Andrew Ballenthin, Founder of The Community Marketing Blog, Speaker and President of Integrated Marketing Consultancy Sol Solutions wrote…

1.  The term social media is preventing many businesses from seeing what the true value of this communication evolution is about. Leave the words behind, think of it as “interactive communication”.

2.  From a marketing perspective this is one of the greatest moments in communication history as mega brands through to entrepreneurs now have a vehicle for building engaging relationships based on two-way communication.

3.  Social media has the potential to humanize a business, and when executed correctly, new customers, additional sales and improved customer retention become possible as a result of following the rules that are govern any quality relationship.

4.  Now and over the next 5 years we will see a transition where mass communication converges with a greater weighting on the quality of the database’s relationship with a business.

5.  There is a timing-risk-reward factor for businesses that start this journey now, especially during an economic downturn, as it will enable them to separate themselves from competition, build loyalty, and continually learn how to fulfill client’s ongoing needs.

Continue reading this article. Visit the Community Marketing Blog.

Hats off to talented writer and author Heather M. O’Connor of MerlinWrites who presented “RELEASE ME: How To Write A Killer Press Release” to a capacity crowd today at Writers Circle Durham Region today.

Anyone who has has the pleasure of reading Heather’s material will attest to her talent with pen and words, and today was no different. Heather shared with us her ‘Checklist for Success’. We learned:

• What news is, and how to make it more interesting
• How to write the lead and make the editors love your press release
• How and where to distribute our press release distribution

I was surprised to hear that $500 was the standard rate for a press release as I have always had a sweet deal on them – thanks Sis! Although I enjoy contributing to the creative, in my mind the investment of having you do them is well worthwhile since I’ve far more ROI from your press releases then any advertising I’ve ever been involved in – except TV, but that was years ago. Need to get attention? Invest in a press release. Invest in href=”http://www.MerlinWrites.com”>MerlinWrites. You’ll be glad you did!

Watch www.LUNCHINARS.com for Heather’s next performance! For those who haven’t been reading, LUNCHINARS are lunch time seminars you take from the comfort of your own office. LUNCHINARS are interactive and easy and coming to your computer on March 24, 2009. Why not feed your body and your business at lunch?

Announcing the five fbFund Grand Recipients!
From fbFund Vote

Last month, we asked for your help in choosing the next great Facebook Platform applications. Thanks to those of you who tested the applications and contributed, over 180,000 votes were cast.

Last night, we hosted our first fbFund Demo Day at Facebook Headquarters and announced the top 5 fbFund recipients that will be additionally funded $225,000.

Congratulations to our Grand Prize Recipients! Here they are in alphabetical order:

1) GroupCard lets users rally their friends to sign the same printable online card to celebrate any occasion. Each friend can add a message, upload photos or audio, and even make a gift contribution. (http://apps.facebook.com/groupcards/)

2) Kontagent is the leading viral analytics platform for social network application developers. Kontagent analytics provides deep social data visualization and analysis that delivers actionable insights delivered via a hosted, on-demand service. (http://www.kontagent.com/)

3) MouseHunt, by HitGrab, is a game of epic proportions. Players are hunters, hired by the king to trap mice that infest his kingdom. For each mouse caught, users will find a reward, bringing them closer to being the best MouseHunter in the land!
(http://apps.facebook.com/mousehunt/)

4) WedSnap created the Weddingbook application, a social network on Facebook for those preparing for a wedding. Brides and grooms meet on Weddingbook to get advice, support, and inspiration during their engagement and wedding planning process. (http://apps.facebook.com/wedsnap_wedding/start.php)

5) Wildfire enables consumers to discover, share and engage with interactive promotions like contests, sweepstakes and give-aways and enables companies to easily create their own attractive, branded promotions that are automatically integrated with Facebook’s social features. (http://www.wildfireapp.com/)

For the full scoop, please see:
http://blog.facebook.com/blog.php?post=42565612130

These are just a few of the thousands of applications available on Facebook with many more to come. We hope you take a few minutes to check them out.

Cheers,
The fbFund team

Marianne Ford

“It’s not how much you can tell others that you know, it’s how much you can inspire others, to learn what you know!”

Marianne Ford is a master speaker! Funny! Direct! Dynamic! Thought Provoking! Interactive! Marianne has been speaking to, and mentoring women for over 25 years. Check her out!

Let’s face it…we’re facing one of the toughest marketplaces when it comes to selling… If you are facing longer wait times, customers who aren’t so quick to decide and or pay, customers who need to more support from you when it comes to making a buying decision, increased competition and pricing pressures…then you may seriously want to learn how to sell more strategically…on November 28th at the Business Advisory Centre from 9:30-4:00 pm…You can tap into selling skills that will help you manage your selling process more productively… Sign up for an all day workshop that will have a positive effect on your bottom line… Transform Your Selling Style.

The Small Business Big Ideas Show Presents: Double Your Closing and Opening Ratio With Conversational Selling and tap into 3 prospecting/cold calling strategies that will improve your results. Join David Cohen host of the Small Business Big Ideas Show and expert marketing mind Tom St. Louis will help you unlock the keys to the kingdom as far as you integrating sales strategies that get you results…If you want to improve your sales performance and stay on track in this highly competitive marketplace then you want to register for this one day event on November 28th, at the Business Advisory Centre Durham.

Do sales happen as a natural consequence of a conversation between you and your prospect? Do you get closer and closer to the sale until the ‘close’ is inevitable and easy -and completely natural? Or, do you spend your time “visiting”with your prospect and then find yourself “following up” on a sale that never materializes? Can you even get in the clients door? Do you give up after 3 to 4 attempts?

HERE’S THE DEAL…

A lot of well intentioned business people who don’t think of themselves as sales people struggle with the basics. They are so afraid of being “pushy” that they assume a passive role in the selling process. Or, worse, they fall into the fatal trap of thinking that selling is all about talking about their product or service ad nauseum.

If selling is a struggle for you, it’s because you are doing it the hard way. We will be happy to show you how to sell like a natural. You will get the mindset, principles, strategies and scripts that will shift your selling life forever.

Plus we will show you how to crack the door open with 3 hot cold calling strategies…we will lead you
through the cold calling process and take the pain out of calling some prospect out of the blue. You will
be reminded of why you are calling someone now and what you can in fact do for them to improve their results in this economy.

DATE: FRIDAY NOVEMBER 28th (9:30-4:00 PM)
WHERE: BUSINESS ADVISORY CENTRE DURHAM
COST: $69.00 (Plus GST) FOR THE DAY…
HOW: REGISTER BY CALLING 416-630-3527…
PRESENTERS: TOM ST.LOUIS and DAVID COHEN

Tom St. Louis has been marketing and selling for over twenty years. He has worked with large international brands and small start-ups. He will show you how selling can be a fun, touching, meaningful and profitable experience. Log onto www.zerald.com to learn more about Tom.

David Cohen is host of the Small Business Big Ideas Show and has coached and taught thousands of small business start-ups in his work with various self employment training programs. His 3 powerful strategies to making cold call fun is an interactive dynamic session. Log onto www.smallbusinessbigideas.com to learn more about David.

This high-energy, interactive workshop will provide you with practical, straightforward information on blogging and podcasting and how best to incorporate these into your organization.

Why come to this workshop?

If you’ve got…

• Clients and customers
• Donors and sponsors
• Employees
• Investors
• Suppliers

If you’re trying to…

• Reach customers and market your product or service more effectively
• Raise your profile, dollars and awareness about your organization or business
• Boost employee recruitment and retention
• Motivate employees and improve productivity

…this workshop is for you.

What you get:

• Blogs? Podcasts? Learn what’s right for your company
• Leave the course with a first-draft strategy for your business
• Improve your marketing communication strategy by integrating new technologies
• Discover how to implement these tools and get them up and running in your organization
• Learn how new media already works (or not!) for other companies
• Get real, practical training and ideas you can apply directly to your organization
• Network with colleagues who are facing the same challenges as you, find out what they’re doing and learn from their experiences
• Return to the office and make a difference!

Visit www.bloggingpodcasting.com to register for the next workshop and/or join the waiting list.