On Tuesday, a client called, completely exasperated. Seems like his boss read some statistic earlier that day that commerce is migrating to Facebook. Instead of saying, "We need to develop a social media strategy and see if Facebook is the right fit for our objectives," the boss walked into my client's office at 3:45 p.m. and said, "We need a Facebook page up by end of day!"
It didn't help that my client needed to get to the daycare center by 5:30, and he was completely frustrated by his boss's tunnel vision. My client values making good, strategic business decisions, and cares deeply how customers and associates perceive the quality of his work and the public image company.
Unfortunately, his boss's knee jerk reaction is not unusual. Far too many business people think that simply having a Facebook page, a LinkedIn presence, or 400 people following them on Twitter will result in increased sales and loyal customers.
In an effort to help small businesses understand that there is much more to social media than merely the "tools", the Center for Economic Vitality at Western Washington University in Bellingham, WA is hosting its second social media conference for small businesses on March 25, 2010.
This one-day conference provides small business professionals with the fundamentals required to become social media rock stars. Participants will have an opportunity to hear case studies from leading social media marketing professionals and practitioners, who are successfully using social media for marketing, customer service and PR. Participants will be able to attend small breakout sessions to learn why it is important to participate in social media conversations, and how these conversations can help businesses achieve their strategic business goals.
Due to a business conflict, I won't be able to attend the conference. However, I had the opportunity to sit down with three of conference presenters and chat about business, social media and what they plan to share at the conference.
Aaron Booker, Founder and President of Varvid
Anne-Marie Faiola of Bramble Berry
Ethan Yarbrough of Allyis
This year's conference builds on the success of the Center for Economic Vitality's 2008 conference, which attracted over 200 business professionals from all over the United States.
Do you think your business is performing like a Social Media RockStar? The conference wants to know who you are. If you think you are a Social Media RockStar be sure to enter the conference's Social Media RockStar contest.It's open to everyone who registers, for details go to www.socialmediaconference.com/rock-star.
For more information and to register for this year's conference, go to socialmediaconferencenw.com or call 360-733-4014.
You can join the conversation on Twitter at #smconfNW.
