Posts Tagged ‘Internet Summit’
Friday, December 7th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 Joe Davy, CEO of Buystand, which lets buyers set a price for active lifestyle products they want to buy. Deals, deals, deals: discounts are the byword of online shopping these days, but usually, sellers are deciding how much the discounts should be. A Durham, NC-based startup, Buystand, wants to change that.
Buystand, says CEO Joe Davy, “Is the world’s first completely buyer-driven marketplace for active lifestyle clothing, equipment and footwear.” That includes everything from boots to mountain bikes and skis.
“Originally the brainchild of Ted Kraus and commercialized by Ted Kraus and Bill Brown at 8 Rivers Capital, which Davy says “works like an incubator for ideas, going through the patent process and funding them,” Buystand launched in beta about a month ago and already has hundreds of retailers, 250 brands, and thousands of customers signed up.
Davy, who joined the company after taking a course Brown, who is managing partner at 8 Rivers, taught at Duke University Law School, presented the company’s business plan at the Startup Summit that preceded this year’s Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC in November.
Innovative companies from early stage to pre-IPO looking for funding may want to apply to present at TechMedia’s next event, The Southeast Venture Conference in Charlotte, NC, in March. SEVC is now accepting applications.
Davy explains that at Buystand retailers let the buyer tell them what they want pay for certain products. That lets retailers see what their products are worth to buyers and lets brands see what they’re worth compared to their competitors’ products.
The retailer can decide at what price it wants to sell.
Control in the hands of buyers
“It puts control back into the hands of buyers,” says Davy. “There has never been a company before that let buyers come in and say what they’re willing to pay for a physical product, although it does happen in the hotel and travel markets. We’re inventing that model for products.”
Davy says this startup differs from many others – including the last one he ran – solve “What amounts to a big problem for a small number of people. They’re building a better widget or solving a very niche problem. What we’re doing appeals to a universal desire. It’s a much better way to shop, not just for a few people, for 90 percent.”
Customers already seem to like it. “People are using this multiple times a month. They’re not only happier when they pay the price they want to pay, but it translates into them spending substantially more money,” he says.
The firm has lots of room to grow. “It’s an $83 billion market,” Davy says. “And no one else is being innovative in the space right now. A lot of people are doing daily deal sites, but those crush brand equity and undermine the future sales of retailers.”
There are plenty of places to buy used products, he notes, including eBay and Craig’s List. “Buystand is for people who want a brand new product from retailer but don’t want to pay full price,” he says.
People have adopted it quickly, he adds. “We saw traction in just a few weeks,” Davy says.
Tags: 8 Rivers Capital, Bill Brown, Buystand, Charlotte, Durham, Internet Summit, Joe Davy, NC, Raleigh, Southeast Venture Conference, Startups, Ted Krouse
Posted in Company Profile, Events, Internet/New Media, Startups | No Comments »
Monday, November 5th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 Aaron Houghton of Boostsuite is among the serial entrepreneurs, venture captialists, angel investors and digital marketing experts participating in the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Tuesday through Thursday (Nov. 6-8). One of the major mistakes many first-time entrepreneurs make, says Aaron Houghton, who is now on his 15th startup, is investing everything you have in your first company.
“Lots of times,” Houghton says, “entrepreneurs put everything they have in their first company. If that fails, it is financially devastating and can ruin personal relationships.”
Instead, he says, “The right way to start is so that you can recover if it is not an immediate or longterm success. You have to be comfortable with failure and understand how to embrace it and recover.”
Houghton, currently founder and CEO of Boostsuite, was previously with Preation and email marketing firm iContact, which he co-founded with Ryan Allis while both were students at the University of North Carolina in 2003. It sold to Vocus for $169 million.
“I never put all my net worth into any of my companies so I could always recover, although I’ve definitely taken a good amount of risk along the way. Until iContact, I never had a big exit.”
Houghton gets high marks from other Research Triangle area entrepreneurs we talk to for his latest startup, Boostsuite, which is a web marketing optimization product for small business owners and entrepreneurs. It takes about a minute to set up and use.
Houghton joins 120 other digital marketing experts, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and executives from top digital brands at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Tuesday through Thursday this week (Nov. 6-8). He’ll be discussing “The Art of the Startup” at the new event this year, the Startup Summit on Tuesday.
Startup survival tips
Making sure you can recover from a failed startup is number one on Houghton’s top three pieces of advice to other entrepreneurs.
Next, he says, is that “It’s all about the people. There are not that many people in the entrepreneurial space with the talent you need, so treat your people well.”
Startups entail risks for staff, not just founders and CEOs. They often pay less than regular positions with major firms, and job security is not one of their job benefits. “Not that many people are willing to work in the startup space,” says Houghton.
Those software engineers and marketing pros who do like that startup juice tend to be in a limited talent pool.
So, says Houghton, “Don’t treat them as a short term resource. You’ll need them again in your next startup.”
Test, test, test
Finally, he says, “Get as much feedback about your product as you can as early as possible. I’m a strong believer in the lean startup model. You build a set of assumptions then test each as soon as possible. Eight of ten may be wrong.”
He adds, “It has gotten so easy to test with users now. You can throw a site up on social media and tell people you’re doing pre-enrollment for a beta test. You can get feedback via email or tools in the product.”
You can also use online tools such as usertesting.com. It will let you watch a video of a real user trying your product features.
Joe Procopio, another serial entrepreneur, founder of Triangle-based Exitevent.com, will also participate in the Startup Summit. He offers some advice for riding the startup roller coaster.
Tags: Aaron Houghton, advice to entrepreneurs, Boostsuite, icontact, Internet Summit, Joe Procopio, NC, Preation, Raleigh, Startup Summit
Posted in Best Practices, entrepreneurship, Events, Startups | 1 Comment »
Friday, November 2nd, 2012
 Dana Todd will expand on the thoughts expressed here at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8. These days, the integrated advertising campaign is all the rage – but it’s easier to talk about than to do. One of the problems is measuring the value of the campaign. “It’s all about the data,” says Dana Todd, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Performics.
In the first part of our interview with Todd, she stressed the importance of creating an integrated approach to marketing.
Todd will be discussing advanced topics in search marketing at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8, joining 120 other thought-leaders, technology mavens, marketing experts and up to 2,000 attendees.
Measuring the value of a digital campaign poses challenges. For one thing, going beyond media mix modeling to get insight into consumer behavior can be difficult but rewarding.
“If you do it right, you can use it in your other marketing,” Todd says.
Getting it all together
One difficulty of “doing it right,” she notes, “Is that most advertisers are not staffed appropriately to do integration. They hire agencies and try to tie everything together loosely.”
Without a certain “rigor” around what it really means to integrate, it can be tough to measure results properly. “It can be frustrating trying to get everyone’s data to match up.”
To combat that, she suggests, “Make sure there are regular meetings among department and/or agencies. Make sure that there is a consensus on what matters across all agencies and campaigns. If they’re not using the same set of tools, they should at least use complementary tools.”
Often, Todd says, people spend too much time on janitorial and librarian aspects, cleaning and cataloging data rather than understanding it. “Make sure it’s meaningful,” she says.
Retailers, she says, “need to understand the synergies between offline and online: what do offline dollars mean to online engagement and conversions and vise versa.”
Match offline sales with customer databases using tools such as Compete and comScore panels and integrate it with search understanding to get a clear sense of what the conversion impact or echo looks like, she advises.
Think outside the ROI box
Then you can find out how effective a given keyword is in driving both online and offline sales – which affects how aggressively you might bit for that given keyword.
“Say you spend $100,000 on paid search. You measure and it yields $300,000 in online sales. But you didn’t know it actually also drove a million in offline sales directly at the store. If you had known that, you might have bid more aggressively for that keyword or put more money into paid search,” she explains.
Using more complex tools, you might also discovery that a keyword not only drove $300,000 in sales, but also resulted in 7,500 new customers. You might want to bonus that keyword for driving new customers. If it drives more Facebook engagement or other engagement metrics, you might want to add that into consideration.”
Even if a keyword doesn’t drive sales but does increase Facebook fans, it should be considered. “Thinking outside the ROI box” can be helpful, she adds.
Todd will discuss specific tools and advanced techniques in integrated marketing at the Internet Summit next week in Raleigh. Fewer that 50 seats remain for the event, which includes a Startup Summit and a music festival (IS Rocks) this year.
Tags: Dana Todd, Internet Summit, IS Rocks, measuring integrated marketing, Performics, Startup Summit, think outside the ROI box
Posted in Analytics, Events, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
Friday, November 2nd, 2012
 Small businesses are spending more time on social media, primarily Facebook and Twitter, but struggling with the extra work it takes, according to the results of an exclusive survey on how much time and money small businesses spend on social media by vertical response.
The company surveyed 462 small businesses on how much time they spend on social media activities, including finding and sharing content on popular social networks and blogging, and what tasks take the most time. VerticalResponse also inquired about marketing budgets.
“Our survey confirms that small businesses are understanding the value of social media,” said Janine Popick, VerticalResponse CEO/founder.
“They’re spending more time doing it, and investing more money into it at a faster rate. But the extra work will likely lead to time management issues, especially for the small business owner who’s handling social media on top of all the other responsibilities of running a company. This implies that small businesses are in need of tactics and tools now to help them save time.”
Among the study’s findings: Facebook is still king, with 90 percent of small businesses using it, while 70 percent use Twitter and 50 percent are on LinkedIn. Adoption of Google Plus and Pinterest is slow. Only 32 percent are on G+ and 29 percent on Pinterest.
Ignoring Google Plus could be a mistake according to interviews we’ve done with digital marketing experts attending the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-9. Dana Todd of Performics, for instance, says Google is in the process of connecting all of its services, including search, and others have noted that Google Places is a way small businesses can get a mobile site free.
The study also found that small business social media budgets are rising faster than overall marketing budgets, with 22 percent of respondents saying they increased social media spending over a year ago and only 6 percent saying it decreased.
More than a third – 36 percent – are paying for social media publishing and analytics tools.
Vertical Response created this infographic to show its study results:
Tags: Dana Todd, facebook, Google Plus, infographic, Internet Summit, Pinterest, small business social media budgets, SMB use of Twitter, VerticalResponse research
Posted in Analytics, infographic, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Thursday, November 1st, 2012
Dana Todd will expand on the thoughts expressed here at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8. By Allan Maurer
Nowadays, Chief Marketing Officers “Are some of the most advanced creatures on the planet,” says Dana Todd, senior vice president of marketing and business development for Performics.
Todd, a pioneer of the search marketing industry has 17 years of experience in all forms of digital marketing and is a co-founder of the Search Engine Marketing Professionals Organization.
She’ll be discussing advanced topics in search marketing at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8, joining 120 other thought-leaders, technology mavens, marketing experts and up to 2,000 attendees.
Today’s problems in search marketing “Go way beyond linking strategies and SEO,” says Todd.
A more integrated view of digital marketing needed
“You have to take a more integrated view of digital. Search is still a significant portion, but tactics have to be welded together.”
At Internet Summit, she says, she’ll focus on two major themes: Providing the consumer with a richer customized experience; and helping measure the value around those experiences.
“Talk about engaging consumers and being engaging and it’s all about connecting the dots between all the elements of a campaign,” Todd says.
A richer experience in search means you’re no longer just talking about “tiny lines of text.” Both Google and Yahoo have rolled out much richer ad units, she notes. They allow consumers to view photos and videos inside of search ads.
“Marketers need to find resources to take advantage of those. That means you need more pictures, videos, and a better sense of the inventory going into product listings.”
Blending social into paid search
Social networking is also becoming a necessary and important part of the equation, she adds.
“You’re going to see a lot more blending of social into paid search,” she says. Those connections will drive people to the advertiser’s Twitter and Facebook networks. “So you cover a lot more of the decision journey, not just down the buy funnel.”
Then, when consumers see friends endorsing a company or product, “The social layer becomes a personalization layer.”
But just getting a lot of fans on Facebook or Twitter followers is “last year’s tactic.” Now, the emphasis should be on creating more in depth friendships.”
Don’t ignore Google Plus
Todd also warns advertisers and companies not to ignore Google Plus. “They’re integrating it in search,” she says.
“Think about how Google could potentially connect everything.”
They could do it through a single ID, the way Facebook does with its open graph that allows you to connect to many sites via its login. “Google is trying to get into that,” Todd says. “They can connect your actions with everything tied to your gmail and Google Plus accounts.”
A lot of unfinished business in local
Next year, Todd notes, combined mobile and tablet use is expected to exceed desktop computer use. What does that mean to advertisers? “About 40 percent of queries on a mobile device are tied to a local intent,” she says. “That means marketers need to pay a lot move attention not just to coverage but to accuracy in local and find ways to engage and delight users in that local experience.”
A quarter of all searches next year are likely to be locally focused. “That’s really big,” Todd says.
Google and Yahoo are both rolling out a number of local enhancements.
Coupon opportunity is significant
That means “The coupon opportunity is significant. You can drop an offer right into a cell phone search result and also click-to-call. But think about tracking that and what it means to you, because that’s the connection currency in mobile.”
She also thinks we’ll be seeing a lot more emphasis on remarketing. We’ve certainly noticed that in our own online shopping experiences already. If we look at a product on Tiger Direct (Comp USA) but don’t buy, they hit us again with email offers.
While Todd notes there is a great opportunity in remarketing, “It’s controversial for some advertisers. Some think it’s a little creepy to follow people with messages after they left your site. Other’s find it’s phenomenal.”
The numbers bear that out because doing so leads to a 20 percent recapture.
Advertisers can become even more sophisticated and aggressive about that now, she adds. “You can find people who visited a competitors site.”
Next, marketers have to consider measuring results, attributions, and reporting. See part two: It’s all about the data
Or, you can catch her presentation at the Internet Summit. We can tell you this: she has so much take-away information we could barely keep up with it all.
Tags: Dana Todd, Google Plus, integrated marketing tips, Internet Summit, local coupons, localization opportunities, NC, paid search enhancements, Performics, Raleigh, Yahoo
Posted in Events, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 31st, 2012
 The 2012 Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8 offers unparalleled networking opportunities and speakers from top digital brands such as Google, Twitter, AOL, Klout, Pando Daily, comScore, Mashable and IBM among many others. Want to know how to make sure your business is mobile ready without spending a fortune? Concerned about how social media can be a legal landmine? Need insight into the science of Facebook engagement? Those are just a few of the topics on the agenda at next week’s Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, which is quickly filling available seats.
The 2012 Internet Summit, this year including the Startup Summit, brings more than 120 technology and digital marketing thought-leaders to the Raleigh, NC, Convention Center next week (Nov. 6-8) but fewer than 150 seats remain if you want to join them.
This year the Internet Summit features speakers from brands that include Google, Twitter, Adobe, The Weather Channel, AOL, Cisco, IBM, Forrester, PBS, Klout, Mashable, bing, and many others.
Here at the TechJournal, we’ve interviewed a number of speakers participating in the event, which draws up to 2,000 attendees annually.
CIO challenges, mobile app development, riding the startup roller coaster
From past experience we know these previews offer only a taste of the banquet of take-away insights offered each year:
CIO challenges include several balancing acts - From Chad Smith at 3 Birds Marketing, who was named this year’s CIO of the Year by the North Carolina Technology Association. He’s on the CIO/CTO challenges panel.
How You Can Get More Results from Your Business Website (first of several articles from Boostsuite with great tips on creating, optimizing, and promoting your business website. Successful serial entrepreneur Aaron Houghton, CEO and founder of Boostsuite will discuss how to drastically lower the risk you take when you launch your new startup.
 Joe Procopio Fasten Your seatbelt: three tips on riding the startup roller coaster. Serial entrepreneur Joe Procopio, a networking expert and software developer who runs Triangle-based Exit Event, on keeping your eye on the ball.
Get your ground game down with mobile before you try trick plays - Bill Leake, CEO of Apogeeresults, has a wealth of practical advice on how to tackle what a business really needs in the mobile arena.
Vince Baskerville of Atlanta’s Trip Lingo on Tracking the mobile wild west: engagement is key.
 Elizabeth Johnson, Attorney with Poyner Spruill, is among the 120 digital media experts participating in the Internet Summit, Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8. You’ll also learn that Social Media Can be a landmine for businesses,” from Poyner Spruillattorney Elizabeth Johnson, who discusses legal issues of concern.
Robert Hancock of Smart Online, which has reinvented itself as a mobile app firm, will offer some best practices for mobile app development.
Randy Brown, director of the Virtual Heroes division of Applied Research Associates, will talk about “Serious games now invading the military, medical and corporate worlds.
 Matt Peters, co-founder & creative director, Pandemic Labs, during his presentation at the Internet Summit in November. His company has done significant research since then on how brands can increase their Facebook engagement. Matt Peters, co-founder and director of Pandemic Labs, a Boston-based firm that sells social media marketing and analytics services. Peters will present his “Science of Facebook engagement,” and tell you about Two changes that will boost your Facebook numbers, among other inside information based on data. (Peter’s will also speak at the Dallas Digital Summit in December.
Stephen Wellman, editor in chief at Geek Media, which publishes Slashdot, will discuss how to engage with online communities.
 Stephen-Wellman, editor-in-chief at Slashdot and other Geeknet sites. Other top speakers slated for the event include:
- Jodi Kahn - President, iVillage
- Duane Forrester - Sr. Product Manager, Bing
- Scott Calise - Director of Digital Research, MTV Networks
- Don Hoang - Director of Business Development, Klout
- Liz Thorington - VP, Ad Sales, The Weather Channel
- David Perry - Biz Development Executive, Google
And that’s just a sample.
This year’s event includes a new new mini-conference — the Startup Summit – focusing exclusively on digital entrepreneurship.
- Over 120 top thought leaders & industry innovators sharing insights on topics that matter to you
- More than 60 presentations & panels covering topics like Customer Engagement, Social Media Trends, Mobile Apps, Analytics, User Experience, Big Data, Gamification, Cloud, Search Marketing and much, much more!
- Network and connect with around 2,000 of your peers
- Dedicated Tech Track for IT Professionals, from the cubicle to the C-suite
- IS Rocks - our new Music Festival at the conclusion of the conference featuring more than a dozen bands to close down IS12 in style!
- 16 in-depth workshop sessions in our Pre-Conference led by expert interactive and marketing pros.
Register now.
Tags: 2012, 3 Birds Marketing, Aaron Houghton, ApogeeResults, Bill Leake, Boostsuite, Chad Smith, Elizabeth Johnson, Facebook engagement, Geeknet, Internet Summit, Joe Procopio, Matt Peters, NC, Pandemic Labs, Raleigh, Randy Brown, Slashdot, social media legal issues, Startup Summit, Stephen Wellman, thought leaders, Virtual Heroes
Posted in Best Practices, Cloud, entrepreneurship, Events, Facebook, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, Legal, Marketing, social media, Startups | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 31st, 2012
 While some executives may shy away from in-person networking in favor of email these days, according to a new Robert Half survey, “It shouldn’t be a substitute for more traditional approaches,” says Robert Half Management Resources President David King.
“Participating in face-to-face dialogue is still fundamental in developing successful connections, particularly for business development and hiring purposes. In-person meetings build rapport in a way that electronic communication cannot,” King says.
His firm offers these tips on getting the most from your professional networking activities:
1. Strike the right balance. Meeting in person takes more time and effort but can deliver much more value in the long run.
2. Develop relationships through meetings and referrals and then stay in touch online to keep communication lines open.
3. Don’t wait until you need something to reach out or you will weaken your ties to your network. Be visible and stay in touch on a regular basis.
Next week you have a chance to network with top digital media, technology and marketing thought-leaders and up to 2,000 potential clients, partners, or employees, at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8.
This year’s event includes several new events: The Startup Summit and numerous opportunities to network one-on-one.
Tags: Internet Summit, NC, Raleigh, Startup Summit, tips for professional networking
Posted in Best Practices, Events | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 30th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 Chad Smith, CIO, 3 Birds Marketing. Smith is on the CIO/CTO panel at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8. Being a chief information officer (CIO) involves more than guiding a firm’s technology initiatives, says Chad Smith, CIO at Chapel Hill, NC-based interactive marketing company 3 Birds Marketing. “A lot of times, I’m the traffic cop between the business and the technology side of the company,” he says.
Smith obviously has a handle on the CIO position. He was recently named CIO of the year by the North Carolina Technology Association and Triangle Business Journal, and is on the CIO/CTO panel at the upcoming Internet Summit at the Raleigh Convention Center Nov. 6-8. He’ll join thought leaders from top brands such as Google, AOL, IBM, bing, comScore, Klout, Twitter, Mashable, Forrester, and Adobe at the event, which expects up to 2,000 attendees.
The CIO of the year award goes to those who use IT in innovative ways to create a competitive advantage for their firm.
Smith said it was an honor to be chosen, “especially among such distinguished colleagues. The Triangle’s technology community is a vibrant, active one filled with the brightest and best. It’s one of the reasons 3 Birds chose to locate here.”
3 Birds Marketing sells a digital platform that helps clients engage customers across multiple channels, including social media, e-newsletters, blog posts, and also handles 3-campaigns and reputation management. It’s cloud-based products are sold as software-as-a-service, and Smith hastens to add, and “as software with service.”
CIO challenges
One of the toughest aspects of being a CIO, Smith says, “Is getting the business requirements for what we want to do and transform that into a product that supports 600 clients. It’s always a challenge as your team and client base start to grow, building an infrastructure to support rapid growth.”
Kristen Judd, president and co-founder of 3 Birds, said, “With the release of the Wire 1.95, our team has created a comprehensive, fully integrated software solution that has robust functionality and an extensive library of content ranging from articles to images to social media posts to campaign creative.”
She added, “Chad has been able to balance the rapid growth of our platform, against the need for functionality enhancements, and he’s done so while managing to create and foster our outstanding development team.
The company, launched in 2009, has grown from five on staff and 10 clients to 45 employees, including 10 developers, and 600 clients. It is focused on the automotive sector because its founders had expertise in that industry, but is looking at expanding services to additional verticals.
Keep the user experience intuitive
Smith says that among the challenges he faces as CIO at 3 Birds Marketing is “Finding talent to come to Chapel Hill from a development perspective. There are over 126 open jobs similar to ones we were looking to fill in the Triangle.”
Others include balancing features in the company’s product. “Making sure that what we roll out maintains the user experience so that it is intuitive. That’s a challenge.”
To meet it, he recommends, “Keep your fundamentals the same to maintain consistency in how users interact with your app so you don’t have to constantly retrain users.”
We’d vote for that attitude. Many of the software products we have used over the years introduce new versions that change so many fundamental aspects re-learning it can be a pain – and that even applies to browsers and operating systems.
But, it can be a “Constant battle,” says Smith. “A lot of times developers who think differently than designers. We take a lot of time to make sure our product is designed with the user experience in mind and challenge developers to meet their needs.”
Smith received a BS/BA in computer business information systems from the University of Arkansas. Before joining 3 Birds, Smith held a position at Transamerica Worksite Marketing where he served as business system application manager.
His past experience includes two years as a principal consultant at Edgewater Technology, as well as eight years with Acxiom Corporation, a global data management and IT consulting firm.
Building apps and making databases, he has worked for Blockbuster, American Express and CitiBank.
Originally from Arkansas, Smith has also lived and worked in the United Kingdom and Japan during his thirteen years in the industry. He relocated to North Carolina to join the 3 Birds team in 2010.
Tags: Chad Smith, CIO challenges, CIO/CTO panel, Internet Summit, NC, November 2012, Raleigh
Posted in Carolinas, Events, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, North Carolina, People | No Comments »
Monday, October 29th, 2012
By Ryan Kettler
 In the first two articles on How Anyone Can Get More Results From a Business Website from Boostsuite, we discussed how to create and optimize new content for your website in order to attract more visitors. Today, we will talk about how you can promote that content for maximum results.
Good content requires good promotion. Just because you wrote the world’s greatest article on barbeque sauce does not mean any grilling fanatics will instantly know about it. You need to spread the word. This will drive traffic to your website, it will extend the lifespan of your article and will generate more interest faster than just relying on your existing visitors and the search engines.
Here’s a quick list of places you should be promoting and sharing your article once it’s ready to go:
- Create a new page on your website and add the full text of the article to the page
- Write a quick blog post introduction to the article and include a link to the full article
- Highlight the article in a section of your email newsletter and add a link to the full version
- Save the new article page on your website as a PDF file and email it to your sales team. Give them a one line description of the exact problem that the article solves so that they can easily identify which prospects in their pipeline will benefit from receiving it.
- Post a short article introduction to your online support community or customer forum
- Post the article in one of your LinkedIn Groups and ask for feedback from the group’s members
- Create a poll or ask a question about something mentioned in the article on your company’s Facebook page
- Create five different iterations of your article’s main headline and post each version on Twitter over a few hours. Include common hashtags that are relevant to the audience and article content.
It’s imperative to include links back to the full text version of the article on your website from each of these places. The goal here is to use promotional channels that you already have and to tease people with the information that they’ll only find by clicking back to the full article on your website.
You don’t need to do all of these at once, but more is always better. If you have only a website and a Twitter account, it’s just fine to begin there. You can always add more social properties later on.
If you write and share good content the search engines will notice it and social users will distribute it, creating more inbound links to your website.
Quality inbound links important
Inbound links are important for search engine optimization as the more quality links you have coming to your website from known sources, the more authority and trustworthiness you have with the search engines. More authority means a higher likelihood the search engines will show your website higher in their results.
Congratulations, just by starting a website content creation, optimization and promotion process your company now has a distinct marketing advantage over most of your competitors. Although most of our suggestions are very simple, most companies fail to even get started.
A small investment of your time into your business’s website is guaranteed to provide more visitors and customers over time at a very low cost. Stay tuned for the next article in this series as we’ll tell you exactly how to measure the progress your website is making as you execute the steps we’ve described so far.
Boostsuite’s founder and CEO, Aaron Houghton is among the entrepreneurial thought-leaders participating in the two-day Startup Summit in Raleigh, Nov. 6-8, where he’ll discuss how to drastically lower the risk you take when you launch your new startup.
Ryan Kettler is Director of Communications for BoostSuite. Ryan is a sports fanatic, beer connoisseur, Internet marketing zealot and live music enthusiast. When he’s not helping BoostSuite customers he can be found sampling the latest IPAs and cheering on his North Carolina State Wolfpack.
BoostSuite is a web marketing optimization product for small business owners. Unlike current products that bewilder and discourage small business owners, BoostSuite allows novice web marketers to build more website traffic and convert more online visitors into customers and leads for their businesses. BoostSuite is free and takes only one minute to set up, is easy to learn, and can be used by anyone.
Tags: Aaron Houghton, hashtags, headlines, how to promote website content, Internet Summit, LinkedIn, NC, newsletter, Raleigh, Ryan Kettler, SEO, Startup Summit, twitter
Posted in Best Practices, Blogging, Columns, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
Thursday, October 25th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 It’s much easier to launch a startup company these days, but not nearly so easy to get venture or angel financing, says Joe Procopio.
New technologies such as cloud computing infrastructure, fairly easy to use website development and content management systems, and other advances make it a much simpler matter to get a company launched with very little capital.
But getting seed or venture funding these days is a different matter.
“It started with the Facebook hangover,” says Procopio. The number of financing deals and the dollars invested are down compared to last year. I think we’ll be seeing smaller deals with less game-changing technology behind them and a greater emphasis on revenues.”
In fact, he adds, “It’s not just about the idea any more. Financials are king. You really have to have customers and show good financials — or have a very clear path to them – to get funded these days.”
Get into the startup ecosystem
On the other hand, he says, “Often, getting funding is not the way to go.” Instead, he says, entrepreneurs should take advantage of the startup ecosystems popping up in many cities and regions.
Those include accelerators, incubators, competitions, universities, and crowd-sourced funding (such as Kickstarter).
 For instance, he notes, via the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Carolina Challenge, “Students are getting into entrepreneurship while completing a bachelor’s degree. They’re coming out of school starting their own companies and get cashflow positive very quickly. It’s a trend that will continue.”
While there will still be some “home-run hitters” among startups and some great ideas that get tons of funding, most startups are probably better off “Letting customers fund them,” he says.
Joe Procopio Procopio, a serial entrepreneur familiar to TechJournal readers for his columns about the startup scene in the Research Triangle in NC, where he is a familiar face at conferences and networking events for entrepreneurs, will participate in the upcoming Startup Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-7.
Speakers from top brands
The Startup Summit is a new addition to the 2012 Internet Summit, which brings 120 thought-leaders to the Raleigh, NC, Convention Center Nov. 6-8, featuring speakers from AOL, Bing, Google, Klout, Mashable, comScore and many other top digital brands.
He’ll join speakers such as Angus Davis, founder and CEO at Swipely, Paul Singh, partner and “Master of the Hustle,” at 500 Startups, Sarah Lacy, founder and editor of Pando Daily, and venture capitalists from NextView Ventures, ABS Capital, True Ventures, Baltimore Angles and Nucleus Venture, Southern Capitol Ventures, Contender Capital, and North Bridge Venture Partners.
Among the other startup CEOs on the agenda is Procopio’s boss at Automated Insights, Robbie Allen, a former distinguished engineer at Cisco and author of ten books on a variety of technical topics.
 Allen founded Automated Insights, which began by developing automated sports reporting, an idea that got a lot of press for its robot journalism angle. The firm landed a NC IDEA grant and raised a $4.3 million round of funding in October last year.
Automate everything
Procopio, who has been with the firm since 2010, says, “Our slogan is automate everything. “We joke that we want to automate our ping pong games,” he quips. Automated Insights has moved on from automated sports reporting – for which there is a limited market – to such things as recapping Fantasy Football games in a deal with Yahoo. Personally, here at the TechJournal, we think that is one clever idea.
Procopio, who also started and runs the ExitEvent startup network, has this advice for entrepreneurs:
First, “Chase sales and think customers first. Prove your idea before you seek money and consider whether you really need outside capital.”
Second, “Reach out to the startup ecosystem and get involved early. You’ll get so much return on very little investment connecting at educational events or just going out with other entrepreneurs for a beer. Later stage guys are open, helpful and willing to make connections for you.”
Ride the roller coaster
Finally: “Ride the roller coaster. If you’re having days with awesome highs followed by terrible lows, you’re doing it right.”
He sees a lot of entrepreneurs who go a month or two without gaining traction and get the 20th no, then quit.
But, he says, “That’s one of the best and worst things about being a startup. You’ll have days that are phenomenal and the next be crashing down and fighting fires. Doing that, you’re in the right place.”
On the other hand, he says, if you’re not having those highs and lows on the roller coaster, you may be growing complacent and “need to pivot.”
The easiest way to lose, he says, “Take your eye off the ball and get complacent.”
Tags: Allan Maurer, Automated Insights, Carolina Challenge, entrepreneurial ecosystem, Internet Summit, Joe Procopio, Startup Summit, tips on surviving startups, venture financing
Posted in Business advice, Carolinas, entrepreneurship, Events, North Carolina, Startups | No Comments »
Thursday, October 18th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 Bill Leake, CEO of ApogeeResults, is a veteran of McKinsey & Co. and Dell Computers. He is one of 120 digital marketing thought-leaders participating in the Internet Summit in Raleigh, Nov. 6-8. Ad agencies may try to sell on the idea of letting them build you an expensive mobile app. That’s fine for some companies, “But others might not need to spend that money,” says Bill Leake, CEO of ApogeeResults.com.
Leake has created one of the 20 largest independent online marketing agencies in the United States. Apogee has been instrumental in building dozens of “Internet Retailer 500” and “Software 500” and venture capital backed companies. It works with top global brands such as Whole Foods, IBM, SAP and Hewlett Packard.
While iPhones and tablets have made mobile much more of a real thing, “There is still a lot of hype about mobile,” says Leake. “It’s more of a real thing, but still not for everyone. Folks don’t do a lot of hard core research or interactivity that takes a lot of typing on a smartphone. You have to keep in mind how everything changes on mobile.”
Leake is one of 120 thought-leaders, game changers and marketing gurus participating in this year’s Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8, which this year includes a Startup Summit sponsored by TechMedia’s 2013 Southeast Venture Conference set for Charlotte, NC in March.
Back to marketing basics
Leake suggests the way to approach mobile is to “Get back to the basics of marketing. Who is your customer and how does he like do things? Do you want a mobile app or just a mobile web site? The Google Places piece of Google Plus offers a free mobile web site and probably 50 percent of businesses would do just fine with setting up a Google Places profile.”
“People are getting snookered with mobile apps instead of microsites. Sometimes a mobile app is a game changer, but many get lost in the Apple store. The world is littered with mobile apps no one can find.”
Instead of spending $100,000 on a mobile app, he suggests, “Spend $20,000 on the app and $80,000 on media so people find it.”
You need to be in the mobile pool, he adds, “But it may not be time to dive in from the 50-foot high board. Stay in the shallow end unless you have the budget top learn and fail.”
Get your ground game down
Putting it another way, he says, “Get your ground game down before doing trick plays. Really complicated apps are trick plays with a high failure rate.”
One of the best approaches to a mobile strategy, he says, is to “Let it be an extension of what works well in other places. It’s going from beach volleyball to indoor. It’s not a new game. The form factor just changes a little.
Too many ad agencies tend to view their clients as their artistic patrons, Leake says. “I’ve run into so many creative types who believe the client lives to support their art.”
When a client asks how much they need to spend on a web site, the agency says, “How much was your SBA grant? That’s how much you need to spend.”
They use expensive, slow-loading flash art work. “It’s the height of arrogance,” says Leake. “Flash can be good if embedded in a humble way that downloads a quick bit of HTML saying we have this other thing to show you, but you can bypass it if you want to. But just waiting 20 seconds with no explanation? It’s like the news networks telling you what to believe every night.”
They will judge you on speed
Similar arrogance leads to overdone mobile projects. “A lot of times,” Leake says, “you just need a first level mobile app. People on mobile will judge you on speed. Have things far less graphic with fewer functions.”
All of which, he notes, “Flies in the face of what the typical creative agency wants. They can’t build as much with text as they can with moving pictures.”
Focus, he says, “On what you are trying to do and what your clients are doing. It doesn’t need to be award-winning; it needs to be good enough.”
Think about building something “reasonably” stable that doesn’t need to be replaced every six months, he suggests.
Consider such elements as how to minimize data input challenges. “Thumbs are a pain in the rear,” he says. You have to realize that typing is not the same as on a regular keyboard.
Bring hyper local to the fore
Right now a lot of retailers should be thinking about how to use mobile to defend against the Amazons of the world. So a mobile app or web site should let users know, can they get a certain product? Is it in the store? Will they match lower prices?
“What we’re not seeing enough of is sending mobile ads to someone sitting in a coffee shop within walking distance of a store.”
Also, he says, “Mobile should not be viewed as an isolated silo. It needs to integrate into a full marketing strategy. It’s mission critical for some, but in a lot of cases it’s not. You’re not going to choose what car to buy on a smartphone.”
Marketers also need separate strategies for smartphones and tablets, he adds. “People toss around the word “mobile” casually and apply it to both.”
Tags: ApogeeResults, Bill Leake, Charlotte, creative agencies, Google Places, Internet Summit, mobile apps, mobile strategy, NC, Raleigh, tablet vs. smartphone
Posted in Carolinas, Ecommerce, Events, Google, Internet/New Media, IT, North Carolina, smartphones, Telecommunications | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 17th, 2012
 The Southeast Venture Conference is headed to Charlotte, NC, in March 2013. The seventh annual Southeast Venture Conference, a major event for investors and entrepreneurs, is headed to Charlotte, NC, March 13-14 at the Riz-Carlton.
The conference features presentations by 60 of the region’s high growth investment opportunities.
They will include both early and later stage companies from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Washington DC.
The conference offers an unparalleled opportunity to Network with hundreds of the region’s leading Entrepreneurs and High Growth Company Executives, National Venture Capitalists and Private Equity Professionals, M&A facilitators and other leading professionals serving the technology community.
We’ve covered many startup and later stage firms that presented at previous SEVC’s and later landed multiple financing rounds.
SEVC is also teaming with the Internet Summit in Raleigh Nov. 6-8 this year to present the two-day Startup Summit focused on entrepreneurs.
ttendees and speakers include leading incubators, venture capital firms, and innovative companies. We’ll feature 16 presenting startups that will showcase their companies and concepts. You’ll have the opportunity to meet them one-on-one in our demo pit.
Speakers at the Startup Summit include influential entrepreneurs and leaders from the investment community:
- Angus Davis, Founder & CEO, Swipely
- Paul Singh, Partner & Master of the Hustle, 500Startups
- Sarah Lacy, Founder & Editor-in-Chief, PandoDaily
- Scott Maxwell, Founder, OpenView Venture Partners
- Michael Doernberg, CEO and Co-founder, Reverbnation
- Laura Witt, General Partner, ABS Capital
- Rob Go, Partner, NextView Ventures
- David Morken, Founder & CEO, Bandwidth.com
- Jonathan Perrelli, Founding Partner, Fortify.vc
- Dayna Grayson, North Bridge Venture Partners
- Neil Kataria, Founder & Chairman, newBrandAnalytics
- Greg Cangialosi, Managing Dir, Nucleus Venture Partners
- Jason Caplain, General Partner, Southern Capital Ventures
- Robbie Allen, Founder & CEO, Automated Insights
- John Burke, Founder and General Partner, True Ventures
- Joe Velk, Contender Capital
- Chris Heivly, Managing Partner, Triangle Startup Factory
- David Jones, Partner, Southern Capital Ventures
- Joe Schmidt, CMO, Cafepress
- Tom Lotrecchiano, Sr Vice President, Cafepress
- Matt Williamson, Founder & CEO, Windsor Circle
Tags: Charlotte, entrepreneurs, Internet Summit, investors, NC, Raleigh, SEVC, Southeast Venture Conference, Startup Summit, Startups
Posted in Alabama, Carolinas, entrepreneurship, Events, Florida, Georgia, Internet/New Media, Kentucky, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC | No Comments »
Monday, October 15th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 Vince Baskerville Mobile may be hot, says Vince Baskerville, co-founder and VP of production for Atlanta-based Trip Lingo, but “It’s like the wild west, or the old days of the Web in the 1990s when no one knew how to track anything. ”
Now, he notes, you can track everything on the web. But that is just not so with mobile.
With mobile, Baskerville says, “There are no click events, no below the fold.” Mobile is different. So, he suggests, “Mobile is a different and evolving market.”
One of 120 Internet Summit speakers
Baskerville is one of 120 thought-leaders who will participate in the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8. The event boasts the most outstanding lineup of digital gurus, marketing mavens and technology experts in its history.
So, what can you measure on mobile, we asked?
“Engagement is the biggest thing,” he says. “Are visitors using feature sets? Do they then drill down to actionable items? If you have a new address book feature, how long are they in that view?”
He preaches engagement
If you spend nine months developing a new feature for your mobile app and only 2 percent use it, you did something wrong. Engagement is what I preach,” Baskerville says.
You need to understand that collecting data from mobile is also different from collecting it from the web. “It’s impossible to get real time data from a phone that’s not always on or in range of a cell tower,” Baskervilles says.
“You have to understand the tricks: how to store that data and get it back to you.”
Another element of mobile that differs from the web is that a mobile app user has to drill down multiple levels to get to certain things. So funneling people down those levels to take an action is important.
Even with free apps that offer paid features, you have to figure out how to engage users so they drill down to the paid feature. Then, “How do you make them want it?” Baskerville adds.
Two measurement tools
At the Internet Summit, Baskerville plans to discuss two tools that help with measuring mobile. One, Mix Panel, is aimed at Enterprises, while the other, Flurry, is more “startup friendly.” Baskerville’s Trip Lingo uses Flurry.
Flurry, says Baskerville, “Offers a very good solid foundation and it’s reliable.”
Mix Panel does the same things, but it’s more aimed at larger firms.
Trip Lingo, which we profiled on the TechJournal, is revamping its mobile app and applying some of the things it learned from measuring use.
One new development for the traveler’s language companion, is a slide navigation system that’s rather unique. “I haven’t seen anything else like it,” Baskerville says.
It’s meant to make it much easier for people to navigate within the app, going forward or back as they choose.
They’re also adding a new voice feature that will provide translations for phrases user speak into the phone when it’s connected. Speed improvements are also planned.
Tags: Atlanta, engagement, Flurry, Internet Summit, measurement, MIxed Panel, mobile apps, NC, November 2012, Raleigh, tracking, Trip Lingo, Vince Baskerville
Posted in Analytics, Events, Internet/New Media, Mobile | No Comments »
Friday, October 12th, 2012
 Today is the last day for a discount to attend the Internet Summit, which brings 120 thought-leaders to Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8.
This year’s lineup is one of the most impressive in the history of the conference. Speakers include Sarah Lacy - Founder & Editor-in-Chief, PandoDaily.com; Brent Herd - Director of Southeast, Twitter; Frederick Townes - Sr Technical Advisor, Mashable; Tim Sullivan - President and CEO, Ancestry.com; Curtis Brown - Chief Technology Officer, AOL; and Ben Huh - CEO & Founder, Cheezburger, among many others.
And this year includes a Pre-conference workshop featuring 16 in-depth sessions led by interactive and marketing pros, a Startup Summit min-conference, and event-closing music festival featuring 12 bands.
From our interviews with participants so far:
Innovative startups you’ll learn about include ArchiveSocial, which provides a means of truly archiving all of a firm’s social media activity. The founder says, “Don’t wait for trouble to keep records of your business social media.”
 Elizabeth Johnson, Attorney with Poyner Spruill, is among the 120 digital media experts participating in the Internet Summit, Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8. You’ll also learn that Social Media Can be a landmine for businesses,” from Poyner Spruillattorney Elizabeth Johnson.
Robert Hancock of Smart Online, which has reinvented itself as a mobile app firm, will offer some best practices for mobile app development.
Randy Brown, director of the Virtual Heroes division of Applied Research Associates, will talk about “Serious games now invading the military, medical and corporate worlds.
Matt Peters, co-founder and director of Pandemic Labs, a Boston-based firm that sells social media marketing and analytics services. Peters will present his “Science of Facebook engagement,” and tell you about Two changes that will boost your Facebook numbers, among other inside information based on data. (Peter’s will also speak at the Dallas Digital Summit in December.
 Stephen-Wellman, editor-in-chief at Slashdot and other Geeknet sites. Stephen Wellman, editor in chief at Geek Media, which publishes Slashdot, will discuss how to engage with online communities such as his. (Wellman also spoke at the recent Digital East event in Virginia).
We’ll be interviewing other thought-leaders who will be appearing at the Internet Summit up until the event, but you can’t capture more than a touch of what they have to offer in brief blog posts. We’re always impressed by the useful take-aways they present at the event itself.
Other top speakers slated for the event include:
- Jodi Kahn - President, iVillage
- Duane Forrester - Sr. Product Manager, Bing
- Scott Calise - Director of Digital Research, MTV Networks
- Don Hoang - Director of Business Development, Klout
- Liz Thorington - VP, Ad Sales, The Weather Channel
- David Perry - Biz Development Executive, Google
And that’s just a sample.
This year’s event includes a new new mini-conference — the Startup Summit – focusing exclusively on digital entrepreneurship.
- Over 120 top thought leaders & industry innovators sharing insights on topics that matter to you
- More than 60 presentations & panels covering topics like Customer Engagement, Social Media Trends, Mobile Apps, Analytics, User Experience, Big Data, Gamification, Cloud, Search Marketing and much, much more!
- Network and connect with around 2,000 of your peers
- Dedicated Tech Track for IT Professionals, from the cubicle to the C-suite
- IS Rocks - our new Music Festival at the conclusion of the conference featuring more than a dozen bands to close down IS12 in style!
- 16 in-depth workshop sessions in our Pre-Conference led by expert interactive and marketing pros.
Register now.
Tags: Archive Social, Ben Huh, Cheezburger Network, Elizabeth Johnson, Internet Summit, NC, November 2012, Poyner Spruill, Raleigh, Randy Brown, Robert Hancock, serious games, Slashdot, Smart Online, Stephen Wellman
Posted in Events, Internet/New Media, Legal, Marketing, social media, Startups | No Comments »
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
 Celine Dion. What do Justin Bieber, Ryan Gosling, Avril Lavigne and Celine Dion have in common? According to Ancestry.com, the world’s largest online family history resource, the four Canadian performers are all related, sharing a family connection with some of Quebec’s earliest settlers.
- Heartthrobs: It’s a family reunion of heartthrobs as Justin Bieber, who’s appeared on the cover of almost every teen magazine connects with his newly found 11th cousin, once removed, Ryan Gosling. Gosling, who stole hearts in the drama, The Notebook, shares a bloodline with Bieber by way of Mathurin Roy and wife Marguerite Biré. Records indicate Roy and Biré were born in France in the early 1600s and later immigrated to Quebec, where Roy was a mason. By the time the couple passed away in the late 1600s, their family tree had already started to grow.
- Odd Couples: It’s not that “Complicated” for Bieber and Avril Lavigne, who are 12thcousins. Both can trace a line straight back to the same Roy/Biré family. The branch of that family which directly connects Bieber to Lavigne started when Mathurin Roy and Marguerite Biré married.
- Pop Prince and Pop Diva: Bieber’s family tree holds yet another famous branch: pop-diva Celine Dion. Dating back to the 1600s, the Bieber/Dion connection began with 17thcentury ancestors the two pop stars share: Jacques Vezina and Marie Boisdon. Vézina and Boisdon were natives of France who immigrated to Quebec in the 17th century. Genealogically speaking, this connection makes Bieber and Dion 10th cousins, three times removed.
“Discoveries like this are rare, so the fact that some of the top entertainment industry stars are all related is especially fascinating,” says Lesley Anderson, Canadian genealogy expert with Ancestry.com.
“There’s something special about discovering a shared connection. And to be able to go so far back in history while making that connection is one of the most satisfying aspects of family history research.”
Hear Ancestry.com CEO at Internet Summit
You can hear Tim Sullivan, president and CEO of Ancestry.com at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8, along with 120 other thought-leaders in digital marketing, design, SEO, SEM, and technology.
Sullivan was Chief Operating Officer and then President and CEO of Match.com. Prior to Match.com, Sullivan served as Vice President of E-commerce for Ticketmaster Online-Citysearch, Inc. and held multiple positions at The Walt Disney Company
Register by Friday, Oct. 12 before the price to attend the Internet Summit rises.
Tags: Ancestry.com, Avril Lavigne, Celine Dion, Internet Summit, Justin Bieber, Ryan Gosling, Tim Sullivan
Posted in Events, Internet/New Media | No Comments »
Thursday, October 11th, 2012
 Members of the C-suite are skipping the in-person meet-and-greet in favor of networking online, a new survey shows. Forty-five percent of chief financial officers (CFOs) interviewed for a Robert Half Management Resources survey said they now prefer to cultivate business relationships via social networking.
This is a bit of a change from the recent past in which CEOs in particular have been reluctant to adopt social media networking. Some still are.
One-quarter of CFOs still favor in-person networking at events, meetings and conferences. The majority of respondents (60 percent) said their primary purpose for networking is to grow business.
The survey was developed by Robert Half Management Resources, the world’s premier provider of senior-level finance, accounting and business systems professionals on a project and interim basis and conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with 20 or more employees.
CFOs were asked, “How do you prefer to network professionally?” Their responses:
| Networking online |
45% |
| Attend professional events, meetings, conferences |
25% |
| Email correspondence |
22% |
| None/don’t network |
7% |
| Other/don’t know |
1% |
| TOTAL |
100% |
CFOs were also asked, “What is the primary purpose of your professional networking activities?“ Their responses:
| Grow business |
60% |
| Keep up with industry news and developments |
20% |
| Find a new job |
10% |
| Recruit new talent |
7% |
| Other/don’t know |
3% |
| TOTAL |
100% |
Paul McDonald, a senior executive director with Robert Half, noted that while online networking can be effective in reaching a large number of contacts, it shouldn’t replace more traditional approaches.
“Having regular conversations remains essential for developing meaningful professional relationships, particularly for business development and hiring purposes,” he said.
“Face-to-face meetings can build rapport in a way that electronic communication cannot. Most people still want some personal familiarity before doing business with someone or making a referral.”
Research shows that for most executives, professional networking is geared toward developing business leads (60 percent), rather than for pursuits like finding a job (10 percent) or recruiting talent (7 percent).
Robert Half Management Resources offers three tips to get the most from professional networking activities:
- Don’t wait until you need something. If you reach out to your network only when you need help, you’ll weaken your ties. Be visible and keep in touch on a regular basis by commenting on your contacts’ updates, offering assistance and sharing news items.
- Strike the right balance. Meeting in person takes more time and effort than connecting online but can deliver much more value over the long term. Develop relationships through one-on-one meetings and referrals. You can then stay in touch with contacts online or by email to keep the lines of communication open.
- Stay in the know. Monitor social media to keep current on industry developments and your network’s reaction to them. The information you gather can give you valuable business insight.
And of course, here at the TechJournal, we think you’ll find the best networking anywhere at our digital conferences such as the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, Nov. 6-7, which is bringing 120 thought-leaders to one of the most wired cities in the nation.
Tags: C-suite turning to social media, Events, Internet Summit, Robert Half report, tips for professional networking
Posted in Best Practices, social media, Studies, surveys, reports | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 10th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
 “Gamification,” the process of using game-like processes in everything from marketing messages to a protein folding game and others that do real science, has been one of the digital buzz words the last year or two. But “serious games” that use game mechanics to teach or train medical professionals, pilots, biotech workers or soldiers, among others, are a bit different.
“They’re more like simulations,” says Randy Brown, director of the Virtual Heroes division of Applied Research Associates. Founded in Cary, NC in 2004, Virtual Heroes quickly won recognition and awards by establishing itself at the nexus of cutting-edge game technologies developing serious games for medical, military and corporate professionals.
Brown has developed interactive 3D graphics software at Amoco, Digital Equipment, Ex Machina, Data General, SAS Institute, Southpeak Interactive, and the Research Triangle Institute. He has directed training, simulation and gaming content for a wide range of commercial, government and private organizations.
Will speak at the Internet Summit
He’ll talk about serious games at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8.
Serious games, Brown explains, “Give you the ability to play through scenarios with a wide range of sequences in an immersive environment.”
For instance, Virtual Heroes developed an AIDs awareness game in Kenya called “Pamoja Mtaani,” which is Swahili for “together in the hood.”
“We let the kids name it after they played the game,” Brown notes. It was a multi-player game with goals, puzzles to solve in order to move the story forward, and positive messages about condom use, abstinence, and avoiding multiple sex partners.
Other games the firm developed focus on game-based learning, “Where someone needs to perform a task.” Those “procedural” games help players understand what they would do in a biotech environment, for instance, and while they can improve scores against a time constraint, it doesn’t really have game play.
 A medical procedure training game. The North Carolina BioNetwork had Virtual Heroes create just such a training game for using pill press machines.
One of the firm’s better known games is “Moonbase Alpha,” which it developed for NASA to get kids interested in science, technology and math. The game “Wasn’t just go shoot space aliens,” Brown says. “It had players solve problems with time limits and used real NASA equipment such as robots and space rovers.”
In a lot of games, Brown notes, people just get better at playing the game. With serious games, however, “We look for transfer. Is there retention after a certain period? Does the AIDS awareness game change beliefs?”
Tags: Internet Summit, moonbase alpha, procedural games, Randy Brown, serious games, simulations, Virtual Heroes
Posted in Carolinas, Education, Events, IT, North Carolina | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 9th, 2012
 Pando Daily’s Sarah Lacy is one of the headliners at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8. If you register by Friday (Oct. 12) you can save up to $100 to hear about the latest in digital marketing, social media engagement, measuring ROI, and bottom-line boosting techniques from 120 thought-leaders at the Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8.
This year’s lineup is one of the most impressive in the history of the conference. Speakers include Sarah Lacy - Founder & Editor-in-Chief, PandoDaily.com; Brent Herd - Director of Southeast, Twitter; Frederick Townes - Sr Technical Advisor, Mashable; Tim Sullivan - President and CEO, Ancestry.com; Curtis Brown - Chief Technology Officer, AOL; and Ben Huh - CEO & Founder, Cheezburger, among many others.
And this year includes a Pre-conference workshop featuring 16 in-depth sessions led by interactive and marketing pros, a Startup Summit min-conference, and event-closing music festival featuring 12 bands.
 Ben Huh, CEO of The Cheezburger Network, will talk about the “Power of Humor” at the upcoming Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 7-8. The TechJournal interviewed Cheezburger’s Ben Huh a few weeks ago. You can expect to get solid advice on “How to Connect With Humor,” in his presentation, as well as a few laughs. And, he says, you may see some pictures of cats.
Innovative startups you’ll learn about include ArchiveSocial, which provides a means of truly archiving all of a firm’s social media activity. The founder says, “Don’t wait for trouble to keep records of your business social media.”
You’ll also learn that Social Media Can be a landmine for businesses,” from Poyner Spruill attorney Elizabeth Johnson.
Robert Hancock of Smart Online, which has reinvented itself as a mobile app firm, will offer some best practices for mobile app development.
 Matt Peters speaking at the 2011 Internet Summit in Raleigh. He’ll discuss “The science of Facebook engagement there and at the the Dallas Digital Summit in December. Matt Peters, co-founder and director of Pandemic Labs, a Boston-based firm that sells social media marketing and analytics services. Peters will present his “Science of Facebook engagement,” and tell you about Two changes that will boost your Facebook numbers, among other inside information based on data. (Peter’s will also speak at the Dallas Digital Summit in December.
We’ll be interviewing other thought-leaders who will be appearing at the Internet Summit up until the event, but you can’t capture more than a touch of what they have to offer in brief blog posts. I’m always impressed by the useful take-aways they present at the event itself.
Other top speakers slated for the event include:
- Jodi Kahn - President, iVillage
- Duane Forrester - Sr. Product Manager, Bing
- Scott Calise - Director of Digital Research, MTV Networks
- Don Hoang - Director of Business Development, Klout
- Liz Thorington - VP, Ad Sales, The Weather Channel
- David Perry - Biz Development Executive, Google
And that’s just a sample.
This year’s event includes a new new mini-conference — the Startup Summit – focusing exclusively on digital entrepreneurship.
- Over 120 top thought leaders & industry innovators sharing insights on topics that matter to you
- More than 60 presentations & panels covering topics like Customer Engagement, Social Media Trends, Mobile Apps, Analytics, User Experience, Big Data, Gamification, Cloud, Search Marketing and much, much more!
- Network and connect with around 2,000 of your peers
- Dedicated Tech Track for IT Professionals, from the cubicle to the C-suite
- IS Rocks - our new Music Festival at the conclusion of the conference featuring more than a dozen bands to close down IS12 in style!
- 16 in-depth workshop sessions in our Pre-Conference led by expert interactive and marketing pros.
Register now.
Tags: 2012, Archive Social, Ben Huh, Best Practices, Cheezburger Network, Elizabeth Johnson, facebook, Internet Summit, Marketing, Matt Peters, Mobile app development, NC, Pandemic Labs, Pando Daily, Poyner Spruill, Raleigh, Robert Hancock, Sarah Lacy, Smart Online, social media
Posted in entrepreneurship, Facebook, Internet/New Media, IT, Marketing, Mobile | No Comments »
Thursday, September 27th, 2012
 Smart Online’s Robert Hancock will discuss six best practices for building mobile apps at Digital East and the Internet Summit. By Allan Maurer
Even large companies with tons of marketing experience and money can go wrong with mobile promotions if they don’t think them through. Burger King, for instance, wanted to get a mobile app out, so it created a game in which people create a burger with their choices of the many condiments it offers.
The company spent $35,000 creating the app and realized that people interacted with it less than five minutes then deleted it.
But that’s not the only thing wrong with it.
“It has a week business case,” says Robert Hancock, vice president of sales and marketing for SmartOnline, which reinvented itself about two years ago to focus on a mobile app development product.
What is the sticky factor?
Regarding the Burger King mobile game app, he says, “What is the sticky factor in that burger game? How does it increase sales?” A better idea, he suggests, might have been if the fast food firm created a brand app with store locations and used a game as a secondary element.
They could post photos of themselves eating the crazy burger they designed in a gallery and on their Facebook page with a Burger of the Month winner getting two free sandwiches. “That uses something real,” Hancock explains. Instead of just creating a photo of a burger, they become actual customers.
Hancock has over 15 years of experience building, developing, and managing marketing and sales organizations of technology companies including mobile based organizations. Prior to joining Smart Online Robert served as VP of Sales, and then Co-CEO of Prometheus Group, a leading provider of technology solutions for the SAP marketplace
Six best mobile app development practices
Hancock will discuss six best practices for developing a mobile strategy at the upcoming Digital East conference in Herndon, VA, Oct. 2-3. He’ll join thought-leaders from brands that include AOL, Mashable, Google, The Ladders, IBM, PBS, McAfee, comScore and the Travel Channel, among many others. The TechJournal interviewed a number of speakers participating in the event and you can find links to those stories here.
Hancock will also speak at The Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8, which boasts an equally impressive lineup of top thought-leaders.
Burger King failed with its app in two ways. The idea was not particularly good and it didn’t have a clear return-on-investment strategy.
Of the top six mobile app development processes, the first should be identifying your target audience, Hancock says, echoing many other mobile experts we’ve interviewed.
“You want to reach prospects,” not everyone, he says. “Identify your audience in segments,” he suggests. “Focus and understand the needs of each one.”
Different strokes for different folks
One of the firms Smart Online works with is Southern States Farm Supply. For them, Smart Online defined two primary groups of customers and prospects. First, typical farmers and second, hobby farmers – people who have a chicken coop in the backyard.
“If you tried to build a mobile app for both row crop farmers and hobby farmers, it wouldn’t be effective for either,” he says. “If you build it for the guy who has a chicken coop in the back yars, the corporate farmer thinks that’s a joke. On the other hand, the hobby farmer won’t care when the next shipment of soy bean seeds come in – which is a big deal to the crop farmer who plans around it.”
So, says Hancock, “When you identify a target audience, access the individual needs of each audience. Ask, should I approach each with a separate mobile property? Most people try to do it too broadly. You need to microfocus.”
Don’t ignore ROI and ROE
After identifying your audiences, you should think about return on investment (ROI) and return on engagement (ROE) from the app. “Too many people skip or ignore that step,” Hancock warns.
“What are you hoping to gain? Sales? Expanding your business? A brand connection?”
Hancock notes that you also have to consider that most people use mobile phones for information snacking and don’t really use it as a business tool other than for calls. “When you’re really getting to them is when they’re sitting in a dentist’s office or waiting for their kids after school or sitting at a stop light. Those are the types of times and opportunities available.”
That means you need to give them information that means something to them that can be consumer in mobile snacking time and that they will share with others so it gets into social networking feeds.
Hyper target, microfocus
“You need to have all this in your head” as you develop a mobile app, he says. “You have to be hyper targeted and microfocused. Have an idea about a small thing, not a large thing. You need true sticky ideas that cause the app to stay on their phone.”
Smart Online recommends “Thinking about multiple apps with a limited lifecycle. It doesn’t need to be on a phone for years – but for two or three months when a situation if relevant to you.”
A beer maker, for instance, might want to skip doing a brand app and instead do one about summer stock pushing micro brews to people going to beer festivals and other summer events.
Then you might want another app out there for people who buy beer all year long.
Hancock will discuss three other elements of building a successful mobile app at both Digital East and The Internet Summit.
Tags: Allan Maurer, Digital East, Herndon, Internet Summit, Mobile app development, NC, Raleigh, Robert Hancock, ROE, ROI, Smart Online, VA
Posted in Best Practices, Events, IT, Mobile | 1 Comment »
Thursday, September 13th, 2012
By Allan Maurer
Matt Peters speaking at the 2011 Internet Summit in Raleigh. He’ll discuss “The science of Facebook engagement at the 2012 Digital East conference in Herndon, VA, in October, at the Internet Summit in Raleigh in November, and at the Dallas Digital Summit in December. Many social media marketers still post to Facebook and other social networks only during the workweek and East Coast working hours – which means they’re probably missing the best times to engage many users.
So says Matt Peters, co-founder and director of Pandemic Labs, a Boston-based firm that sells social media marketing and analytics services. Peters will present his “Science of Facebook engagement,” talk at three upcoming TechMedia events, Digital East in Herndon, VA, Oct. 2-3; The Internet Summit in Raleigh, NC, Nov. 6-8; and Dallas Digital Summit, Dec. 4-5.
Peters, a dynamic speaker, says his goal at conferences is to make sure that everyone who attends his sessions leaves with at least one way to improve Facebook engagement. “Everyone should be able to leave, go back to their company or agency, and make at least one change for the betterment of their engagement on Facebook,” he says.
Chances are, most may learn more than one way to boost their engagement on Facebook.
Peters says most marketers using Facebook now know that photo posts outperform other types by a significant margin, but they often still have lots to learn about the timing of posts.
Two changes that could boost your engagement numbers
In fact, he says, just two changes could increase monthly engagement numbers on Facebook for many marketers and companies.
First, he says, there is “the power of Saturday and Sunday.” While it’s no cosmic mystery as to why many social media community managers don’t work on weekends, those who schedule weekend posts “See massive engagement numbers,” says Peters.
Facebook use often actually increases during weekends. “People pull out a phone during football and check Facebook,” he says. He’ll talk more about the power of the weekend during his presentations.
A second trick is to avoid the “East Coast mentality.” That, he explains, “Is the tendency brands have to structure their postings based on the East Coast work day. So you don’t see a lot of posts going up at 11 p.m., midnight, or 1 a.m., but those are fantastic times to grab West Coast users.”
Just those two changes alone are likely to boost engagement numbers for many firms and marketers, Peters says.
Best work day to post?
Is there a work day that is best for posting?
“I used to be comfortable saying Friday, and if you cull through our database of half a million records, it will probably spit out Friday in terms of engagement, but I’m not comfortable saying that anymore.”
Why?
“We have noticed significant industry differences,” he explains. “In the retail space, for Macy’s, Penny’s, or TJ Max, Friday holds true. But in the world of hospitality and travel, it’s not so.”
Pandemic Labs, which Peters formed in 2007 with his partner Brennan White, is working a new product called Watchtower that is still in private beta testing. It will include much more sophisticated analytics.
Started in his parent’s basement
Peters, who originally planned to “Write novels and direct movies,” worked in the film and TV industry, primarily in the Southeast prior to forming Pandemic Labs. “It was a typical startup story,” he says. “We started in my parent’s basement and employed five people before we had a real office.”
The lean, boot-strapped firm now employs 14.
Its Watchtower product, which should move to public beta in several weeks, will offer companies and agencies packages of Facebook analytics. One package, for instance, will provide metrics on a firm’s own page and ten competitors and industry averages. It will retail for around $3,000 a month, although Peters emphasizes pricing is still under discussion.
Other, more complex packages will be custom designed and priced.
Tags: Allan Maurer, best times to post, Boston, Digital Dallas Summit, Digital East, increase Facebook engagement, Internet Summit, Matt Peters
Posted in Best Practices, Carolinas, Events, Facebook, Internet/New Media, Marketing | No Comments »
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