Yesterday, I had the opportunity to attend the Helzberg Entrepreneur Mentor Program otherwise known as HEMP.  Their discussion was focused on social media.

The panel was informative, but there were so many points that were missed, not that it’s easy to explain social media and how to use it in two hours.  Truth is social media marketing takes work and commitment. You also have to make a decision on whether or not it is right for you business.

You also must consider that it’s not going to be the “quick-fix” for more sales in this economy, social media marketing takes time and often you see non-financial impacts before financial impacts.

One question that was asked that stayed on my mind was “what demographic is using social media?”  Answer,  all demographics are using or at least have potential in using social media in the future.  Social media is no longer just for the college student.  The fastest growing sector in social media, especially Facebook is women over 55.

My point is if you are looking to learn more about social media and you are feeling overwhelmed, take my 7 day social media crash course that I put together at About.com. It’s free and I will answer your questions throughout the course. I promise that by the 7th day you will have a deep and clear understanding of how social media can be used and you will be able to make the decision on whether social media is right for your business.

Shelly Kramer and I will be presenting on the Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Social Media Marketing Panel next week, on October 8th. Come join us. We will answer your questions and hopefully provide you with even more clarity.

The statistics were amazing. Truth is more people are apt to donate online because it’s easier and they can also follow their favorite organizations in order to see what is going and support the organization they believe in and the cause it represents.

If you are a nonprofit organization don’t just put social media on the shelf and think it can’t work for your, statistics and the success stories prove differently.

The most important thing is to make sure that you have a social media policy and strategy and place in order to achieve optimal results.

A couple of recent resources I have put together for you include:

How Can Social Media Help My Nonprofit Organization?

Social Media Marketing Benefits for Nonprofit Organizations

A month ago I made a difficult decision and that was to close The Practice Pros, medical marketing agency. Jamie and I had given it a year and to be honest the business was draining. Let me just say I didn’t close it because there isn’t a need for medical practices and organizations to market, but because that industry still requires a lot of education and coaxing to do it. Truthfully at times many of our clients would take nearly 6 months to complete a sales cycle. I understand the need for education and that’s truthfully what Jamie and I found we spent most of our time doing. We had even created The Practice Power workbook which was a hit with physicians practices, but it was still “like pulling teeth” to help physicians gain the understanding of the need for marketing – especially with an upcoming potential for healthcare reform.

The other reason I decided to walk away from The Practice Pros, is I had neglected my brand which is Laura Lake. I’ve worked for 12 years creating a brand that follows my name through writing articles, consulting and now the Consumer Behavior for Dummies book. I had many businesses and organizations contacting me about helping them with their marketing and sales cycles, but did not want to take away from The Practice Pros so declined the offers and potential business to stay focused.   I missed the variety in having a marketing agency and working with different clients everyday. I missed the hands on marketing techniques that medical practices were not yet ready to embrace like social media marketing and viral marketing that is available to us today through the use of internet technology.

Well that’s where I’ve been and now here is where I am.

I was introduced to a fabulous woman by the name of Shelly Kramer of Kramer and Company here in Kansas City. This woman is a dynamo. We hit it off and realized that we had both earned credibility in our own right and our accomplishments truly complemented the other. I always refer to myself as the 37 year old firecracker – well let me tell you Shelly gives me a run for my money.

We decided to start an integrated marketing agency here in Kansas City. Why? Because it’s needed. We have several agencies that deal with the big names, but it’s very difficult to find an agency with the years of experience that we bring to the table. Our experience encompasses techniques that are good for the small to medium sized business that either don’t have a marketing team or their marketing team just needs a little help.

The one thing that we are extremely proud of is that we are able to give companies solutions that other agencies can only talk about. An example of our combined efforts is that we pride ourselves in the social media marketing power we bring to our clients. We are not just a social media marketing agency, but we do know how to integrate it into marketing intiatives to bring the best results to our clients.

Truth is social media is extremely transparent and in Kansas City there are sure a lot of agencies in the area touting their skills in the social media realm, but I always get a chuckle when I look at their own followers.

Here is a common sense question for you – if you can’t get followers for yourself, how can you get them for your clients?

I’m proud to say that Shelly and I know social media and while we hate the word “experts,” because their are no experts in this new realm of marketing, we do have rank in the social media marketing realm, and we are happy to share them with you, just ask.

Don’t worry Kansas City marketing and advertising agencies we are more than willing to help you as well – we realize that sometimes you just don’t have the time or resources to assign to tasks such as social media marketing.  We know, we’ve been there.

Wow, I got off on a tangent with that one.

Ok, so more about the company. The new marketing agency that has been birthed by two dynamo women in Kansas City is V3, and yes I did call us dynamos. The 3 stands for vision, voice and value. We help our clients in creating a strategy that can be voiced and marketed in away that value is seen through the return-on-investment for each and every marketing dollar that is spent.

Our services include marketing strategy and development, social media marketing and consulting, internet and online marketing, blog marketing, public relations as well as traditional marketing strategies. We are very excited and will officially hit the presses on Monday – but as my blog reader and follower, I wanted you to be one of the first to know.

Visit us at V3 and drop us a line, if we can be of assistance don’t hesitate to call,  but you are also more than welcome to just stop by and say “hi!”.  It’s great to be back in the trenches and helping clients succeed in this economy – let us know if we can help you.

How can we explain the social connection between those that we never meet?  It’s difficult and  it’s emotional.  We bond, we correspond, we communicate, we interact.

We meet on Facebook, on Twitter and sometimes, but less often on MySpace.  We find something in common, thought provoking or inspirational and we are drawn to connect.  Our circle of friends, associates, and business partners expands in a non-traditional way.

Social media has changed our lives, we now learn of engagements, births, break-ups and even death on the internet cyberwaves before it’s broadcast on traditional media or before we receive a telephone call. Think about it, news about the death of Farrah Faucett, Michael Jackson and Billy Mays all spread across social media networks first.

The connections are real, the networks are solid and the daily interaction thriving. Our circles of friends, associates and business partners grow daily and when we lose one that we never met physically we feel as if we really missed out and the pain feels tremendously real.

It’s amazing where these social tools have brought us today. They are not new, as a matter of fact they started off years ago with IRC (internet relay chat) and AOL, but today we’ve become more accepting and willing to adopt these forms of connection – we see them as less odd, geeky or weird; perhaps you could say it’s more commonplace.

Businesses often wonder how it is that social media gains the response that it does when it comes to viral and word-of-mouth marketing; truth is it’s about the connections, as individuals we long for the connection of others, these mediums give us the ability to connect on our own terms 24/7.  We can share as little as we want or as much as we want about ourselves.

To those I have met through the wonderful world of social media, thank you for sharing your lives with me.  Thank you for not only allowing me  to teach you but allowing me to learn from you and share in your wonderful successes in life.  Life is amazingly full of ups and downs and I find it encouraging that through the means of our internet connections that we can help one another through those ups and downs.  I enjoy not only the real lessons I learn from those that I follow, but I also gain great insight into the life lessons you share.

Many think I’m a social butterfly and I suppose on certain days I am, but more often than not I tend to be the loner that sits back and takes it all in. I’ve had my own share of personal tragedy throughout this year struggling with the end of a long relationship, job lay-off, ending of an engagement, moving from what I would call my hometown to start over, finishing a book and starting not one, but two businesses. I’m lucky to have the ability to share each day with all of you and to watch you progress in your own life journeys it is inspiring. You are all rockstars, thank you!

1. Men, if you are seeking out a mature, sophisticated and sexy woman perhaps it’s best to not have an interest in an age group that ranges from 18 to 45. You see for women like me that’s a huge red flag. You don’t know if you want someone who is just getting out of high school or someone who actually has had time to develop a career.
2. If you want to attract an intelligent woman you may want to use spell check on your profile, poor spelling and grammar is a major turn off and makes you seem extremely uneducated.
3. If you have an interest in someone, don’t just send a message that says “you should go out with me.” It just seems presumptuous and as if you you have created a message that you can  cut and paste to hundreds of women.
4. If you send a message to someone, you may want to print off the list and check off as you email especially if you are sending the same message to every woman. It somewhat puts a bad taste in a woman’s mouth when they receive the same exact email from you 3 to 5 times. Knock it off!
5. Do you realize that women have friends that are on Match? That’s right and we talk. We know when you are using the same techniques to pick up on us and we talk about it! Be original, not all women are the same. Find what you have in common and talk about that. Stop cutting and pasting it’s lazy and irritating! For example a friend and I both received this same message – TWICE!

Great profile and pics. I would love to send you mine and get to know you better. I am 6′0, short black hair, blue eyes, 180lbs and in great shape. I work as the VP of an investment bank in Overland Park and currently have a corporate apartment, trying to sell my place in St. Louis to make the transition here full time. I do work here during the week and love being back in KC. My email address is Braveheart3314@talkmatch.com. Hope to hear from you soon.

Take care
Jeff

6. Don’t use old photos. People talk about this all the time, especially men. The truth is many of the men do the same damn thing. If you’ve been on match longer than a year and you haven’t updated your photos – get a clue!
7. If you don’t have a photo what is the point? There are three reasons guys don’t have photos on their profile. They include:

• They are married or involved
• They are just plain unattractive and pretending to be all that.
• They have a high-profile job that does not allow them to share photos (ummm ok that may be .5% of those without photos)