A group of us are planning to get together at a Greek restaurant. Yes I know that it’s St Patrick’s Day…
If you’d like to join us for a tweet up:
6 pm at It’s Greek to Me
626 West Lake St., Minneapolis, MN 55408
We look forward to seeing you there!
And join us tomorrow for the events in MSP
This week I’m traveling to the Twin Cities for two events. I enjoy connecting with my ‘local’ social media people, but they’re 4.5 hrs away! It’s a bit of a drive.
I’m proud of how the Twin Cities group has grown. There are over 500 people in the Social Media Breakfast Ning Community. That is so awesome! and it’s fun to visit with them because they’re from such diverse backgrounds.
Tomorrow night I’m connecting with friends that I’ve gotten to know on Twitter. @ArikHanson has been such a rawk star! He’s actively involved in the PR world. And @tkpLeslie (Leslie Carothers) & I connected last fall, but have yet to meet in person. My husband & I enjoyed a Greek restaurant in Victoria, BC, so we’re meeting at one in the Minneapolis.
Minnesota is a really progressive state. It’s home to some great brands: Best Buy, 3M, General Mills, etc. We have a lot of things happening here.
On Wednesday morning we’re having MSP Social Media Breakfast from 8 – 10 am. We’re going to do a panel on Community Managers. You don’t want to miss it because we’re going to kick up the bacon quite a few notches. Come for some great conversation! Albert Maruggi is looking for controversy. (those words are sort of related, but I agreed to appease).
During the day I’m going to be meeting & training to some of our @Techrigy customers. It will be great to connect with them in person.
Then on Wednesday evening I’ll be on a panel at a MIMA event (Minnesota Interactive Marketing Agency). Again, the topic is community managers and we’ll have Paula Berg, from Southwest Airlines, our own Rick Mahn, and Gary Koehling, Best Buy Blue Shirt Nation. And Albert Maruggi will be leading the discussion. It should be quite informative!
So my maps are all printed & I’m ready for the trek to the big city. 
Thursday will find us having lunch with my sister and a bit of shopping.
If you’re in the Twin Cities area you definitely need to attend one of the events. Join us for breakfast or dinner!
I recently wrote about Community Building 101 as part of a marketing campaign for a startup.
KTM asked a question:
Do you have any thoughts around handling this issue when the potential audience is thought not to be very engaged with social media?
The answer lies in your question. And we can take a look at it in two parts.
We need to take a step way back. In all the melee around social media we tend forget about the bigger picture around marketing. Building a community isn’t the end all, be all solution. Other things need to be done as a part of the bigger plan. Mitch Joel has an excellent article today about how our values are affecting our outlook on marketing.
So here are the two aspects to consider:
1. Evaluate your customer segment(s)
You really need to know that information to make decisions on where your marketing efforts should be focused. Mitch Joel’s point is well taken that traditional channels shouldn’t be discounted.
Listening will also help you find people talking about your brand/product online. And you may find people using your products in unique ways.
2. If your potential audience isn’t very engaged in social media then you need to decide where that would be for your customer segments. Where are their family & friends coming online at?
My suggestion is to get involved at two places:
And I would highly question anyone that says: “Our potential customers aren’t online”.
That sounds like a really lazy answer. With some effort you can find people needing your products/resources (even if they didn’t know they did!). If you move into an educational mode & provide resources and teach people then you’ll be off on the right foot towards fostering community. Remember that your ultimate goal is to contribute to the community at large (not sell your products/services). Sales will happen when people realize they need your products.
What would you add to those points?
Not too long ago I was at the Techrigy home offices & posted posted photos. I thought it was only fair that I share a photo of my space. I am parked in my living room.
Initially I had been downstairs because I had read that it’s best to not work in the main living space. Something about distractions. But it seems that I thrive on distractions so I moved upstairs. (The floor was cold down there in the winter anyway).
So this is it. Now you’ll know I’m geeky (if you didn’t think so before).
My husband made the table out of a black ash tree that had blown down by our lake.
The two 20” monitors take up a bit of space, but I’d be hard pressed to work with only one. The monitor on the stool conveniently turns 180 degrees to watch Netflix movies on the couch.
The two laptops on the left aren’t used on a regular basis. The larger laptop has files I haven’t transferred to the new Dell tower, because … well, you know.
And the mini netbook has a video camera & microphone in it. It’s really my traveling computer, but sometimes I video Skype with it.
Then there are the headsets: 2 usb headsets for voip, a headset for the landline phone, a bluetooth headset for the cell phone.
And my 3 in 1 printer is by my feet along with a blanket that I share with my cats. For background noise, I have a 52” flat panel tv. When it’s my choice I have the Food Network on, but I can pretty easily tune whatever is on out. And it’s muted whenever I’m on calls.
I have a lovely view of my lake. That trail going across is made by deer (which may sound nice…). But there’s a lot of cursing when they prune my lilacs when they’re blooming.
Now it’s your turn to share. What does your home office look like?
