Ideas To Deals

"Dispelling Myths and Fears of Using Social Media in Business"

The Ohio Web Leaders or OWL was held December 18 at the offices of the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Columbus State Community College and it was a fantastic meeting. Brian Link of BE Interactive Consulting (a recent VP of Technology from Digg.com), Nick Seguin, a strategist from dynamIt Technologies, and Angela Siefer, owner of Shiny Door, a Social Media training consultancy delivered an interactive presentation on "Dispelling Myths and Fears of Using Social Media in Business" (below you will find the presentation from the meeting). The crowd of over 60 attendees discussed the pros and cons of using social media for business The conversations were active both live and over Twitter. I saw over Twitter that Mark Henson of Sparkspace missed the event but felt he picked up some key points from the on-line activity that was probably heavier than any previous meeting.

What struck me was that companies need to realize that social media is not a fad. It is not just kids on MySpace or Facebook, it has gone mainstream. People are talking and you should be part of that conversation. Company executives often do not get social media. They don’t realize social media should be an integrated component of the overall marketing strategy. Senior management may view social media as campaign oriented but it is not, it is a longer term play designed to maximize “Return On Influence”. To succeed companies that want to utilize social media need to be set up for two-way communication. Realize that your brand is real. Build relationships with your customers and communicate in a transparent way…deal with both good and bad feedback. In addition to specific social media strategies be transparent with employees and allow them to talk to your customers or others through their social media channels. They are going to talk anyway so help them be mindful about what they say.

While the internal champions may continue to encounter resistance in implementing social media strategies the December Ohio Web Leaders meeting showed that they should not give up because social media is a powerful marketing channel and it is here to stay

Dispelling Myths And Fears Of Using Social Media In Business

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Blogs I'll Be Watching in 2009

Chris Brogan, knower of all that is social media, recently came out with his 8 Marketing Bloggers to Watch in 2009 .  Good list of people to follow and I will be following them in 2009 but Chris invited everyone to create their own list.  Here is my list of blogs I think are must follows.  I found most of these people on Twitter so I'm providing their twitter links to make it easier for you to follow them.

Thought Leaders:  I think this blog stacks up with any leadership/communication blog around.  Mike Figliuolo has tremendous experience to draw upon and a great style to keep you engaged.  Mike has led change engagements at some of the largest companies in the world and he is sharing his thoughts through his blog.  Important note about Mike, don"t tweet him until he's had his quad shot venti caramel macchiato...I'm just saying.

Personal Brilliance:  Jim Canterucci is the author of the book Personal Brilliance and the developer of the PB podcasts where he interviews brilliant people in various business disciplines.  I met Jim on Twitter and I immediately knew that I wanted him to speak at the Ohio Growth Summit 2009.  His site and the tools found there are incredible and will make a difference in you and your business.

Being Cheryl:  Cheryl Harrison is a senior at Capital University and brings an interesting perspective to social media.  What I like is that she is not taking herself to seriously but she is very effective in discussing social media as well as other topics. She is a must follow on twitter, trust me.

Social Media @ Work and Play:  Gary Moneysmith is the Vice President, Digital Services for a full-service Central Ohio PR firm.  He is also a hella-fast biker and runner.  He brings a professional feel to his posts but they all have great takeaways that you can use...he doesn't just write to write.

Columbus Tech Life: If you are in Columbus, Ohio and are involved with technology, forget about it, you already know this is a great blog.  Ben Blanquera is the catalyst for a movement...he and his wife Sandy Blanquera started hosting information technology meet-ups in Dublin, Ohio a couple of years ago which has grown into Columbus Tech Life.  I've know Ben for several years and I am astounded by his passion to build the Columbus technology culture.  Read his blog and you will find that he is infectious.

PRogress not PRfection/:  Again another no-brainer, if you are into social media in Columbus you read Lara Kretler's blog.   Lara is the Associate VP for social media at Fahlgren Mortine.  She brings expert content with a relaxed style to her blog.  For sure subscribe to her RSS feed but you better be prepared to keep up with the great content she is writing or reading.

Nick Seguin:  Nick Seguin has only just started blogging but I predict that his blog will have a huge breakout in 2009.  Nick is a recent college grad and Strategist at dynamIt Technologies, LLC, a web engineering, design and development firm focused on creating usable, efficient web sites and applications (yeah that came from their site).  Nick is passionate about the power of entrepreneurs and social media.  I can't wait to see what he delivers in 2009.

Altitude Branding: Amber Naslund is principal of Altitude, a social media and marketing consultancy based in Chicago.  If you are one of the 10's of people that read my blog on a regular basis you have seen Amber referenced on multiple occasions.  Again, strong content in a readable/usable style.  She has also authored the e-book "Getting a Foothold in Social Media" which I encourage small businesses to use as a start point to utilizing social media for their business.

Social Avenue:  Shane Haggerty is a social media junky (it also appears that he keeps an office at Panera Bread too).  Shane is the marketing and PR Director for a local school district and is championing social media in the K-12 space (which is not easy by the way).  Not sure how much play his blog gets but it should get more, check it out.

Shiny Door: Angela Siefer is a private consultant, providing social networking workshops and guidance to non-techies of nonprofit and small/medium businesses. Angela is one of those really smart people that you can actually have a conversation with and learn something at the same time.  The cool thing about her blog is that it is a guide to the development/use of the social media tools that she uses in her live training sessions.  

BE Interactive Consulting:  The blog has not been around for that long either but it already is showing the way in the use of social media.  Brian Link is a former Digg.com executive and is very knowledgeable and passionate about the development of the technology culture in Columbus.  He has been there - done that in the social media space and his twitter name is "blinkdaddy", how much more convincing do you need?

Well there it is my top, let me count, 11 blogs that I will be reading in 2009.  If I've missed a blog leave a comment to showcase it.  Better yet, like I did, make your own list and let the world know what is out there to stimulate business thought and growth.

Are You Ready To Ignite Columbus With Your Invention?

Have you heard of Ignite Columbus?  How do I explain it?  I can't really just go to the site but what I can say is that it is the place to be.  We will be presenting Columbus' coolest inventions at Ignite Columbus on January 21, 2009.  I will be building a 20 slide, five minute presentation highlighting local inventions that show Columbus has the goods.  What do you need to do to be a highlighted in our presentation?  Watch this video for more information...