Envision Plan Act Track Adapt

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!

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

Sierra Commons

Nevada County Economic Resource Council

Hware

Rural Nevada County in Northern California

Unless They Are Integrated Into the Business Plan

A few days ago I attended a town hall meeting  in my rural community hosted by the local Chamber of Commerce. The purpose was to get feedback from local businesses so that the chamber can formulate a strategic plan. It was a ‘gather-the-information’ type of meeting.  I am not a member of the local chamber and I must confess that I am not involved with our local business community as much as I would like to. Mainly because my own business (Hware) has more of an e-commerce focus and I live/work about 30 minutes from the downtown business area.  However, I happened to be in town before the meeting and the topic was of particular interest to me, so I stopped by and joined the two hour session.  It was a room filled to capacity with many concerned small business owners.

Social Media is One Piece of a Marketing Model

Frankly, I don’t know much about the folks running the chamber or the board of directors, but I do know this. Business as we have come to know it has CHANGED! Technology has always led the way in changing the way we do business. The personal computer revolutionized our business world as did the internet. The current technology revolution is social media. Social media tools are mostly FREE today. There is however, speculation that FREE may no longer be. What is key to the success of the chamber, among many other things, is a social media plan that is cohesively tied to the chamber’s business plan and integrated into their strategic plan. Strategic planning is extremely useful for long-term goals, however the problem with most strategic plans is that once they are done, they tend to get shelved and rarely referenced. That is why it is critical to integrate a strategic plan into a business plan and then show details how the marketing model, revenue model, operations model, etc., supports those plans. Social media falls under the category of marketing. The chamber is the voice of the local business community. It is there to serve the local business community and it should do so with the use of the latest and most cost effective technology tools.

A Basic Social Media Plan For the Chamber Should Include the Following:

• A blog, which is the hub of an online presence
• Put out a blog post a minimum of once  a week
• Presence on major social networking platforms, i.e., Facebook, Twitter, YouTube
• Allow for members to comment and post on those platforms
• Create a membership site for forums and discussions
• Have an intermediate level of understanding of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) for internet marketing
• Allow for members to post videos about their business on Chamber website and Chamber social networking platforms
• Weekly vlog (video blogging)
• Ongoing education and training for members on how to use the latest technology tools
• Annual Business Technology Conference for small business

Businesses and Organizations Are Much Like Technologies

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has been in existence for almost 100 years. It’s hard to adapt when you are used to doing things a certain way for a long time. Change can be scary and yet it can be a good thing. Hosting a town hall meeting is a step in the right direction for the local chamber. Yesterday’s technologies were the PC and the internet. Today it is social media and internet marketing. Tomorrow will most likely be mobile and geo-location technologies. Businesses and organizations are much like technologies. They are dynamic and ever changing. They go through phases. Some survive, some thrive, while others are put to rest. They get birthed, mature, change, merge, or take on the appearance of a dinasour. What is most obvious in today’s economy is that many small business owners are hanging on like a cat on a tin roof. Many resources are needed. Here are a few online sources as well as Nevada County Business sources that I hope you find useful. Feel free to add additional resources in the comments section.

• Sierra Commons (Nevada County Business incubator and co-working community)
• Nevada County Economic Resource Council
• Intuit (The Small Business United Blog)
• Small Biz Survival (A business blog for rural communities)
• Social Media Examiner (A guide to Social Media)
• Hubspot (Free online training for internet marketing)
• Nevada County New Business Network (Facebook Group)
• The Exchange (Facebook Biz Group for Western Nevada County)

SXSW Networking Rocks

As I mentioned in my last post, I am a self-described Technophobe-turned-Technolovah. It’s the social media stuff that I really love. My business partner is the real Techie, (not to take anything away from us power-users.) I am just coming off the high from all the incredible people I met at South by Southwest a few weeks ago!  I can’t remember the last time I got so jazzed about attending a business related conference. While the lectures and panels were organized and structured, it was the impromptu networking where I found the most value. It felt like all the top social media thought leaders, passionate technology lovers, and creative business minds came together to play and I was invited to play too.

The Movers and Shakers at SXSW

I got  to meet the ever polite Darren Rowes of ProBlogger, a great resource for blogging tips. I chatted with Lewis Howes, who has an e-book on advanced strategies on LinkedIn at LinkedIn Marketing. I bumped into David Meerman Scott in the blogger’s lounge, author of  The New Rules of Marketing & PR. I also connected with Brian Clark of CopyBlogger at a TweetUp. In addition, I met up with Becky McCray of Small Biz Survival and Erica Douglass of Erica.Biz. There were hundreds of movers and shakers at SXSW and most of them were incredibly accessible and genuinely engaging.

Vandalism Strikes during SXSW

I had the privilege of interviewing all these bright social media experts, which I had planned on posting the videos here on Hware’s blog site. Unfortunately, my FLIP video camera was stolen from our car while parked near Town Lake before I could transfer the interviews to my computer. I am currently working on rescheduling virtual interviews with all of them.

The Conversations at SXSW

I also met Guy Kawasaki  of  AllTop, Brian Solis, author of Engage, Erik Qualman, creator of the overwhelmingly popular YouTube video,  SocialNomics, Gary Vaynerchuck of WineLibraryTv.com and one of my all-time favorites, Jason Fried of  37 Signals, whose book, Rework, I just finished reading. I attended a “Women Who Love Tech” MeetUp in the Consciousness Lounge and hung out with other Geeky Gals. There were also some fascinating technology startups, whose founders were contagiously energetic and refreshing. I loved the vibe they brought to the conference. One startup that really caught my attention was Trenspot.com, a website that tracks trending topics on popular websites. What a wicked marketing tool, I thought. There were also some very cool social networking app companies like FourSquare, which many seemed to be using at SXSW. And, there was NutshellMail, and Foodspotting, which were finalists at the Microsoft Biz Spark Accelerator event.

More Photos of SXSW

I see why SXSW has been described as Burning Man with laptops and toilets. In spite of the misfortune of my FLIP being stolen, I had an incredibly positive experience at SXSW.  Whether it was the parties, MeetUps, TweetUps, hallways, blogger’s lounge, exhibitors show room, or restaurants, there was always someone interesting to meet. At SXSW, you never know when you are going to bump into the CEO of Twitter and strike up a conversation with him (you can read about it on my previous post.) Here are some photos I took from SXSW! I am already looking forward to returning again next year! How bout you? Are you coming? Let’s connect!

Twitter is the Reason I Fell In Love with Technology

I LOVE smart men! I married one 13 years ago. We’ve been together for almost 20 years now. While at the  South By Southwest Interactive Media conference in Austin Texas, I was surrounded by thousands of cool, smart and geeky men. By far they outnumbered the female attendees. And, being that my husband is also my business partner, I felt right at home networking with these hip, creative, and gadget-loving guys. So naturally, when I saw Ev Williams, CEO of Twitter walking by me on Congress Avenue, it felt effortless for me to introduce myself to him. After all, Twitter is the reason I fell in love with technology, the internet, social media, video blogging, and the online world of social networking.  Prior to Twitter, my usage of the internet involved buying airline tickets a few times a year and an occasional book purchase from Amazon. Okay, I used my computer a bit more than that. The point is that Twitter radically changed the way I interact with technology, my computer, and the internet. One October day in 2008 I attended BizTechDay, a conference in San Francisco and everyone was talking about Twitter, blogging, WordPress, and social media. These buzz words were practically in every conversation during the break-out sessions and lectures. When I heard people talk about how they were experimenting with Twitter to grow their business, I focused in more intently. The ease and simplicity of it immediately intrigued me. Online business networking was something I could definitely wrap my brain around and Twitter seemed to be the technology tool to help me get started.

Top 7 Reasons why I LOVE Twitter

Fast-forward eighteen months later and here I am, a social media power user, small business blogger, technophobe-turned-technolovah! It was great chatting with Ev. I thanked him for bringing Twitter to market. I use it everyday for business and cannot imagine working without it. Here our my TOP 7 reasons why I LOVE Twitter so much:

1. I can link my favorite blogger’s posts to Twitter and share it with my followers. I use a tool called Twitterfeed
2. Anyone can easily find me on Twitter and instantly get a sense if they want to follow me or not and vice-versa
3. Real time updates and trending topics (faster than Google)
4. Can tweet from my SmartPhone
5. Share photos
6. Brevity (only 140 characters)
7. Have access to brilliant people from all over the world

Twitter is a very powerful tool. It can be used as a marketing tool, a relationship builder, and connector tool. There were business tools before Twitter and there will be business tools after Twitter. Chuck, my biz partner likes to remind me that before Twitter, there were Bulletin Boards. Any Geeks out there remember the Bulletin Boards in the 80s? How about you? If you are a Twitter Lover, what are some of your favorite reasons for using Twitter? How are you using Twitter to grow your business? If you are not using Twitter for business, why not?  Please share your comments. In my next post, I will write about my full experience at South By Southwest.

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.

Mary Anne Davis

Nevada City, CA, United States

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.

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