Have I told you recently how much I love the interent and social media…it just makes sense to me.  Check this out, a social network filled with other people in the same boat (or car as you will see) along with expert advice and many service options to chose from based on your needs.  This is for every driver who needs to know a thing or two about their car.  Check out DriverSide…I love it!

As a citizen in the town of Fairfield, CT., and as a female, mother, wife and daughter, I have a favorite website called SuzySaid. SuzySaid is the essense of where the big web guys (google, yahoo….) and the internet as a whole would like to go. It is geared for women and focused on the town where we live. I believe that SuzySaid started in Fairfield, my town, and has now branched out to other towns nearby and gone as far as Texas.

Content is local. Content is constantly updated. Content updates are shared daily with opt in email blasts. Content is geared for the local woman. Content is created by local women. Advertisers love it!

And you don’t need to be local to use it…what if I want to travel to Austin, Texas? Wouldn’t it be smart to consult SuzySaid?

As a woman living in Fairfield, this is my favorite website. As a business person advising smaller local businesses (and soon larger businesses), I say this is the way to go.

Hats off to SuzySaid!

Had a great time speaking at HVDMA (Hudson Valley Direct Marketing Association) yesterday. They had a President’s panel where Joe Feigenbaum from TDO, Fern Galperin, independent web consultant, and Matt Staudt from interactive marketing group and myself sat on a podium and answered questions about the web…everything from social media (big topic) to print, email marketing, direct marketing and more.

Interesting format. We met prior to the meeting and chatted and then were thrown lots of questions which for sure kept us on our toes…I was in very good company because Joe, Fern and Matt were confident and knowledgeable about their experiences on the web and how they have been innovators for their clients!

To sum up, we all agreed that the web/internet marketing is one of many powerful channels to use when reaching out to your customers.

Get a good rundown here from Tim Parry of multichannel merchant.

Social Networks for Business

Online Networking and Recruitment Aids Companies

FAIRFIELD, Conn., October 23, 2007 – “Networking means many things to many people in today’s day and age,” says Valorie Luther, Founder and CEO of Creative Concepts (www.Creative-Conceptsllc.com), a PR, Marketing and Social Media consultancy.  Prior to web 2.0, business networking took place at local organizations, luncheons and cocktail parties where, with drink in hand, you passed out business cards, smiled, and rattled off your 10 second “ad” about what you do and where you do it.  This of course still takes place from professional business groups all the way down to the local chamber of commerce but new to the networking foray are the online social networks that allow you to branch out and communicate with individuals who have the same agenda.  From Linkedin to Facebook, the cocktail–in-hand networkers have transformed themselves into savvy online communicators who reach out to either develop their client base or broaden their corporate team.

Life for Ms. Luther and the Creative Concepts team has quickened considerably through their online efforts.   They have broadened their employee reach through a blog, Linkedin and their Facebook profiles.  “Our team of experts which range from developers to blog writers is second to none thanks to being interactive online,” says Ms. Luther.  “Today the best talent doesn’t just live in one city or one region, and you shouldn’t have to be limited by location when it comes to finding the right employee.  The goal is to find the very best worker for that project or job which is possible through social networks.”

With clients who range the gamut from consumer goods to tech startups with a priority for expanding their client base and bottom-line through online strategies, Creative Concepts has been living in the social networking/web 2.0 world by creating corporate blogs, interacting with various groups within social networks and by producing and distributing videos and more for their customers.   “The transition was very natural: from increasing exposure online for our clients to finding the best employees for ourselves, social networking is no longer for kids! Business has much to gain by jumping on board” exclaims Ms. Luther.

Ok, I know it is Labor Day and that I should have been spending every minute with my beautiful family but they were tired from our trip to Southhampton (beautiful weather, great food and wonderful family made it the perfect trip) and I was drawn to my computer, more specifically to Facebook. I am so excited, I just had to share.

We as a company entered Facebook about a month ago well after we had a presence on MySpace for one of our clients. Myspace was a bit of a wild frontier and seemed to move quickly but once we were on there for awhile, we only had the same venues to work with: the one very active group we joined which linked closely to our clients’ product and our “friends” who seem to listen more than interact. Please note that while many agencies create digital ads for these spaces, we believe in creating communities and talking to people while growing the business so we are out there making friends and joining groups on behalf of our clients.

Well when we entered Facebook, it was different. First, it took awhile to become familiar with all that was going on (new apps created literally every minute in addition to a different interface from MySpace slowed us down temporarily). Robert Scoble, famous blogger and vlogger and one of our first friends, was making updates and additions on a regular basis which we could see on our mini feed which updates us about our friends, so I started to follow his path just like I did 4 years ago when I heard him speak live in NYC where he talked about blogging which, at that time, was a new and very strange thing to most of the world including myself.

I slowly have gotten into the swing of things by creating a profile page for myself/Creative Concepts and have uploaded a direct feed for this blog, a neighborhoods app so I can see who my actual neighbors are that are using Facebook (not many), I added a fun wall where I can post video, pictures, slides and more, plus I created a new group for the Business Smart Tools Conference which promotes the conference but more importantly, keeps a new/social media conversation going throughout the year.

I do believe that my intuition about blogging 4 years ago was on the money…I feel the same way about Facebook! Join the fun and let me know so we can be “friends!”

Say it isn’t so, I just heard that my favorite magazine of all time, Business 2.0 may be done. How can that be? The content is awesome, the ideas great…I always learn something!

Well I heard that Facebook has a group supporting it, and so I have joined and the group is getting larger by the minute.

One of the questions posed on the wall: will social media save Business 2.0?

Only time will tell!

Well, I would like to say that for this very brief moment, we at Creative Concepts can take a breath. We have caught up from the Business Smart Tools Conference which was very exciting, we have reached out to many present and future clients, and we are sitting back and watching a bit to see where we are going and how we are getting there…summer is good for that.

One trend or direction for us started with blogging and is now moving towards social networks. In my mind, they are one in the same with a slight technical difference. I am a huge fan of blogging as many of your know. It is a place where the corporate sector can provide solid content for their fans, they can control the messaging which is a big deal for the more dated mind set of managing the image every step of the way, and the walls are removed between management and the customer through the comment section. So cool…a web tool with legs to stand on!

I believe social networks have the similiar mindset. Now when I say social networks, I mean like myspace, facebook, linkedin and such and when I refer to “working” social networks, I don’t mean posting an ad on the homepage and hoping people get it although many ads on the homepage of myspace are pretty cool. What I mean by “working” social networks, I mean reaching out to new friends/contacts, I mean entering the forums and speaking for the company we represent (with full disclosure of course). We submit questions and answers in a low key way, we are part of the group…we aren’t out selling, we are truly making friends. It takes a lot of work and attention to detail but in my mind, it is the best way to reach out to a whole new generation and a whole new group of people period.

Many of the conferences I have attended don’t talk about this stuff (I have heard a lot about viral marketing and digital ads) but our clients are very interested in the concept of online communities. Business wants to talk to their people, and our clients (and potential clients) want to be a part of a group much like the people on the social networks already.

It’s all very interesting and it keeps us on our toes.

I am off now to visit with TheNewsMarket which is a video distribution channel that in my mind, so far anyway, makes sense!

Until next time!!