Business Expo Center
Connecting you with opportunities

What: Business Expo Center Grand Opening Celebration

When: Thursday, July 29, 2010 3:30 PM

Where:
Business Expo Center
1960 Anaheim Way
Anaheim, CA 92805
949-484-4834

The long awaited Grand Opening of the Business Expo Center is finally here!

Exhibit your business or attend the event with 500 other like minded entrepreneurs with the launch of the 36,000 square foot multi-million dollar facility.

Hear from incredible speakers like Les Brown, an internationally recognized motivational speaker, author, and television personality will be one of the featured speakers at the Grand Opening Event. Also appearing is an array of celebrity and key note speakers Ron Kovach, Matthew Fox, Tara Grace Perry, Dave Espino and Chris Alexander. This powerful lineup of speakers is for local business owners and professionals, but seating is limited…RSVP here today to reserve your spot, seating is limited!

500 Attendees, 50 Exhibiting Businesses, 5 Great hours of food, fun and networking,…all free for you!

Here is a little more about the Expo Center and how it is relevant to you, the OC Business Owner, taken from their website http://www.businessexpocenter.com/?page=about

“Our facility is THE VENUE that provides a membership based, revolutionary approach to integrate opportunities and create long term solutions for personal and professional success.

Empowerment in your business and in your life is a key to your success. The Business Expo Center is a platform for Speakers, Trainers & Coaches to bring their valuable teachings to those in our community, inspiring people to bring their lives and their business to the highest level.”

Seating is limited, so reserve your spot today! http://www.businessexpocenter.com
See you there!

This is third in a series on how businesses can utilize facebook for marketing/advertising. We began by looking at facebook pages. Then we moved on to looking at groups. Finally today, we look at a comparision between pages and groups

The Similarities:

Both groups and pages offer the ability to create discussions as well the ability to post photos, videos. Both have walls on which to post. Both allow you to create events. Both require you to manually remove posts as an administrator if something does not meet your standards or purpose for the page. Messaging members is available on both.

The Differences:

Groups :
Can send messages to member’s inbox inviting them to events or alerting them to something of importance

Easier to send mass invitations to join.

Facebook Pages:

Visitor statistics (insights) – free, regular, detailed updates on the growth of the page are provided.

Fan pages are visible to unregistered people and are thus indexed, but to interact with the page, the user must be a Facebook member.

Allows the addition of extra applications – to view available applications, visit http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/apps/directory.php

Actions are documented – If a fan of your page takes action on it, such as writing on your wall or posting a video, their actions will be documented on the news feeds of their personal pages. Their friends will see the news feeds and if curious, check out your page – giving you more exposure

Offer vanity URLs

Facebook Page or Group?

So which is better to promote your business, group or page? Generally speaking, pages are better especially if you want to interact with your fans/customers without having them connected to your personal profile. But the common denominator for both groups and pages, is the need to update regularly, keep your audience engaged and offer something of value.

For more on how to utilize social media, click HERE.

Last week, we looked at using fan pages or just pages as they are now called, to establish a presence for your business, product or brand. But would a Facebook group be a better choice. Let’s take a look at Groups to see what they are all about.

Facebook groups can be created for just about anything. They typically are meant to foster group discussion around a particular topic area, cause, or event, or interest. Group pages are linked to your personal profile. Like pages, they are easy to set up.

Steps:

To begin, go to the Groups application and click “Create a Group” in the upper right corner of the page. On the following page, you will be able to add descriptive information about your group. All groups require a group name, description and group type. Click “Create Group” when you are finished. And that is it. Very simple

Next, add a picture – To be easily recognized as a business, you should choose a logo or storefront as your photo.

Select your group’s privacy settings. These settings can be changed at any time by clicking “Edit Group” on the group’s main page.

Why Groups make business sense:

Administration – As the group administrator, you can easily send messages to group members, making it easier to communicate with them about your business. However, there is a limitation of 5,000 members.

Facebook Groups are searchable by keywords. This makes them easier to find easier to find by Facebook users.

Allow you as the administrator to send out bulk invitations and any of the group members can invite friends which is an effective way to quickly market your business or product.

Allows you to post information about your business or product – Of course, engaging content and encouraging interaction among group members will make your group more attractive.

To create a group, sign into your facebook account and then go HERE

For more on how to utilize social media for your business, click HERE.

In the past two weeks we have discussed both Pages and Groups as a way to market your business on Facebook, next week we will compare the two to see which is thought of as the most effective marketing tool.

It is no secret that times are tough. Driving through local shopping centers, the “for lease” signs look to be contagious. But as a business owner, this is not the time to put your tail between your legs and slink away. This is the time to focus on your marketing budget and position your company for future prosperity.

In a study of U.S. recessions, McGraw-Hill Research analyzed 600 companies from 1980 to 1985. The results showed that firms that maintained or increased their advertising expenditures during the 1981-1982 recession averaged significantly higher sales growth than those that eliminated or decreased their advertising. This increased growth not only occurred during the recession, but continued for the following three years. By 1985, sales of companies that were aggressive recession advertisers had risen 256 percent over those that didn’t keep up their advertising!

5 Tips for staying on top:

1. Maintain marketing budget making sure efforts include high value and high impact non-advertising venues such as public relations, word of mouth, and social media. Consider direct marketing which gives more immediate sales impact.

2. Market to your target audience. Spending money to sell to people to who don’t need your product is poor budgeting.

3. Keep in mind that customers will be shopping for the best deals and in tough times, price cuts offer a bigger draw than promotions.

4. Consumers want to count on the reliability, safety, durability, and performance of products so stay away from gimmicks and flowery messages. Look to empower consumers to make good choices based on value rather than price.

5. Be innovative. For example, run a competition to win advertising space on your site. You are marketing your website in a way that is free for you but valuable for others. Or add your website’s URL to the signature of each email account (personal or business) you use, so it appears on every email you send.

What it comes down to is that successful companies do not abandon their marketing strategies in a recession; they refine and adapt them. What are you doing to adapt?

Welcome Express welcomes Guest Blogger, Mitch Devine.
Mitch creates marketing messages for businesses of all shapes and sizes. Some of his main categories of experience include automotive, fast food, health care, insurance, real estate, technology and utilities.
Mitch writes words to fit innumerable commercial media formats including Web sites, email, print, collateral, radio (including voice-overs), TV, interactive multimedia, direct mail, outdoor, and point of purchase. Everything from gas pump videos to bar coasters.

If you’ve got something to sell, Mitch can help you say it well. (Rhyming optional.)

Your brand name is usually the first impression customers will have.

Names carry a lot of connotations for various reasons, mostly because of the actions of previous people who had those same names. Notice how not many people name their kids Judas, Ahab or Adolph anymore.

When you hear the name Medusa, what comes to mind first?

Chances are, if you’re familiar with the Medusa of Greek mythology, you don’t think of beautiful hair. More likely, you think of snakes for hair. That’s why it was odd to see a hair salon named Medusa while driving around the other day.

According to myth, Medusa was a monster, one of three sister-creatures called Gorgons, who lived on a remote island. Medusa had snakes for hair and was so hideous that anyone who looked directly at her would literally turn to stone. Ovid’s version of the tale says she was a beautiful maiden until she offended the goddess Athena, who transformed her into the monster. Either way, she’s known as the ugliest thing in all of mythology. (But now fugly is the new pretty, so maybe the name makes sense for a salon.)

Medusa was beheaded by the Greek hero Perseus, who looked at the Gorgon’s reflection in his shield to avoid being turned to stone. Perseus then used the head as a weapon before giving it to the goddess Athena, who affixed it to her shield.

So why name a hair salon after Medusa?

Granted, I’m not exactly the target audience for the hair extensions or coloring offered by Medusa, so I called the salon to find out. Unfortunately, the person who answered didn’t really know. She thought it had something to do with being near the sea. (I learned Greek mythology in fourth grade; evidently it’s no longer part of public school curriculum.)

This Medusa Salon in Huntington Beach isn’t part of a chain or franchise, but it’s not the only hair salon using the name. There are quite a few other Medusa hair salons scattered around the country. This is not meant to knock any of them. I’m sure they’re all quite capable stylists who do beautiful work.

How to get a head in business.

Just speculating here, but maybe the rationale is that you come in with unruly snake-like hair that gets tamed by the time you leave. (As long as you don’t leave without your head.)

I suppose it’s only an odd name for a beauty salon if you’re a big Greek mythology buff or Clash of the Titans nerd like me who knows the backstory.

Obviously, first impressions are important. But in the case of the Medusa Salon, playing against type by using a memorable name can also help you stand apart.

Ultimately, the name and image of your brand comes from more than just history or past associations. It’s built gradually over time through the cumulative results of your interactions with customers.

By the way, Nike was also a Greek goddess, the personification of victory, but that connotation is no longer as well-known as the footwear/apparel company.

What’s your take?

Take a look at Mitch’s other fascinating posts at http://lovehateadvertising.wordpress.com/

Lake Forest Businesses – Are you feeling connected with your community?
Forget everything you know about chambers of commerce; the New Lake Forest Chamber is open for business and we’re changing the rules about what a chamber can do for you. Nestled in South Orange County, the New Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce provides the tools to increase your business visibility, drive revenues, and utilize the latest technology
resources. We do this by offering:

• Marketing Solutions – The primary goal of the Lake Forest Chamber is to market its members with
activities such as Ribbon Cuttings, Discover Lake Forest, Event Sponsorships, etc.
• Networking Opportunities – The Lake Forest Chamber offers opportunities throughout the year for members and guests to attend functions and meet fellow members…and potential new customers! We encourage you to attend events such as State of the City,Themed Mixers, and Business Roundtables.
• Business Education – Throughout the year, the Lake Forest Chamber offers several opportunities for you to learn from local industry experts. Keep you up-to-date on business trends, human resources issues and other developments important to your business
• Growth Assistance – As the catalyst for business development, the Lake Forest Chamber strives to offer our members the tools and resources they need to succeed, expand and grow. We work in collaboration with a number of other entities who share our vision.
• Legislative Representation – The New Lake Forest Chamber is your link to local government. Our Chamber representatives communicate regularly with City staff to keep on top of the issues affecting your business and the community. From infrastructure to neighborhood parks, we help your business stay connected.
• Non-Profit Outreach – The Lake Forest Chamber’s Non-Profit Outreach seeks to develop and strengthen partnerships in the non-profit, private, and public sectors through collaboration and idea sharing. The goal is to improve quality of life for our region’s residents thus creating an ideal area for business development and expansion.

While the Lake Forest Chamber is still in its infancy, we are encouraged by its forward momentum and progress made to date. What’s more, we have a key advantage in that we’re not tied down by any traditions. We are re-thinking what a chamber can and should be. Please take a moment to go through our website and/or talk to one of our Corporate Board Members. We think you’ll be pleasantly surprised with what the Lake Forest Chamber of Commerce can do for you!

Ready-Fire-Aim Marketing* – The Small Business Approach to Accelerate Your Marketing Success!
Welcome Express stands Ready, at YOUR Service to propel your OC-based small business towards its 2009 business goals! Ready-Fire-Aim!

This is the approach to achieve rapid improvements in your small business marketing results in Orange County. It’s not about incremental improvements, but rather transformational improvements.

It’s the Ready-Fire-Aim approach. I’m talking about an approach to marketing, and approach to business, and an approach to life. Enlighten your small business to the wisdom of the Ready-Fire-Aim approach. I know what you’re probably thinking. That little voice inside your head is asking, “Don’t you mean Ready-Aim-Fire?”

Lots of small business owners have a tendency to think about and maybe plan things, but then hesitate to take any action. You want to make sure you get things just right. It’s sometimes called analysis paralysis.

Take a good hard look at the people and organizations you admire for the successes they’ve accomplished. You’ll likely find they are much more willing to live by the Ready-Fire-Aim approach.

It’s like a great football team. They can’t possibly know everything that’s going to happen before they get in and play the game. They call a play they’ve designed and practiced (Ready), they run the play (Fire), and then they look to see how the other team reacts, re-huddle, and call another play that they think will be successful based on what they’re learning (Aim).

It doesn’t mean that you just go out and start acting and doing without any planning or thinking. Guess we could call that the Fire-Fire-Fire approach. That would be a mistake and most likely wouldn’t work out for your business.  But, Ready-Fire-Aim marketing can lead to is a willingness to increase the pace of your growth. Be willing to learn more and do more faster. Be willing to reach for loftier goals and accelerate the success of achieving them.

The thing is the marketing mistakes you make along the way aren’t going to kill you or drive you out of business. Everyone makes mistakes. But, the Ready-Fire-Aim person is the one who learns from the mistake, adjust and then gets ready to fire again.

Be willing to give yourself a break. You can’t know everything there is to know about marketing (or your business, or your life) before you get in the game and call a play.

Go ahead and have a big vision. It’s your vision plus your commitment that will lead you to taking the right actions.
Create a marketing plan to take you towards your vision. Don’t let uncertainty or unanswered questions hold you back. Just do the best you can based on what you know and trust that you will continue to learn and improve.

 If you’re feeling stuck in moving your marketing plan forward, then get some outside help. Maybe the Ready-Fire-Aim action you need to take is to hire a marketing coach or to join a power-marketing group. Nobody said you necessarily have to do it on your own.

Ready-Fire-Aim! Following even this simple advice will put you ahead of 90 to 95% of other small business owners in the game. Just think of what that could mean to your business and your life.

*Source: Kevin Dervin

The economy is down. Make the most of it by reading the signs. Call it economic uncertainty. Call it a full blown recession. Call it opportunity comes-a-knocking, especially for those companies with vision, a remarkable message and the desire to grow.

When the business winds blow south and everybody gets tight with marketing, advertising and selling, what does your company do? Hunker down, cut to the bone, hope and pray you’ll ride it out? That’s your cue to step in and step up, snatching your competitors clients. Slow and steady isn’t going to win this race. Neither is short-term business think.

There is a massive amount of research to support this kind of thinking. A McGraw-Hill study of 600 companies showed that those who cut advertising during the recession of the early 80′s, saw sales increase by 19% between 1980 and 1985. Companies that continued to advertise, market and connect during the recession had sales increases of 275% during the same period. That’s right, a whooping 275% increase. Now what are you going to do?

Think about it. When your competitors decide to hide in the woodshed, it’s time for you go for the remarkable connection and win the competition. Because if you decide to hide out along with them, you’re going to suffer, right along side them. If you decide to wait it out, there is one thing you can depend on – companies that wait during the downturn, spend more money over a longer period of time just to get even.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Michael_S_OGrady