Archive for the ‘Los Angeles’ Category

I had the pleasure of presenting at the Tecnifícate seminar at Mission College in Sylmar, California this past Saturday. I presented on how small businesses can leverage social media for success. There were over 100 attendees eager to learn and share the latest in technology information. The event targeted Spanish-speaking small business owners, startups, and people looking to improve their job situations through technology learning.

Recent studies have found that Latinos are starting to accelerate their use of online and mobile technologies. Some are even calling this trend the end of the Digital Divide. I’m a bit more cautious about those type of proclamations but was pleasantly surprised to see such a strong turnout at the event. This really was a community event and there were entire families in attendance. I’ve never seen that at a tech conference.

The event was put on by The New Media and Entertainment Initiative, The Economic and Workforce Development through the California Colleges program, Ariel Coro (@arielcoro on Twitter) and Tutecnologia.com. Ariel Coro has a strong fan base from his TV appearances on Univision and on the show Despierta America (Wakeup America) as the technology guy.

The other speakers were Judith Valles (President of LA Mission College), Juan Carlos Perez (founder/President of mialtos.com), Steve Funes (a collaborator with TuTeconologia and proud tech student), reporting by Yeney Amaro, Eduardo Garcia (Consultant at Cisco Systems) Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes, and a representative from LA City council member Richard Alarcón’s office.

Many thanks to Ariel for inviting me to be a part of the seminar and for the warm reception by Mission College and by Ariel’s kind army of Tutecnologia users.

Video and Event Pictures

Univision channel 24 was in attendance and reported over the event on TV.

My photos from the seminar are below and you can find more at the Tecnifícate site.

Share on Facebook

The Small Business Development Center (SBDC) Los Angeles held its year-end event in Santa Monica this past Tuesday. Center directors, business advisors, staff and SBA staffers were all there.

I’m a marketing and social media advisor at the SBDC center as part of the Economic and Development Center in Ventura County (EDC-VC) and this was the center’s first trip to the year end event.

I was inspired after speaking with many of the talented and caring business advisors and staffers who are responsible for providing free and low-cost business services to the 17 million residents of the greater Los Angeles, Ventura, and Santa Barbara counties.

I was also impressed by the amazing client success stories. One client went from having sales of $200K to 1.2 Million after 2 years. Many of the SBDC clients worked with several advisors per site, getting help with capital infusion, business plans, marketing support, and foreign trade assistance.

Have you had any experiences working with the SBDC? Please share you stories in the Comments section below.

Here are some photos from the event. Enjoy!

Share on Facebook

[I originally wrote this during Thanksgiving of 2008 but this still applies today. I mention "fans" here but by that I mean super loyal customers.]

It’s great seeing all the Thanksgiving thank you messages on social network sites like Twitter and Facebook. So how can you say “Thanks” to your fans?

Here are two quick examples:

1. ROLL CALL

Internet Marketing expert Douglas Karr extended a special Thank You to all his blog Commenters by listing them on today’s blog post. He listed them in order of how active they’ve been on his site.

Wouldn’t you rather comment on a site that listens to you and appreciates your comments? I would!

Thank You message from Douglas Karr

2. MAKE YOUR FANS FAMOUS

Here’s an offline example of how to thank your fans. Make your fans famous and post pictures of them!

My favorite little burger place in Ventura, CA is BJ’s. They have great burgers and have lots of loyal customers. When the shop changed ownership, they wanted to keep the regulars coming back so they started posting pictures of folks. The picture below is a bit dark because it was raining but there were still people standing out there to look for their friends and relatives on the picture board.

Loyal customers can see thier pictures on BJ's fan board

Do you have any other great ideas for saying Thanks to your fans? Let me know in the comments.

Would you like to be a part of Build Your Fan Base? Post a link to one of your pictures and a link to your blog/site and I’ll post your picture to my new Fans Only page.

Thanks for reading and have a wonderful Thanksgiving to all who celebrate it.

Share on Facebook

I recently had “the Twitter talk” with the CEO of a high tech B2B company. His one main question was, “Will Twitter help us make money?”

My response was that B2B companies should not look to Twitter as a way to sell widgets, but to view it as a trade show.

At a trade show:

1. Conversations and actions are focused on building relationships
2. Outcomes are evaluated on a long-term basis, not a quick hit
3. Strong partnerships are the greatest financial reward. In the CEO’s business, a new vendor can mean millions in sales per year
4. It’s a great place to share the company’s brand and personality
5. To get the most out of a show, you have to engage participants or you will get lost in the crowd

So there is a reward at the end of the Twitter rainbow for B2B companies. But it takes time, work, and a decent strategy.

Oh, and don’t forget the swag.

Share on Facebook

The presentation was originally part of my booth display at the LA Mart Prosperity Rally on June 16, 2009.

Presentation tech details: Created using Power Point, imported into Slideshare.com, then added synchronized audio via free Audacity software.

Share on Facebook