Archive for May, 2008

Weekend networking events - the results

Last week, I wrote a post asking whether or not you would attend a Saturday mixer/networking event. I also posted the question up to Linkedin. It has been closed, but I wanted to talk a little about the results. First, I was blown away by the number of responders, so THANK YOU to all who responded. Second, the results were fairly mixed. I got everything from:

I most definitely would not attend. I think most people view their weekends as sacred…

to:

I attend events on weekends on a regular basis as it tends to free up my weekday evening for other meetings.

After looking through all the answers (49! :)) the results were pretty much what I expected. Overall, the consensus was that weekends were too precious to give up for networking unless it was the beginning or the end of a conference, or it was something really, really cool. Now, I’d love to think that any networking event I planned would qualify as ‘really, really cool’, but I know that it probably doesn’t. So, we have decided to host the event on a different night.

As a final thought, if you are located in the Southern California area and are interested in attending the networking event, click here for more information

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7 Steps to Small Business Success in 1 hour

RECESSION PROOF YOUR MARKETING

Ready to take your marketing to the level?

You can simply request the free copy of the 7 Steps to Small Business Success.

OR…for just $10, you can get the 7 Steps Guide PLUS:

• A 1 hour webinar with Adrianne Machina, Orange County’s Duct Tape Marketing Coach
• Walked through all 7 steps with in depth explanations and real life examples
• Time to ask Adrianne your own questions
• You get to join a group of 15 non-competitive small business owners

AND! The $10 can be put towards any other Tornado Marketing/Duct Tape Marketing Web Workshop you want OR we will donate it to the CHOC Charity (Children’s Hospital of Orange County).

Every once in a while I get to use my blog for shameless self promotion…

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Google Analytics without the Google

Recently, I have done a plugin overhaul on our blog, adding in spam blockers, sitemap builders and SEO tool kits. One of the plugins that I added is a report generator - similar to google analytics - but, it is built into your blog, so you don’t have to go to a different site to find it. *hint to google- why do you talk about google analytics all throughout adwords, yet don’t have them linked together?*

Anyway, I just wanted to let everyone know about this plugin, for the simple fact that the results that it has given me are so informative. They are in-depth, easy to read, and cover the exact things you want to know(how many people clicked on the post itself, instead of just the homepage? What post is most popular?). A lot of times the answers surprised me…some of my most popular post are not the ones that I received the most comments on (hmm… was what I wrote so perfect that it didn’t need a comment?!). It is also great to see where visitors are coming from (Twitter seems to be starting to work!).

So, just a quick thank you to the creator - Joe Tan - http://tantannoodles.com/toolkit/. Keep up the great work on tool development.

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Tornado Marketing hosts: Differentiate and Dominate Web Workshops

Tornado Marketing hosts: Differentiate and Dominate Web Workshops

Guaranteed to help define your ideal target market and create a unique marketing strategy.

ORANGE COUNTY – Tornado Marketing, Inc. has combined their marketing knowledge with the best-selling Duct Tape Marketing System to create a web workshop that teaches small business owners how to grow their business through systematic, persuasive marketing. During the 4 week workshop, attendees will become a member of a marketing mastermind group of 10 small business owners.  Participants will learn how to differentiate from the pack, which is the first fundamental step toward turning any small business marketing efforts into a wise investment.  The group will discuss how to recognize the characteristics of your ideal client, how to craft a unique marketing message and how to package your business with an image that sells. More than a “webinar,” these web workshops provide peer learning, accountability and feedback on progress.

“I meet business owners and executives every day who are amazingly competent and savvy, but they struggle to understand marketing and justify the expense.” says Adrianne Machina, Chief Velocity Officer of Tornado Marketing. “I created these workshops just for them. Small business owners don’t need a big budget.  They need smart, effective marketing that will help them recession-proof their small business.  At the end of 4 weeks, they’ll be armed with insight to propel their business forward.”

The workshops run for 4 weeks on Tuesday’s from 2pm-3:30pm. The investment for the workshop is $495, which includes a download of John Jantsch’s best-selling Duct Tape Marketing Differentiate and Dominate lessons and workbook. Tornado Marketing has a “Make an Impact” pledge that guarantees satisfaction with all of our services.

For more information about the event or to register, visit http://www.tornado-tools.com/ddworkshop.html or email us at tornado@tornadomktg.com.

Tornado Marketing is a full service marketing firm based in Orange County. To find out more about Tornado Marketing’s services, please visit www.tornadomktg.com.

###

Contact:

Kirsten Wright
tornado@tornadomktg.com
www.tornadomktg.com
949-743-1444

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Small Business Networking and Wine-tasing

I need some help from my friends and readers:

We are putting together a meetup for a business networking group, and one of the possible days and times is a Saturday evening event. We are trying to determine whether it is realistic to believe that people would attend.
Would you attend?
If we did a wine-tasting in addition at the event would that change your answer?

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Overwhelmed and excited

Last night I spent almost 3 hours at a social media meetup in Orange County. It was an amazing event. There were about 60 attendees, most of whom are involved in the media industry. The presenters were Aaron Post (www.fortymedia.com) and Todd O’neill (http://www.toddoneill.com/). Both of the gentlemen did a great job relating the uses of social media to business, and talking about the best tools. We are already involved in most of them, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, etc..but learned about a lot I have never heard of or their uses - like blip.tv? Plus, we learned a lot about how to utilize the websites we are already involved in more efficiently. (and of course, it never hurts to shamelessly plug to link to us! )

Kirsten:
Twitter
Linkedin

Adrianne:
Twitter
Linkedin
Facebook

Anyway, at the event, one woman asked the question “Do you think social media is going to replace face-to-face networking?” Both presenters gave a resounding ‘no’ (Thank goodness!), but it made me think a little bit about networking. Often our clients will complain about the fact that they aren’t getting any leads. The first thing we always ask is “What events are you  attending to get those leads?” and the answer is almost always “none”. My question then is, “How can you expect to get leads if you don’t get yourself out there?” Networking events are absolutely, without a doubt, neccessary to grow your business. You can’t expect anyone to network for you. So, next time you are looking for leads, go to an event and find them! There are so many ways to find events in your area, and we post some of the best local events on our website, http://www.tornado-tools.com/webworkshops.html.

What is the best event you have been to recently?

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Social Media - what’s the hype all about?

We have posted quite a few posts about social media. We’ve talked about blogs, twitter, linkedin and asked our readers what types of social media they use and like. John Jantsch was recently interviewed by Direct2Dell about Social Media and why they have become as powerful as they are - and how to use them more efficiently! Everytime I listen to him talk, it gets me more motivated to become more involved in the social media. There is so much out there for small business owners to use, that sometimes it is a little overwhelming. I hope that his thoughts can help you as well, click here to see his interview.

And, the book of the day is John’s bestseller - Duct Tape Marketing

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Tired of your small business blog being spammed?

Here’s a great video by Google’s Matt Cutts on how to deter web-spammers, and avoid inadvertantly becoming one yourself! 

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Duct Tape Interview with Tim Berry

Book of the day: Tim Berry’s On Target

John Jantsch, Author of Duct Tape Marketing, is getting ready for his next in the Coaching Excellence Series. Next week he will be interviewing Tim Berry. The seminars are free and give you a great opportunity to hear more about the success of some of the top people in the marketing business. I have enjoyed his seminars so far and definitely picked up some great advice.

 A little about Tim Berry
President and founder of Palo Alto Software, founder of www.bpplans.com, co-founder of Borland International, author of books and software on business planning, Stanford MBA, father of five, married 38 years. He has partnered with Duct Tape Marketing to create Marketing Plan Pro powered by Duct Tape Marketing.

Visit http://www.ducttapemarketing.com/coachingexcellence.html to enroll

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Business and a book

One of the most important pieces of advice anyone ever gave me for business was to never stop learning. To this day, I can’t remember who told me, but I have taken it to heart. I continually strive to learn more about business, marketing and myself. It is because of my desire to learn more about all three that I have floor to ceiling bookshelves packed with books about everything I’ve ever wanted to know.

This brings me to the reason I wrote this post - my advice to you: READ!!! I know, I sound like your third grade teacher, but it’s true. I have learned more about business and marketing in the books that I read than in the classes I took in college or the seminars I have been to. There is no limit to the amount that your business can grow when you are willing to dedicate your time and energy. Just make sure you are dedicating it to the right things. With that said, I have decided to offer my suggestion of a book that I have read that changed my life in one way or anther. I also plan on offering a new book or 2 each week, hoping that one will stick and be the help you need to make your business more successful. You’ll never know what a book can do, until you start reading.

Book to read for today

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