Archive for November 2009

Happy Birthday To Blog

By Bill · Comments (3)
Monday, November 30th, 2009

I just realized that this blog is 4 years old this month. I had another blog about a year before this one, back when I was still a software developer. That was back in the days when I used to write code to generate RSS feeds…

My favorite thing about having a blog is meeting people I may never have come in contact with otherwise. Several book authors have contacted me when they saw I posted about their books. It's always fun to be at a networking event and to meet someone you have "been reading" for a while. In this past year, I have connected with several reporters who found me via my blog.

I've also found lots of interesting people to connect with as I've read and linked to other blogs. At last count, I think I follow about 180 blogs in my reader. I learn something new everytime I browse through the list.

Thanks to everyone who has subscribed, linked, and joined the conversation via comments and trackbacks.

Comments (3)
Categories : Misc.

On Accountability

By Bill · Comments (3)
Monday, November 30th, 2009

I ran across this great quote from Ed Kless on the Verasage blog today:

"Accountability is not something [that] can be imposed, but rather chosen." – Ed Kless

Ed goes on to explain how leaders need to be clear about expectations if they want others to be accountable.

I think this also applies to ourselves as business owners. We cannot hire someone to "make us accountable". We have to chose to be held accountable. A coach or a consultant can help us and give us feedback, but ultimately, we must choose to clearly define our goals (expectations) and choose to be held accountable for working towards them.

Comments (3)
Categories : Small Business Marketing

4 Great Sites for Small Business Information

By Bill · Comments (4)
Friday, November 27th, 2009

Whether you are looking for information to help grow your business or just looking for web sites where small business owners hang out, check out these four sites: 

What are your favorite small business web sites that I should add to this list?

Comments (4)
Categories : Small Business Marketing

How Would You Sound If You Talk Like You Tweet?

By Bill · Comments (5)
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009

Here's something I've been thinking about the last few days – how different do (and should) you sound when being social in person vs. using the internet?

When you are in social settings this holiday weekend, will you try to sell something to everyone you meet? Will you automatically add your neighbors visiting family to your e-mail marketing list? If someone asks "What's new?" will you pull out your product catalog?

If you hear someone trying to solve a problem, will you make a recommendation? If you do meet someone who needs what you do professionally, what will that conversation sound like? Will you share the great resources you've recently discovered? Point people to a great deal you found?

I'll be taking some time to think about how I can leverage social media tools to provide more value to the folks I know. I'd appreciate any tips and suggestions you have to help me be a better social media citizen.

Comments (5)
Categories : social media marketing
Tags : ,

Social Media Article In Kansas City Thinking Bigger Guide

By Bill · Comments (7)
Saturday, November 21st, 2009

The folks at Thinking Bigger Business Media recently published their Thinking Bigger Guide for KC Entrepreneurs. They were kind enough to ask me to contribute an article about social media for small business. I can't find an online version to link to, but if you have a copy, it's on page 66 of the guide. I'm always looking for feedback to help me become a better writer, so let me know what you think – I can take it<g>.

Comments (7)
Categories : Kansas City, Marketing, social media marketing

Social Media Training Course – Special Offer

By Bill · Comments (3)
Thursday, November 19th, 2009

I hope you are having an enjoyable and profitable Global Entrepreneurship Week (GEW). Here in KC, today is a busy in terms of GEW. In addition to the Small Business Expo, we also have GovFest. Online, don't miss Tim Berry's Business Planning Workshop.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I would announce a special introductory offer for our new social media training course, Social Media Pro. If you missed it, you can find the course outline here. This course will eventually be priced at $395, but for GEW, the first 10 people who apply and are accepted will pay only $195.

How do you apply you ask? Just leave a comment or shoot me an email and tell me:

1.  WHY . . . is this program of interest to you?

2.  HOW . . . specifically, will it be of value to you?

That's all there is to it. Whether you are struggling to get started with social media or you "get it" but want to know how to use social media to actually grow your business, this is the program for you.

Give me a holler if you have any questions about this program.

Comments (3)
Categories : Marketing, social media marketing

Social Media Marketing Step By Step

By Bill · Comments (2)
Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

During the past year, I have been working, along with Bethany Spilde of Social Buzz Media, have been conducting workshops on social media marketing for small business owners. We have focused on providing practical, hands-on experience, in a learning-by-doing environment. For this reason, I am excited about the new Social Media Pro program from Duct Tape Marketing, which follows this same philosophy.

As a Duct Tape Marketing Coach, I will be offering this unique blend of online learning combined with the advice and accountability provided by a coach. Naturally, I'll be adding our usual emphasis on how to use social media in a professional services environment.

As part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week, tomorrow I will be announcing a special introductory offer for this program so make sure to stop back by tomorrow.

Here is a session outline for the Social Media Pro program:

Session One – Creating a Social Media Strategy – Before choosing your social media tactics you need to align your activities with your objectives. One of the best ways to do this is to listen first. In this session we will design your social media listening station.

Session Two – Optimizing Brand Assets – Social media sites afford a great opportunity to create outposts for your content. In this session we will look a the best ways to create and optimize profiles and other social media real estate.

Session Three – Blogging for Business – Maybe you have a blog, surely you’ve heard all about them. In this session we will dive deeply into why every small business should consider a blog the central hub of their social media strategy. Session will include discussion of best practices.

Session Four – Social Networking and Networks – Creating profiles on the major social networking sites isn’t enough. In this session we will cover the best practices for creating engagement on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn

Session Five – Managing the Beast – The burden of attempting to keep up with the set of actions required to participate fully in social media can overwhelm. In this session we will create your social media system in an attempt to bring it all together so you can balance input with ROI.

Comments (2)
Categories : Marketing, social media marketing
Tags : , , ,

Are You Collaborating or Negotiating?

By Bill · Comments (1)
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009

Do the conversations you have with your marketing guy (or gal) sound more like a negotiation or a collaboration? Lately, I seem to be hearing more marketing conversations that sound more like a negotiation than a collaboration. I know I’m biased, but I believe this is caused by a lack of a marketing strategy. I also believe it is related do doing work on a billable hour basis, but that’s a post for another day.

When I think of a collaborative conversation, I think of synergy. We are both working towards the same goal. The solution we come up with is better than anything we would have come up with individually.

In a negotiation, the goal is to come up with a satisfactory outcome for each of the various interests. The focus is more about what are we willing to give and take away until we come to a solution that we can both live with.

A strategy gives us a common goal to collaborate around. If gives us hypotheses we can test. It helps us helps us come up with creative solutions rather than creating something that is good enough to check an item off of our to-do list.

Listen to your next marketing conversation with the ear of an impartial third party and decide if it sounds more like a negotiation or a collaboration.

Comments (1)
Categories : Marketing, Small Business Marketing
Tags : , ,

Do You Care Enough?

By Bill · Comments (1)
Monday, November 16th, 2009

Over on the TomPeters! blog, Rajesh Setty gives us a 9 question self-assessment to help determine  your level of caring. I think these are create questions to be asking, particularly as we start reflecting on our business and start planning for the new year. Here are a few of my favorite questions from Rajesh's post:

1. Are you REALLY listening when they are talking OR are you thinking about what you will say next?

Active listening, really being present in the conversation, has always been a favorite topic of mine. Whether on a sales call, accepting criticism, or negotiating a contract, you will be how suprised how much better things go when you stop thinking of your next response and truly listen to the other person.

3. Do you usually call them when you want something from them or when you think you can offer something of value to them?

We have all heard the saying that you must give before you get. In today's busy world, it can be difficult to look for ways to help others first. For me, it's a habit I need to work on and remind myself about, otherwise I forget and lose the habit. Use your database, your calendar, or whatever your favorite tools are to stay in touch by providing value to your contacts.

7. If time is money, they are making an investment by spending their time (money) with you. How are you ensuring that they are getting the right return-on-investment for this interaction.

I like this tip because we are taught to pay attention to this from our point of view, but we (I) don't don't always think about this from the other person's point of view. I'm adding this to my pre-meeting routine.

Read the rest of Rajesh's self assessment here. How do you check that you are caring enough?

Comments (1)
Categories : Small Business Marketing

Build Your Business, Not Just Your Business Plan

By Bill · Comments (3)
Thursday, November 12th, 2009

I wanted to pass along this message from my friends at Palo Alto Software.

In support of the 2009 Global Entrepreneurship Week, Palo Alto Software is hosting a webinar for small, medium, and growing businesses, those who are considering starting a business, and young entrepreneurs entitled "Build Your Business, Not Just Your Business Plan" scheduled for November 19, 2009, at 11 a.m. Pacific Time.

This webinar will feature business planning expert Tim Berry. Tim is the best-selling author of "The Plan-As-You-Go Business Plan" and founder and President of Palo Alto Software. Tim will offer practical tips for running your business better. "It's not just a plan, it's planning, steering, and managing your business." He credits this philosophy of business with a quote from President Eisenhower which says, "The plan is useless, but planning is essential".

Register for the webinar here

Comments (3)
Categories : Small Business Marketing
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