• Learn How to Promote Your Business, Website or Blog using Social Media
• Learn to Make Viral Campaigns Explode on the web
• Learn how to Network for Great Connections Using Social Media
• Learn How to Improve Customer Service Through Social Media
• Get More Jobs and Land More Customers Through Social Media

Social Media Class Details

Date: September 1, 2009

Time: Arrive at 8:30am for networking. Class from 9:00am to noon.

Location: Office Evolution Park Meadows - 9233 Park Meadows Dr, Lone Tree, CO 80124

Cost: $147

Seats are extremely limited! Register now!

Twitter for Influence and Profit

Date: July 1, 2009

Time: Networking at 5:30pm.  Class from 6-9:30pm.

Location: Hooked on Colfax Coffee Shop in Denver, CO.

Cost: $147

Seats are limited!

(@RobMcNealy)

You can learn Rob McNealy’s own SECRETS, TIPS, and STRATEGIES for using Twitter to make profit online. Rob McNealy is in a unique position to teach you:

• Advanced Following Strategies to Increase Your Twitter Followers
• How to Promote Your Business, Website or Blog on Twitter
• To Make Viral Campaigns Explode on Twitter
• How to Network for Great Connections Using Twitter
• How to Improve Customer Service on Twitter
• Get More Jobs and Land More Customers Through Twitter

Twitter for Fun and Profit!

Date: May 6, 2009

Time: Networking at 5:30, Class from 6-9:30pm - Bring business cards!

Location: Denver Athletic Club 1325 Glenarm Place, Denver, CO 80204

Cost: $147

Seats are extremely limited! Register now to take your Twitter account to the next level!

For the first time ever, you can learn Kristie McNealy’s own SECRETS,  TIPS, and STRATEGIES for using a WordPress blog to make a profit online.  As an experienced blogger and blog developer, Kristie McNealy is in a unique position to teach you:

• How to increase your search engine ranking by blogging for pageviews and SEO
• Why you need to host your own WordPress blog
• What to look for when choosing a theme
• How to configure your WordPress site to increase “findability”
• Using Twitter and Facebook to promote your blog
• Must have plugins and widgets
• Making money with AdSense and other programs

WordPress is a state-of-the-art, open source blogging platform that allows users to quickly and easily develop eye catching websites that they can update from anywhere.

Blogging with WordPress for Fun and Profit

Date: April 1, 2009

Time: 6-9:30pm

Location: Hooked on Colfax (downstairs) - 3215 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206

Cost: $147
Seats are extremely limited.  Register now!

About Kristie McNealy

Kristie McNealy is a blogger, freelance writer and blog developer who uses WordPress every day. Her passion is helping people and businesses increase their visibility on the net and dominate their online niche through blogging and other forms of social media. She is also the Chief Editor for Contrived Media, a boutique social media agency which specializes in working with large corporations to engage their customers using social media.

AMC wanted to do a social media outreach, so they contacted several local bloggers and Twitter folks from cities around the country.  I was able to bring a friend, so I asked Ronald Lewis to tag along.

I am not going to recap the movies, because I’m not an especially talented movie reviewer.  However, as a novice movie critic, I can honestly say that I enjoyed them all.  If you’re interested, you can click here see my see my actual Twitter comments.

What AMC Did Well

The event went well, although it seemed  a little disorganized at first because the people at the ticket counter had no idea who I was, let alone what a blogger was.   Once that was straightened out and we got our cool “backstage passes,” we went in to the theater and found our reserved seats. AMC even presented the bloggers with lunch, which was a much appreciated touch.   We really got the cool VIP treatment. I was also impressed that AMC already had the Twitter hashtag #amcbps established for us, which showed forward thinking in the event planning.

During the intermissions between movies, the theater manager played trivia games and handed out prizes.  I am a floor and social media geek, but not a movie geek. The theater was really full of die-hard movie goers, who really had film and cinema knowledge beyond anything I have ever heard.   The event was  really cool, and I look forward to participating in the event next year.

What AMC Could Improve Next Year

I think AMC’s social media outreach was great, but for next year I would like to make a few suggestions on how they can improve:

• Have Dinner for Guests Available - Bring in a buffet for the patrons, and include it as part of the package. There wasn’t enough time to go to a restaurant between movies,  and spending 15 hours eating nachos and popcorn might not agree with everyone.
• Set Aside Some Networking Time - I barely got to meet the other bloggers that were attending.  It would have been great to socialize and mingle with them.
• Loyalty Program - During intermission, there was no mention of an AMC loyalty program.  This captive audience was full of AMC’s best customers and if the manager had mentioned a “discount” loyalty pass to their “most valued” customers, they may have gotten some new ones.
• Get More Bloggers and Get them Earlier - It seems there were only a few of us invited to the event.  However, there were many empty seats.  I think a whole row of bloggers and tweeters could have created a ton of buzz.  If the bloggers were organized 2 weeks a head of time, we could have sold the place out.
• Get The Bloggers To Run Contests - I would have loved it if the trivia questions incorporated bloggers before the event.  We could have run promotions to give away passes based on Twitter/Blog comments and response.  Freebies leave people warm and fuzzy, and might have also filled seats and sold more nachos.

I am so glad that AMC is seeing that social media is relevent to their industry and are making good faith efforts to engage thier customers on that level.  Great job and kudos to AMC.

(@RobMcNealy)

For the first time ever, you can learn Rob McNealy’s own SECRETS, TIPS, and STRATEGIES for using Twitter to make profit online. Rob McNealy is in a unique position to teach you:

• Advanced Following Strategies to Increase Your Twitter Followers
• How to Promote Your Business, Website or Blog on Twitter
• To Make Viral Campaigns Explode on Twitter
• How to Network for Great Connections Using Twitter
• How to Improve Customer Service on Twitter
• Get More Jobs and Land More Customers Through Twitter

Twitter for Fun and Profit!

Date: March 5, 2009

Time: 6-9:30pm

Location: Hooked On Colfax Coffee Shop (downstairs) - 3215 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206

Cost: $147

Seats are extremely limited! Register now to take your Twitter account to the next level!

About Rob McNealy

Rob McNealy is a small business, entrepreneurship, and startup junkie. His passion is using social media to evangelize about small businesses, and coaching entrepreneurs on his Startup Story Radio podcast and blog. He is also the Chief Strategist for Contrived Media, a boutique social media agency which specializes in working with large corporations to engage their customers using social media.

Rob McNealy and Contrived Media Ltd are not affiliated with Twitter.

There are many places on the internet where web 2.0 tools are working to unite people with common interests, and bringing people together in spontaneous gatherings and networking events. Two of our favorite examples are meetups and tweetups.

The derivation of “meetups” comes from the website www.Meetup.com. Meetup.com is an interactive site, which provides an inexpensive infrastructure for anybody who wants to start their own club or “meetup” group. The Meetup.com software handles invitations, RSVPs, PayPal payments, calendaring and email blasts via a simple web interface. The variety of meetup groups is astounding; ranging from internet oriented topics like the Front Range Blogger Meetup, to topics like gardening, homeschooling or working at home.

Contrasting with meetups are tweetups, which are typically informal, impromptu meetings, organized using the free internet service Twitter.com. Hosting a tweetup is simple. All you need to do is suggest a date, location, and time on Twitter. Your followers chime in if they want to join you, and you have an instant gathering!

You’re probably wondering what all of these random groups and informal gatherings have to do with your business. It’s simple, meetups and tweetups are networking events, and good networking is essential for business growth. Meetups and tweetups can be used to:

• Recruit employees or collaborators,
• Meet with existing or potential customers,
• Connect you with people in your local community who are passionate about your industry.

Customers no longer want or expect to deal with nameless, faceless companies; they want to deal with real people. They want to be connected. To see an example of how companies are leveraging this trend, you just have to look at Tony Hsieh, the founder and CEO of www.Zappos.com, a billion dollar online retailer of shoes, apparel and electronics. Zappos has over 1600 employees, and more than 250 of them are currently twittering. On Twitter, Zappos’ employees, including Tony Hseih himself, interact with their customers. They chat and have contests, including one to win a trip to visit Zappos and hang out with Tony himself. They even use Twitter to invite people to connect with them in person at social gatherings.

If you’re looking for more organized gatherings or specific interest groups, there are a number of ways you can use meetups to your business advantage. If you’re trying to bring a new product or business to market, or you want to find out what your customers want, a meetup can provide instant answers. For example, at a Front Range Blogger Meetup this summer, we found people from two local companies, Intense Debate and Room 214, looking for feedback on their products as well as the wants and needs of active bloggers.

Meetups can also help you with more general business concerns, by connecting you with fellow entrepreneurs and business owners to discuss things like marketing, business development or financing. You can also learn new skills through meetup groups, like how to build a website, publish a book or bring an invention to market. Even if you don’t end up doing these things on your own, the relationships you develop and the things you learn at your meetup can still bring you tremendous benefits if you utilize them effectively.

It’s time to stop hiding behind your internet persona, expand your network and connect with your customers. Get out there and meetup or tweetup now!

Connect with Kristie and Rob on Twitter - Follow @KristieMcNealy and @RobMcNealy!

Image Credit: Twitter Bird from iPotion

With the economy declining, many businesses are doing everything and anything to save a penny, including making the most efficient use of their marketing dollars.  Few business owners have the resources to invest 2.7 million dollars on a 30 second television spot during Superbowl XLII.  Fortunately, with the proliferation of the internet and social media, it is now possible to reach a larger and more geographically distant market for the same or even less money than it costs to reach a regional market using traditional means.  There are a variety of free or inexpensive tools to market your business online, and here are a few of our favorites.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is like a search engine for people.  You can post a free profile about yourself and your business, which will be searchable by over 20 million users globally.  LinkedIn is great for looking for new employees, conducting market research, and getting free consulting through the Answers section.  A good profile is the key to being “found” on LinkedIn, so it’s important to include plenty of relevant keywords in your summary.

LinkedIn also offers advertising opportunities which can cost as little as $12.00 per 1,000 impressions.  You can target your ads to reach business professionals in a set demographic, or you can create your own custom target which can be tuned to specific local areas or keywords.

Ning

Nings are little social networks or communities based around a common theme.  If there isn’t already an online community or message board centered on your niche, you can use Ning to create on for free.  You can build free group sites to promote a topic or area of interest that your potential customers are interested in.  You can then use your community on Ning to interact with your customers, educate, build relationships and do market research.  If there is already an active network on Ning which is relevant to your business, you can contact the group owner about placing advertisements directly on their network.

Twitter

Twitter is a hot micro blogging tool that has been in the press a recently for breaking news stories before traditional media outlets.  It allows users to post messages in blurbs of 140 characters or less.  Twitter is great for developing relationships with potential customers and providing service to your existing customer base, as the CEO of Zappos.com, and the folks at Dell and H & R Block have found out.  You can use Twitter search tools to see who is talking about your company or industry, and “follow” those users to get in on the conversation.  You can also use tools and plugins which allow you to display your twitter posts on your website, or to provide links to your latest blog posts to your friends on Twitter.

Facebook

Facebook is one of the largest and most popular social networking platforms on the Internet.  By joining Facebook, you’ll have the ability to set up a profile and use simple tools to create groups related to your business’s target market.  You can increase interest in your Facebook group by offering special promotions that are exclusively available to group members.

Facebook also offers an inexpensive pay-per-click or pay-per-impression advertising program.  You can advertise a page from your own website, or your Facebook profile, and customize your ad with an image and a text description.  Facebook allows you to target specific user demographics by location, age, gender, education level, interests and employers.  Ads can cost as little as $0.01 per click or $0.10 per 1,000 impressions.  Daily budgets can start as low as $5.00.

Craig’s List

Craig’s List is a (mostly) free, no-frills online classified site that we find particularly useful for service providers. If you’re just starting out, and you’re strictly looking to advertise, without spending a lot of time on profile management and relationship building, Craig’s List can be an invaluable tool.  You can post about services and products offered by your business, as well as recruit new hires, or engage in social networking through their discussion forums.

With a little time and attention, you can use online tools to stretch your marketing dollar and reach your customers with a very limited advertising budget.  New tools for online marketing are popping up every day, and you can keep up with our favorites here.

Leave a comment below and tell us your favorite ways to market your business online!