Wilmington Professional Group at North Chase SPA-LON

For its last regular monthly meeting of the year, the Wilmington Professional Group went all out at Sandy Powell's North Chase SPA-LON. Below Brian Anderson of SendOutCards greeted members and guests as they arrived.

David Merrill of Hertz (oops, back to camera, sorry David) and Michael Bird of WordWright Web.

David Nye had a display for ClickCheckSave.Com a local business membership service with bonuses and offers good for a full year. All attendess at this event got a free one year membership.

A better shot of David Merrill, this time with Ann Willard of All Kinds of Stuff promotional products company.

Ezell Willard of All Kinds of Stuff and Wilmington accupuncturist Chris Peterson.

A goodly-sized crowd built quickly.


Mark Evans of Green Cleaning Technicians.

Debra LaRue of U-First.

Sandy Powell of North Chase SPA-LON, Debra LaRue, and Gayle Tabor and Jenn Beddoes of Glynne's Soaps.

Shannon Andrews of WordWright Web.


Natasha Davis of Wilmington Communities in School arrived laughing. Natasha's laugh is contagious.

Neal Whitington, Ezell Willard, Ann Willard, and Dee Whitington.

A better shot of Ann and Dee.

So the Wilmington Professional Group had another very successful event. Be sure to check the group's website www.wilmingtonprofessionalgroup.com for upcoming meetings.

Strictly Business at Midtown Seafood - October 28, 2009

The Big Talker FM's weekly Strictly Business networking event was held at Midtown Seafood on Oleander Drive this week.

The first new person I met yesterday was Robert Lewis of Lewis Dental Labs in Wilmington.

Shortly after I met Robert, Manuel Lopez, Jon Hicks, and Eleazar Herrara of Ethos Design Studio came in. They'd had a busy day and were ready to network and eat!

Jerry Ellis of Telcom Communications was on hand as well.

Eleazar and Doug Jackson of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty.


Elaine Huston of PrePaid Legal and Sarah Barbee of Fussbudget Promotions (she makes a "fuss" about your business while staying in your "budget").

Mike Moore of Atlantic Car Care (in the red shirt).


Ed Croom of 2Plus7 Online Benefits Club on the left and Paul Whitehouse of Loper Media web design business.


That's Ray Linz of A&R Glass on the left and Kent Milholland, President of NeoNexus Corp.

I'm not sure where next week's Strictly Business will be, but check back at The Big Talker event web site.

TrySports - A New Store in Wilmington

Yesterday I stopped in to a new (to me anyway) sports equipment store in Wilmington, NC's Mayfaire Town Center. Try Sports focuses on equipment, apparel, nutritional products, and accessories for swimmers, bikers, and runners - as well as triathletes of course (not a stretch considering the store's name). My friend Brian Moxey suggested I stop in to say hello to Noelle and the staff at Try Sports, so I did.

Below Noelle Flauaus, Customer Relations Executive for Try Sports stops just for a moment for a photo with Mike Kinsella and Lou Galli.


TrySports also has locations in Raleigh, Charlotte, and in Mount Pleasant, SC. The local store address is 925 Town Center Drive, Wilmington, NC 28405.



For more info, call 910-256-2395.

Ashton Place - Broker Luncheon October 27th

Brookside Homes' Ashton Place in Leland, North Carolina continues to package and market home and lot combinations in central Leland that appeal to first time homebuyers, but during a broker luncheon today the builder and sales folk stressed the variety of potential buyers to whom this small (fewer than 100 homes) gated community appeals, including families and active adults.

With prices from $159,500 to $189,500, Ashton Place's floor plans range from 1,252 to 1,950 heated and cooled square feet. All have two car garages. For closings before November 30th of this year the builder will also provide $4,000 in closing costs!

Sales agent Dottie Kilpatrick welcomed us to Ashton Place.


This furnished Bradley Creek model seems much larger than its 1,489 square feet.


Ashton Place is located off Old Fayetteville Road in Leland, just east of Landvale Road.

Business Social Media Tip #18 - Check Them Out

Wonder how others in your business use social media?

Guess what? It's easy to find out. Just use the readily available public social media sites and networks and you can see what your friends, alliances, and competitors in your industry and in related fields are doing.

Whether you look up business by name, by category, by location, by key word or search term or even by asking who does whatever [replace your business category for 'whatever'], it couldn't be easier to find out how others use social media for marketing and relationship building.

You may or may not want to engage in "competitive intelligence", and you can take it to extremes and avoid doing much yourself, but surely it's a good idea to stay informed about how others businesses in your field (especially good ones) use this powerful marketing tool.

When you're checking out other companies' use of social media, keep in mind:

- Just because someone has a flashy page or presence on social media that doesn't necessary mean it's a great idea. Keep it all in context and first assess the business. A great way to approach is to look at the use of social media by the companies in your field you most admire.

- Don't blatantly copy something you see that you like. That can backfire. Look for inspiration, but do your own work.

- Don't assume that you are seeing all that goes on. Companies that use social media well blend it with other marketing and customer/client relationship modes and methods. To check out the blend, why not call the company (if you're on good terms) and ask to talk about it. Alternately, if you know or can find some customers of the other companies, ask them.

- Don't get too stuck on using social media for competitive intelligence, and look for tools or methods to simplify the process, for example, searching on keywords that matter in your business to see what folks are saying.

- If you're looking for inspiration but don't want to copy what other businesses in town are doing, look in other states with similar markets and see what the market leaders in your field are doing there.

Combined with Internet search engines, social media can be a very powerful way to stay informed about your business sphere even if you don't use social media much or at all yourself.

Wilmington Tweetup at Corporate Skirts, 10/21/09

Last night's Wilmington Tweetup was held at Corporate Skirts in The Forum in Wilmington.


Organized and promoted by Sarah Barbee of Fussbudget Promotions, with beer and wine provided by Front Street Brewery and Corporate Skirts, the event was successful as usual, providing a chance for folks who ordinarily meet via Twitter, to see each other in person.


Sarah's dog Beanie, @beanie_dog on Twitter, was a welcome addition.


Shannan Bowen, social media reporter for the Wilmington Star News is on vacation this week but didn't want to miss the meetup.

And resume and business writer Dawn Bugni of The Write Solution was on hand as well.

Along with Kimberly Brumsey of KB Organic Skin Care and Waxing.

And Jennifer Caslin and Becca Jones.

Kimberly with Courtney Parker, one of Corporate Skirt's owners.


Joan Loch of Crescent Moon (awesome art glass), Tamara Paul, co-owner of Corporate Skirts, Mike Loch, and Courtney Parker.

Sarah, some guy who wandered in off the streets and Courtney.

Jenn Beddoe of Glynne's Soaps.

Jennifer, Gayle, Becca, and Katie Borland of The Fancy Bug.


Gayle Tabor of Glynne's Soaps.

Nick Kentrolis of Crest Fitness.


Dawn won a drawing of a SendOutCards SOCBox, donated by Fat City Cards, the independent SendOutCards distributorship my wife Marge and I own. I can't wait for Dawn to try to card software - I'm biased, of course, but I know it's great for business and personal use.


I'm not yet sure of the date for the next Wilmington Tweetup, but here's a hint about the place - buff up your bowling shoes.

Strictly Business - Cameo Nightclub - Oct 21 09

It was a beautiful day in Wilmington, followed by a fine evening of business networking events. The first was The Big Talker FM's Strictly Business at Cameo Nightclub in Lumina Station at 1900 Eastwood Drive. The Tiki lamps were lit and the party was on!


The first person I saw was TownPlanner's Mary Bennies. She held a pivotal spot at the event (which means she sat at the end of the bar) and greeted everyone as they came in.


Steve West of N2 Publishing never misses a Strictly Business event.

Doug Jackson of the Leland office of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty and Big Talker FM morning guy Curtis Wright. Curtis is the host of the Strictly Business networking events.


Brian Parke, the owner of Cameo Nightclub. Brian puts out a great spread for these events and is a very pleasant host. Pretty cool of him to do that when he also owns one of the hottest nightclubs on this side of town.


Steve Haughey of Worldwide Express.


Elaine Huston of PrePaid Legal and Scott Ball, President of Coastal Document Systems.


Keller Williams' Denise Dakoulis.



Wordwright Web's Michael Byrd and Bruce Henderson of Hanover Center shopping mall.


Sales guy Derek Sellers from Sea-Comm Media (they own The Big Talker FM).


Stephanie Williams, a Financial Advisor from Edward Jones.
Curtis announcing the first round of drawings.


On the far right Mike Moore of Atlantic Car Care and Stephanie Williams.



Curtis and RVSP Cape Fear's Terry Hall.


Yet another well-attended Strictly Business event. Next week it's at MidTown Seafood on Oleander Drive. You can always check the schedule at The Big Talker Event Page or the Wilmington Networking Events calendar.

Business Social Media Tip #17 - Happy Birthdays!

Whether you use social media or not, acknowledging customer and client birthdays is a slam dunk decision. Sales professionals in retails stores in fields as diverse as real estate, new car sales, ice cream shops, insurance agents, and high end jewelry stores know the proved value of sending birthday greetings.

In the interest of full disclosure, my wife and I are distributors in SendOutCards, a company that makes sending birthday cards or any types of standard or customized greeting cards fast, easy, and, oh yeah, very inexpensive. So I do have a dog in this hunt (and if you want to check it out and maybe send a free greeting card to a customer or loved one on me, just go to our web site, www.fatcitycards.com and click on Send a Free Card).

OK, so back to the tip. To make life easy for recognizing customer birthdays you'll want to set up systems for:

- Capturing people's birth dates (month and day are fine, few people are threatened or offended if you don't ask for the year)

- Being sure you have a real mailing address if you're going to send something - preferably a home address because mail often gets re-routed or delayed in offices

- Reminding yourself ahead of time of the upcoming birthday. If you're just going to make a phone call, or send an e-card (which I do not recommend), getting a reminder on the day of is fine.

Using social media for noticing and wishing someone happy birthday is easy as most social media sites request birth date information --though some do not require or won't display birthdates without permission. Facebook is to date the easiest social media site on which to find friends' birthdays, just go to the your personal Home page, look to the events section (most likely in the right hand column) and birthdays of your friends are listed.

There does remain one last step you need to take to pull this all together (social media, your clients, birthdays); you want to find out what social media sites your clients' use and make a point of hooking up with them on any and all media in which you both participate. This process is pretty easy if you ask for Facebook and Twitter IDs when you're first recording new customer or client data (ask for their birthday at the same time). If you already have a client database, but no birthdays or social media info, this is a great time to add to the richness of your client data. You can just send e-mail (we once sent e-mail to a big bunch of clients and most were very happy to send birthdays), but if convenient and possible (which means you can't have too many), why not call your contact database to have some personal contact and verify the info you already have for them and then ask for birthday and social media use as well.

If you have the time and inclination, you can also search Facebook and Twitter for your clients' names, but with the millions of people using both services, it's probably better to make personal contact.

A quick birthday wish via social media doesn't replace real cards (my bias) and it certainly won't replace cake, or presents, but even a brief birthday message is a nice touch with your social media-connected clients.

Business Social Media Tip #16 - Don't Trivialize

Avoid trivializing your business social media presence by over-adding causes, cute little applications, polls, tests and games. Stick to your business purpose, which is to observe, engage, share, and contribute in a manner that adds to your community, appeals to your target market, and directly or indirectly promotes your business.

Many social media sites, particularly those open to other applications that can run in or parallel to them (which means it's someone else's business product or service) are loaded with polls (Which flower are you?, Who's your favorite super hero?), games (adventure, quasi-reality, team building), and little gifts you didn't know you ever needed (sending "fluff" or "flair" or graphic coins that will never buy a cup of coffee). The preponderance of these applications indicates that many people like them and many companies attempt to make money with them.

Just because trivial applications apparently abound, however, doesn't mean you should use them. Or play along.

It's fine to join causes or become a "fan" of causes, people, businesses, or places that you truly care about and would like to have associated with your business. If you are promiscuous in joining causes, however, you dilute your own value.

Remember, too, that when you join a cause or group or become a fan, that means your social media identity is on someone's list and odds are, just like IRL (in real life) you're likely to get hit with (be solicited by) other causes, groups, or fan bases. If indiscriminate joining suits your business purpose, certainly go for it, but realize it takes you away from a clearly defined market niche.

Social media is a powerful tool to personalize your business presence for the purpose of engaging and attracting your target market. If your business presence on social media appears distracted or absorbed by games and trivial applications, your customers may go elsewhere, attracted by a business that focuses on target market needs and preferences.

Business Social Media Tip #15 - Promote Others' Events, And Your Own, Too!

Let's start with the assumption that anyone who spends more than just a little time on social media is interested in people, and very likely interested in events other people attend. If you make a practice of promoting other business' and other people's events there are two positive results you can count on.

First, if you promote others' events chances are they'll promote yours. Even without asking (but you should) you are likely to find others very willing to cross-promote events.

Second, if you actively promote others' events, it's even more Okay to promote your own. All of this is in the context, of course, that event promotion is a relatively small portion of your social media content.

It also bears mentions what an 'event' constitutes. If a business group is sponsoring a chili cookoff to benefit a charity, that's an event. If someone has an in-store opening of a new line of something (jewelry, clothing, art, vintage wine, or furniture) or is introducing a new chef, that's an event. Only very rarely is a sale an event. As much as people spend advertising money on sales, business people should remember very clearly that social media is not advertising, and not a place to post a continuous stream of ads - doing so will have negative results and likely result in a loss of followers.

I think the best event announcements are those in which excitement and purpose are as much a part of the posting as the actual content. Used in moderation, those can work. If of course, it's overdone and one gushes on a daily basis about one thing after another, that quickly gets old.

If you have something going on in your business that you're really pumped about and just can't wait to tell the world, certainly go for it, but I'd reccomend waiting at least a few days before being so moved again.

One last point on event posting. It's certainly fair and expected to ask others to support your events and promote them - this is done all the time in social media and is seen as an easy way to help other people and businesses. You needn't feel obligated to promote all events nor should you expect that everyone you ask will promote yours. If one of your best friends has just promoted someone else's event and you ask him to do the same for you, she or he may demur, not wanting to overload their own content with promotions.

The bottom line is promoting events on social media is commonplace and a great way for businesses to help each other out. Moderation is the key.
Ask

National Make a Difference Week Volunteer Awareness Fair

Monday night was a big night in Wilmington, NC for volunteerism. Hosted by Si Cantwell of the Wilmington Star-News promoted by Sarah Barbee of Fussbudget Promotions and Hands on Network, the third annual National Make a Difference Week Volunteer Awareness Fair was held on the third floor (aka the Beam Room) of Front Street Brewery. A dozen Greater Wilmington area organizations were set up in the room to talk about their missions and their need for and use of volunteers and to meet each other.

Si Cantwell, who organized the event has also established a local social networking site called Conscience Online where people can "learn how to give back to the community." Check it out.

Below are Si and Della Quinn-Carter of CAAP.

The central downtown Wilmington location, large open space, and convivial atmosphere of Front Street Brewery's Beam Room made it a great place for this event.


Autum Mihm, Community Partnership Consultant for the Cape Fear Chapter of the American Red Cross.

Si talking with Natasha Davis and Halley Thompson of CIS (Communities in Schools).

Pastor Jay Merritt of Leland's Victory Free Will Baptist Church and active organizer for Manna Ministries talking with Gayle Tabor of Glynne's Soaps, who volunteers with the Rape Crisis Center of Coastal Horizons Center, Inc.

Becca Jones of Penderlea School and Jennifer Caslin of the NC Food Bank.

Board Member Robin Coles and Presdient Kristin Howell of The Ruffian Foundation, feral cat sanctuary.
Billie Blackwell, General Retail Manager, and Jan Lewis, Manager, of Vintage Values retail stores, a fund-raising and community service program of Domestic Violence Shelter & Services, Inc.

Advisory Board member Mary Anne Russo, Founder and Clinical Director Celine Adair, and Founder and Executive Director Zac Adair of Panacea Adventures, a "wilderness therapy organization committed to fostering interpersonal development, individual empowerment and improved quality of life."
Gayle Tabor, Amanda Register, and Hal Campell, Rape Survivor Advocates with Coastal Horizons Center Rape Crisis Center. Sign up for Walk a Mile in Her Shoes, The Men's March to Stop Rape, Sexual Assault, and Gender Violence on Noovember 14th at 8:45am. For info, contact larledge@coastalhorizons.org or call 910-392-6936.

Sheila Osann, President, and Fred Osann (Sheila's driver - no joke, that's what they both said), of Assistance League of Greater Wilmington. The Assistance League is holding a "huge indoor rummage sale" this Saturday froom 8am to 2pm at St. James Parish Gym on Dock Street.


Halley Thompson of Americae Vista and Natasha Davis, Financial Manager, both representing Cape Fear Communities in Schools. Communities in Schools i s sponsoring a Trick-or-Treat TROT 5K and 1 Mile Fun Run this Saturday, October 24th starting at 9AM at 20 North Forth Street. Register online at www.active.com.


Annie Anthony, Director of the Cape Fear Volunteer Center and Charlon Turner, Public Relations for Outside the Walls.

Della Quinn-Carter of CAAP, Child Advocacy and Parenting Place, Exchange Club Center, Inc.

Thanks to Si, Sarah, Front Street Brewery, and all the folks who organized and attended this significant event for Wilmington area community service volunteerism.

Business Social Media Tip #14 - Comment to Success

You've heard "Givers gain", "Give to get" and Give to give." Each of those sayings is a variation of the Golden Rule (Treat Others As You Would Have Them Treat You). No where are these suggestions for living so quickly evident as in social media.

If your goal is to utilize social media to have other people and businesses notice, appreciate, and comment on you, then the strongest move you can make is to forget about yourself and focus on others. Start giving comments, compliments, and statements of appreciation.

If you actively comment on others' social media postings, assuming your comments are positive, you will experience the same in return, often by the same people but also by others who notice your generosity.

The actual way you comment varies by social media site. In Facebook, for example, you can type a comment or click the "Like" button. In Twitter you can RT ("Re-Tweet")someone else's Tweet (the syntax, btw, is "RT @someoneelse Whatever they said"). When another Twitterer RT's one of your Tweets, btw, it's polite to thank them (and that also puts you back out in public notice).

A few suggestions for commenting on others' social media content:
- Be consistent in personality, tone and style with your established social media presence.
- Be sincere. For example, if the world knows you're a die-hard Yankees fan, it will look a bit odd if you randomly fall all over comments about other teams with rapid aggreement.
- Stay positive. If your comment on others is negative, you may get attention, but it won't be attention that will help your business.
- If you can't think of something to say, but you do like what someone else said, just express your simple appreciation - that's all it takes for them to feel good.
- Share others' enthusiasm and energy. If you read something that pumps you up or you feel strongly about, jump right in (just stay positive).

This suggestion about commenting on others' content also works well with blogging, though it takes more work.

The bottom line? If you'd like positive comments and attention to your social media content, give it to others. You'll get it back, likely in some (nice) unexpected ways.

NC Oyster Festival 2009

Today Marge and I drove to Ocean Isle to the annual Ocean Festival sponsored by the Brunswick County Chamber of Commerce. We got there fairly early and were able to park (for a small fee) in a lot right by the ocean, so it sure was convenient.

Here's a view from the stairs that cross the dunes to the beach itself, back to the site of the Oyster Festival.



There was live music on hand and plenty of great food booths. On a friend's recommendation we had Shrimp and Grits from Causeway Gourmet and Cinnamon Cashews from Artisan Munchies and both went down fast, easy, and pleasurably!

There were many Brunswick County organizations with booths and a lot of craft booths. We enjoyed looking at the work in many of the booths, along with a rapidly growing crowd (we arrived a bit before noon).



In particular, however, we were looking for Pleasant Springs Pottery, from Perkasie, PA. Our friend Bebe Poor and her husband Alfred came down specifically for this show and we're big fans of her work.

In the photo below you can see Marge (in the bright green sweater) talking with Bebe, sitting in at the back of the booth in a heavy coat - it was a bit brisk this uncharacteristically cool weekend.



As you can see in the photo below, Bebe sells expertly crafted pottery with cool beach colors in practical forms and all at very reasonable prices. If you'd like to see more of her work, and even buy some, check out her website at www.pleasantspringspottery.com.



After leaving the festival, with full bellies and a bag of Bebe's work for Christmas gifts, we spent a few minutes back on the dune bridge looking at the water.



We looked to the left to the fishing pier.


And down the beach to the south.


Once again we were reminded how lucky we are to be in area with so many beautiful places, fun events, amazing food, and good friends.

Business Social Media Tip #13 - See You in the Movies!

You already know adding photos is a powerful way to add visual appeal and interest to your social media posts. When you add video clips you take it to a new level. Video clips, even if they're just of your talking head, add sound and motion in addition to the actual subject content, and this three-dimensional communication multiplies the energy and power of your posts.

If you create your own video, you will need to practice with a camera to produce usable clips - too much camera movement is the usual culprit of shaky or woozy images. Learn to keep the camera very still, maybe even using a tripod for that purpose - it's the subject that moves, not the camera. And don't even think about moving around a room or following someone with a video camera until you've practiced enough to be very good at it. The last thing you want to add to your media posts are videos that cause nausea.

The good news is there's a whole world of video content you can use for free. Just be sure to check about permissions and licensing, they vary widely. YouTube is still exploding as a powerful worldwide source of personal expression, marketing, and news. You can learn a lot about what's appealing, and what's not, by checking out YouTube.

When you have video content you want to include in your posts, somehow, there are plenty of choices. One easy, popular, and effective technique for adding video in your posts is to upload it the video clip first to YouTube and then include the clickable link to your post. A step beyond a link is to embed the clip itself in your media post - YouTube makes this easy, too, by displaying the short embedding code you need to paste to your site, blog, or social media post.

Many social media sites will enable direct video uploading, if you use several sites this method can be extremely time-consuming. When you're first starting with video content for your business social media content, keep it simple and upload the clips to YouTube and then either insert the links or embed the clips using the YouTube code.

There are plenty of video sites other than YouTube as well as utility programs that will spread your video clips around. As you're starting out, however, avoid trying for a home run with video and focus first on good content. If you discover that your video clips get good comments and reviews, you might consider setting up your own YouTube channel to attract followers and 'subscribers' (I put that in quotes because there is no charge to subscribe to YouTube channels).

Bad video is annoying, but even "just good" video clips can add a lot to your social media efforts.

To start out, the two most powerful types of clips to use for your business are customer testimonial shots (keep them short, no more than one minute) and (again short) clips of someone from your business who is energetic and reasonably well-spoken who can convey your company's mission, message, or personality.

The recognition of video's ability to enhance social media presence is increasing quickly. In addition to YouTube and similar sites, the popularity of video blogging, where all posts are video clips is a testament to the medium's communication strength.

Business Social Media Tip #12 - Link to Your Blog

Here's a strategy that works well, but don't do it first. Including links to your blog in social media posts can be an effective way to drive traffic to your blog. However, if you overdo it, meaning that a high proportion or even all of your social media posts point to your blog, this strategy can backfire and cause followers and friends to dump you like bad soup.

So, in the most elemental but acceptable way to link to your blog, engage in conversations with others, post about other topics, and then only occasionally point to your company blog. When you do so, include at least a minimal clue why people should click the link. A Twitter post that reads "See my blog www.xxxxxx.com" isn't going to work well because 1. it comes across as blatant pressure and 2. there's no compelling reason for people to go there.

If you use your blog to discuss or highlight industry, business, or regional issues, those posts can provide content your social media followers might want to check out, but even then you need to give them a clue why they should go there.

One way you might build response is to include the title of new blog posts in your social media updates and have the titles do double duty in catching interest and providing some indication of the blog posts content. Once people reach your blog, if the blog itself is appealing and adds value, then hopefully they'll look around and read more than just the post that brought them there.

Another way to draw readers to your blog is to post discussions of solutions to common problems or newsworthy topics relative to your business or industry and then, when watching the stream or updates on various social media sites, if you see someone addressing a topic you've covered in your blog, it would be natural to refer to it and, either directly or waiting to be asked, provide a link.

However you work to send people to your blog via social media, the key is having it seem natural and helpful; similar to sharing a resource or news with a friend. If references or links to your blog seem forced, the odds of this strategy working well for you decrease.

Business Social Media Tip #11 - What's Happening? Announce Events

Social media is useful for establishing presence, for communicating personality, and for connecting with others, whether or not you use social media for business. The highest use of social media, however, is to be of service to others. As a business, you can help yourself and others by announcing and promoting events meaningful to your community and to your market.

A strong word of caution from from the get-go. If you use social media to promote 'events' that are really just sales promotions for your business, the net effect will be negative and you can quickly lose followers and friends. Indirect self-aggrandizement is fine and occasional mention of a special sale or event is acceptable, too, just don't confuse social media with advertising. If your posts look like ads and exhortations to buy or use your services, people will flee, and many will consider your posts spam.

OK, so if you can't (or shouldn't) just post notices about your next big store sale or special discount on your services, what can you post?

If you want to focus on your community, post notices of events in the community that will appeal to your market. Any community of more than 100 people has plenty going on, so there will be no shortage of events to post and promote. It's not advisable to try to use social media as a full community calendar - you can do it, and some will appreciate it, but you can wear yourself out, plus, that's not being selective and targeting your desired market.

So pick local events your clients and customers would likely attend and support. Post notices about the events, in advance, and include links to more information. When you provide this service, the event promoters and organizers will appreciate it and so will your market. You'll be providing a helpful service and that will gain you positive points. Then if you include an ad or personal promotion once in a while, people won't be turned off.

Another event category to promote is events in your field of business or industry, but not ads for your particular business. If you post notice of events or gatherings concerning your field of business, not only will you be giving service to others in your field, you'll also be taking a leadership role, which will serve your own business well because people like to do business with leaders.

So it's simple. Pick some events your market or your colleagues will find of interest and post notice of them, perhaps two weeks, one week, and 2 days in advance. You'll find this tip a relatively easy way to find content for your social media postings and a nice way to provide service to others.

Business Social Media Tip #10 - Picture This! Picture That!

The most dramatic, effective, wide-reaching element you can utilize in your social media presence is the photograph. Whatever you write may be misunderstood. Audio files may be missed if computer speakers are turned off. Many don't watch videos (though video use is growing extremely rapidly). The common denominator for universal communication is the graphic or photographic image. How will you use photos in your posts?

The power of photographs cannot be overstated. While words, to be effective, must be interpreted by the brain, and to be understood at all must be written in a language and idiom understood by the reader, photographs are not only universally understood (or at least recognized), images also communicate more directly than words. Whether you call it the heart, the subconscious, or the inner being, regardless of the label, images carry lots of weight and are much better at producing emotional reaction than words. (The fact that advertising and marketing power are based on emotion is too obvious to be belabored here.)

So what images should you use in social media postings? The answer to that question will vary by business and social media 'personality', however, a key question is, how do you want your market to feel? Or more directly, what feelings would you like your market to associate with your company or with you?

It does matter, somewhat, that photos you include in postings are related to your business, but it's more important that your included images carry emotional weight.

Think about it. Do you want your market to associate your business with trust, power, speed, competence, style, sex, security, comfort, happiness, beauty, or joy? All of those feelings or qualities can be conveyed directly or indirectly by photographs.

Think twice before including photographs that are likely to product negative emotions. If your market associates your business with negative feelings, even on a subconscious level, it's unlikely to help. Look for images that portray solutions and good feelings at all times - for example, if you have an insurance company, use images that associate with positive feelings such as security, comfort, and happiness - the benefit insurance is intended to provide, not the problem it addresses.

It's pretty easy to just put up cute photos of babies or puppies, and you will find that viewers like those images and react favorably, and you can certainly attract attention (perhaps not all desirable) if you feature beautiful people in your social media postings. However, the greater challenge is to find ways to include images that add to your social media presence and personality, appeal to your target market, and capture the eye immediately.

For social media that allow it, for example Facebook, use albums for your photos. If your images are stored in categorized albums people can find them more easily after the initial posting.

If you'll post images you capture yourself, which I highly encourage, carry a digital camera whenever you're out and about and get in the mindset of shooting images. Even if you just shoot and post a couple of images a day of interesting things, places, or people you see, the inclusion of photos will strengthen your social media presence.

One last word of advice on photos used for business social media - remember your market and your business purpose for social media. If you're obsessed with trains, for example, but sell custom cakes and desserts, don't overdo it in your business social media with train shots - use them elsewhere. Also, if you have lots of party photos, be aware of the impression those images might have on your potential or existing customers.

Oh yeah, and if you already have lots of photos on the web in social media and elsewhere, of your high school and college days . . . it's a good idea to do what you can to either remove them or have them fall to the bottom of on Internet searches by posting lots of more recent, more, ahem, appropriate images.

Business Social Media Tip #9 - How Often Do You Do It?

How do you know how often you should post content on social media? There are no rules, so you'll have to test it or figure it out somehow. The easiest way to test it is to check our own reaction. Others' reactions and opinions take a bit more work to be sure they're representative of your true intended market, but what others think can be much more valuable than your own feedback in a mirror.

So if you want to start easy and get your own opinion, for goodness' sake don't actually look at your own updates and tweets. Check out other folks. Your reaction to their level of activity is a great gauge of what your market thinks about your own content. Make sense?

Let's break it down.

Do you have a sense of how much is too much? For you, personally, is there a point when someone else's posts, Tweets, or updates get just too annoying or bothersome because they're just always there? Does the information seem repetitive, meaningless, and not even entertaining? Just plain irritating? When you identify a similar person or business on social media whose content frequency bothers you, well chances are, assuming you're a good representative of your target market, that's a way to figure out the upper limit. So back off from that much.

Of course it'll also help to have a sense of the lower limit, the minimum required to actually get someone's attention and stay top-of-mind. Fortunately most social media sites make finding the lower limit easy, just pick a few folks you feel have the right amount of presence and then look at their content flow for a few days and check the average.

Oh yeah, and how do you know how often is too little? Well, you don't really, because those are the folks you're not even aware of since they're not on social media at all or so seldom they might as well be no-shows.

You can use feedback from your target market, either formally sought after feedback or just anecdotal feedback, to check out what others think of your posting frequency. One suggestion is to identify a dozen or so ideal target market folks and check in with them, stressing that you're looking for helpful feedback, not just a pat on the back. Honest feedback is extremely valuable. You can set up a formal process or keep it loose, but the closer you pay attention to others' feedback (again, assuming the feedback comes from your true market, not someone off the mark who wants to rage or praise about your content but whose feedback is irrelevant to your business purpose).

So, look inside to check your own gut reaction to posting frequency. Then survey your market. The point is to be there (on social media) enough to be noticed favorably but not so much you chase your market away. Once a second is likely too much and once a day is not enough - so somewhere in the middle is right - but what's right for you or your business is up to you to find out.

Wilmington Professionals - C.W. Worth House

This month's Wilmington Professional Group's meeting was held at the C.W. Worth House, a working bed and breakfast in the historic district of downtown Wilmington.

The event sponsor was Ethos Studios. Ethos' president Elezear Herrara is below in one of the first floor formal rooms of the Worth House.

Doug and Margi Erickson are the owners of the C.W. Worth House. Thanks a lot to both of you for opening your gracious home to us.

Accupunturist Chris Peterson and Law of Attraction Coach Linda Brett-Kell.

Patt Mason of Mary Kay and Manual Lopez of Ethos.


As they always do, Brian and Andrea Anderson of SendOutCards greeted arrivals at the registration desk.

The official sign by the front door.

The cool carved wooden sign next to the door.

Thurman and Ayres Burgess of Jubilee Snooze and Cruise (a B&B on a 45-foot yacht) showed up smiling in the rain.

Brian, Andrea, Mark Evans of Green Cleaning Technicians, and Kami Pugh of Pugh & Associates Insurance Consultants.

Scott Cromartie of Stevens Mortgage Consulting. Check this out. Scott is a native of Wilmington. When his parents moved here in 1941 (he wasn't born yet) they rented a one bedroom apartment upstairs in the C.W. Worth House. Before last night Scott had never been in this house. How cool is that?

Andrea greeting (and pointing me out to) my friend, marketer and event planner Lori Avery. Her husband Christofre Avery an aerospace and defense consultant is in the background, and that's Dwayne Starks of PC Doc Onsite behind Lori and Chris.
Chris, Lori, and Chris.

Chris and good buddy (and good sport cuz I photograph her everywhere) Mary Bennie of TownPlanner.

A buncha folks. Ok, Chris, Mary, Ray Baca of Ray Baca Photography and the River Room, and Kami Pugh.

If you saw my earlier blog post (from the same evening) you saw David Merrill of Hertz Rentals and Shannan Bowen of the Star-News, who showed up wet at that event. Well they were even wetter when they got to the Wilmington Professionals event.

A lot of folks hung out in the beautiful dining room with a table loaded with great food.

And finally, at the foot of this blog post, Shannan's very wet shoes.

See you next month at the Wilmington Professionals Group.

Strictly Business - Reel Cafe - 10-14-09

It was a dark and stormy night, err, afternoon, when Dave Murray and I set out for the Strictly Business networking event (sponsored as always by The Big Talker FM) in benefit of Wilmington Downtown, Inc. at the Reel Cafe on the corner of Front and Dock Streets. The event was held outside under the Reel Cafe's canopy (plus some additional tarps) and, while the crowd was likely lessened by the incessant rain, the diehards plus some new faces showed up!

Below are Dave Murray, a friend who recently moved to our area from Albany, NY, Terry Hall of RSVP, and the always smiling Reggie Shropshire of ActionCoach.

Rebecca Powell of Coastal Mail, James Arnold of South-Eastern Commercial Services, and Reggie.

Rick Huston of United First Financial and Curtis Wright, the event host and Big Talker morning guy.

James Arnold and Elaine Huston of Prepaid Legal.

Reggie, first time visitor Angelina Sereno of SkyBox Creative, and yours truly.

Dave and Angelina.

Anna Scharff of Boys and Girls Homes of North Carlina and James.


Sea-Comm Media (they own The Big Talker FM) sales guy Derek Sellers.

Paige Freeman, photographer for Sea-Comm Media.

Josh Caine of Past Present Future Digital and Reggie.
Djenana Ninkovic of Moxie Floral Design Studio and Tim Patton of The Upper Room.
Nikole Howard of Jerry's Food, Wine & Spirits, Lee Ann Haggerty of Wilmington Downtown, Inc., and Ronnie Anderson of RBC Bank.

Elaine Huston and Mary Bennies of TownPlanner, sitting dangerously close to the rain.


David Merrill of Hertz Rentals (and also the guy that set up and maintains the Greater Wilmington Networking Calendar) and Shannan Bowen of the Star-News literally came in out of the rain.

Here's a better shot of Shannan.

Dwayne Starks of PC Doc Onsite (facing the camera) seems to always get caught in conversation by people with computer problems or questions.

So it was wet, but it was still a successful event. You can check online at David Merrill's calendar, or directly at The Big Talker FM Strictly Business event page for each week's location.

Business Social Media Tip #8 - What Do You Say?

OK, so you're on Facebook, maybe LinkedIn, possibly Twitter, or maybe some other social media sites. Cool. The fact of your presence on social media sites is fine, but just being there is like opening the door to a room full of people (and here we're talking about potentially millions of people). So once you're in the room, what do you say?

Well when you walk into a real room the first thing you usually do is to greet people and say hello. It doesn't work the same way with social media, in part because usually no one's going to say hello right back (this isn't chatting or texting). Also, because most social media updates are short - you don't want to launch into a long harangue or statement about something - save those for your blog.

So what do you say? Well, keeping in mind the business reasons you using social media in the first place (your "why"), what you want to accomplish (your "what"), and how you've chosen to present yourself (your "who"), you might have a thought of what you would like to say, but I suggest first you hang out a bit and see what works.

When you first "get on" a new social media site, the best advice is to observe for a while. Follow (or 'friend' or 'link to') some folks, and watch what they do and say on the site. If you see a comment you like, say so, or maybe contribute to the discussion - but start your contributions slowly. Eventually, as you get to know what's acceptable and normal for a given social media site, start to share new topics or opinions.

This is the order: observe, engage, share. Of course you can jump right in and start to contribute, but what if your messages miss the subject mark, or the acceptable tone, or pacing?

Remembering to stay within the reasons you are using social media in the first place, start with just a bit of caution and then, as you gain confidence (and followers) pick it up. Certainly there's room for individualism, but if you're using social media for business, it pays off to find out what's acceptable and what works for others in businesses similar to yours.

WECT's Frances Weller and Gary McNair at NBCC Luncheon

WECT's News C0-Anchor Frances Weller and Vice President and General Manager Gary McNair were the guest speakers at the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce's monthly luncheon meeting, held this month in the club house at Magnolia Greens in Leland.

Luncheon Co-ordinator Alice Razzano and NBCC Executive Director Terry Grillo chat with Gary McNair before the luncheon.

Board member Connie Reeves.

Board member Jeff Harvell checking in.

Suntrust's Denise Harris was on the list!

Marge Brown of Fat City Cards and board member Todd Godbey of Kidsville News.

Board members Tony Vlach of Nationwide Insurance and Franklin Rouse of State Farm.

Ambassador Mary Anne Fagerquist.

Frances Weller and board member Dana Fisher of Bradford Mortgage.

Board member Justin Williams of NBM Magazine.

Terry Grillo introduces new members.

Frances Weller started by telling us how she got started at WECT in 1982.

Gary McNair talked about his day, fielding phone calls and text messages from viewers reacting to the day's broadcast.

Together Frances and Gary fielded questions from the audience.

We had an attentive group today.

The luncheon was an enjoyable success, thanks to all involved, especially Frances and Gary.

Business Social Media Tip #7 - Feed Yourself

When you’ve set yourself up on any new social media site, one easy way to maximize your personal benefit from your presence is to have any new postings, status updates, or tweets automatically feed to your website(s) and/or your blog(s).

What this means, briefly, is that your Facebook updates, for example, can also appear on your blog page and on your web site.

Don’t worry about “how” to do this – usually you can find that information pretty easily by Googling the topic or within the Help or FAQ sections of your blog or the social media site. Generally what you’re going to do is either figure out (or have someone else do it for you) how to set up an RSS feed directly to your web site or blog. There may also be a “widget” you can put on your blog or website – usually in a column on the left or right, sometimes on the bottom of the page, or perhaps within a designated box on the page. A “widget” is a short piece of computer code written in HTML, the computer language the Internet understands. The good news is you don’t have to understand the HTML code in the widget, all you have to do is copy and paste it to the proper location – once you figure out how that is. If you’re at all computer savvy and especially if you have the least comfort with HTML, you’ll find this process delightfully easy – if it leaves you pulling on your earlobe, ask a savvy friend or a company IT person for assistance.

There are several reasons to post your own social media feeds on your blog or website:

- Your work, meaning anything you write, will show up in multiple places, increasing the possibility of it’s being seen and read and accomplishing its purpose.

- Very few people, if anyone, will follow everything you write or post on every social media site, web site, or blog – if the information appears in multiple places, your message’s impact has a better chance.

- While it’s not a good idea to have the same data on every type of site on the Internet (web site, blog, social media, and social networks) – by feeding the social media posts to your web site and blog the content appears and actually is richer.

- Your readers' or your market’s perception of you being more “connected” and seen will increase.

- You can point to your blog or web site – occasionally, do not overdo it – from social media sites, and once someone goes to your blog or web site they will have a chance to see what else you do, say, or have.

The overall purpose of cross-feeding social media content to your blog and web site is that it’s a convenient way to heighten your Internet presence and impact – which is the over-riding reason for all this in the first place.

Wilmington Chamber of Commerce - SunTrust Bank Business After Hours

The Oleander branch of SunTrust bank hosted a Business After Hours for the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce on October 8th.

SunTrust's Denise Harris welcomes an attendee.

In the front parking lot SunTrust's mobile office services demo truck was receiving visitors.

Inside the truck (the walls of which are transparent glass, which was pretty cool), a SunTrust representative gave a quick presentation of the bank's business services.

Outside the truck I was happy to see SunTrust City President Donna Cameron and her guest, Sally Barton, visiting from Georgia. Donna and Sally have been friends since 3rd grade!

Kidsville's Todd Godbey, ActionCoach Reggie Shropshire, and Mike Moore of Atlantic Care Care chatted in the parking lot.

Scott Cromartie crossed he parking lot with a big smile. Scott wears several hats, including BNI Area Director, mortgage consultant with Stevens Mortgage, and member of the Board of Directors of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.

Inside the action was hopping. Here Donna May of PartyLite Candles and Scott Cromartie talk with other attendees.

Rick Huston of United Financial and Jessica Pirone of Just Perfect home staging had big smiles.



As you can see, Donna Cameron kept very busy greeting and talking with guests. She later exhibited a secret talent (secret to me anyway, read on).


Shannon Andrews, who I've known for years and was formerly in real estate, is now working with Michael Byrd at WordWright Web.

Shannan and Michael. I guess the dress code for the company includes matching shirts. Kidding aside, they're both very hard working, professional people. Check out www.wordwrightweb.com.

Anna Schraff of Boys & Girls Homes of NC, Inc. and James Arnold of South-Eastern Commercial Services.

Mark Evans of Green Cleaning Technicians.

Donna Cameron and her Jennifer Wayne.


Donna insisted on taking a photograph of me with Jennifer.

Premier Staffing's Peggy O'Leary and Donna. Both women, btw, are also on the Board of Directors of the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce.

And here's Donna's secret talent. She can whistle a crowd of 80-100 networkers to almost instant silence.

Carol Mazure, President and CEO of the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.

Vera Weiss, the WCC's Vice President of Organizational Development and Member Services assisted with the drawings.


Mike Moore won one of the prizes!

More drawings, this time Donna's friend Sally got into the act.

There was a great turn out for this Business After Hours.

Thanks SunTrust and thanks to the Wilmington Chamber of Commerce.

Belville Farmers' Market, Ribbon Cutting and Llama Kissing

Have you ever been kissed by a llama? If not, you missed your chance this morning at the Belville Farmers' Market. SunMist Pastures had two very sweet llamas in attendance and if you were nice, and didn't do the dog thing and stick your hand out for them to smell (I forget why, exactly, but recall llamas don't like that), but instead speak softly and get close, they'll kiss you. At least it happened to me, and I saw a few other folks get bussed as well.

SundMist Pasture's llamas and llama wool products were just one of the features at the Belville Farmers' Market. Other booths had produce, flowers, meat, chocolate (!), hand made dog treats, herbs and seasonings, wooden porch swings, and all manner of great stuff.

The Belville Farmers' Market is one of many programs supported and promoted by the Southeastern North Carolina Food Systems Program (SENCFS). Check out their website at www.feastsoutheastnc.org. UNCW's Leslie Hossfeld is the Program Director and Jane Stiegerwald is the Assistant Program Director. Both were on hand for the ribbon-cutting this morning on the open field just to the south of the Olde Waterford Shops.

Joan Winkler and Jeff Chalfant's Choco Geo booth was a favorite. (Guess what they produce?)

Look at the size of these pumpkins by one of the booths.
Here's Tony Vlach checking out the dog treats for his beloved dog at My Porch Dawg.

Chef Skip Laskody, author of "Cape Fear Cookery" was in a tent with his "Gourmet spice blends for everyday cookery".


Jimmie Cooper's Paradise Swings are colorful and inviting.

It was early but we had music to dance by, or at least tap our feet.


The ribbon-cutting went without a hitch. From the left end of the ribbon to the right , below, are Linda Mehner, Todd Godbey, Belville Mayor Chuck Thurlow, Waterford developer Bert Exum, NBCC Executive Director Terry Grillo, NBCC President George Murray, Leslie Hossfeld, Jane Stiegerwalk, Franklin Rouse, Brenda Bozeman, Roy Lettieri, and Ken Schiess.

Mayor Thurlow is bullish on Belville.

Frank Williams, Todd Godbey, and Jeff Harvell.

Franklin Rouse and Frank Williams.

Gina and Ken Schiess.


Jane Stiegerwald, Terry Grillo, and WWAY TV3's Shontrelle Robinson.
There was one other booth with an interesting story. Ron Koster's Tarheel Beef Co. has prime locally raised angus beef. Unfortunately my photo didn't come out, but you can reach Ron at (910) 256-3234 or visit his store at 2107 Carolina Beach Road in Wilmington.

So come out any Thursday morning to Belville's Farmers' Market. This is a great time of year to get out in the early morning and pick up some fresh produce and meet some great people. And, if you're good, you might just get kissed by a llama.

Par Harbor/The Bridge Grill

Yesterday we had lunch with our friend Amanda Tyler of Carolina Events and Tents, from Loris, SC. We met at Par Harbor/The Bridge Grill at 305 Sunset Blvd. N, Sunset Beach, NC.

The restaurant's new owner, Leroy Brown, is busy refurbishing the building, but it's for sure open for business.

Stop by sometime, it's worth the trip. I recommend the Southwestern Burger.

Here's the official ad copy I found somewhere: Enjoy mini golf, video games, ice cream and the best sandwiches and burgers around. No visit to Sunset Beach is complete without a family outing at Par Harbor/The Bridge Grill.

Wilmington Downtowners Meet & Mingle

Another good time and fine gathering at Front Street Brewery yesterday at the monthly Wilmington Downtowners' Meet & Mingle.

Below Becca Jones (Special Ed Coordinator of Penderlea School), Jennifer Caslin (Wilmington Food Bank), Shannan Bowen (Wilmington Star-News), and Sarah Barbee (Fussbudget Promotions) early at the event.

Steve West of N2 Publishing and Sarah Barbee.

Susan Kadar of Friendly Computers.

Andrew Gray of TayloeGray and Kevin O'Grady, candidate for City Council.

Did I mentin that in addition to free appetizers there's also free beer tasting from the cellars of Front Street Brewery? The servers were Marci Perry and Kristina Goertz.


Front Street Brewery Marketing Director Ellie Craig and Diane O'Grady, City Council hopeful Kevin O'Grady's spouse.

The featured organization this month was the American Cancer Society's Making Strides Against Breast Cancer even to be held in Downtown Wilmington on Saturday, October 17th. Check it out at www.strideswilmingtonnc.org.

At the table below are cancer survivors Claudia Eastmond, Darla Ogle, and Jocelyn George. Seated with them is American Cancer Society Community Income Manager Sarah Caudle.

Here's trouble! Sarah Barbee, Glynne Soap's Jennifer Beddoe and Gayle Tabor, and Ellie Craig.

Come join us for good times and focused networking every first Wednesday of the month from 5-6:30 PM at 9 N Front Street in Downtown Wilmington.

Strictly Business at Carrabbas, October 7, 2009

OK, Wednesday again, Strictly Business in a new location, Carrabba's in Wilmington. Check this networking event link for the weekly schedule.

I wondered before going in how the growing group of business networkers would fit in Carrabba's which is generally hoppin' at dinner time.

But obviously it worked out well. Right off I saw Barbara Gray (PrePaid Legal) and took this photo, after which joking that was all I needed and could leave, but I stayed.

Jon Hicks of Ethos Studios was engrossed in the news.



There's Curtis Wright, the Big Talker morning guy himself, in the dark striped shirt. Curtis is the host of the Strictly Business events.

Didn't get all the names, but for sure that's Michael Byrd of WordWrightWeb in the tie.

Here's the focus cause for this week.

Steve West of N2 Publishing was at both the Wilmington Downtown Meet & Mingle and at Strictly Business. Steve gets around. That our good friend Mary Bennies of the Town Planner on the right side of the picture.

There's another shot of Mary.

Paige Freeman, a photographer for The Big Talker (a real photographer).

Paige helped with the raffle drawings.


There's another bud, Derek Sellers, a sales guy with Sea-Comm Media, the dapper guy with the tie in the center of the photo.

Donna May of PartyLite Candles right in the middle of the action (and the photo).

The very able wait staff who took care of us at Carrabba's, Josh Taylor (leaning over the bar), Jana Parrish, Colin Wilson, and manager Jacob Peterson.


Another good time and successful business networking event. Next week at The Reel Cafe at 100 S. Front Street.

Career Day at North Brunswick High School

The Education Committee of the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce sponsors Career Days at local schools. Area business people and professionals spend the morning talking with groups of kids about their jobs and businesses. It's a lot of fun and lets kids talk with adults in a fairly informal setting.

The Education Committee is headed by Todd Godbey, local publisher of Kidsville News, a school and community related publication.

I attended the Career Day last year at North Brunswick High School and again this year. As a former high school teacher (14 years teaching English in an exurban Granby, CT), it felt like going home, sorta. Last year I published photos of the crowds and individual kids. No one complained but I kinda thought maybe with privacy issues and concerns it might be better just to show some of the adults who participated in the event.

This first shot is my Broker-in-Charge, Denise Kinney who daily herds me and my fellow REALTORs at the Leland office of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Realty.

This shot is a line up of volunteers, which included an executive chef, contractors, bankers, nurses, and attorneys.

There's Denise again, listening to Todd give us instructions on how the morning program will run. Attorney Keith Calder is just beyond Denise.

Todd Godbey explaining the day. Also, the other guy in red, on the right, is Mark Koval of Communities in Schools - another good guy whose organization works to benefit local schools and of course the children.

Todd is a great guy and a hard worker. He was also recently elected to the NBCC Board of Directors.

So, no photos of kids, but thanks to all who participated and especially to the Education Committee, headed by Todd.

Riegelwood Credit Union - Business After Hours

The skies were gray and rain threatened, but at the Riegelwood Credit Union the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours went on as scheduled. We had a nice turn out and a good time. Thanks to all the Riegelwood CU board members and staff!

Business After Hours regulars George Patterson of Mulch and More, photographer Bob Baer, Marge Brown of Fat City Cards, and Azalea Place's Scott Reeves (aka Santa Claus).

A goodly crowd gathered quickly.

Alan Henderson of Wells Fargo Mortgage was on hand.

NBCC President George Murray of Murray Art & Frame and Board member Tony Vlach of Nationwide Insurance.

Drew Roper of BB&T and NBCC Executive Director Terry Grillo.

Victor Pearsall of Security Savings Bank.

Entertainment by Grey Ghost.

The food was from Smithfield's.

We had a back up at registration for a while. That's always a good sign.

The real photographers, Bob Baer and Leland News & Reporter's Mike Leggett.

Bugsy's Cigar's Frank Bullara. Kidsville's Todd Godbey in the background.

Terry talking with Dana Fisher of Bradford Mortgage.

We sat down to some good food.



Marge talks with Stevens Fine Homes Charlotte Palmer (Cove Landing) and Cynthia Rehberg (Grayson Park).

Dwayne Sparks of PC Doc Onsite talks with Alan Henderson.

George Murray and Mike Leggett.

Scott Reeves, NBM Magazine's Justin Williams, and Connie Reeves.

Okay, so indulge me a bit on this, NBM photographer Wendy Hunt and I had a camera showdown. There she is coming around behind Santa Claus.

Getting ready to shoot.

Okay, so some people say I take photos so I won't have to be in them. Others know I'm not camera shy. To prove it, just see my photo here on Wendy's camera!

One of my favorite shots of Scott, Justin, and Connie.

Tony Vlach, Jeff Harvell, and Mark Koval of Communities in Schools.

Mike, Bob, and George posing for Wendy.

Smithfield's Felicia Malpass and Scott Murray did a great job, with big smiles.
Riegelwood's Elaine Williams greeted the assemblage.

And Riegelwood CEO Linda Ganey welcomed us and made introductions.

James and Brenda Bozeman of ReMax and Dana Fisher.


Jeff Harvell and Alpha Graphics' Rick Stinson.

Thanks again, Riegelwood, we're proud to have you as members of the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce.

Gumdrops & Lollipops, Leland, NC

Marge and I visited this store yesterday in search of birthday presents for grandkids. Brandi Milam, the store owner, was celebrating the store's one year anniversary, so that was kinda cool, too.




That's Brandi behind the counter, with Marge making a purchase.



Not sure about a web site, but click this link for their Facebook page.

Out of Eden Soap Boutique

Yesterday Marge and I visited Out of Eden Soap Boutique on Wrightsville Avenue in Wilmington, NC.

Inside are rooms of displays with handmade soaps.

I don't think the ducks are soap, but the alphabet letters in the jars sure are.

Marge doing some grandkid shopping.




In the back room Jennifer Sykes, a volunteer from Mt. Olive Church was making soap that will be sold to benefit children in Honduras.

Here's another shot of Jennifer with a two-handed soap knife.

Ever wonder how scented soap gets its scent? Here's a clue.

OK, so if this is sort of a princess-type store, here's the princess.



Eileen Kubes and her sister, Carol Crow, the owner of Out of Eden.

An interesting store. Check out the selection of handmade soaps at the Out of Eden website .

Business Social Media Tip #6 - If You've Got It, Flaunt It!

Once you start using social media, let people know. Sure, some people will find you on Facebook or Twitter or wherever, but it’s tactically much better to include your social media links, names, and addresses in other media, and across various forms of social media.

If you look at many blogs and websites you’ll notice an increasing tendency to list all the ways the person or company can be reached. Whether listed with text, web links (cooler and certainly more convenient), or (coolest of all) graphic icons, the inclusion of info about your social media presence accomplishes two things:

• Your contacts can find you easily on various media.
• You show the world you’re hip to new technology and communications modes.

In addition to putting info such as your Twitter handle, Facebook address, and blog URL on your website, in your e-mail signature, and on each other, don’t forget to include your various contact points on conventional media as well. Most everyone still uses paper business cards, some use brochures, and possibly someone somewhere still uses pre-printed letterhead. If you utilize those media, include your techno context points on them.

And don’t forget your advertising. If you advertise in print, on television or radio, figure out how to include your social media addresses there, too.

A word of caution about multiple social media sites; some espouse signing up on many social media sites. I’m not so sure about that.
• Keeping content fresh on a multitude of sites can be time-consuming (although there are utilities such as ping.fm that enable you to post the same content to multiple sites simultaneously.
• If you have a boatload of site URLs or handles, however, most won’t be able to fit all the info on a business card and it can look pretty silly even on a Web site or blog. I recently saw a clothing catalog where the company’s social media icons took 2/3rds of a page!
• If you are constantly on the lookout for new social media opportunities, maintaining the cross referencing between sites can take on a life of its own, to the point that you’ll never be caught up – especially if you use any print media.

The business purpose of social media is not to provide yet another way to keep yourself or someone else busy, but rather to support your company marketing program. If social media exists for it’s own sake and isn’t helping your company bottom line, question it. Certainly overdoing social media is downright silly and most likely wasteful.

Business Social Media Tip #5 - Brand You!

As you start to use social media pay attention to your brand, and that means you! Your presence on social media is defined by your words, conversation, communication, the videos and photos you upload, groups you join, support, or become a “fan” of, as well as the messages you eventually (but cautiously) include about your business, products, and services.

It should go without saying (but I’ll say it anyway because there are many business people active in social media who don’t get it) that your message and your “brand” should above all be consistent. There are two levels of business social media brand consistency:: internal consistency and business consistency.

When your social media contributions are internally consistent they “sound” like the same person, possibly with minor variations to allow for moods, but in general the voice, style, tone, and types of content should be consistent to the point of being recognizable. The second layer to internal consistency is when it crosses media – your Facebook presence should not differ greatly from your Twitter persona (and many people will follow and notice you on both).

Social media consistency for your business means your persona and personality are best if they seem appropriate for your business, even though you’ll be adding a human face to the business via this media. If you’re a new car dealer, for example, it won’t likely work if your social media content is focused on political or religious issues or food, or animals. Imagine how it will look for your business brand if your social media content is all about partying or dating.

Some people keep separate social media identities for their business and personal lives, but I don’t recommend doing that – it’s enough of a challenge to keep fresh content in social media for one personality; maintaining a balance between business and personal at once confuses the issue and may not even be possible.

A note to recent college graduates: If your Facebook (or other media) presence includes a lot of info about partying or other content or activities that you don’t think would serve your business identity well, do you best to remove and discontinue that content. ‘Nuff said about that.

Business Social Media Tip #4 - Choose Carefully and Start Slowly

You don’t need to sign up for every social media application. While you may add applications in time, especially as you experience success and payback from your initial social media efforts, when you’re just starting it’s best to limit yourself to carefully selected applications.

New social media applications appear daily, but at first it’s best to stick to a few major sites. There’s no financial charge to join and participate in social media (at least not today, in the future that may change) so cost isn’t an issue in your choice.

My recommendation for businesses is to start with Facebook (www.facebook.com) and Twitter (www.twitter.com) with a personal listing on LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com). It’s not the purpose of this tips list to define, teach, or explore the nuances of any social media site, however, here’s a quick rundown of the applications I’ve mentioned:

• Facebook is currently the most powerful site for personal and company pages, with emphasis on community, media, connections, communications, play, and promotion. You can use it to set up a personal page, to make connections with clients and your sphere of influence, to set up a page for your business, and to promote events. There are a multitude of special interest groups on Facebook and you’ll likely be invited to become a “Fan” of many causes, companies, and events in fairly short order.

• Twitter is a microblogging service on which you can use a maximum of 140 characters to say hello, share a link, ask questions, promote causes or events, or converse. Twitter is used by international news media to distribute and gather news, so at times searching the Twitter “stream” is the fastest way to track breaking news. Twitter can seem overwhelming or nonsensical at first, but it’s actually a highly malleable media – used for many different purposes. At first it’s best to set up a personal Twitter account, choose some people to follow, and start to attract followers. As you gain familiarity with Twitter you’ll be better prepared to implement your actual purpose for using social media.

• LinkedIn is best considered an online resume database. People use LinkedIn for much more than just personal facts and history. Recommendations are prized and LinkedIn also includes an introduction feature if it turns out someone you already know is connected to someone you’d like to meet.

So start with those three and spend at least a month or two learning the ropes. It’s a more effective use of your time to maximize your presence on a few powerful social media sites than to sign up for a multitude of sites with no time to explore and make the most of any.

The next social media site to consider is a social networking site. These are usually set up at no or little charge to the founders and include local, regional, professional and special interest social networking sites. They are often called “Ning” sites after the online service of that name (www.ning.com) used to create, share, and promote social media networks. Often all you have to do is create a simple profile, connect with others on the network, and notice the members’ blog posts, event announcements, and photo and video uploads before deciding how you will use the service.

Business Social Media Tip #3 - What?

After you've figured out why you want to use social media for your business and determined who your company will be on line, that is, which personality and personal traits will define your social media presence, the next step is to decide exactly what your social media campaign will entail.

Realize that the line between your personal personality and your company personality may seem blurred at times, to both your followers and to you, and that's not a bad thing, but if your company is going to reap the greatest benefits from social media marketing, which has significant time and resource costs, you need to be clear about the purpose and content of the campaign.

Your social media what is most closely aligned with the why. For example, if your major purpose, or why is competitive intelligence, then for that purpose all you may need to do is run or maintain topic searches on a regular basis, either yourself or via a third-party social media "clipping" service that tracks your industry and your competitors.

Here are a few more examples:

- If your primary purpose is to put a personality on your company presence to engage with existing and potential customers, then chatting, social greetings and public conversations are appropriate.

- If quality control and public relations is foremost, monitor various sites for mention of your company or products and services and be diligent in following up publicly on complaints and acknowledge praise freely. Be transparent in your quality control efforts, that is state openly that you are using social media to be sure your customers and clientele are happy and that you're interested and willing to follow up with people who have issues or questions. Note that it is possible to be baited if you use social media for quality control and it doesn't serve any good purpose for your company if you engage in debate or keep "talking" in public with someone who is unreasonable, defamatory, or clearly out to make you look bad. If you find yourself in contact with anyone whose statements or requests are out of line or wholly negative, request to take it offline for e-mail or phone resolution - no one reasonable will expect you to stay engaged in social media exchange with an obviously abusive or ridiculous complainer.

- If you company supports charitable causes or good works of others, plan to use social media freely to promote those causes or efforts. Sure, it will be obvious that you gain good P.R. from it, but nonetheless you will assist the cause or support the people or organizations that contribute and that will reflect well on you.

The simple question to ask yourself, or your advisors, or possibly even put it out on social media for involvement and feedback is, "If our company hopes to achieve X (your social media why), will it be a good thing if we do Y (your proposed social media what)?" The response may be very helpful and save you a lot of time and effort.

PC Doc Onsite LLC - NBCC Ribbon Cutting

Today we had another ribbon cutting at the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce. Today's event featured Dwayne Starks' PC Doc Onsite LLC, an onsite computer repair company.


Here's the scene of the cutting.

And the sign, today reflecting the slight cloudiness.

Chamber members, ambassadors, and staff awaiting the ceremony. Left to right Karen Ladlay, Peggy O'Leary, Alice Razzano, Terry Grillo, and Linda Mehner.

Marge Brown enters with a smile.

Marge and Peggy.

Dwayne's banner.

Dwayne's service vehicle.

Not bad, huh?
Ready to cut.

It's cut!

As it says on the card to Representative McIntyre, "Thank you for your time."

And thank you, too, Dwayne, for joining the NBCC and for the fine lunch we enjoyed after the ribbon cutting.

And how do YOU keep your energy up? (Presented without comment)

Business Social Media Tip #2 - Who Are You?

Your business social media presence needs personality, but don't confuse "personal presence" with play or inconsistent silliness or drivel. By no means am I suggesting that your social media tweets, updates, status or whatever come across as stern, stiff, strict, or even overly serious. However, to reap the greatest business benefit from social media presence and activity, your enterprise needs a clearly defined, consistent personality.

As with all advertising, public relations, and marketing (and please forgive my obviousness here, but I believe it matters based on observation) your company's social media "personality" needs to be clearly defined and described internally so that you and anyone else in your company who will touch, contribute, or work off from or in conjunction with your social media presence will understand "who" your company is.

For example, if your social media updates (using the most generic term) only entail facts, which in itself reveals a level of social media cluelessness, that dryness will partially define your company's presence and effect your following.

If you consider social media becoming "the voice" of your company, you're getting close to what this is all about.

Personality, style, values, preferences, even beliefs will shine through your social media presence when you work it correctly. And by the way, if you hesitate to let personal-ness come through in your marketing and advertising because you don't want to turn off potential clientele, please re-think that. Unless you're a monopoly with the only source of some crucial good or service (and I'm thinking on the level of oxygen here), your business will be more economical to market and advertise if you target your market and don't try to sell to "everyone and anyone". A small or medium company that attempts to stay "vanilla", inoffensive, and universal in all advertising and marketing (which includes social media) is wasting money.

Okay, so what's required is to define and describe your company's personality for social media? First, it should be written clearly so others in and outside your company will be able to understand.

Your company "personality" is best when consistent with your other advertising and marketing as well as your product or service. If you sell fun, hip products, it's easy to realize your social media presence should be fun and hip. If you sell serious necessities, possibly even goods or services people wish they didn't have to spend money on, and I'm thinking here of companies like duct cleaning services, medical appliances, bail bondsmen (bondspersons?), or gastrointestinal clinics, fun and hip likely won't go over too well, but sincere, friendly, professional, and reassuring might.

If you're not sure how to best define your company personality for social media, think of your market. Let's say, for example, you work in a promotional products company that services a whole range of businesses. How do you choose and define your social media personality? Look to your market. Again, as above, if you try to sell to everyone, personalizing your social media will be tougher, but to the extent you can narrow the "personal" aspect of your messaging, the better your results.

Some other guick thoughts on social media personality:

- If more than one person is responsible for your company social media content, be sure all involved have a clear, consistent understanding of what the personality and are able to support that presence. Inconsistency will confuse your market.

- Seek feedback. Whether you use focus groups, feedback surveys, anecdotal conversations, or structured analysis, check that your message and company personality are getting out as intended.

- Social media is most successful when it engages others; it's not one-way communication. Test (maybe by just looking) that the engagements and conversations are what you expect and desire for your company.

- Be sure your social media personal messages are consistent with other advertising, marketing, and outreach.

- Communicate your social media personality to all company personnel. It is best if they are at least aware of the company image.

Wilmington Young Professionals at Bluewater Grill

Every month the Wilmington Young Professionals group meets at a local establishment for networking and socializing. Last night this group, founded and run by Jackie Willsie (who also owns Port City Candles) met at Bluewater Grill on Wrightsville Beach.

In the photo below are Jackie Willsie and Sarah Barbee of Fussbudget Promotions.

Michael Byrd of WordWrightWeb was an early attendee.

As was Mark Evans of Green Cleaning Technicians. (Look for Mark in the latest issue of Wilma Magazine - I haven't seen it yet but hear he's featured or listed as an eligible bachelor!)

David Merrill (on the left with green shirt and shades) of Hertz and the Wilmington Networking Events calendar. Also, Jim Weaver of Point Blank Advertising (in the pink shirt and shades).

Becca Jones of Penderlea School and Jennifer Caslin of the Food Bank in Wilmington.

Brooke Foreman of Left Right Studio.

Nick Kentrolis of Crest Fitness.

There's Jim Weaver again.

I had to scoot early, but it was a good time that I'm sure got even better as the evening progressed. Next month's event will be the Wilmington Young Professional's Halloween Business After Hours at Front Street Brewery on October 29th.

NBCC Ribbon Cutting - House of Wine and Cheese

The new owners of the House of Wine & Cheese, Chuck and Linda Spittel, held a ribbon-cutting today, sponsored by the North Brunswick Chamber of Commerce.



Connie Reeves, Brenda Bozeman, and Marge Brown.

Mike Leggett and Bob Baer, the real photographers, were there early.

Chuck and Linda Spittel

Linda Spittel

Chuck and Linda

Mike and Bob

Dapper Ken Schiess (with the black shirt) and an equally dapper Denise Harris (in the red suit).

Gina Schiess, Yolanda Holmes, and Ken Schiess.

Justin Williams, another real photographer, talks with Chuck.

Ken, Gina, and Yolanda.

Roy Lettieri explaining something to NBCC Executive Director Terry Grillo.

Tony Vlach, Ken Schiess, Sheila Hanby (back to camera), George Murray, Gina Schiess, and Jeff Harvell.

The photographers get everyone ready for the actual cutting.

Bob Baer blessing the crowd (actually he was giving them a focal point).

Getting ready to cut.

Leaning in and pressing down.

A successful cut!

Donna Cameron and Denise Harris.

Brenda, Connies, Shiela, and George.

Tony Vlach and Monica Clark.

So welcome to the chamber Chuck and Linda, we're glad to have you!

Business Social Media Tip #1 - Why?

Just like in life, if you're using social media for your business, it's always a good idea to look for The Big Why.

Simply put, if you know for sure the reasons you will use social media for the benefit of your business and you start from and make all decisions based on that perspective, your time, effort, and possibly money (if you pay someone else to actually "do" your social media setup and updates) will be better spent. Your results and satisfaction will be higher if your business social media presence is directed to a specific purpose.

There are some great reasons not to utilize social media for your business:

- Everyone else is using it so must be you should, too. Not.
- You like to shout out to your friends so social media is a great way to do it, even in a business context. Not.
- As long as you publish anything, even the mundane activities of your day (like standing in line for coffee), you're better off and people will pay attention. Not.
- Social media is a great way to sell stuff. Totally Not.
- You can put in links to your website all over the place and people will go there. Not.
- You can put down your competitors or just generally share your negative view of the world. Obviously Not.
- Just put links to news stories or other websites and people will want to know more about you and your business. Not.
- It's a good way to pass the time during the workday. Ouch. Not.

Okay, with those distasteful negatives out of the way, here are some good reasons to use social media to promote and support your business:
- To personalize your company by communicating a human side in your posts. (Marketing)
- To present yourself as an expert in your field by commenting on or participating in conversations about relevant topics and news. (Marketing)
- To engage in conversations with present and potential customers and clients. (Marketing)
- To promote others. (Marketing and P.R.)
- To track what people are saying about you and your business. (Quality control.)
- To track what your competitors are doing. (Competitive Intelligence.)
- To start a buzz and conversation about new product releases, events, or developments (if kept to a minimum ratio). (Marketing & P.R.)
- To find ways to help others. (Call it Marketing & P.R.)
- For inspiration. (Marketing and Research)
- To extend your brand. (Marketing and P.R.)
- To engage others in conversation as part of your community (with the implied but indirect opportunity to gain new clients or customers). Prospecting.

Your business needs will vary, but it's a great idea to get started today with social media if you haven't already. There is a learning curve so until you know how or why you will use social media for your business, it's a good idea to start with a personal account just to gain familiarity, comfort, and possibly mastery of the media. For best effect, don't launch your business social media presence until you have identified your Big Why.