Jeremy tagged me in a post regarding best practices of social media. He was tagged by Micah who was tagged by Chris Brogan who was tagged by Mitch Joel. (That felt like a game of ‘Telephone’. Remember?)

As for best SM practices, what comes to mind first is-

Try to give rather than receive.

I’m very lenient when it comes to promotion however if a person only pushes a lifeless product or service, I’m turned off. Like a blog, it’s about persona whether it be only yours or you share the spot light.

I shall pass the tagging torch to Joshua Strebel (Smartest man I know) Andrew Hyde (A true visionary) Francine Hardaway (A mother to all) Kristie Wells (All around great person) and Laura Fitton (Women business owner).

During one brisk night in Austin, Mel Kirk (@MelKirk) and I decided that we wanted to give back to SXSW by sharing some of our knowledge. I asked Kristie Wells (@kristiewells) to join the group and the trifecta was complete. We created four panels for SXSW 2009 and in June submitted them into the panel picker.

After sharing our topics with other talented and respected ladies, the interest to participate increased. I can now say that I feel honored and blessed to have the opportunity to share a stage with some bright ladies. The other ladies in alphabetical order include  Justine Ezarik (@iJustine), Laura Fitton (@Pistachio),  Tara Hunt (@MissRogue), Bronwyn Jones (@bronwynjones from San Frantastic), and Aubrey Sabala (@Aubs) .  They are brilliant and offer a vast amount knowledge that anyone can learn from. Even if I decided not to participate in any panels, these are still the ladies I would watch and want to learn from.

So please- SUPPORT THE WOMEN OF TECH!!!   VOTE FOR US!!!!!!!! PASS IT ON!!!

QUICK VOTE- this will take about three minutes.

First- create an account then check your email.                                
Vote by clicking on the stars.

1. 5 Common Misperceptions of Technological Creativity
2. Climbing the Corporate Ladder in a Mini Skirt
3. Clear Your Ears for Instant Success
4. Walking the Tech Runway in Stilettos

The Panels-

1. 5 Common Misperceptions of Technological Creativity-  This topic discusses the pitfalls of drinking the koolaid and how to know if it is koolaid. In other words, how to get ahead by being unique rather than blending into the crowd. Speakers include iJustine, Laura “Pistachio” Fitton, Mel Kirk, Kristie Wells and myself.

2. Climbing the Corporate Ladder in a Mini Skirt- Powerful tech women share their secrets regarding kicking ass, moving up the ladder, dealing with jerks, and helping others reach the top.   Speakers include Aubrey “Aubs” Sabalas, Bronwyn Jones, Mel Kirk, Kristie Wells and myself.

3. Clear Your Ears for Instant Success- This topic focuses on the importance of listening to your consumers, building a customer base, approaching the change in culture in larger companies, etc.. Speakers include Mel Kirk, Aubrey Sabala, Vero Perrerrell, and myself.

4. Walking the Tech Runway in Stilettos- A fun and lighthearted discussion that prepares females for greater success by helping them get comfortable in their own shoes. Speakers include Tara Hunt, Kristie Wells, Aubrey Sabala, Mel Kirk, and myself.

Please vote and I hope to see you at SXSW 2009.

All the best,
Sally Strebel, CEO
BestPartyEver.com

Tip 1: Set a budget
Sounds obvious, right? You’d be surprised. Without a clear understanding of financial resources, a business owner can easily overspend on their party. Commit to a certain dollar amount and figure out a way to work with it. The last thing you want is to feel guilty about spending too much when you should be celebrating.

Tip 2: What’s the objective?
Figure out what the objective is for throwing a holiday affair. Are you having a party because you want to build a team, have fun, show appreciation, etc.? Understanding your objective will help determine where money is best spent and the activities you plan to host. This takes us to tip 3.

Tip 3: Determine your activities
Will you have a theme party? A theme such as an Ugly Christmas Sweater party. Will your party be formal or informal? Are you going to host your party during the day or at night? Is it going to take place in the office, at a restaurant, ballet, ballroom, etc.? Once you figure out what activities you plan to host, it is important to inform your guests and make the needed reservations.

Tip 4: Show acknowledgment and appreciation through your gift.
Let’s face it, employees measure your appreciation through the gift. They usually want money but for the start-up or small business owners that can be difficult. Consider placing a small check in a card that highlights all the attributes they bring to the business. Tell your employees that the business is growing and sell them on the vision. Also, give personal gifts. If one of your employees likes wine, give her a wine basket.

Tip 5: Remain Cool
This is the most important tip for any party-Remain cool. The host’s attitude sets the mood for the entire party. If the host is stressed out, the guests will try to alleviate some of the stress by helping instead of having fun. If the host is having fun, he allows others to have fun as well.

Remain flexible- Take your ego out of the picture. If you are doing all the thinking, you’ve only got one brain working. If you have hired well, then you have hired people that are smarter than yourself. Use their knowledge too. When I start getting in my own way, I ask myself “Would you rather be right or highly successful?”. Then, I take my ego out of the equation, look at the possibilities, and choose what is best for my company.

Make small decisions quickly- A small decision won’t make or break your company. Quickly choose the best solution (10seconds) and if it doesn’t work, you can always change it later.

Don’t fret about competition- Competition exists when your idea proves worthy of replication. Embrace what your competition executes well and make it better. In fact, they may have undergone rounds of testing which saves you time and money.

Live by your vision with passion- Have a deep, personal passion for starting your company. By writing a personal and company vision you will make company decisions quicker and establish more drive to get you through the tough times. Your vision will inspire and shape your company’s culture.

Look for funding when you are doing well financially.

Protect your assets- Talk to an accountant or lawyer to determine what type of corporation will protect you best.

Hire slowly- One of the quickest ways to going belly up is to hire a bad apple that infects the company’s moral and vision. Read my recent post on having fierce conversations.

Reward positive employee behavior- Rewards do not always require cash. Consider compliments, a pat on the back, acts of service, or a thoughtful gift. Be sure to tell the employee why you are rewarding them. By telling them the reason, you will reinforce the behavior.

Control your anger- This does not mean that you have to take crap. It does mean that you should treat employees how you would want to be treated.

Work on your business, not in it.

If you think starting your own business will solve all your problems, you’ve got another thing comin’. A friend of mine named J.J. said this to me when I was first getting started. She owns Scottsdale Lotus and Lavender’s Day Spa. At first, I didn’t understand the full meaning of what she said. A couple years ago, I finally got it. I already had experience in the field and had prepared for a year so I figured that I had reduced potential for problems. What I didn’t get was that I was solving these problems with an employee mindset. The employee mindset of I can do everything. You can do everything with the help of others. You will always have problems but when you are starting a business you will have problems that you have no idea what to do with. It takes researching options and a qualified support team to make the right decision.

Keep going. The confidence will come with practice.

The most important advice- Have fun and listen to your intuition. You already know what you have to do so start acting on it. It’s easy to get confused with so many options flying at you. Ask yourself- Does this comply with my vision?, Who does this benefit?, What are the pro’s and cons of this?.

I hope this helps. I wish you all much success in your business endeavors.

All the best,
Sally Strebel

- The BestPartyEver.com team spent close to 18 hours a day for the past 5 weeks preparing for the launch on Oct. 1
- Early Tuesday morning, talked to Robert Scoble and set up a time for an interview for that Friday. Booked flight and took off on Thursday.
- In San Francisco, I stayed at Francine Hardaway’s house, went to the Social Media Club meeting, had the BestPartyEver.com interview with Scoble and Rocky, met Scoble’s family, partied with the wonderful people of Half Moon Bay, and met up with some great friends. Headed home 3am on Sunday.
- On Sept. 30th, right before the launch of the new BestPartyEver.com, we found a huge bug. We had to devote the remainder of time trying to fix the problem.
- We launched the site at 7pm Oct. 1. Yippee. However, we did have to strip down some of the features due to the unruly bug from the previous day. The features were 97% complete.
- Oct. 2 Melinda, our resident MySpace addict, unleashes BPE myspace profile and already has 200+ friends
- Oct. 3 activated the “basket” so people can save their chosen vendors.
- Oct. 4 introduced “people” into search

What can you expect in the next couple weeks-
- Checklist
- Guestlist
- Budget Calculator
- Recipes
- More search options

I hope you enjoy the new site. If you have any recommendations or comments, we’d love to hear from you. And thanks Kyle for the kudos.

All the best,
Sally Strebel

“The BPE site is very clean, uncluttered and easy to navigate, unlike 99% of the other wedding planning sites I’ve seen. Search response time is fast and I haven’t found any broken links. All I have to say is keep up the good work!” -Stu Chisholm from DJ Stu & His Crew

“What a great site to save money and time and to contact and communicate with terrific event companies! I am excited to see what your site will be offering in this fabulous season to come!” -Elizabeth Stahl Parkinson from ESP Freelance Assistance, LLC “Day-Of event assistance”

“…BPE has really put me on the right track- thank you!”. -Dianne Lyisan from Frikkin Awesome Face Painting

“Loved the site, lots of ideas.” -Mary Sinacore from QCC Services

“The website was easy to use. Found what I was looking for easily.” -Melissa Santos from Sonia’s Chocolate Delights

BestPartyEver.com wants your feedback. Whether your feedback is positive or negative, one sentence or one page, we still value your thoughts.

Theresa from “The Amazing James Kellogg, Jr.” and “Entrée Acts” would like more qualified leads.

“Entrée Act” and Deb Jones from “Business of Baskets” want to be able to find information easier on the site.

Lee Dean from “Kriket Puppet Shows” thinks the vendor photo should be bigger when clicked on, and should allow vendor website reference link.

BestPartyEver.com’s Solution- BestPartyEver.com will no longer be just a directory. Soon, it will be your special event industry marketing platform. The new BestPartyEver.com takes the traditional special event web directory equipped with planning tools and adds the power of social networking to create usability and stickiness. Your potential clients can easily find your product/service, party ideas, recipes, articles, and planning tools. We encourage your potential clients to build profiles and share their content with their friends. We encourage you to build business profiles, publish articles, describe your business, answer standard industry questions, provide a link to your websites, and befriend your potential clients as well as other vendors.

Your Feedback Matters- Part 2

Dianne Lyisan from “Frikkin Awesome Face Painting” and Theresa from “The Amazing James Kellogg, Jr” would like to have a higher listing with more features for a lower fee.

Deb Jones from “Business of Baskets” and Merry Pavlak from “P.S. I Love You” would like to remove no charge ads and make BestPartyEver.com a pay to play website.

BestPartyEver.com’s Solution- As a “Thank You” to our wonderful vendors who signed up early, all paid and no charge listings prior to Oct. 1 will receive an additional two years on us. After Oct. 1 our pricing will change to low monthly payments starting at $9.95 and we will remove the no charge listing. All new vendors will contribute to a compounding market strategy. In other words, by pooling numerous low monthly payments, your marketing dollar will stretch further towards receiving more qualified leads.

Testimonials

What you’ll need-

- Plastic Wrap
- 1 bottle of flavored vodka
- 1 bottle of Dekuyper Pucker
- 2oz plastic souffle cups and lids (great for traveling)
- 1 package of Jello (4 serv. size)
- Pitcher

Put the vodka and pucker in the freezer for at least one hour. Cover your work space in plastic wrap. This will help guard against counter stains and stickiness. Set out your cups on the plastic wrap. Pour 1 package of Jello into the pitcher. Boil 1 cup of water and add it to the pitcher. Stir for at least 2 minutes until Jello disintegrates. Fill measuring cup with 1/4 cold water, 1/4 pucker, and 1/2 cup vodka for a 1 cup total. Add to the pitcher and stir. Pour the yummy liquid into the cups and snap on the lids. Place the cups in the fridge for at least 8 hours. Makes about 15 Jello shots. One 750 ML bottle of vodka with 7 packages of Jello will make about 180 Jello shots.

Blue Raspberry Jello Shots

• Stoli Razberi Vodka
• Dekuyper Island Blue Pucker
• Berry Blue Jello

Grape Jello Shots

• Three Olives Grape vodka
• Dekuyper Grape Pucker
• Grape Jello

Margarita Jello Shots

• Patron Tequila (instead of vodka)
• Triple Sec or Grand Marnier (instead of Pucker)
• Margarita Jello

Enjoy!