Great group at El Gaucho learning social media...

We want to thank both Dennis Brislawn and Tom Lofton from the law firm, Brislawn Lofton PLLC, for co-sponsoring us to speak to a group of their clients and friends - what a great group of people. We also want to thank David Scherling, General Manager at El Gaucho in Bellevue for hosting the event and making it truly special and memorable with their incredible lunch specials.

We had the opportunity to share the story of how Social Media is changing the face of business and is a "Revolution" that is upon us. We know we are in the "evangelist" category at this point with our message but we are very passionate about wanting others to hear it and recognize the impact it will have on their business today and into the future. No longer is this just something to "learn about" - it is something every business "has to embrace" to compete going forward.

As part of the session, we had the opportunity to meet a number of great business leaders and business owners, such as Jen Harper from Jen Harper Real Estate. She clearly "gets it" and is anxious to engage in social media to provide exceptional value and benefits to her "followers" and clients - way to go Jen!

El Gaucho Social Media seminar with Kirkland City Councilman

We are getting great questions from Bob Sternoff from Kirkland City Council – way to go Bob. This posting is occurring real-time in our Social Media seminar as we demonstrate how easy it is to use Outlook to post to the blog with a photo and with an embedded link (in the body of the post).

El Gaucho treats group to seminar on Social Media

We are having a great experience and eating delightful food with a couple of guys who are social media authorities (without tattoos).

This is a post to demonstrate how easy it is to post diretly to a blog using e-mail -- this case the message is being sent from Outlook

Enjoying the company of Thrify Parking at the Harbor Club

Sandy from Thrifty Parking is learning about  Social Media and the power to change business.

 

 

Seminar at the Harbor Club in Seattle

We are at The Harbor Club with some great business leaders enjoying the story of Social Media.

 

 

Rotary rocks...

Vince Armfield wrote and excellent post about how Kirkland Rotary is really helping the community.

 

 

Thank you Shirlaws Coaching...

Clay and I just wanted to thank Shirlaws Coaching in Seattle for hosting a wonderful event at the Meydenbauer Center last Wednesday afternoon. We had the privilege of being their guest speakers for their "Catch the First Wave" event. What an incredible event - thank you for inviting is to speak.

We especially want to thank Emile Haddie and Kristina Bass, two of Shirlaws coaches that are located in Seattle. They organized the event and worked very hard to put together a flawless program - nicely done. Without them the orchestration of many moving parts could never have come together.

We also want to thank CEO, Eric Bergen (@ericbergen), Chairman, Adrian Bray (@adrianbray) and Marc Johnstone, who spoke on the changing economic climate and how organizations can capitalize on coming out of the recovery. He illustrated this nicely with a number of graphics, including exposing us to the "Recovery Equation" as part of his presentation.

For those of you that either didn't know about it or couldn't attend, don't miss the next one coming up in the next month. You can contact Shirlaws and register - hope to see you there. Don't miss out on catching the "second" wave just because you missed the first one.

Social Media - "Nice to Have" or "Have to Have"

The beauty of being focused on helping CEOs, Business Leaders and other Top Executives get engaged with Social Media is that you get to hear some great comments and you get asked some great questions. This is one of the best learning experiences I have ever had for understanding what goes on in the minds of leaders.

One question that we are frequently asked and is certainly "top of mind" for leaders is, "Is Social Media really something I "have to have" or is it just something that is just "nice to have" from a business perspective?" GREAT QUESTION and one that should be asked.

I can tell you one thing for certain. If it doesn't have a way to drive sales, improve awareness and increase customer and/or employee loyalty, don't waste your time. Regardless of the "hype", Social Media will take some time - the amount depends on how good your strategy is and how well it is executed - more on this in another post.

If you had asked me this question a year or two ago, I would have given you a different answer than I would now. Today, for most businesses and organizations, it is fast becoming (or is already) a "Have to Have" to help build their business. Why? If you could have 12 people in a room for 90 minutes and deliver over 400,000 impressions for less than $1,000, would you do it? Almost everyone would jump at the chance, especially considering how expensive traditional media is and how little reach and impact it is delivering. This is not only possible, it is happening on a regular basis RIGHT NOW.

With the current economic state and the massive decline in return on traditional media, Social Media has clearly moved into the "Have to Have" category for the majority of organizations.Here would be the question we would ask you instead. Is your traditional media delivering higher return, more inquiries and better results than you have gotten in previous years? If so, then our recommendation would be to ignore Social Media for the time being. If it isn't, time to rethink what is really "Have to Have" and "Nice to Have" - traditional media or Social Media.