Small Business Shamen Logo

Today we launch the official website for the Small Business Shamen Conference, April 4, 2012 at the Ice House. As we get going with a new business venture for VIA Studio I wanted to take a second and explain what the heck this thing is.

A quick overview.

The Small Business Shamen is a day of presentations and networking, centered around the changing world of small business. We feature both national and local speakers, intended to share stories, experiences and training designed to make you an more effective agent of change. Whether you own a business or want to make yourself more valuable in the workforce, this day is for you. Our keynote speaker is NY Times bestselling author, business consultant and social media guru, Chris Brogan!

Why are we promoting a conference?

As a business owner, I see the value in continuing education and professional development. I give my employees a stipend every year to spend how they see fit to attend conferences and seminars, and it’s proven infinitely valuable to VIA’s morale and knowledge base. Every time someone comes back from An Event Apart, there’s a gleam in their eyes that stays at least as long as the next soul-crushing client project (just kidding, we love our clients!).

I’m jealous.

The Shamen

That’s what this conference is all about. Jealousy. As someone who also wants to do a better job at leading my company I’ve been searching for worthwhile events. I’ve attended a few that I thought might help. Hell, I’ve even considered going back to school to pursue an MBA. At the end of the day, I’m jealous of my staff. They are amazing and I want to keep learning and growing along with them.

Unfortunately I don’t think it’s that easy anymore. The formula for success has changed. Real people running real businesses are dealing with unprecedented changes in all aspects of business, especially marketing & technology (VIA Studio’s specialty, hint hint). These days our work is not only the work of an interactive agency. We help with business process and efficiency, internal communication, and using innovations in technology and cloud computing to save our clients money and seriously impact their bottom line. We should also discuss the recession and how that affects business. Opportunity is knocking if your mind is open to change.

All this might be a hard pill to swallow from a company like VIA Studio. Not many people are going to hire us to restructure their entire organization. I’ll also be the first to admit we don’t have all the answers.

But gosh darn, I bet we can all figure it out along the way. Or at least help each other figure it out.

That’s the point of Small Business Shamen. You may be one or you might want to learn from one. Either way, come join us on April 4 and let’s get this bus moving again.

Check out the website to see what the day has to offer. It’ll be fun, informative, insightful, and educational.

~jason

PS – I want to thank all the people that are already working behind the scenes to make this happen. My staff, the speakers, the sponsors, and the others that volunteered their time on this because they also think this is a good idea and a needed experience.

Today we are happy to announce the unveiling of our logo design for New2Lou. We’ve been working with the organization for awhile now on their Brand Strategy, Identity, and Web Design. The first labor of love is finally released! We’ve had to sit on unveiling this one, because New2Lou unveiled the logo last night at their 2 year anniversary celebration. Congrats to them!

We’re working hard on the New2Lou site design, but their Facebook page describes their mission:

New2Lou is a social organization designed as a resource for transplants to Louisville, who are looking to meet people, try new places and get involved in Louisville. The second Wednesday of each month, New2Lou hosts a social at a local restaurant or bar, where people mingle and meet other newcomers, as well as meet locals who provide insiders’ information to make the transition to Louisville a smooth one.

Where can I hear free music? Best drink specials on Wednesdays? What about my haircut? Where do I get breakfast at 4 in the morning? While the group is primarily young professionals, newcomers of all ages are welcome. Come find out why people are moving to Louisville and why they can leave but almost always come back.

As fans of the city, we’re always excited to lend a hand on a project that injects energy into our social scene, so we wish New2Lou the best on it’s journey to be the welcome wagon for the city. Even if you’re Old2Lou, get involved and help welcome fresh blood!

Oh yeah, and buy a tshirt while you’re at it!

It is a great pleasure to get to speak before such a curious and engaged audience.

I spoke on content management and strategy. Organizations are often at a loss as to what to do and how to implement.

Hopefully we helped clarify some processes and to stimulate some conversations!

Mobile Marketing Tactics & Barriers to Entry

This is the second in a series of posts from a presentation I am currently giving to advertising & marketing organizations. Contact us if you’d like us to speak to your organization or group.

In my last post on Mobile Marketing, I discussed why you need to and how to get started. In this post, we’ll introduce a few tactics and their barriers to entry. Then I’ll discuss the lowest barrier to entry, Social Media and Email Marketing.

Barriers to Entry Chart.

From lowest to highest, here are some Mobile Marketing tactics. I’ll be discussing the first in this post.

• Social Networks and Email Marketing
• Mobile Advertising
• Mobile Search Results
• Mobile Optimized Websites & Landing Pages
• Mobile Applications

The biggest takeaway here is that you don’t need a massive budget to get started. Remember Mobile Marketing is Social, Local, Mobile. If you don’t have the money or skills to build a mobile app, guess what? You can get started immediately anyway. Here’s how.

Lowest barrier to entry: Social Networks & Email Marketing

This is the low hanging fruit. It’s always prudent to go where your audience is going. Recent studies have estimated that before we get out of bed, 24% of smartphone users check their email and 18% check their Facebook account. That’s HUGE! You should be engaging your audience where they are on their mobile phones first.

Here are some concepts to get used to with Social and Email:

Go where the people go: Ridiculous amounts of people are addicted to social media right now. They are engaging not only with their friends and family, but with companies and brands. There are new and innovative ways for any ethical company to have conversations with their audience, which leads to the next concept.

Brand Journalism: There’s a saying now in our industry that “Content is the new Advertising“. It’s true. People connect to stories. People connect to other people. If you are not telling a story that connects to people, you are losing an opportunity.

Brand Ambassadors: The companies that I most believe in are companies that I will mention in my networks and go to bat for any day. Create incentives for your “fans” to help tell your story. Word of mouth will always be the most effective marketing.

Don’t be a fake: Committing to what’s being called “social media” implies that you are creating a dialog between your brand and your audience. The internet audience is skeptical and savvy now. They’ll call out a fake in a heartbeat. If you’re in, go all the way. Respond to comments. Retweet and reply. “Like” your customers just as much as they like you. Gary Vaynerchuk said it best when he said that “Saying thank you is the next killer business strategy.” But if you don’t mean it, it doesn’t count, and may even do you harm.

Email Marketing

At this point in time, email marketing can be considered mobile marketing. All smartphone users are checking email on their phones now. The fact that a lot of us are checking before we get out of bed hints at the times that you should be sending your email campaigns. If you audience is paying attention and less likely to be annoyed while they’re checking their email in the morning, time your emails for that time. A tertiary win is that users are less likely to unsubscribe from an email list through their mobile phone.

Some other email marketing tips:

• Design your email template with mobile in mind. A 600 pixel header won’t look good on mobile.
• Create your callouts with mobile phones in mind. Links should be nice and big, and the email should be easy to scan. Get right to the point and encourage a call to action.

I hope this series helps your efforts. My next post will discuss Mobile Advertising, so look out for it soon!

~jason

Why you need to, and how to get started

This is the first in a series of posts from a presentation I am currently giving to advertising & marketing organizations. Contact us if you’d like us to speak to your organization or group.

Hopefully I’m preaching to the choir with anyone involved in the web industry that mobile marketing is making huge waves. Mobile has unleashed the web. It’s everywhere. Three times more smartphones are being activated every minute around the world than there are babies being born. The low cost and barrier to entry is quickly putting a mobile phone into the hands of every person on the planet.

A recent Neilson study anticipates that by the end of this year, over half of Americans will have a smartphone.

Mobile is an already an extremely effective way to reach your audience, but I also believe that mobile may one day become the ONLY way to reach your audience with effectiveness. Think about it. It’s easy to block ads in a web browser. We can get our music commercial free through apps like Spotify and Google Music. Television is rapidly becoming download and pay-per-view. Mobile is as simple to measure with analytics as a website is, and people pay attention. For now.

The Mobile Movement: Understanding Smartphone Consumers:

Google has created a useful, short piece about smartphone users.

Top Mobile Trends

Mary Meeker, dubbed “Queen of the Net”, published this study that highlights the top trends surrounding mobile right now.

Mobile Platforms Have Hit a Critical Mass

There are now enough smartphone and mobile device users to justify advertising and marketing expenses.

• Mobile is Global
  It’s growing at a phenominal rate everywhere. If desired, you can easily reach a global audience
• Social Networking is Accelerating the Growth of Mobile
  Twitter, Google Plus and Facebook are driving people to be connected all day every day.
• Time is Shifting to Mobile Usage
  There are many tasks that could only be done on a computer now that can be done on a mobile device.
• Mobile Advertising – Growing Pains but Huge Promise
  PPC advertising tactics on mobile are tricky right now, but are showing rewards if the right steps are taken.
• “mCommerce” is Changing Shopping Behavior
  If it’s easy to buy on a mobile device, they will!
• Emergence of Virtual Goods and In-App Commerce
  In-App Commerce is the big win here for business. It’s an extremely easy way to pay.
• Not All Platforms Are Created Equal
  Android and iOS are the front runners, with Palm, Symbian and Microsoft far, far behind.
• Change Will Accellerate, New Players Emerging Rapidly
  Be on the lookout for new technologies and tactics employed at a rapid pace. NFC and services like Square will change the game.

The buzzword of the day is SoLoMo: Social, Local, Mobile.
Get used to it. It’s headed your way!

In my next post, I’ll discuss barriers to entry with mobile marketing, from lowest to highest. It’s time to get started.