NSTC March Breakfast - Trends with Benefits

Here is info on the Wednesday, March 28th Breakfast Presentation with the North Shore Technology Council (NSTC.org) - at the Danversport Yacht Club

Trends with Benefits: Social Media Update  
Important action items for growing your business in 2012

This topic is NSTC's most popular and fun monthly breakfast program! So, Register early to help us plan seating. Please help shape the agenda by taking a quick pre-session poll today  - below - we will help you compare yourself to others in the community.  Anonymous results will be reported at the breakfast.  

All poll takers will also be entered to win a special dinner with a guest of your choice... spouse, future client, a Social Media Advisor...!? 


CLICK HERE to take the quick Poll

Program Overview

In 2011, every world news outlet carried the story of how social media has significantly changed companies, countries, and countless lives.  It's for real, it's vital to your success, and you can leverage it to benefit yourself and your business.... and make more money!



Whether you're active on Linkedin or Twitter, or a complete novice, we'll help you quickly and easily add your voice and start to benefit right away.  



Session leaders Ed Alexander of FanFoundry and David Cutler of Creative Business Development will lead a fun and energetic discussion and address your questions live while connecting the dots between social media and your professional and business success. They will share demonstrations of successful projects and not-so-successful lessons learned. Expect to leave with actionable information and chart your course.   



This is not a lecture; expect to participate. You can start today by taking the poll and joining NSTC’s LinkedIn Group discussions - add your voice, answer and ask questions, read what others are saying and doing to the shape the discussion.   



Here are the links for you to use and share:

- This page with Poll and info - http://bit.ly/NSTCTrendsWithBenefits
- NSTC Event Registration page is HERE
- The NSTC Linkedin Group is at http://linkd.in/NSTCLinkedIn
- Twitter: use the Search term (aka hashtag) #NSTC328 to enter the fray, join the Q&A, and help tailor this March event to suit your needs.   




About the Presenters

Ed Alexander is Managing Consultant at Fan Foundry, who federate and manage sales, marketing and client care operations for high growth organizations.  With experience in the startup, funding and liquidity phases of several domestic and foreign companies, Ed is a recognized leader in data-driven marketing and enterprise sales.  A cum Laude alumnus of Berklee College, majoring in Education, and an honors graduate of Babson College’s School for Financial Studies,  Ed is an active member in the leadership of NSTC and several other nonpfrofit and charitable organizations.  



David Cutler has been in Media, Sales, and Marketing for 20 years. As a founder of Creative Business Development, he  is a Digital Sales Strategist and Deal Coach for companies of all sizes that want to discover better ways to get attention and get sales through the Internet, mobile marketing, and live events. Cutler has been working with Boston-area Web entrepreneurs for the last decade - before that on Madison Avenue with big brands. As a co-founding board member of the NSTC, David Cutler is a promoter of our community and the opportunities to help each other grow personally and professionally.

Social Media Explained With Doughnuts

Simple. Funny. True.


Yum...

How Colleges Use Social Media

Below is an infographic from the virtual educators at onlineuniversities.com that should open some eyes and smartphones about the pros/cons of the Digital Student and how colleges are keeping up...


Via: Online Universities Blog

Multiple Streams of Income = The American Dream

 Are You Getting Yours?

The new normal these days is to have a couple of projects on the side for getting your multiple streams of income AND to take advantage of the best time in history to be an entrepreneur and manage a business. The Web has the tools - are you harvesting?

I'd like to believe it is a requirement... not just in response to (serious) economic needs but because learning and innovation are a wonderful privilege that will keep us young, evolving, and inspired... it's the American Dream!

WHAT you do depends on a few important elements like resources, market conditions, and, oh yeah... what you really like! Deciding on what you know and believe in is harder than it sounds. Take a look at my recent post about finding your Strategic Sweet Spot.

Opportunities in the market are also hard to predict.  So...

 

Below you can get some ideas from the Top 10 fastest growing market segments inspired by Inc. Magazine's 2011 suggestions and projected by IBIS World (where Researches get their research).

 1) The largest five-year revenue growth is relaxation beverages with 24.8 percent annually! Think about it... as we chug our coffee and energy drinks (5 hours at a time), who is helping us come down?! Personally, I am not comfortable with helping people ride the upper/downer roller coaster ride ("Elvis Presley's Last Ride in Vegas")... the point is that there is opportunity in helping people deal with their deluge of responsibilities.

2) Online gaming development is also a good target for entrepreneurs with a projected five-year revenue growth at 24.4 percent annually. Mobile and Smartphone is hot - ask millions of Angry Birds. For background read the What , Why, and How of Mobile Marketing.

Think about what you love and what you hate... there could be an App For That.

Here are the rest (with predicted annual revenue growth):

3) Internet publishing and broadcasting (9.9 percent)

4) Corporate wellness services (9.8 percent)

5) Online survey software (9.6 percent)

6) Ecommerce and online auctions (also 9.6 percent)

7) Wineries (4.9 percent)

8) Human resources and benefits administration (4.2 percent)

9) Scientific and economic consulting (3.8 percent)

10) Street vendors (3.7 percent)...food trucks averaged a 23 percent profit margin!

Contact me to discuss where you are inspired... 

"What is your project?" - that's what the Queen of England has been asking people in those long receiving lines for the last 60 years... You should have a good answer when she asks you...

= 

Wake Up and Smell the Code

What does a leader need to be these days? 

Renaissance Man... Jack-of-all-trades...dilettante... coder?

New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced his intention to take a coding class in 2012 via Twitter ('My New Year's resolution is to learn to code with Codecademy in 2012! Join me.'

So? 

Every leader has a responsibility to understand and how to evolve around the new opportunities and obligations in their markets.

So?

The only way to leverage the market shifts caused by the Digital Revolution - the Web - Mobile - and Social... is to live it. Really - learn how to use your rig (computer, smartphone, tablet, etc) and really understand how the newly empowered consumer is your friend, advocate, partner, employee, etc.

"Life is a succession of lessons which must be lived to be understood."
                 - Helen Keller

So?

You would be wise to also learn a little code... or, at least, how new content management platforms (like this incredibly easy Blogger system I am typing into now from my phone) are changing how you can and must communicate these days.At least experiment with Facebook and Twitter... and upload an imperfect but authentic video to YouTube.

"Communications" used to be just the PR Department... now everyone in a company shares what the company is - or should be.The cat is out of the bag ... and since "herding cats" is impossible ... let go of control and accept this new world of discovery along with everyone else. 

The walls are removed. How are you enforcing the outdated silos in your world?

Ready?

Dig into Mobile... read my recent article "The What, Why, and How of Going Mobile" for the Global Business Hub at The Boston Globe / Boston..com - it's an overview AND set of action lists at:
http://bit.ly/MobileWhatWhyHow