Envision Plan Act Track Adapt
Nevada County Online Business Strategies Group
Here is a 5 step social media marketing plan presentation I put together for my local business community. Feel free to share it with others by posting it on Facebook and re-tweeting it, etc. I would love your feedback and comments below. Thanks!
Chipolte Margarita in Austin Texas
Hware’s Top Picks: Some Old, Some New, Some May Surprise You.
As an online business training and coaching company, people often want to know where we go for our business resources and who we turn to for advice, tips, and strategies. While we have been offering business and technology consulting services for over 25 years, we believe in the importance of being students of life. That means that we never stop learning. We have a huge library of online resources, personalities, brands, and strategic organizations that we tap into daily and weekly. It was hard to narrow it down, but we finally came up with the BEST websites to help you build your small business. So grab your favorite drink and check out the top 15 websites that made the cut! Please leave your comments below and let us know what you think:
- Altimeter group: A research-based advisory firm. This is where I go to get a lot of data driven info on business strategies.
- Chris Brogan: If I had to pick one industry expert on social media and business. It would be Chris Brogan. His book, Trust Agents is a must-read!
- CopyBlogger: Copywriting tips for online marketing success. This site has a ton of valuable FREE resources and tips on blog writing.
- Gena Livings: For inspired living. My dear friend, Gena Livings is changing the world with her lifestyle modification services. Be sure to download her free e-book. It’s inspiring!
- Green Festivals: If you are a “Green” business who sells B2C, you cannot afford to not be an exhibitor at this event. Co-founded by my good friend, Kevin Danaher, Green Festivals is on the leading-edge of bringing all things “Green” to the mainstream. Four events are held throughout the year in Washington DC, Chicago, Seattle, and San Francisco. We have been attending since the first Green Festival and this event just keeps getting better every year, especially the after parties!
- Mashable: The most popular Social Media News blogs on the internet. Take your time absorbing the information, it can be overwhelming for newbies. You will want to bookmark a lot of the material and use it as a reference later.
- Michael Franti & Spearhead: (Okay, this has very little to do with growing your biz online, but I could not resist plugging my fave band. I fire up this music to keep me motivated and inspired for my biz.) As entrepreneurs, we all need music to keep us motivated, inspired, and happy! We LOVE to dance to Spearhead music! If you ever have the chance to see a live Michael Franti and Spearhead concert, you must GO! It’s life altering! What’s your favorite music that keeps you going?
- Mixergy: Andrew Warner interviews CEOs and Founders of successful companies . I love his in-depth questions of business leaders. He is young and bold and he asks really good questions. I love to go hiking on my property while listening to Mixergy interviews on my iPhone. I always learn something new from this twenty something year old.
- Read Write Web: This is a technology analysis news blog. I like referencing this site because while the focus is on technology, the writing is not filled with Geek and Coder jargon. It’s written for people like us ordinary folks.
- Seth Godin: One of the top marketers in the world. I have read many of his books and have had the opportunity to see him speak live. He has a way of making his point very succinctly.
- Small Biz Survival: A rural and small business resource blog. We live in a rural area in northern California, and while our business is internet and technology-based, we are nevertheless interested in what’s happening in small town businesses.
- Small Business Trends: An online news blog with a focus on small businesses trends and over 122,000 subscribers.
- Social Media Examiner: A guide to social media. This site has a lot of useful “How To” articles on social media, well written content and easy-to-understand.
- Triple Pundit: As many of you know, our personal lifestyle is oriented towards most things “Green” and “Sustainable.” We did build a straw bale home many years ago and enjoy living in it. Triple Pundit is a great online “Green” business news resource.
- Work Awesome: A resource for the worker on productivity, time management and all kinds of other awesome stuff. I recently found this site and I can’t say enough awesome things about it!
I hope you found great value in our top 15 BEST websites to help you grow your small business. We invite you to add some of your favorite small business websites too, even if it is your own and you feel it will help a small business owner. Don’t be shy! Go ahead and post!
Small Business & Entrepreneur Seminar
It Takes Time To Build Trust
It was a full house at the Nevada County Small Business and Entrepreneur Seminar where I had the privilege to speak on one of my favorite business topics —- Social Media! Online relationships are a lot like offline relationships. It takes time to build trust. People buy from people they know, like, and trust. The focus of my presentation was on social media and how to build online relationships. Here is a link to the short presentation.
Social Media Strategies For Beginners
I also gave this much longer presentation in a live webinar in September of 2009 where we had over 130 online attendees. While some of the material is outdated, most of the principals still apply.
Don't Underestimate the Power of Business Networking
Nevada County Small Business
About 10 years ago, my husband and I moved away from the big city lights (Bay Area) and settled in the Foothills of Northern California. Some of our friends thought we were out of our minds. They thought we’d be back after a few years of ‘nothing to do up there in those hills.’ All I can say is that we got LUCKY! Unbeknownst to us, we landed in a vibrant rural community filled with creative and diverse people. That is why I am excited to hang out with the local business community on Thursday June 24th at The Small Business Entrepreneur Seminar in Nevada County.
Increase Your Sales with Internet Marketing
I will have the privilege of presenting on the topic of “How to Increase Your Sales with Internet Marketing” at the half-day business conference. The bulk of my business is conducted online, but having the opportunity to present in person is always a treat for me. So for you locals, come out and join me and other business experts who will be teaching the latest strategies on growing your business online. Feel free to send me your internet marketing questions in advance at Brendah@hware.com and I will do my best to answer them on June 24th. Be sure to bring lots of business cards for some power networking too. Hope to see you there! Here are the details:
When: Thursday June 24th
Time: Registration 8:30 am. Seminar is from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm.
Where: Holiday Inn Grass Valley, CA
Cost: FREE
Sponsored by:
Nevada County New Business Network
Nevada County Economic Resource Council
SXSW is like Burning Man with Laptops and Bathrooms
I am attending SXSW for the first time this year. If you have never heard of SXSW, it is one of the largest film, music, and media conferences in the world. Held every year in March in Austin Texas, it’s been described as Burning Man with laptops and bathrooms. I am attending the interactive media segment, which lasts for five days. I am so excited to meet some of the business and social media bloggers, thought leaders, and best-selling technology authors I have been following for over eighteen months now. I am ecstatic to see and hear some of the key-note speakers like Ev Williams, CEO of Twitter. I feel like a kid riding my bike without my hands on the handle bar…HAPPY! For the last year and a half, I have immersed myself in social media, internet marketing, SEO, and learning online software tools, all for the purpose of growing my own company’s presence online. In my former life, I was an outside sales person. Today, I sit in front of a computer connecting with the online world. And, surprisingly I’ve realized that I have a knack for it. Perhaps that is why Hewlett Packard contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me to review their new HP iPAQ Glisten SmartPhone, which I am giving away on March 17th. Perhaps that is why oftentimes, I have to peel myself away from my computer, even though I have been in front of it for 16 hours. I know it sounds obsessive and unhealthy. I am working on finding that balance. But, the point is that who would have thought a non-techy gal like me has found LOVE and PASSION for internet technology! I have transitioned from an off-line business model to an online business model and now I am going to meet the very people whose content and guidance I have used to help me make that transistion.
What is Your ROI Formula for Attending Conferences?
There are literally a gazillion conferences to choose from and obviously a small business owner cannot attend every single one. So, how does a small business owner choose the best conference for their specific needs? It starts with the ROI (Return on Investment). Simply put, the ROI is the amount of time, money, resources, opportunity costs, you put into attending the event (which is the investment). After you add up all those expenses, costs, etc., you then subtract it from your return or your gain. Whatever amount is left is your ROI. Recently, I got into a fairly big discussion with my biz partner, Chuck on this very subject. He is the left-brain of our business and I am the right-brain. He wanted to tie the ROI of my time spent at SXSW to the sell of a product. I wanted to tie the ROI to the networking, relationship building, as well as the sell of a product. In other words, I should gain not only social equity from SXSW, but financial gain as well. In addition, that gain should be tied to a specific timeline. In a future post, I will give you specific examples of the ROI formula I used for attending SXSW. In the meantime, here is my question for you. How do you measure your ROI when attending conferences? I think it is hard to measure relationship building because you are not always sure how that relationship is going to evolve. The sell of a product or service is much easier to measure, but honestly, that’s never the main reason why I like to attend conferences. Everyone has their various reasons for attending a conference. Authors attend to promote their book. Speakers attend to gain more exposure. Companies attend to expand their brand. Attendees attend to learn, network, and build prospective strategic alliances. What are your reasons and how do you justify your investment? Please leave your comments on my post! Thanks!
Crush It
I just finished reading two books and they are filled with powerful reminders that strong business relationships matter and harnessing the power of social media is critical to cultivating those relationships. The first one is called “Crush It” by Gary Vaynerchuck. For those of you who have not heard of Gary, he has internet rock star fame. He grew his family’s local wine shop into a national industry leader using the power of social media. I highly recommend it to every entrepreneur who wants to grow their online brand. It’s fresh, authentic and a very fun read. I believe we are seeing the emergence of a new kind of entrepreneur in America and Gary Vaynerchuck is our poster boy.
Trust Agents
The second book is “Trust Agents” by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Chris was just recently named one of Forbes Web Celeb 25. Trust Agents offers incredible perspective on how to harness the power of social media by understanding that transparency and authenticity is powerful behavior in building your online presence. They write about being a “Human Artist” – someone who understands how to communicate with people in a real and thoughtful way.
Using the Power of the Internet
These two books, “Crush It” and “Trust Agents” should be the foundation to growing your business online. They are a must read for anyone who is serious about building your business by using the power of social media.
Here’s How YOU Can Win the Glisten SmartPhone! A $380 value.
Hewlett Packard has teamed up with Hware! Their representative contacted me (Brenda Horton) a few weeks ago and asked me if I’d be interested in reviewing their new iPAQ Glisten Smart Phone. After my review, I am going to give one AWAY! All you have to do to be eligible to win is sign up for Hware’s Demo on Social Media. When you click on the link it will take you to a page that will ask you for your name and e-mail address. By entering your name and e-mail address you will have a chance to win! And as an EXTRA BONUS, YOU will have access to our “Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business” Online Training Demo, which I highly recommend you take advantage of because it is filled with key strategies on how to use Twitter, Facebook and Blogging to grow your online presence. That’s it! It’s that simple!
Oh! Be sure to follow me (Brenda Horton) on Twitter closely and become a FAN on Hware’s Facebook Page as I tweet about the HP Glisten over the next 2 weeks. The contest ends on March 17th midnight Pacific Time. The winner will be announced on March 19th! The winner will be notified by e-mail and posted on Hware’s FAN page and Brenda’s Tweets! Applies to U.S. residents only.
Disclosure: Brenda Horton of Hware is not receiving any financial gain from Hewlett Packard and her review is strictly her own personal opinion of the SmartPhone.
I am a firm believer in selling through education. And, there is no better way to inform and educate your customers than through blogging. That is why I have invited a few entrepreneurs over the course of the next few weeks to share with Hware’s readers how they are using their blog to expand their online reach to attract more customers. You will find that you don’t need to be a Chris Brogan or Seth Godin in the blogosphere to be a success. You just need to take the first step. We would love to hear what steps you are taking to start your blog if you have not started one already. What are some of your fears or concerns about blogging? If you are an experienced blogger, feel free to jump in and share your advice. We are all here to learn from one another. Please share your thoughts with us. ~ Brenda Horton, President of Hware
This is a guest blog post from Mary Anne Davis, a jewelry designer of Madison Design Jewelry
The beauty of internet-driven marketing tools is they are very inexpensive (often free) to utilize in helping build our businesses. I am launching my jewelry business on a very tight budget. What started as a hobby quickly turned into a business — it still surprises me when people want to buy my handmade earrings or necklaces. So how do I use the internet and social media to market my jewelry? I have a Facebook “fan” page for Madison Designs Jewelry, where I post my blogs and an occasional message to my fans about a new design, or a “special sale for fans only”. Because I’m trying to be careful not to over-sell, I keep my blog postings to once or twice a week. I think a good rule of thumb (for me) is to market 25% of the time I post, blog, or tweet.
I spent some time thinking about what to write in my blog that wasn’t just a huge “buy my jewelry” message. I came up with what I think is the perfect balance — blogging about a different gem stone each time. I tell the folklore about a particular stone, and keep it strictly informational. Of course the photo I use depicting that particular stone is something I’ve made and is available on my website. But other than that, it’s not a big “buy me” message, and I have had people respond well to that.
I recently started using Twitter (www.twitter.com/maryannedavisnc) where I post my blogs with the gem stone stories, but I also comment on other tweets and other things I do. I purposely did not put the name of my jewelry company into the Twitter account title because I didn’t want it to limit what I could talk about. I am also a photographer and occasionally like to post about that as well. (To view some of my photos, www.maryanne.imagekind.com). Having my name as the title keeps my options open.
You don’t have to have 25 years of marketing experience to use the social media to your advantage. There are some great experts out there who can help guide you through the sometimes confusing technology. None of us have to do everything ourselves — the best entrepreneurs are the ones who capitalize on their strengths and outsource everything else.
See Mary Anne’s blog at www.maryannedavisjewelry.blogspot.com
Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business
As a courtesy to Hware’s blog readers, we want to hip you to our popular online self-paced video training series called, Getting Started with Social Media for Small Business. Go ahead and try the Demo! It’s FREE!
Get Started Now with Free Demo!
No software to download. No Dvd to install.
5 Reasons You Should Check Out Hware’s FREE DEMO on Social Media:
1. You cannot afford to waste another moment while your competitors are using social media to grow their business.
2. You are frustrated and overwhelmed with understanding how to use social media to grow your business.
3. You want to learn specific key strategies and methods to using social media to sell more of your products and services online.
4. You want to harness the power of Twitter (fastest growing social networking site), Facebook (400 million users), and Blogging (powerful tool to communicate with your customers) to generate more sales and revenue.
5. Social media is the cheapest and fastest way to connect with your customers online and you want to learn the tools, tactics, and strategies to build a trusting long-term loyal customer base who refer more customers to you.
Are you already using social media to grow your online presence? Feel free to share with us how you are using it to grow your business online.
As an online business training and software company, we often get a lot of small business owners who come to us asking to help them grow their business online.
So I have put together 7 tips on creating an online presence for entrepreneurs:
1. Have a long term perspective about your brand. Word travels fast on the internet so be intentional about your activities online.
2. Do some market research. Find out where your customers are hanging out online and start contributing to the conversation using social media. If the majority of them are on Facebook, then start networking with them on Facebook. The point is to be highly targeted when connecting with your prospective customers online. Otherwise, you can easily waste a lot of time.
3. Put a simple marketing plan together. Putting your intentions to the written word is a powerful exercise that will help you achieve your goals. Be sure to include an action plan. Keep it simple by writing out who is responsible for what by when.
4. Play to your strengths. The point here is to keep it simple by doing what you are good at. Don’t make it so hard on yourself. If you are great at writing, then start a blog. If you are great at speaking, then start vlogging (video blog). Start with one thing that you are good at and then incorporate another thing once you’ve got the first one down.
5. Join industry groups online. There are a gazillion like-minded groups and industry associations on the internet. Check out what your industry is doing online and be sure to connect and network with your colleagues. You never know when a collaboration can turn into something that is mutually benefitting.
6. Track your results. By measuring the outcome of your actions you will see where you need to make improvements to get the results you are looking for. There are a ton of measurement tools on the internet to track your web traffic. Google analytics is a good place to start.
