March 2010 for the Okanagan Valley Entrepreneurs Society (OVES)

Using Social Media to Drive Business: Entrepreneur's Edition

The Okanagan Valley Entrepreneurs Society (OVES) & Scotiabank proudly presented the March Town Hall Series 

Date: Tuesday, March 30th, 2010
Location: Ramada Hotel Kelowna, 2170 Harvey Ave

Do you Twitter? Are you Linked in? Is your face on Facebook? Have you updated your blog today? 

A decade or so ago these questions would have puzzled most people. Today's entrepreneur faces these questions daily. Have you ever said to yourself "Should I jump on board and do what everybody else is doing or should I wait to see what happens?" or "I don't have time to do it. I need to work on my business!"

As entrepreneurs we explored: 

• defining your purpose
• how to leverage your branding
• permission-based marketing
• blogging, RSS feeds & much more.  

 Featured Panellists:

Susan Knight:

 Bio:

Susan Knight co-hosts The Breakfast Club with Tarzan Dan Freeman on 99.9 SUN FM in Kelowna. She was born and raised in Ontario but has called B.C. home for the last 15 years. She has lived in Whistler and Victoria  before landing in Kelowna.  While Susan is most often heard on the radio she is also an active MC and keynote speaker.  Susan celebrates the world of communication in all itís forms and has recently began to explore the world of social media with great success. Susan's Facebook, Twitter and blog pages continue to grow as she continues to do what she does best ... communicate!

James Shaw :

Bio: 

“$10/hr? No thanks.  I guess I’ll freelance for a while, until I find something better.”  That’s what James Shaw said six years ago, just before graduating from the Centre of Arts & Technology.  After a career change in his late 20’s, James applied the little bit of business sense he had to his new training in digital media and formed Twin Creek Media. 

Today the firm has a creative team of sixteen: 4 full time, and 12 talented part-time contractors.  With clients like the Okanagan Regional Library, Case Furniture Gallery, Kelowna Chamber of Commerce and high tech companies such as Impact Radio and Signalink Technologies, the company has established itself as a leading integrated marketing agency, working with companies throughout the Okanagan, and Canada.  Twin Creek Media creates the strategic ideas, words, and images to communicate their clients’ products and/or services.  By building integrated marketing campaigns, we combine the best of web, email, social media, print, radio, and video for greater results. 

James lives in Kelowna, BC with his wife and two kids.  When not scribbling out business ideas on a sticky note, or sharing knowledge on Twitter, he enjoys biking, boating, golf, and skiing with friends and family (we live in the Okanagan after all!)

twincreekmedia.com

James provided us with this sage advice:

1. Start at the Top: Strategically integrate your social media marketing efforts with your overall marketing communications plan. Your social media strategy is part of an internet marketing plan, which is in turn, part of your top-level marketing plan.
2. Create a Social Media Footprint: Start by creating a profile, which includes a short bio, keywords, and avatar ( a small thumbnail graphic) for use on the major social media platforms relevant to your industry eg. Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, MySpace, your own blog etc. Then go ahead andcreate your accounts. For more details go to www.problogger.net and do a search for "social media footprint".
3. Listen, Engage, Publish, Repeat. Have Fun!: Social Media at it's core is about relationships. It is about sharing. As social media applies to marketing, the rules of the game don't change: it's all about relationships,but the intended outcome shifts to meeting your business goals instead of personal.. Please don't think that social media marketing is about advertising! If you treat it like a one-way communications channel your efforts WILL NOT be rewarded. In real-life conversation, listening is just as important as talking. Social Media Marketing is no different. Listen to your audience. What are their opinions about your brand? What is their feedback about your service or lack of? Do they have recommendations about how to improve your product? Engage in the conversation that is happening all around you. Share your knowledge. Be helpful. Be insightful. Give others feedback. Be authentic, and understand that whatever you say is "on the record".

He also didn't believe that Facebook is really the place to be if your business is B to B.

James also provided us with an excellent link:  The CMO's Guide To The Social Media Landscape 2010 is the year CMOs will heavily invest in social media. Here's a guide to help you understand how best to leverage major social media sites. The chart compares different social media sites under the categories of : Customer Communication, Brand Exposure, Traffic to Your Site & SEO.

Nick Kellet:

Bio:

A few phrases come to mind to describe Nick:  a "Creative idea/Startup guy"; a Social media/Collaboration explorer; an Interactive/Conversational Video fan & a serial entrepreneur. Nick is an enthusiast and an innovator in whatever he does, whether it was working in the fashion business, creating ground breaking software, running a startup or just having fun.

He is currently the CMO & Product Strategist at HuStream Technologies Inc.

As an entrepreneur and board game author he has been recognized internationally with more than 20 awards including "Best Party Game of the Year 2008" by Games Magazine for his popular game "GiftTrap." GiftTrap is available globally in 8 languages.

Nick uses Linkedin with over 500 connections, Twitter with 6279 followers and Facebook with 1156 fans for his GiftTrap fan page for marketing.  

Nick's sage advice was that LinkedIn is good for researching your competition. 

Additional Resources:

42 Blog Post Ideas You Can Outright Steal from Growth Strategies (you need to be a Linkedin member to view)

Bambi might have been twitterpated but you don't have to be. Click here for a simple video explanation of how Twitter works.

Moderator: Rae Stonehouse OVES Society - Vice Chair of Education

Rae is a Registered Nurse/Entrepreneur who has worked in the healthcare field for over thirty years. Very active within the Toastmasters organization Rae has taken on increasingly challenging leadership roles and is currently involved in developing entrepreneurial educational and mentoring programs. His passion is helping others to succeed. His business, Live For Excellence Productions, provides meeting, seminar, workshop & event planning for the Okanagan Valley. Rae Stonehouse Speaker Services provides emcee services and speech coaching in the Okanagan Valley.

Providing meeting, seminar, workshop, conference & event planning for the Okanagan Valley

To Contact Us:

                            Phone: 250-451-6564

                            E-mail: info@liveforexcellence.com