Here’s a link to the Twitter activity during my panel discussion: http://twitter.com/ #search?q=londonink%20growsmartbiz

And here’s an archive of the live feed of the panel discussion:

http://growsmartbusiness.com/small-business-news/2009/09/growsmartbiz-video-p anel-1-driving-small-business-performance-w-marketing-and-innovation/

Enjoy!

There are still some tickets available to hear Wired mag’s Chris Anderson, Sen. Mark Warner (& yours truly) next week…at the big GrowSmartBiz conference in Washington, DC on 9/29.

Based on the preparations for the event, including the conference calls to prep for our panel discussion on small business marketing and innovation, I can tell this is going to be a top flight event with practical tips and tools for business owners and others.

To register at the special rate of $99, please go to http://bit.ly/hK1IC and register using the code ‘GSBReader’.

Hope to see you there!

The GrowSmartBiz conference on 9/29 just keeps getting better.  Virginia Senator Mark Warner just announced as special keynote.  Warner, Wired’s Chris Anderson, Bob London.  What more could you want?

Click on http://bit.ly/z4If4 to register now.

Virginia Senator Mark R. Warner Will Speak at the GrowSmartBiz Conference

Network Solutions® is pleased to announce Virginia Senator Mark R. Warner as the special keynote for the GrowSmartBiz Conference.

Senator Warner was elected to the U.S. Senate in November 2008, and serves on the Senate’s Banking, Budget, Commerce and Rules committees. He served as Governor of Virginia from 2002-2006 after spending 20 years as a business leader in the high-tech industry. He also is the co-founder of telecommunications firm Nextel Communications, now known as Sprint Nextel (NYSE: S).

“Senator Warner has been a well-known leader in the high-tech industry for more than 20 years,” said Melina Formisano, vice president of marketing at Network Solutions. “He will provide GrowSmartBiz Conference attendees with a unique perspective due to his vast experiences.”

Just a reminder about what promises to be an educational and fun event (where I happen to be speaking!) on August 5th.  The event is part of the Unintentional Entrepreneur program which was conceived and is being underwritten by Network Solutions and Outright.com–two companies at the forefront of helping entrepreneurs and small/growing businesses–and is being held at the Johns Hopkins University–Montgomery County Campus.

I have the honor of joining another speaker, Shashi Bellamkonda, who is an expert on helping entrepreneurs and small businesses use technology for marketing, communications and overall productivity.  Shashi was also recently named to Washingtonian Magazine’s list of Top 100 Tech Titans (http://www.washingtonian.com/print/articles/6/173/12164.html) and is a popular speaker on the tech/marketing/small biz circuit nationwide.

Please check out the Unintentional Entrepreneur site and register for the event at http://uedc.eventbrite.com.  Remember it’s on August 5th and space is limited!  Hope to see you there.

Later this week, I’m reprising my highly rated (by the audience) presentation, originally given at this summer’s National Association of Federal Credit Unions (NAFCU) Strategic Growth conference.

The topic is social marketing but not from a “slam dunk,” “gotta have it,” “full speed ahead, damn the business case,” perspective.  Rather the presentation examines whether there is any “there” there yet regarding revenue (specifically for credit unions, member acquisition, retention and non-account revenue).

Here’s the abstract from the NAFCU Annual Conference site, and I will post the presentation on SlideShare in the next couple weeks.

Social Marketing is Free so it Must be Worthwhile… Right?   Well maybe, but BEWARE— don’t be drawn in by the ‘coolness’ of using Facebook, Twitter and interactive applications to market your credit union without some investigation. Before you launch a social media campaign that you’re sure will “go viral,” don’t forget these three simple letters: R.O.I. Even though setting up a Facebook or Twitter account, or even a blog, is free, there are hidden costs in terms of time, resources and budget. This presentation will explore how credit unions and other organizations are using social media and other Web 2.0 tools and to what degree they are successful.

Presented by Bob London, President and Founder of London, Ink, LLC 

See NAFCU Conference site at bit.ly/fdMyl

Firms Take to The Tweetable Business Model

 

By Kim Hart

Monday, March 9, 2009; Page D01 The Twitterverse is expanding.

Twitter, that microblogging tool that caught on with teens and twentysomethings using it to tell loyal followers what they’re doing at any given time — in 140 characters or less — is now becoming part of the business strategy for a wide range of brands, from Skittles to Fairfax County.

Read full article at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/08/AR2009030801531. html

London, Ink is proud to sponsor an exciting event on March 27 - 28: Government 2.0 Camp (http://gov20camp.eventbrite.com/).  Here’s a brief description of the event and the “camp” concept:

What is Government 2.0 Camp?

Government 2.0 Camp is the unconference about using social technologies (aka web 2.0/social media tools) to create a more effective, efficient and collaborative U.S. government on all levels (local, state and federal).

Government 2.0 Camp will bring together the leading thinkers from government, academia and industry to share Government 2.0 initiatives that are already in process and collaborate about Government 2.0 ideas that are currently just visions.

There is also a wiki for the event where attendees and other can discuss topics and other themes: http://www.barcamp.org/Government20Camp

Why is London, Ink sponsoring this event?

1. I’m very dissatisfied–to the point of taking action–with the lack of efficiency and abundance of waste in government and am a big believer that new Web technologies, Web 2.0 applications and social media/networking applications can help.  Trimming the Federal budget by a quarter of one percent over the next five years could pay for a lot of fixes (long-term) to our educational system or seed the nascent but promising field of alternative energy.
2. I fully support transparency in government, particularly government spending–it’s our money after all–and again believe that Web 2.0 technologies and social media/networking apps can enable this.
3. I believe the Gov 2.0 arena will yield good business opportunities for London, Ink, long-term.
4. Sounds like a great event!  (I like the participatory BarCamp approach.)

Hope to see you there.

Well, not literally the top but right under AP Headlines, WSJ.com and Facebook updates, but above about 35 other blogs/widgets, I now have posts from Nick O’Neill’s excellent Social Times. http://www.socialtimes.com/

There are thousands of blogs covering social media, and it is hard to distinguish any of them from the pack. But Nick not only writes insightfully on relevant topics, he does so with a DC flavor, witness this sample post: Say Hello to 9 New D.C. Startups.

This proves the new/old/new bromides: *Good content is good. Relevant content is great,* or *All content is local.*  Don’t try to appeal to everyone, at least not right off the bat.

Note: Nick also throws a good party, as anyone who attended his launch can attest.

 

The Six ‘C’s of Social Influence Marketing

http://chiefmarketer.com/cm_report/social_influenc…

Social networking has opened up new formats brands to engage with consumers. Marketers are experimenting widely as they get better attuned to consumers’ opinions of their efforts. Click here to learn what Dave Friedman says are the six ‘C’s of social influence marketing. http://chiefmarketer.com/cm_report/social_influence_marketing_0421/

And now in an ill-conceived attempt to develop a corollary to the famous 4-P’s of marketing, Chief Marketer magazine introduces “The Six C’s of Social Influence Marketing.”

It is always amazes me when hard and fast rules or guidelines like these all happen to start with the same letter. I can just imagine the editorial meeting at Chief Marketer:

Person 1: “We must have at least 3 C’s, but 6 is too many.”
Person 2: “But what if the 6th C is the most impactful one?”
Person 3: “Then we should make the 6th C the first one and drop the 5th C.”
2: “But I really, really like the 5th C.”
3: “We can’t let personal feelings interfere. You have to remember, A-F-O-T-R.”
2: “What’s that stand for again?”
3: “Always Focus On The Reader.”
1: “Um…we’re going to be here for awhile–can someone go on a Starbucks run?”
2: “Ooh, have you seen the design on their new cups? The logo’s all brown. They always have such dreamy branding. (Sigh…)”
3: “Then maybe you should go back to being a barista.”

Bob London is president of London, Ink, a Maryland-based marketing and communications consulting firm, and serves as a Virtual VP of Marketing for growth stage companies that need an injection of marketing experience and leadership to drive key initiatives and results.