For those of you who are in the midst of overseeing and guiding the corporate blog, has anyone ever put on the blog a “how to” section?  As we have pulled out of the gate with the Bigelow Blog, many of the visitors who are coming over from the main Bigelow website have never seen or been active on a blog.  The first way to alienate anyone is by presenting something that no one understands and so we have posted a “how to” section to help explain the many facets of the blog (entries, comments, how to comment, categories…).  It is a simple thing but necessary.  As we all become more immersed in this online world, don’t forget that there is a large majority of people out there who don’t get it or maybe they get it but they don’t know how to work it!

Speaking of this premise, this is the idea behind the Business Smart Tools Conference.  Business people everywhere have heard of blogs, podasts, RSS, and many other online tools, but they may not know how to use them when it comes to futhering their corporate strategies.  We provide the speakers who are in the thick of things, we provide a time to learn, we provide a time to chat and connect, we provide live demos of upstart companies who will make a difference in the corporate arena.  We do all of this in one day, in 6 hours, in Connecticut.  Who can ask for anything better than that!!

So happy to be back on the BST train heading for next May (2007). The site is looking great thanks to Andrew over at AnswerYes Interactive and we have now created a blog where we can talk about the latest news concerning the speakers, demos, sponsors, advisory board and more. Lots of good stuff happening in the Spring, stay tuned!

Just returned from the Techcrunch Meetup. Jeanne, the event organizer, and Jennifer, the Techcrunch business manager, were awesome to work with! The event was a hit, the sponsors happy (especially HitTail), and the party smooth. Mike Arrington wasn’t used to a loud New York crowd and didn’t want to take the elevator but he made his way just fine anyway.

In case people don’t know who Creative Concepts is, we are an East Coast based PR and Marketing firm working with the  social media tools (check out the Bigelow Tea blog in its infancy), so if you are a tech startup anywhere and you want to reach out to our coast, we can help you. If you want to reach out to the corporate sector, we can help you do it with the Business Smart Tools Conference.

Sorry Mike Dunn that you missed it, but Greg Verdino, John Boehmer and Elizabeth Tarbell, it was great to see you and thanks Erin and Michelle for a job well done!

Pictures tomorrow.

This is a day that is truly exciting in the PR and Marketing arena!

Heading down to Greenwich shortly to the Greenwich Chamber’s Redman Hall to hear Jim Zebora speak. He is the Business Editor for The Advocate/Greenwich Time newspapers. I have pitched everything from blogging to a new business featuring a Greenwich resident who provides a community calendar for the area, Vivapop.com, and he seemed interested but the stories never took off. I was grateful though when he sent a reporter to our Business Smart Tools Conference in Stamford. In person “meetups” are always good and so I am heading in his direction to shake his hand.

Speaking of “meetups”…after Greenwich I am then heading into NYC to BEDNY for the Techcrunch Meetup where we are one of the sponsors and event managers. This party is the first of its kind in New York! It is a wild scene with people scratching and clawing to get in any which way they can…one AOL employee had to complain on Vallyewag in order to get attention from the infamous Mike Arrington.

For those who will make it up the elevator and past the check in desk, they will encounter very cool sponsors, live demos, food and drink, videos and music, a speech or two, and lots of networking…see you all there and look for the scoop tomorrow!

Got a mailer yesterday which I found interesting because it falls into the same category as my last entry which is, in my words, the power of the internet is unleashing the dregs of the earth and the con artists. 

This flyer said “Valorie gets a free conference invitation to learn how to earn income by attending the internet training conference.”  They have logos from ebay, yahoo, google and msn. 

At first you think wow here is something that could be interesting but when you look closer and see that the only contact is an 800# (with no website to check them out…hey wait, I thought they were internet based!) and that the confernece is at a Holiday Inn (sorry holiday inn) and that you get a free business organizer that has actual hard copy pages in it, then you must know it is a scam.

Does ebay know about them?  Does google know about them?  Does yahoo know about them?  How about MSN?  I don’t think so!

For a legitimate learning experience, you can attend the Business Smart Tools Conference where legit companies come and speak on how they are using the internet to gain more exposure and to bring on more clients.  GE, Hearst, BusinessWeek to name a few are supporters of this conference.  Xeorx is speaking next year.

You can also call Creative Concepts directly to learn more about social media and public relations and how you can leverage the internet to futher your business goals.

My team and I, Valorie Luther, will work with you to not only investigate all of the opportunities existing for you but we will also work hard to preserve your hard earned reputation by making the right choices for your firm.

Call 203.259.4202 or email info@creative-conceptsllc.com.  We are in Fairfield, Ct but can work with you wherever you are…we are virtual and international!

David Parmet of Marketing Begins At Home recently spoke at a PRSA tech function in NYC.  David was struck by the difference and or savyness or lack thereof in the audience in NYC vs. his week long visit to SF where he attended the SuperNova conference. 

Well, yes, I agree there is a difference (who could disagree) but I want to make another observation.  When I started putting together the Business Smart Tools Conference it came out of complete frustration because no one that I was interfacing with on a professional level was having a conversation about social media and what it could mean for their business hence the birth of the conference.  This forum was a way to start companies talking, especially the local ones.  Well it worked but it wasn’t just this conference.  There has been a plethora of information on TV, newspapers (check out Sundays NY Times), magazines and more on blogging, podcasting, video online, games…the list goes on and on.

I believe companies are beginning to listen, to question and to feel the pressure to participate. 

It has been interesting to see the movement from “that’s for kids” to “how do we begin to take part in the internet game,” it has been exciting to be a catlyst for some and a guide for others.  Can’t wait to see what the future holds…whatever it is, we at Creative Concepts are ready to go for the ride!

Well, we did it.  The Business Smart Tools Conference went off not only smoothly but grandly as the speakers did what I thought they could do which was to educate a diverse business oriented crowd on why emerging technology has to be taken seriously. 

Ron Stevenson from GE said it perfectly when is said that all content at GE is now created so that it is “liquid” or can slide between many mediums: podcasts, blogs, TV, video, mobile….

Mike Dunn said that if a company is not paying attention to the new media/technology then they may not be around for long.

David Parmet, Matt Kain and Reena Jana also echoed the same thoughts which you will be able to catch on the Business Smart Tools site by the end of the week.

Applause goes out to all of the speakers, sponsors, and exhibitors for making the 1st Business Smart Tools Conference a big success!  And thank you to Sabine for blogging about it live!!

Stamford, CT will never be the same!  Business Smart Tools Conference has found its home!

Look for more information and news about our next conference at www.BusinessSmartTools.com

 

Yes, it’s still Sabine, live blogging from the conference.
David Parmet is speaking on blogging at the Business Smart Tools conference.

He’s been busy live blogging, too, and uploading pictures as well.

What is the internet now? The internet is a physical space, a read/write web, social media. Tools are cheap and easy. It’s all about the aggregators (where you’re watching your media — computer, ipod, mobile devices).

Hugh Macleod came up with the phrase the Global Microbrand. A blog is a communications channel, not a sales channel.

With blogs, small companies can become global brands.

Big compies can talk with a human voice. Microsoft, Boing, GM, Sun.

He showed us the example of English Cut, the blog by Saville Row tailor Thomas Mahon. This blog has enormously increased his business.

People like to talk, and the internet gives them a venue — blogs, podcasts.

Also places like Amazon, where you can put in user reviews. Social media is not about the content as much as about connection.

The long tail: is a demand curve. In the traditional retail model, can only afford to stock the hits, the most popular stuff. But, Amazon has infinite shelf space, and found that they were selling as much of the non-popular stuff, in the aggregate, as the popular stuff.

Sabine again, bringing you Matt’s talk.

Matt is VP Sales, 24/7 Real Media USA.

The challenge for marketers is addressing audiences when media is getting increasingly fragmented. Look at kids — watching tv, on the internet, IMing, sending text messages, all simultaneously.
Idea is to put advertisers brands in the path of user’s behavior.
Yahoo has paid inclusion in the organic search results.

There are 2 basic ways for getting found in search engines:

1. have website rank naturally and optimize your site

2. search engine advertising and paid inclusion
24/7 Media has a set of tools to help advertisers and publishers connect to their audiences.

Looking at search results:

How to improve results in organic results.

Example: Vivapop.com

What phrases might a potential customer search on: scheduling calendar. There’s already a lot of results.

Search engines don’t look at the user interface of a page, they look at the source code. When Matt searches for the phrase in the source code — it’s not there. So this page will never be found for the phrase scheduling calendar.

For good SEO, avoid flash and other elements that don’t add content for search engines.

You also have to be careful not to use “black hat” techniques.

Looking at 24/7 site source code, can see metadata, such as title and keywords, which will help in search engine optimization.

How to use paid-for keywords.

Example: phrase “trout fishing.” In the month of april, over16,000 searches for that phrase.

For the word “fishing” 260,000 searches.

Next: look at how much it might cost. For Trout fishing, the top bidder is willing to pay $2.01. All of this data is available — Mike Kain can see every bidder on Yahoo for trout fishing.

He gave a quick demo on Google adwords.

SEM is the business of connecting to people who are already searching for you.

Sabine again: LiveBlogging from Business Smart Tools conference.

Next up is Mike Dunn. He’s a VP of Hears Interactive Media. They are a venture and enterprise technology group.

He’s been blogging for 5 years. His blog now is nomadic audio, which he started when podcasting first started.

Why podcasting appealed to him:

He manages projcts and resources globally, he needs to evaluate emerging technology and media trends, he’s drawn to change agent roles. he has a strong belief in social media tools, and he saw potential in the new media distribution model.

He commutes daily from Stamford to NYC, and in a crowded train, listening to audio is a lot easier to do standing up.

He asked the audience how many read via RSS (5 out of about 60). How many have heard about podcasting? 20 out of 50. About the same number know about iTunes.

He gave the history of podcasting and showed iTunes.

He also showed us his iRiver which he used to record part of David Pogue’s speech. Maybe he’ll put it up.

The San Fransciso Chronicle (owned by Hearst Interactive Media) invested in high-end technology for creating podcasts.

You can view the slides of his presentation on his blog.

He entered the term “Podcasting” in wikipedia on October 2, 2004, when he noticed that the term wasn’t there.

Yahoo has gotten into podcasting, also.

Podcasting really taps into the dynamic community aspects of the web.

Podcasting is easy. Corporations can do it with very little initial outlay of funds.

Why podcast? Podcasting allows for time and location shifting. It’s available 24 hours of the day.

SFGate.com does podcasts giving the behind the scenes look at a story.

I’ll have to look at his slides — he’s got some interesting ideas on ways to use podcasting.