Announcing: Coworking and Networking Days in Philly!

Finding The Relevance of the GCECS/Innovation Philadelphia Conference

The Global Creative Economy Convergence Summit was not only a mouthful to say but an earful of information.  From workshops to panel presentations to pecha kucha slide shows one could gain insight on just about any topic closely related to the creative workforce.  Both Emily and I were glad to be a part of this convergence summit on October 5^th & 6^th, 2009, and pleased with what we got out of it.

Day one started off with a welcome by Kelly Lee, President of Innovation Philadelphia, and was followed by an interesting breakfast talk by Elizabeth Gilbert.  We all know her from her famous book, Eat Pray Love, but few of us knew (before this week) about the next book she is putting out early 2010 about marriage!  Yup, you guessed it with whom she got remarried to!  Elizabeth told us of her life and dreams and inspired us to find our creativity in ours.

Entrepreneur’s Entourage gave a Social Media workshop following the breakfast keynote.  We expected a much different crowd, and not knowing anything about our participants’ backgrounds, nor how many were planning on attending, we decided to be creative in our presentation to better meet the needs of our participants.  Our workshop introduced effective ways to build any social media campaign and then turned it into a Q&A/Discussion.  We found that many people had specific questions about their current practices and wanted feedback on how to do it all better.  I am so thankful that our web guru Mary was presenting with me to help answer the dozens of questions.  All in all I think we helped a ton of people understand how to run their campaign with differentiation, relevance, efficiency and quality.

Later that afternoon Emily, Founder of Entrepreneur’s Entourage, sat on a panel discussing alternative workspaces.  Many participants here were interested in the co-working buzz and how to find ways to make their office use some of the alternative practices to save money and go green.  Emily talked a lot about industries that are ideal candidates for outsourcing and the benefits of using virtual professionals.  Her other fellow panelists included David Walker, who runs a co-working space in Austin, Todd Sundsted, a manager of Shift101, and Nathan Gasser, Founder of Rock River Star.

The second day of the event was kicked off, rather abruptly, but the one and only Peter Shankman.  He was his usual entertaining self and focused on the importance of relevance in a social media campaign and how to effectively market your business.   Other great sessions throughout the event were delivered by Jane McGonigal, via Skype, all about the use of gaming to optimize human ability (which was really fascinating); Gloria Bell, Hajj Flemings and Melinda Emerson on growing your creative passion; and Emily Morgan on taking your office virtual and the green benefits.  You can see that presentation at: http://watchuslaunch.com

The opportunities for networking each night of this 2-day event felt rushed.  We had so many contacts lined up to speak with and ended up speaking to only 1 each night!  Just one!  But, that one conversation each night was fun, insightful and meaningful.  We thank David Walker of Conjunctured and Melinda Emerson, the small biz lady, for their time and open discussions about business growth and networking!

Innovation Philadelphia hosted a great event and brought together some very talented entrepreneurs and professionals as speakers, sponsors, attendees and volunteers.  We look forward to working with them again in the future.  We also look forward to following up with everyone who attended our sessions and provided us with such great feedback and support.

Why we LOVE Google!

I am not ashamed to admit that I have an obsession with Google and all of their fantastic products.  I run my businesses through Google, and everyone on my immediate team must have a google account.  Whenever we bring on new clients, I encourage them to make the switch to gmail, and find myself continually dishing out the details on why we love it so much.  So here, in one place, let me lay it all out.

Gmail.  This entire post will be dedicated just to gmail and it’s amazingly user-friendly and smart functionality (maybe we’ll cover other products like Cal and Docs in another post!).  If you are not currently using gmail to manage your email, you are missing out and most likely wasting time.  From a functional standpoint, perhaps the best feature of gmail is it’s email threading.  Never again will you need to scour through email chains to find responses.  Gmail appends one email to the next, so long as the subject remains the same.  This key feature keeps your correspondence neat, tidy and accessible.  And when in doubt, gmail has it’s own google search box at the top for a detailed search of your mailboxes.

In a close second would have to be gmail chat– including v-chat- gmail’s own video chat.  We use g-chat literally all day long to communicate.  It makes working independently much more interactive.  Everyone on the team knows that they can always reach me on g-chat, since my gmail is always open!  They recently introduced gmail video chat- which allows you to video chat with other gmail users.  This came in very handy this past summer when I was in Maine and my son in NJ!  We were able to see and talk to eachother at the push of a button!

So without overly obsessing on gmail, let me just mention a few more key (and mucho useful!) features- most of which you’ll need to manually add through your settings.

• (1) To do lists- this is a new addition.  Take your emails and with one click, add them to your to do list, which you can then add comments to,  and sync to your google cal!
• (2) Labels- gmail’s answer to folders.  Tag emails with as many labels as you like.  With one click, find all the emails under that particular label.  Want it out of your inbox, just archive it!  It takes some getting used to if you are coming from a folder system, but you will see the beauty of it when you can label one email with multiple relevant labels rather than sticking them in just one folder!
• (3)  Multiple identities- Add other email addresses (just about any email will work- hotmail, yahoo, work emails, etc) to your gmail account to send messages, receive messages, forward messages.  This is a key feature that allows me to keep one inbox with multiple aliases for multiple clients!
• (4) Attachment reminders- Seriously it is smart enough to know that if you mention an attachment in your email and actually forget to attach it,  gmail will remind you before you can send it!
• (5) And last but not least- gmail has an UNDO feature!  Oh yeah… sent out an email that was totally sent to the wrong person, or said something you had second thoughts about?  Right after you hit send, gmail gives you a few seconds to literally undo your msg, as though it was never sent- lifesaver!

Now I’m not saying you need to be as obsessed with gmail as I/we are, but Google definitely deserves some love for this amazingly useful product and their commitment to developing fabulous new tools to make it even cooler!

Feelin the love… Emily

Blog, Blogging, Video Blogging – How much is enough?

Social Media is all the rage right now, and rightfully so.  Where else can you tap into your target market, share your content, and even get their feedback?  One of the other big draws to social marketing is the affordability.  One aspect of social media that is often overlooked is blogging.  Blogging is creating posts online, relating to a specific subject, your business, your passion, your hobby, or just what you happen to see that day walking to work.  There is no right or wrong answer about what to post, as long as you keep it clean and are sharing relevant information.

Did you know that it is National Blog Posting Month?  Of course you did because you are in touch with the latest trends and have your pulse on the social market.  And if you didn’t know about NaBloPoMo09 then don’t think your career is doomed, just get involved with the internet and become active in social media campaigns, namely blogging!  Blogging is also good for the environment, it saves trees, it lets you share your thoughts with your target market in a non-intimidating manner, and it is low cost.

In case you are not a blogger, here are some more reasons for you to become a believer.  Blogging helps improve your search engine rankings through easy to implement SEO, increases your customer base, and gets your name and brand out there to your target market.  Blogging is just journaling online and can live on a variety of free and inexpensive hosting sites once you figure out a catchy domain name for your blog!  This blog becomes your first image and your web page to promote your brand.

If you are running a blog, good for you!  Share it with us in your comments and we will take a peek and hopefully learn some new information or at least have a good read!  Do you have a good audience for your blog?  While we are proud of you for getting your thoughts and ideas out there, how effective is your time being spent if no one is listening?  Marketing, email campaigns, and building an audience is an essential part of your social media, namely blogging, campaign.

Have you thought about video blogging?  Vlogs are more involved that posting a video of you talking on your website.  A Vlog is more along the lines of a video journal or a video post as just another way to share your information.  You can vlog on anything you can blog on; for example we vlogged about the launch of our business!  I can’t tell you how many takes we did some days and how much fun we had documenting this process in such a unique way.  It sure beat coming home after a long business development day and feeling obligated to write a long blog post.  Check it out if you want some good insight as well as some good laughs!  http://www.watchuslaunch.com

At the end of the day, blogging and vlogs are just good business practice.  Take a moment to set yours up, talk to a friend, or call us to make it happen.  As long as the content is relevant and interesting keep on posting!

What is a “Virtual Professional?”

Times are changing in our Virtual industry! With more and more highly skilled people out of work, and the concept of virtual work environments becoming more widely accepted; it’s a natural progression within our economy to blend the two into a new hybrid, now termed the “Virtual Professional.”

A Virtual Professional can essentially be described as any creative or technically-skilled professional performing services remotely. Because the terminology is so new, it’s not surprising that we are writing the definition in real-time. Here’s a breakdown of some of the most active VPs within this growing industry:

• Graphic Designers
• Web Designers
• Copywriters
• Bookkeepers
• Business Consultants
• Social Media experts
• Online Marketers
• Public Relations Reps
• Sales Reps

Let’s face it, Going Virtual is a greening, cost-effective option for companies and a freeing, results-only work environment for employees or freelancers. Entrepreneurs with little or no office space can effectively partner with VPs to launch new products, start-up a side business or build out an existing business.  In Corporate America, even large companies like Best Buy, IBM and AT&T have a reported 40% of their workforce working “remotely.” Couple that massive acceptance of virtual office arrangements with a floundering economy and talented employees looking to create some sense of stability in their lives, and you have set the stage for the emergence of Virtual Professionals.

What the heck is a Vlog and why do I need one in my biz?

Video Blogs, also known as vlogs, are entries that are primarily composted of embedded video or video links rather than text. Vlogs are taking on almost any topic imaginable from documenting research, to delivering news, to sharing a special moment. Video Blogs have been around for almost a decade, but it was just in the last couple of years that they have become an accepted form of marketing and communication. Vlogging started gaining momentum in 2005-2006 with the launch of YouTube and then the creation of the first annual video blogging awards – the Vloggies in November of 2006!

And the users of video blogging might surprise you. While all vlogs are experimental, some have a little further reach than others. Politicians are hosting their own vlogs to share information and answer questions. Radio and TV shows are using video blogs to interact with more listeners and viewers. Even iTunes allows you to upload video through their podcasts!   Check out a sample here:

There are many sites to host your video blog. If you already have a blog check there first, as almost all allow video uploads. Some good sites for hosting a blog as well as a video blog are WordPress, Blogger, and Typepad. If you are launching with just a vlog then look into a video hosting site.  Sites like WordPress have specific video themes (skins) that you can purchase to kick up your vlog.  We went with a Woo Theme, “Groovy” to host our vlog, www.watchuslaunch.com.  Install some google analytics and you’re good to go!

Tip:  To shoot easy video for your vlog, check out a Flip Cam- available at Best Buy, etc for around $100!  This cool, palm-sized camera has a built in USB port that snaps right into your computer.  Just shoot, flip and upload it right to your YouTube account.  And it even comes in cool colors like pink, orange and green, so you can fully personalize your vlogging experience!

Getting your message out there: Whether you want to share your birthday party video with your sister, show a new product about to be released to your end users, or just give some insight into starting a business (www.watchuslaunch.com) you have to promote and market your vlog. Social media tools are an excellent grass roots campaign starter. Depending on the scope of your reach you may just want to keep the videos public on YouTube and promote them within your industry circle. Either way, using RSS allows others to subscribe to your site or have your content feed into their reader. This is simple if you have an existing blog that you can add your video to. Record yourself, post it, and share it! We hope to hear about more of your joining the video blogging world!

Email Marketing Service Comparison

Entrepreneurs whether online or brick and mortar all look to email as a crucial piece of their marketing campaigns.  There are several great providers out there with a proven track record of delivery success and customer satisfaction.  When you’re looking to initiate your next email marketing blitz, you may struggle with the decision of which company to use.  Here’s a breakdown of the top two programs that we recommend and the differences between them:

Constant Contact

Pros: Super-simple contact management and email creation, customizable autoresponders.  Great customer support team!

Pricing: Free 60 day trial, $15/mo for up to 500 contacts, pricing increases per number of contacts.

Offers: Over 300 fully customizable HTML email templates for newsletters, announcements, cards, promos, surveys.

List Mgmt: Sign up box which can be added to your website, ability to easily import/ upload your contacts into segmented lists, a useful unsubscribe comment box.  Real-time open and click tracking, above-average inbox delivery rate.

Cons: Because you can easily upload your contact list into their system, your list may not be as clean as with other email programs that may require subscribers to re-opt-in to confirm interest.

AWeber

Pros: Small, dedicated team of developers, mandatory verifying opt-in helps you build a stronger list, and they take spam seriously!

Pricing: Free trial, $19/mo for up to 500 contacts, pricing increases per number of contacts.

Offers: In addition to email marketing, analytics and autoresponders, AWeber also offers website sign-up forms with split-test forms that let you test which headlines get the best response, the ability to send subscribers to any page on your website, or create hover pop-up forms.  Over 100 html templates to choose from, split test messages (to track which gets the best results), blog newsletters, and autoresponders with download delivery.  Integrated shopping cart capability.

List Mgmt: Zero spam policy, automatically processes unsubscribes and undeliverable addresses, detailed web analytics, verified list opt-in.

Cons: A third  of the amount of selection in templates and while the required opt-in will eventually give you a stronger list, initially it could be tough for some to see their mailing list numbers deplete!

Our Recommendation:

If you are just looking for a simple way to manage your mailing list, and deliver a clean newsletter or html email to your subscribers, Constant Contact will give you the results you need.  If you are looking to get technical, possibly integrate lots of shopping cart/ ecommerce functions eventually, and work to build out a streamlined list, consider AWeber for its additional features and stricter opt-in rules.  If you only have a small list and want to send a beautiful html (simple, no coding required!) emails, check out MailChimp which is free if you send to under 100 recipients a max of 6x per month.

The Basics of Social Marketing – Is it Meaningful?

Social Marketing through social media is a hot buzz word right now, but it actually has some weight to it, so it is time you put together your social marketing campaign. There are a plethora of social media outlets to tap into, but for this free marketing to pay off and grow your business you need to focus your efforts on what is meaningful. Here are just the basics to consider when planning your campaign.

Twittering can be fun as well as lead generating! Twitter is essentially mobile blogging and an easy way to share thoughts while keeping up with fellow enthusiasts, industry professionals and friends. Be leery of the proposals to grow your followers to 10,000 with one easy step. Do you really want that many followers? Is it meaningful? http://twitter.com/EntrepEntourage

Facebook is the next generation of Myspace. Facebook allows you to create a business page, let others comment on it, find old friends, make new friends, and send group emails. Facebook needs special attention to not become a sales tool. It will be more meaningful as a marketing tool. http://www.facebook.com/people/Cheryl-Lever-Amaya/1587900093

LinkedIn should also be a part of your social marketing campaign. This site is strictly professional and great for networking with specific target markets. Use LinkedIn for press release circulation, Q&A from industry specific groups, and as a place for meaningful professional associations. http://www.linkedin.com/in/cherylamaya

Blogging lets the world know your thoughts, your actions and your intentions. It is a great way to get your name circulated to establish your brand. Blogs can feed into almost any social media site. Video blogging is also starting to break ground; even Barnes & Noble are video blogging to give you the experience of chatting with a knowledgeable bookseller on the Internet!

Yelp is a user-generated review site for all businesses and services and is organized by geographic location. You, your family, your neighbors, your friends, and your customers need to Yelp about your business. Not only is this a great social marketing tool and a way for potential customers to find your products and services, but it also is a free tool to get feedback and constructive criticism without having to ask for it! Absolutely meaningful.

Keep Connected!

Entrepreneur’s Entourage: Customize * Strategize * Organize * Realize

Next Social Media update: Tools to use to make your social updates more productive.

« Previous Page