Ideas To Deals

Social Media Strategy: It's About People, Not About Logos via Jay Baer

Small business owners are always looking for a new marketing strategy that can create raving fans for their brand.   Let's try this or let's try that.  Often times these "new" techniques are simply takes on old themes and they don't work.  So what do they do?  Launch a Facebook page, ask people to "like" the page? OK then what? Most small businesses either do nothing or try to ram products down the throat of their fans.  Getting people to like your page means nothing if you are not going to engage those that took the action to like the page.  If you can get the fans on your page jazzed and energized to promote your product then you have something.  Engaging your audience is the key to creating advocates for your brand.  How do you do this?  I found this video of Ohio Growth Summit 2011 Keynote speaker and author Jay Baer discussing how to create strategies that get people excited about your brand.  Check this out and let me know what you think and how you can better create passion among the fans of your business.

 

Jay Baer Social Media Speaker from Jay Baer on Vimeo.

 

Be sure not to miss Jay at this year's Ohio Growth Summit on June 7, 2011.  Visit http://ohiogrowthsummit.com for more information or to register.

The Dream of the Ohio Growth Summit

As most of you know I am the Regional Director for the Small Business Development Center in Columbus, OH.  Before that I ran the local venture capital association and way back in the day I worked in banking.  During that time I saw a lot of cool things happening in entrepreneurial development but everything seemed very guarded and if I can use the "C" word...conservative. In 2001 I attended a Garage.com Bootcamp in New York featuring Guy Kawasaki.  One thing I came away with was that his thinking process was different than most people I dealt with locally.  He embraced the new and innovative.  It was about how to take ideas and make them a successful business.   How cool would it be for his message to be heard here in Columbus.  At that point I decided to launch a business conference that would combine national speakers with local speakers to help create a new perspective on doing business in central Ohio.  It took a few years but the Ohio Growth Summit was born in 2005.  By the way the first keynote was Guy Kawasaki. 

The Ohio Growth Summit is here to inspire your passion. Since the first Summit we have seen hundreds of small business owners and others gain inspiration and knowledge from attending the event.  Over the years I have had people attend the Summit and launch businesses the very next day while others have come up with new and exciting ways to grow their existing business.  This is “your” event.  It is a celebration of your entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to making your dream a reality.

This year's Summit will be all about developing and leveraging your on-line presence to drive engagement, interest and ultimately raving fans.   We are excited to be bringing the co-authors of the "The Now Revolution" Jay Baer and Amber Naslund to Columbus for this year's event.   "The Now Revolution" shows you how to take advantages of changes in how business is done to make your business faster, smarter and more social so you can capitalize on "real-time" business opportunities.   By the way, everyone who attends the Ohio Growth Summit this year will get a copy of "The Now Revolution" that they can use to refer to as they harness the power of the web to grow their business.

Amber is a frequent speaker at conferences and private events, talking about the intersection of the web, communication, and business culture. Amber is an avid writer and passionate content creator, and her blog has been been recognized among Forbes’ 20 Best Social Media and Marketing Blogs By Women, as PostRank’s top community management blog of 2009, as one of the Top 10 Social Media Blogs of 2010, and among the AdAge Power 150.

Jay participates in approximately 100 live or virtual events annually, speaking about social media’s role and impact. Expect three things from Jay in every speech: humor, insight, and education.  He uses a highly engaging, visual style and lots of storytelling.

The Summit will also feature presentations by Joe Pulizzi of Junta 42, Nate Riggs of Social Business Strategies, the members of Team Cbus and 13 other speakers.  In addition to the great content you will meet and mingle with some of the midwest's brightest entrepreneurs and business minds.  No doubt lasting connections will be made and business will be done.  This year's Ohio Growth Summit promises to be the best yet --- you will not want to miss it. 

The Ohio Growth Summit will be held June 7 and June 8 at the Center for Workforce Development at Columbus State.  Click here for pricing information.  There is more information coming soon at the Summit's Facebook page, Facebook.com/OhioGrowthSummit  (be sure to "Like" for more information and updates).

Mark your calenders and come join the other cool kids at this year's Ohio Growth Summit. 

 

Reflections From Ohio Growth Summit 2010

Amazing that another Ohio Growth Summit has come and gone.  This is the sixth year the Summit has been held.  Every year in the weeks and days leading up to the event I say this will be the last one but once everything comes together and everyone is gathered at Columbus State I realize that we can't stop now.  From the very beginning my goal was to create something specifically for small business entrepreneurs.  There are a lot of conferences focused on specific business areas but not much just about the day to day needs of the business owner.  It has always been our vision to bring national keynote speakers to share a different perspective while providing breakout sessions that allows the attendees to customize the experience to their needs.  Over the years the Ohio Growth Summit has featured top keynotes such as Guy Kawasaki, Doug Hall, Susan RoAne, Jim Canterucci, Chris Brogan and this year's keynote Carrie Wilkerson, the Barefoot Executive.  This year we also did something a little different.  Nate Riggs put together a panel of small business owners that have developed a personal brand that has allowed  them to take their business forward and grow.  What was unique is that the panel had 10 experts participating.  It was a success and brought a number of perspectives to the audience (see details on the panelists here).

In addition to the general keynote sessions the breakout sessions were awesome.  There were sessions on technology tools that could improve a business, developing/defining a digital strategy for a business, business certification "how to" tips and developing sales strategies and follow through for a small business.  These topics are certainly important but it was the perspectives brought by the presenters that made them successful.  Nate Riggs, Jon Myers, Mark Sellers, Tiffany Timmons and others really delivered cutting edge information that would really benefit a business owner.  I was told by one person that Jon Myers presentation on developing a digital strategy would save her over a year of work in putting her digital strategy in place.

As expected, Carrie Wilkerson rocked as the closing keynote.  Sometimes it is hard to select a keynote that will really understand the needs of the small business owner and provide insights that can really make a difference.  Carrie really hit the mark.  Not only did she deliver a great message on how and why you need to "fill your stadium" she customized it to the audience.  She was at the Summit the entire day interacting with the attendees.  She was taking videos of many of the attendees which she incorporated into her presentation.  This presentation was a great cap on a great day.  Carrie did everything a keynote is supposed to do...provide valuable content and motivate the audience to take action.

I also want to mention the Ohio Growth Summit's pre-event the evening before the Summit.  Every year we have a reception for the attendees before the Summit.  We usually have great local entrepreneurs present.  This year I wanted to do something different.  This year we hosted one of my favorite events, Ignite Columbus.  The concept here is that presenters can speak on anything they want but they only have 5 minutes split up into 20 powerpoint slides.  It is fast paced and unpredictable.  This year's presenters were great.  What I like best is that these people are presenting about their passion not to get funding or sales...passion.

As we close the 2010 Ohio Growth Summit and look forward to June 8, 2011 for Ohio Growth Summit 2011 I have some exciting news.  Thanks to Tom Williams at Innogage and Nate Riggs we are developing www.OhioGrowthSummit.com into a small business resource.  We will be posting information throughout the year that we hope will provide value to small businesses.  We will also be holding smaller, Ohio Growth Summit branded events throughout the year to allow us to continue to meet and impact small businesses throughout Ohio and beyond.

I look forward to seeing everyone throughout year and on June 8, 2011...Like I said "We can't stop now".

Meet Your Panelists for the BIG Personal Branding Panel at The Ohio Growth Summit Per Nate Riggs

How many of you are tired of the same old boring panel discussions?

The rule to date states that a moderator is to build a panel of 3-5 subject matter experts on any given topic, write up some starter questions to get the discussion going, and then open the floor so that the audience dig in with their own Q&A.

But, rules are meant to be broken.  And who says that a panel has to be kept small?

Not Mike.  Not Tonya.  And certainly not yours truly!

To kick off this years Ohio Growth Summit, we planned a special opening event that’s going to break all the normal rules of a standard panel discussion.  The topic, you ask?  The power of personal human brands and how they can be leveraged to drive your business.

Our panel will be made up of ten human branding artists from variety of different arenas including traditional brand marketing experts, public speakers, educators, visual artists, technology strategists, bloggers, video producers, master networkers and even a personal trainer.

So, rather than talk your ear off with explanation on how we will conduct this BIG brand panel, click here and let’s just meet them.

via ohiogrowthsummit.com

Maximizing Your Personal Brand with Nate Riggs at the Ohio Growth Summit

Personal Branding and “Brand Ownership“  has become so much more important as people and businesses seek ways to maximize their exposure through various social media platforms.  At this year’s Ohio Growth Summit Nate Riggs will be moderating a panel of individuals that have harnessed the power of personal branding to propel themselves and their business interests to the next level.  Click Here to check out Nate as he discusses personal branding and what to expect at this year at the Ohio Growth Summit.

via ohiogrowthsummit.com

Personal Brilliance for the Entrepreneur by Jim Canterucci

The following post is taken from the blog Personal Brilliance, by Jim Canterucci. Jim is an executive advisor, author, professional speaker, and CEO and founder of Transition Management Advisors. Jim was a 2009 Keynote Presenter at the Ohio Growth Summit.

Personal Brilliance for the Entrepreneur by Jim Canterucci

How brilliant are you? There is no role that requires Personal Brilliance - a complete habit of innovation - more than the entrepreneur.

This is mainly because it's such a lonely job. There usually isn't an R&D department or a finance department, or a marketing department. You're it.

Let's define Personal Brilliance - When you're faced with coming up with and implementing great ideas...and you can. That's Personal Brilliance. Check out the online Personal Brilliance Quotient (PBQ) to see how you fare on the four catalysts of Personal Brilliance.

The four catalysts are:

• Awareness -Awareness involves self-awareness first, being conscious of your environment, and being cognizant of the problem at hand.

• Curiosity is actively exploring the environment, asking questions, and investigating possibilities.

• Focus is giving 360 degree attention to what you are doing now, allowing access to any possible innovation.

• Initiative is necessary to both allow innovation to work and to ultimately implement the solution.

These catalysts are natural. We're born with them. But the 'don't chew gum,' 'stand in line,' 'only speak when spoken to' kind of rules we grow up with tend to tarnish these natural abilities.

The entrepreneur at start up doesn't have the luxury of depending on a large organization to support their weaknesses. How well developed each of these catalysts are for the entrepreneur serves as a barometer of success for the start-up.

With that said, don't be discouraged. Development of Personal Brilliance is a journey that lasts a lifetime. Just go into your start-up with an attention to your innovation skills.

And don't forget. You're Brilliant!

Quick Reflections on the Ohio Growth Summit 2009

The Ohio Growth Summit was held on June 10 at Columbus State Community College.  Now more than ever we at the Ohio Small Business Development Center were looking for ways to small businesses to find ways to ignore the economy and continue to take their businesses to the next level. The Ohio Growth Summit became a celebration of the  entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to making dreams become reality. The Summit features speakers, partners and networking specifically tailored toward small business success.

It's usually difficult for me to participate in the Summit sessions because I'm usually running around working on some aspect of the event but this year I was able to actually attend some of the sessions so I'm going to reflect on what I saw and heard at the Summit. 

The Tweet-up on June 9 went very well.  Mike Figliuolo of thoughtLEADERS gave a great presentation on personal and professional leadership.  I missed the beginning of the presentation as I was picking up Chris Brogan from the airport (his flight was delayed twice and canceled once, glad he made it). We did finally make it and I was very happy to see over 100 people there to kick off the Summit.

On June 10, the full Ohio Growth Summit began.  Jim Canterucci presented on Personal Brilliance for small business owners and entrepreneurs.  I had seen the presentation before but I told Jim afterward that I liked this one better than what I had seen before.  Jim had customized the presentation for the Summit attendees.   I really appreciated his effort in doing that.  Some speakers would just do what is in the can but Jim went the extra mile to make his presentation impactful...Jim ~ You're Brilliant.

After Jim finished we held four breakout tracks:

• Social Media ~ Your Customers Are There, Are You?
• How To Successfully Take Your Company Global.
• Invent, Build, Go To Market ~ Successful Product Commercialization Strategies.
• An Entrepreneurs Guide ~ How To Get The Bank To Say "YES".

I attended the Social Media track but took a few minutes to walk around and stick my head in each session.  We had engaged participation in each session but the Social media track had over 125 attendees.  Back in December I had lunch with Nate Riggs, founder of Social Business Strategies, and we discussed what would be key for small businesses to know about social media.  Many of the small businesses that we had been consulting with were not utilizing the tools.  Nate shared a concept of using social media to build activity above the sales funnel. From that moment on I knew I wanted Nate presenting on social media applications for small business and he did not disappoint.  The full track was great.  Chris Brogan told me we didn't need to bring him in to speak because Nate had it all together and did a great job.  Nate wrote two posts for the Ohio Growth Summit I wanted to share here: 

• Small Business in the Social Guerrilla Marketplace
• Social Media Practitioner Panel at the Ohio Growth Summit

The social media practitioners panel brought out four power users of social media ~ Lewis Howes, Angela Siefer, Cheryl Harrison and Alaina Sheer.  This is truly an All-Star panel that would match up with presenters from any conference in the country.  Be sure to click the Practitioners link above to read about each speaker and visit their site/blogs.

The closing keynote was Chris Brogan, President of new Marketing Labs.  Chris' blog, Chrisbrogan.com, is one of the top blogs on social media.  It is a go to for me on how to navigate the world of social media.  Chris is a rockstar of sorts in social media circles and I felt that he would be a natural to speak at the Summit.  I didn't know what to expect, I didn't know what kind of a speaker he was I just knew his content was great.  To answer the question...he is a GREAT speaker.  He was entertaining and kept the audience engaged and entertained through the entire keynote.  What I like about Chris is that he keeps things in perspective regarding social media. Social media is about being social.  It is about listening and being a "promiscuous connector.  When it comes to business only social media analytic that matters is $$$.  Chris couldn't have been nicer to deal with or more accommodating with his time. My favorite Chris Brogan quote was: "People that don't take risks are called employees".

I want to thank everyone that participated as a speaker, a volunteer or a sponsor of the event.  I mostly want to thank the attendees that took time out of their day to day battle with the economy to come out the Ohio Growth Summit.  Hopefully you got some much need ammunition to continue the fight and reach your business goals.