9 Comments Posted in Advertising, Marketing, microblogging, relationship, small business, social networking, Social Strategy, twitter April 30, 2009

#1 Reason Why Small Biz Should Use Social Media

Catchy title huh? :-)

There has been plenty of talk from social media and small business consultants about the importance of fusing traditional networking with online “social” networking. It is one of the more important things you can do as a business development head or owner of a small to mid-sized business.

Networking has always been at the core of sales for small business owners. Since starting my company two years ago… networking (both online and offline) have driven business to my firm…But do you know what released the flood gates?

Combining my offline networking with my online networking.

John Jantsch hit the nail on the head when he said in his recent post about becoming a social company:

“(social) firms are much easier to refer because they are more

… Read more

9 Comments Posted in branding, Corporate Strategy, Marketing, Reputation Management, small business April 30, 2009

5 Quick Tools for Listening in on Social Media

I had the pleasure of speaking on a panel last weekend for the Hoosier Chapter of the PRSA’s Social Media Bootcamp. There was quite a bit of talk around tracking your brand through conversations online. How do you you track your brand online? How do you keep up with the mass of people joinging into the conversation? And the most important thing of all… how do you do it cost effectively and easily. 

There is a specific company (Radian6) that we talked about on the panel because of their UNBELIEVABLY cool tools for tracking and monitoring brands online. There is of course a cost involved for the Radian6 product. If you have any questions be sure to contact Amber Naslund on Twitter (@ambercadabra). But knowing Radian6… she has … Read more

5 Comments Posted in social media April 28, 2009

A Brilliant Social Media Presentation

I stumbled across this presentation from Seth Goldstein on Slideshare while doing some research. This is something that is extremely well designed, informative, and fun.

Social Media Stories

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7 Comments Posted in blogging, corporate blogging, Corporate Strategy, customer service, innovation, productivity, Social Media Community, Social Strategy April 28, 2009

Is Your Goal Growth? Empower your Employees with Social Media.

I mentioned in a previous post that I have been reading Seth Godin‘s book Free Prize Inside for a… I think… fourth time.  In the beginning of the book is a quote that I have underlined another four times: 

“If your goal is growth, marketing is all that matters–and everything you do is now part of marketing… Every product and every service can be made remarkable. And anyone in your organization can make it happen!” (pg. 8)

This excerpt from the book hit me pretty hard when it comes to online marketing and using social media. The concept of EVERYTHING you possibly do in your company (both large and small) being connected to marketing is still an idea that is buried. I still have conversations with corporate employees or … Read more

4 Comments Posted in Guest Post April 27, 2009

If You Want the Party Favors, You’ve Got to Go to the Party

Paula Werne is old enough to remember going to a friend’s house to see one of those new fangled color TV sets. She has been Twittering since before it was cool. As Director of Public Relations at Holiday World & Splashin’ Safari in Santa Claus, Indiana, since 1991, she started the first park-hosted blog and microblog.

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A few months ago I took part in a social media panel speaking to members of the hospitality industry. A few minutes into my portion, a hand in the audience shot up. Its owner demanded to know, “What’s the ROI in all of this?!”

Good question, but…how the heck should I know?!

No, I didn’t really say that. (Heckling your audience is rarely a good idea.) It was a good question though, … Read more