Lunch Round Table

Round Table

• Small Business Social Media – Beth Schillaci
• Small Business Events on a Shoestring – Jessica Hibbard
• Positioning Your Company for Debt Financing – Gary Honig
• Blogger Outreach Connecting Brands With the Right Bloggers – Julie Diaz Asper
• Using Twitter Chats to Connect with Customers & Grow Your Business – Cathy Larkin
• The Internet and Your Brand – Brian J. Winterfeldt,

Small Business Social Media - Beth Schillaci

As the founder of VillageWorks, Beth Schillaci has spent more than 11 years helping small businesses market themselves online through websites, email and social media. Author of the upcoming book Your Social Media Roadmap, she provides small businesses with her own successful framework for working with clients. More at www.villageworks.net; on Twitter: twitter.com/bethschillaci.

Discussion:

Have you shied away from using social media for your business because you don’t know how to get started? Maybe you are using the tools, but not seeing the results you wanted? Social media can be very effective for small businesses, but – like other aspects of marketing — it requires a roadmap for success. At this roundtable, we will discuss what it takes to create this roadmap.

Small Business Events on a Shoestring – Jessica Hibbard

Jessica Hibbard is Communications Director at the Frederick County Chamber of Commerce, an 800-member business organization that presents more than 70 events each year. From networking receptions to technology conferences to regional trade shows, the Frederick Chamber’s events have received national attention for innovative use of social media and commitment to community-building. More at www.analogadventures.com, on Twitter: http://twitter.com/jesshibb and http://twitter.com/fredcochamber.

Discussion:

An increasing number of small businesses are hosting events as a way to gain publicity and connect with customers. During this roundtable discussion, we’ll talk about tips for presenting affordable, effective events. These basic tips can be applied to grand openings, product launches, client receptions, and other small business functions.

Positioning Your Company for Debt Financing – Gary Honig

Gary Honig is a native of Washington D.C. and a serial entrepreneur / capital provider. For the past fourteen years he has been President of Creative Capital Associates, Inc. a local commercial finance company. His ability to interpret the way financing works has helped many small business owners find their way. More at The Art Of Factoring Blog, on Twitter: http://twitter.com/garyhonig.

Discussion:

There has been increased awareness on how to get banking, and finance in general to work for small businesses. We will discuss specific activities a new business can work on to greatly increase the potential for outside capital. Access to capital is the lifeblood of any business, and the inability to secure it when needed will stifle future growth. Learn some of the fundamentals regarding finding money for a small business.

Blogger Out Reach & Connecting Brands With the Right Bloggers – Julie Diaz Asper

Julie Diaz-Asper has spent more than 20 years helping large organizations to innovate and pursue new market opportunities. She is an active blogger who began using social media because she loves new people and new ideas. She is also is a co-founder and the CEO of GigCoin, a DC based start-up, that is an internet and mobile platform that facilitates the hiring of savvy testers, content creators and brand advocates for gigs.More at www.gigcon.com, on Twitter: twitter.com/juliediazasper.

Discussion:

• How Bloggers can help you grow your business: from savvy testers to freelance writers to brand ambassadors
• Finding the right Blogger for your brand: understanding influence and brand fit
• The red tape: what are the costs and FTC disclosure requirements
• Measuring success: how to track performance

Using Twitter Chats to Connect with Customers & Grow Your Business -
Cathy Larkin

As Founder of Web Savvy PR, Cathy Larkin has put her 20 plus years of marketing and PR experience to work helping small businesses and non-profits create effective approaches to connecting with customers. She has incorporated social media into her PR toolkit, and is co-host of, and helped launch, Melinda Emerson’s weekly Twitter Chat #SmallBizChat. They have produced more than 75 hour-long chats bringing guest experts and small business owners together in focused discussions using the Twitter social media site as a platform. Cathy also has participated in twitter chat since they began in the fall of 2008. More at http://WebSavvyPR.com, http://twitterchathelp.com on Twitter: http://twitter.com/CathyWebSavvyPR

Discussion:

Twitter chats are one of the most effective ways to connect with customers, prospects and colleagues on twitter, when done well. Cathy will lead a discussion on 5 ways small businesses can get in on the act. Instead of sending an individual tweet on a topic and maybe it being seen by a few followers, chat participants spend an hour – focused on a single topic, exchanging information, asking/answering questions and sharing their knowledge (or listening to their customers talk about it). Often 100 to 300 people “opt in” to participate and to listen. Chats can generate over 1,000 tweets in that hour, and create quality connections, information and leads.

“The Internet and Your Brand” – Brian J. Winterfeldt, Partner, Steptoe & Johnson

Brian regularly assists clients with the creation of trademark and branding strategies and the development of programs to enforce and protect intellectual property rights. Brian has written numerous articles and is a frequent speaker on trademark law, most recently at the International Trademark Association’s (INTA) Trademark Administrators Conference in October 2010.  In addition, Brian regularly participates in a leadership role for INTA, currently serving as a Planning Committee Member for the November 2010 INTA Leadership Meeting and he was selected as a Co-Chair for INTA’s 2011 Trademark Administrators Conference. More at http://www.steptoe.com/professionals-754.html, on Twitter: http://twitter.com/bjw72

Discussion :

This roundtable will be an opportunity for small business owners to discuss trademark issues around their key brand assets and the Internet including, domain name issues; website content; social media; and Web 2.0