both Chinese and English and both the hard copy and the website look snazzy. Editors can be reached at chitchatmagazine2019@gmail.com.

Prudden knows a thing or two about marketing. Running the farmer’s market is a sideline to her small business consulting group, Team Nimbus. Some of her tips can be found in her book Formerly Corporate, and here are some easily accessible ones from her blog titled Summer Marketing.

“Summer is short,” Pruden reminds us. “Don’t overthink this! The key to success lies in infusing your marketing efforts with the spirit of summer!”