Archive for the ‘Featured’ Category

This morning is day three of  Start-Up Weekend 2010 and I’m uber excited that my idea for a new tech company got selected.  We’ve been locked in a room since Friday, with necessary breaks for food, sleep, etc.  Today, we’ve got to brand our project.  In searching through the corners of my mind for a compelling brand, I took a quick look on the web and found the article below that I wanted to share:  Why Weird Words Make Great Brand Names, by Phillip Davis.

In the interim, we’ll do a brainstorming activity today and hopefully leave the room with a great name!

Here’s that article I mentioned:

When creating a truly great company name, the number one consideration should be the level of “engagement.”

“Engagement?” you ask incredulously.

Yes… engagement.
While there are all sorts of naming strategies… metaphors, acronyms, coined/invented, key attributes, positive connotations, etc., the one common denominator that separates the mediocre from the memorable, is the degree to which the name engages the mind of the consumer. Most new business owners opt for company names that inform and describe, leaving nothing to the imagination. They often fail to realize that the context surrounding the name (the ad, the store sign, the proposal, the brochure copy, etc.) will define what they do, so the name can be free to describe how they do it. In other words, no customer will hear or see the name in a mental vacuum. Yet this is the way we often judge names when “brainstorming”. And it’s why focus groups are such

notoriously bad judges of good names. It’s not the people that are flawed, it’s the process itself. Most of the feedback takes the form of free associations, all in an effort to determine if a name is “good” or “bad.” It goes something like this…

Interviewer: “What do you think of the name Monster?”

Respondent: “Ew! They’re scary and dangerous!”

Interviewer: “What about Amazon?”
Respondent: “Jungle… drowning… snakes… piranhas…”

Interviewer: “Apple?”
Respondent: “A bad apple spoils the whole bunch.”

Interviewer: “Caterpillar?”
Respondent: “Squishy, soft, and squirmy.”

Interviewer to new business owner: “I think we can safely assume these would be bad brand names…”

So if it’s not a matter of free associations, then what determines a good name? Again, it’s that all important element known as “engagement.” Engagement is what causes you to lean forward, ask twice, invite more information and pursue the conversation. A good name should invite a discussion, start a conversation and “engage” the other person’s interest and attention. That’s why Amazon, even though it says nothing about what it does, works better than Books-A-Million. Amazon is open and inviting and Books-A-Million is literal and descriptive. Amazon speaks to the process…flowing, easy, abundant. Books-A-Million speaks to the products… books. And while Amazon leaves room for the company to grow in any number of directions, Books-A-Million leaves the company in a bind. I once heard an ad for a company called Just Brakes. Since they had outgrown this narrow niche, they adopted a new tag line… “We’re more than just brakes.”

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This morning I had the privilege of being a guest on Lyn Mettler’s show:  Social Media Tips for Entrepreneurs.

She kicked off the call with her review of a newer tool:  Foursquare.  Here’s an excerpt from her blog on the tool:

Could FourSquare be the next social media darling for business? Could Twitter possibly be de-throned? We think so. FourSquare is a location-based application that you run on your smart phone that allows users to “check-in” when they are out and about. Headed to Publix? Check-in. Out with the guys at the neighborhood pub? Check-in. It definitely…read more here:  Get FourSquare and Get Busy.

I have to admit, at first, I wasn’t too keen on publicizing my every movement, as if I had a tracking device on me, but I can see the merit of it in some instances.  Just wondering, all you “foursquare” users, what has been your experience?  Do you like it?  Is it worth it?  Take a poll here.

I’ll weigh in after 10 days of trying it!

When I planned my first event we did NOT even have the internet! I remember that word processing was done on terminals, and the screen was black and the letters were gold. Now, we have flashy word processing that can be done without software via open source platforms like OpenOffice (Sun Microsystems) and cloud computing (Google Docs).

Perhaps you have been in the events industry just as long.

We were just beginning to use fax machines with the roll paper. Only senior executives had cc mail…and mobile phones – OH FORGET IT!

How many of you remember those days? Telling you that – I feel like a dinosaur, but really I’m the Gen X-er. Isn’t it true that as experienced planners we may be of one generation, but we work with and serve quite another?

Take a look, for example, at the tools we now have – my how things have changed.

* Smart phones

* Flipcams

* The NET and it’s blogs and social networks

We now have laptops and all kinds of editing software to makes forms, and capture leads right at the time of sale!

It is precisely this shift in technology that necessitates a change in the thought process of today’s meeting and events professional. Attendees are consistently exposed to technology and will expect an “experience” when they attend events. Here are some tips from experienced strategists: Nate Riggs of Social Business Strategies, Will Burrus of 247Interactive, and Eric Leslie of Be On Scene:

Skyline Exhibits Panel Tips

Here is some of the chatter from the event last week!  Go to live feed.

I’m going to just review what I believe is the future of the web and that’s mobile technology.

ONN - Ohio and Company

Good morning!

So jazzed that we were privileged to be featured on the Ohio News Network with Eve Mueller and Wade Meyer (Inviting Conversations).

The focus of the segment was to highlight what social networking “newbies” could do to ensure success.  Here are a few tips I’d like to add:

Tips for getting started with Social Networking:

1. Start with the end in mind – strategy has to come first.  Maps to success with social networking should fit into your existing marketing plans.
2. Determine how much time, bandwidth and skill you have and what you’ll have to augment with an expert, staff or a retained partner.
3. Research and commit to being social.
4. Listen, listen, and listen some more – you may have a lot to say, but being active and quiet in social networking can tell you a lot about your target audience and your community.

More tips here in this interview with Eve and Wade…

the book…

So Now What Do I Do?  An Entrepreneurs

Book by Author, Tiffany Odutoye

Guide to Getting to the Next Step with Social Media - get a copy today!

Tiffany, this book is easy to read, informative, and concise.  You give great up front reasons for “why” to do it.  You provide great tools.  I’m surprised you packed so much into such a small book! – Patrick Keegan, Biz360

So, what’s in your social tool chest?

As I prepared for a workshop that I’m leading on Twitter, I wanted to simplify the process for the new social adopters.  Part of the process in teaching is translating what you do naturally, and easily, into words that aren’t so complicated to the listener.

The more I thought about the barrage of tools or mediums for communicating in a micro blog world, Twitter in particular, the more I realized that the tools boil down to just a few, depending on your social activity.

An effective social tool chest (adaptable for most communities) should include a mix of tools that engage the majority of the human senses (see, say, touch, hear, feel), and help you to track your sphere of influence.  This could be translated into the following 13 online objectives:

1. Audio sharing
2. Video sharing
3. Photo sharing
4. Aggregation
5. Link shortening, tracking and sharing
6. Stat tracking (identify your sphere of influence)
7. Tweeting on the go (mobile computing)
8. Social conversation monitoring
9. Social bookmarking
10. Desktop and web-based maintenance
11. Just quickly getting the message out
12. One click visibility strategy
13. Growing your tribe

Like a carpenter, sometimes, you just need the Phillips screwdriver, even though the power drill is there!  So, here are some of the Twitter tools that I’m using, not all at once, but in concert with one another, depending on the “job”.

Everyday new social communities emerge, and so do the accompanying tools. There are also social enthusiasts, varying by degree of skill and expertise too. Despite the constant morph in the social sphere, one thing is certain, Web 2.0 is a moving and emerging target.  For that reason, we’re not providing a comprehensive list here.

Do you have a tool that is not on this list? Is there a new, hot tool that does it better?  Comment and tell us your experience and why you love it!

If your newly socialized, we hope the tools provided here give your social strategy a little extra “umph”.