Archive for the ‘Business Development’ Category

Well, July is almost over and I’ve neglected to post on a couple of great events we’ve been a part of this month.

First, on July 7, 2010, Eric Bryant had the honor of doing a special breakout session on Social Media for Maine Successful Thinkers and on July 22, 2010 Core Zero Creative hosted a face-to-face networking event at Margarita’s in Auburn, Maine with guest speaker Debra Ann St. Hilaire of Menda-A-Body. Both events were well attended and many great connections were made.

Jeff Ball of Maine Successful Thinkers and Debra Ann St. Hilaire of Mend-A-Body are both exceptional people and business owners with the highest integrity! We are honored to have been paired with them during these events and pray many blessings on their endeavors.

Hang around these two, take lessons, and pick their brains if you want to know how to be successful.

Congratulations to Ellen Gibson of Professional Writing Services! She won the Sony Walkman Water Resistant 2GB MP3 Player that we raffled off to those that participated in the up close and personal social media consults we had at the Androscoggin B2B Trade Show! It’s a neat MP3 player because it has no wires to tangle up! It was carefully selected by our Media Team Leader, 16-year-old Zaq Stiles. It’s got to be good if a 16 year old musician selected it, right?!!

If you’re in need of professional writing services give us a call or shoot an email over and we’ll connect you with Ellen!

And Ellen, it was a pleasure working with you at the trade show.

Best wishes and enjoy!

The Core Zero Creative Team

Photo Credit: Mainely Portrait Photography

Core Zero Creative, your one-stop shop for Maine Web Design & Social Media Marketing Workshops in Maine had a WHOPPER of a day over at the Androscoggin B2B Trade Show Thursday! First of all, Thank You to the LAEGC, The Chamber, and all the businesses and people involved to make this event happen each year. What a wonderful statement of commitment to our economy and local businesses! It was our first year there as an exhibitor and we could not have been more delighted with the experience. We brought a crew of 5 to “work the show” and that really paid off. We all got plenty of face time with visitors as well as enough down time to stay sane. Those that chose not to stay sane spent their free time walking the show visiting other booths, sharing the insanity. And eating cookies. And other good stuff. I may still be touched…

With over 200 vendors plus their crews, and over 2,500 visitors… 3,000 people… what a great day to network and get the pulse on who’s who and what’s what here in Lewiston-Auburn and the surrounding areas. (Not to mention getting to sleep all day Friday!) I highly recommend taking a day out of your busy schedule next year to attend this show. You will be glad you did!

The countdown to 5-10-10 has completed and the BIG DAY has officially arrived! Eric Bryant (that’s me) is now the acting full time Marketing Director of Core Zero Creative! Unbeknownst to many (archaic word alert!) in addition to my role at Core Zero as a WordPress Web Designer, Social Media Marketing Strategist & Trainer, and Internet Marketing Guy, I’ve also worked as an IT Specialist for the past 25 years managing corporate computer systems and networks. As millions turn to Web 2.0–the social web–as a means to promote their businesses, products, services, organizations, and causes, Core Zero’s steady growth has made it both possible and necessary for me to come aboard full time, leaving the IT field behind. This year companies will throw billions of dollars at engaging people in web-based conversations around their brands and causes, and getting people to friend, follow, link to and talk about them.

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The social media scene is demanding your company’s attention. Regardless of what your product or service area is, the social media network is talking about it, and you’d better be listening. What should you do about it? Here are some great social media networking tips to help you along the way. Whether you’ve just started or you’re still thinking about it, check them out. Be sure to add your own tips in the comments section and and let us know what you think!

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Here’s a Q&A Quickie on Social Media that’s sure to delight. It’s from an interview with Joseph Jaffe, President of Crayon, and best selling author of many books on advertising and new media.

Question: Can you share some tips for companies trying to make sense out of defining a social media strategy?

Answer:

• Don’t cede control completely to your consumers. They don’t want it. Meet them halfway. Partner with them. Work with them.
• Marketing is not a campaign; it’s a commitment. If you want lifetime relationships with your consumers, you need to invest in them–genuinely–for life. Begin with investing in what we call “commitment to conversation”.
• Learn to deal with negativity. You want the love, but can’t deal with the hate. Criticism is not your enemy; apathy and indifference are. Any negative response from consumers (whether by blog, e-mail or customer service inquiry) is a cry for help and an acknowledgment that they care enough to reach out to you.
• Think strategically. Define a social networking strategy. Invest in well-structured experimentation. We distill this into a very real and workable number: four. Four experiments over a calendar year. Is one experiment per quarter that unrealistic, or irrationally exuberant? I think not.

Onward & Upward!

Eric Bryant

How you answer the question “What do you do?” can have an enormous impact on your business success. It can be the deciding factor in whether a brand new conversation moves toward a new business opportunity for you or toward mindless chatter about the event you’re attending and the weather. We tend to answer that question with a label and then start describing our process rather than the benefits of working with our company. “So what do you do?” “Sales for Gigantico Corp.” “Oh, really? Tell me more!” “Well, I fly out of Raleigh, mostly working the eastern seaboard on closing the big deals. I did go to Europe for a deal last year, though. That was pretty cool! Anyway, I used to be with Gigantico Corp’s biggest competitor, Super Systems. So how about you?” Ring a bell? So, what’s the answer? It’s your Elevator Speech. The elevator speech is an essential skill in the successful businessperson’s arsenal. Simply put, an elevator speech is a 30 to 90 second pitch that you can recite from memory during the length of an average elevator ride. It is a highly effective way to quickly reach out to prospective clients or buyers because it clearly highlights key features of your business, service, or product in a way that gets the listener excited. It captures your audience quickly, and it’s a great launching point–even in a formal presentation. A carefully crafted elevator speech is something that you can use over and over, every time you shake a hand. It will give the person a reason to call you, and a reason to remember you. A good elevator speech answers unasked questions while making a few key points about your offering. Here are some key items to consider including: * Who are you? * What is your product or service? * What problems does your product or service solve? * What is your market? * Why are you interested in your target audience? * What is your profit model? * Who is behind the company? Expand on your team’s background and achievements. * What is your competitive advantage? * Who is your competition? * What differentiates you? * What do you want others to know about you or your offering? * What action should your listener take next? Your elevator speech should be fluid and effortless. It should be sincere, with a compelling hook to draw the listener in and have them asking you more questions. It should be confident and friendly, not canned. Maintain eye contact and don’t ramble on, but don’t rush it. Take your time saying it, and let your passion for what you do shine through. You can pull in stories or examples, but don’t use insider terminology that will cause your listener to detach because they can’t follow you. Be sure to ask for something at the close, such as a business card or an appointment. Your elevator speech is something that you’ll want to write out, edit, and rewrite, removing unnecessary words and confusing sentence structures. Practice it in front of the mirror or with friends and family. You can memorize it if you want to, and you can also develop variations to use in different situations. A great elevator speech will set you apart from the crowd and open many doors for you. Come on, let’s hear it!

To Your Success!

Eric Bryant
Reposted from WeepleInc.com