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June Idea Xchange

// June 17th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // SEO, idea xchange, marketing, social media

June Idea Xchange

Guess who’s the guest speaker for the Idea Finishing School Idea Xchange on July 30?
Yep, that’s right, it’s ME!

Each month the Idea Finishing School hosts an open house called the Idea Xchange. Each month, they have a guest speaker to talk on a different topic in relation to small business start-ups. So far they’ve had Matt Reedy, a hugely successful San Antonio entrepreneur,  John Bray and Court Allen, lawyers from Cox Smith, and Rudy De La Garza, who’s specialty is in taking companies public.

So this month they wanted someone to talk about how to make your company visible and get your name out there. Since I do most of the blogging, tweeting and social networking for the Idea Finishing School as well as several other companies, I guess I was the natural choice…

I believe in using a combination on SEO, social media marketing and face to face time to build a brand. I don’t think you should put all your efforts in one area, but I don’t think you should spread yourself so thin with being social that you’re not getting any actual work done. So, at this months Idea Xchange, I’ll be discussing how to use all of these methods to build your brand, create awareness of your company and most importantly, how to build relationships with your clients.

Social media shouldn’t be used just to blast out what you’re doing.  It’s not just about advertising. It’s also a great way to see what people are saying about you. It’s a way to connect to people, to interact with them.

We’ll also go over the myths of public relations, like “all publicity is good publicity”.  Having just come back from Australia, and been on the cover of several magazines, I can give first hand accounts of why your reputation is more important than any giant publicity blitz. We’ll also talk about how to pick who’s going to be the one who’s doing your social media. It’s important to have someone who really cares about your brand. You never want the type of person who says “never let the truth get in the way of a good story” to be in charge of your reputation….

So, if you’d like to hear me speak, or just want someone else’s opinion on all things publicity/marketing/social, come along to the Idea Xchange.

Idea Xchange

Wednesday, June 30th 4-6pm

3463 Magic Dr, suite 245
San Antonio TX 78229

RSVP HERE

May Idea Xchange

// May 25th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // idea xchange

Do you have a small business that you’re trying to grow, but need Venture Capital? Do you know how to write a great business plan, or how to meet those Venture Capitalists? Are you afraid of losing control of your company by getting that much needed cash?

Rudy De La Garza will be speaking at the Idea Finishing Schools open house, The Idea Xchange on how to get that plan, meet the VC’s and still retain control of your company.

The Idea Finishing School is an incubator for small business startups in San Antonio. Their goal is to help you make a perfect business plan and then present you to their team of Venture Capitalists who are actively looking to invest in Healthcare, Technology and Green companies.

If you’re looking to grow your business and could use that injection of cash, without losing control of your company, come to the Idea Finishing Schools open house; The Idea Xchange.

We hold an Idea Xchange of the last Wednesday of each month. The May exchange is:
May 26, 2010
4pm – 6pm
at
Idea Finishing School
3463 Magic Drive, Suite 245
San Antonio, TX
Inside the big red SATC building.

You can RSVP your interest here: http://twtvite.com/MayIdeaXchange

There’s no cost, no paperwork, it’s just a way for people to come out and meet the Idea Finishing School team and see if there’s a way we can help you and your small business.

Idea Finishing School April Mixer

// April 14th, 2010 // No Comments » // idea xchange

I first started sharing space with Ideagin and the Idea Finishing School late last year. We’ve had a couple of fun get togethers that we’ve called the Idea Xchange, but I missed last months meeting when I had to jet back to Oz. Apparently, the meeting had some oopsies, so this month, I got put in charge. I’m a social person, so it should be a fun task.

It all started because Dean McCall was the go-to guy in San Antonio for start-ups. He figured if he was always going to be giving all this good advice, he may as well make it formal and start the Idea Finishing School. On the other side, Dean is hooked up with Rudy De La Garza, a financial wiz. People with money to invest came to Dean and Rudy, looking for start-ups to invest in. So, here we are today, at the San Antonio Technology Center building on Magic Dr, ready to help you out.

The Idea Finishing School is an incubator for small business start-ups. Basically, if you have the next big thing, and you’re super focused on your product, but you’re having trouble getting the business off the ground because you’re no good at the paperwork or legal stuff, then we’ve got your back. You’re free to focus on making a great product, while we teach you how to deal with marketing, legal, financial, etc. Once we’ve got your paperwork looking pretty, then we can take you to meet some investors who’d like to help you grow your company. Everyone knows you can’t get funding till you’ve got a great business plan, and the Idea Finishing School will make it perfect.

The most important thing about the school, and what sets it apart from anything like it, is that once you’ve “graduated”, Dean and Rudy will take your finished business plan and present it to 16 big money investors in San Antonio who are actively looking to invest in new companies in the San Antonio area. Where else will you get to present your idea to that many people? Well, besides some shonky reality show? Now, they are biased and prefer technology start-ups, but at least if you’ve got the next great SAAS product, you won’t be competing with a pet rock guy….

The best way to check out the school and see if there’s something in it for you is to come along to one of our mixers, The Idea Xchange. It’s always on the last Wednesday of the month. This month, we’ll be having it on April 28th. It starts at 4pm. People get to mingle and meet other entrepreneurs, as well as some VC’s. This month our guest speaker is a lawyer, who’ll give advice on new businesses.

So, if you’re in San Antonio and you’ve got a start-up that you could use some help getting in front of investors, come out to the Idea Xchange. Pick our brains, meet some people and see if there’s a way we can help you.

RSVP for the April event here: http://twtvite.com/AprilIdeaXchange

Somebody Turn up the Heat!

// January 11th, 2010 // No Comments » // marketing

This weekend was the US Army Bowl game in San Antonio. I was working as promotional staff for the US Army. It’s a lot of fun, but it seems it’s always on the coldest weekend of the year!

We worked Thursday, Friday and Saturday OUTDOORS in sub zero temperatures. The 7am start time was pretty brutal. It was about 19′F. Thankfully on Saturday the sun was shining and there was no wind, so the 20′F wasn’t so bad…

The marketing company is charge did a great job of providing everyone with a super warm branded jacket. They also made sure we had plenty of water and hot coffee. The first 2 days we had those outdoor heaters and they also gave us hand warmers. I learnt that although these are great in pockets, they shouldn’t be used on bare skin. I had burns at the end of the day on my wrists…

There was a lot of staff originally scheduled, however, after we were given a security briefing about some guy who was supposed to be upset at the US Army after he couldn’t enlist, as well as the super frigid temperatures, we still had a decent turnout, but a lot of staff didn’t show.

The US Army bowl is the Army’s biggest promotional event of the year. They had teams come in from bases all over the US. It’s a fantastic display of the different jobs available in the US military, as well as a look at some of the future technologies, and a way to meet and thank some of the troops for their service.  Everybody loves the give aways. I grabbed a couple of metal water bottles and a camo hat for myself. Everybody wanted our jackets, but even we had to hand those back in every day… They actually had us hand over our drivers license in the morning to get one and swap back again at the end of the day to ensure they didn’t wall walk off.

Of course, now that I can be back indoors and enjoy the warm office space the Ideagin folks let me use, it’s finally warmed up outside. Oh well, such is life!

Folks at the Ideagin office are excited today. I came in to find I had been moved into the main room next to Rebel. It was lonely by myself in the big space, so this is nice.  Tomorrow they’re getting all new furniture for the Idea Finishing School. Should be a fun day.

As Seen on TV

// November 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // caveat emptor, marketing, social media

The Importance of Celebrity….

In today’s culture, being on TV is king. Everybody wants to be famous. So, it’s absolutely huge when someone says “As Seen On TV” right? Well, that depends…

How many times have you been standing in line at Wal-Mart and they have a bunch of stuff that has the “As Seen on TV” label on it. You know, stuff like the Snuggie. Or that thing that cleans your windshield. Or any other bunch of stuff that you’ve seen on an infomercial at 3am. In this case, just because it was on TV doesn’t make it good. They just bought airtime.

The same can be said for companies. You can buy airtime on the news. You can also buy a slot on somewhere like Great Day SA. You might also get on TV for free if you do something special or silly enough. So when someone posts on their website, “As Seen on TV”, you might investigate further. What were they on TV for? Was it free? Was it paid publicity? Did it have anything to do with what they are doing now? Was it even for doing something good?

I could post on here “As Seen on Channel 7″. In fact, I do. I disclose that I have been on TV in my About Me page. In my case, I’m giving a general history of myself, not trying to sell anything in particular. Some places will advertise a As Seen On… on their website, but it doesn’t have anything to do with what they’re doing now. They’re just trying to add credibility.

Here’s an example from another company in San Antonio:

Whilst it’s true that they were mentioned on all the above sites, they’re advertising is still a little ingenuous. You see, what they were on all of these sites for has nothing to do with what they are currently advertising their services as. They are currently selling a web based SEO tool, whilst all the “Mentions” were for a “twitter study”. Most of the mentions weren’t even very flattering.  If you’re going to hire someone based on all the so called credibility of being famous, ask them to show you copies of all their mentions. See if it’s even good publicity. Bernie Madoff, if he were to ever be released from prison could start working as a broker again and state that he was seen on CNN and Fox News. He’s not lying. It just doesn’t mean that he was on there for the right reasons.

So always do your research. On Google, it’s easy. Type in the company you’re thinking of hiring, then do a news search. See if the news search matches up with what they’re saying. After all, you’d hate to send your kid to some summer camp because they said they were featured on TV, only to find out they were on the news because they failed their health inspections or a bunch of kids went missing on a hike….

Caveat Emptor.

A New Space

// November 13th, 2009 // No Comments » // Uncategorized

I’m not sitting on my couch!

I love working from home. Sometimes. I find that between my baby, (that’s my dog Maya) and the TV, all the laundry and the yardwork, I don’t always get a lot done. As a new company, I didn’t want to rent space. I was hesitant to go into another co-lo sharing situation like at my last job, where people playing Wii and RockBand were more distracting than Oprah. However, when good friend Dean McCall from IdeaGin offered me a little corner in his space, I was all over it.

I often refer to Dean as God. He knows all, sees all and hears all. If there’s something or someone you need to know in San Antonio, chances are, Dean can get you connected. I’ve known Dean for years. He’s always the first person I called to ask a question if there was something important I needed to know, or if I wanted an honest opinion of someone. Most of the time we just have a chin wag over a beer. So when Dean said I could come and sit in his presence every day, you’d better believe I jumped at the opportunity.

Dean is currently working on Idea Finishing School. With his vast knowledge of VC’s in South Texas and people always coming to him for advice, the Idea Finishing School was a natural. Now he can help connect people with ideas and potential to those people who can really help them out. I love the idea of the school and I look forward to meeting a whole bunch of new people.

I’m in a pretty sweet location. The office is in the San Antonio Tech Center. They have all the cool technology mixers with the free alcohol and food in the lobby downstairs. All the best and brightest in IT are over here. I hope I can absorb some of the brain waves over here. Most of these people are leaders in their fields. I hope I’m not in over my head… But everyone over here is really nice. Everyone is focused on getting it done, on brainstorming, on sharing ideas. I’m excited and thankful to have this opportunity.

Oh, and sorry Graham, but I think this is the Future of Technology in San Antonio.

Alienating for Aliens

// November 12th, 2009 // No Comments » // marketing, social media

Are you Alienating for Aliens?

San Antonio is a very Latin town. It’s expected that you’re going to see signs here in Spanish. Many companies have realized that the minorities are a very valuable market. In the greater US, it’s PC to show one of each color in commercials. When was the last time you saw a commercial for anything that didn’t have an AA, an Asian or a Latin person in it?

However, have people gone too far to reach the “minority” market? Have advertisers in San Antonio forgotten the English speaker?

After going to Honduras on student exchange, I don’t even notice when sign are in Spanish. I just read them and move on. My husband however, does not. We have noticed more and more that there are many times when signs are not only in both languages, but when they are ONLY in Spanish. At HEB yesterday, there was signs on the self check out announcing the Thanksgiving Hours. The problem was, the signs were only in Spanish. I have also encountered coupons on items that were only in Spanish. Do they think that only Spanish speakers deserve/need/want a coupon?

While in San Antonio the Latin population is over 70%, that doesn’t mean that all the Latinos actually speak Spanish. Many do not. Or they only speak Spanglish. So while companies try to embrace the “Latino” market, they are missing the mark. They are alienating a huge market share in favor of Aliens. Not all aliens either, since I’m an Alien myself, just not a native Spanish speaker.

On my side of town, which is actually predominantly African American, they are alienating the Blacks, the Whites, the Asians and all the Latinos who don’t speak Spanish. I stopped shopping at HEB for almost a year after feeling discriminated against because they only put out coupons in Spanish. (And I speak Spanish) But, I figure they weren’t interested in my money, so I stopped shopping there.

So unless you are a business that is specifically targeting Aliens, or Spanish ONLY speakers, don’t alienate your customers by only having signs in Spanish. Or Chinese, or Greek or Swahili for that matter.  In trying to appease the minority, you may infuriate your majority.