The Brand Damage Snowball Effect

All of us, at one point or another, have had a bad experience with a company. Sometimes, it's mild enough for us to grumble for a few moments and go on our way, and give them another shot another day. Other times, it's bad enough that we'll never do business with that company again, but we don't spread that to other people.

Then, there's the tipping point where we're so ticked off, we not only vow never to do business with them again, but we tell everyone.

And if you're the company that's at the business end of that shotgun, you had better be paying attention.

My friend (and disclosure: client) David Alston is undertaking a move this week, which sucks in and of itself. And he was relying on U-Haul to help him with that move. When his wife dealt with some absolutely abominable customer service regarding their truck reservation, he put his gripe on Twitter for thousands of people to see. He also blogged about it (in a much more objective and level headed way than I might have).

What ensued was an onslaught of responses from David's Twitter community, and a great post from Catch Up Lady detailing some of the responses and the snowball effect of David's tweet reaching his followers and their followers and so on. (Just in case you think Twitter still doesn't matter. But this, for another post.)

One of those followers posted the CEO's phone number, and David sent him a message. He did call back, but as of this post, I don't think they've connected. I'll be curious about what this guy has to say about the behavior of his field locations and representatives (and the subsequent damage they're doing to his brand). I'll also be curious to know whether the phone call is merely a gesture, and if this guy is aware of the negative publicity he's receiving across the web (of which I'm sure David will make him aware).

David also did his part by canceling his reservation with U-Haul and subsequently booking with Penske, and he then tweeted about how great their customer service was.

If anything to me, this is yet another powerful case for why listening to social media is critically important, and you can do that even if you don't have a blog or a Twitter account. Hearing what's being said can uncover a gold mine (or quagmire) of information from your customers - or former customers - just waiting for you. If I were the U-Haul CEO, I would sure as heck want to know that all these people, in the span of a few hours, had just shared how much they think my company sucks.

Dozens and dozens of people responded to David with their horror stories (and I have one of my own). This many horror stories, and they're still out there managing to do business? What if no one had managed to give David the CEO's contact information? Would they have heard a thing? Or cared? Do you think this experience is significant enough to teach an old dog new tricks?

And then the next level: Where is the tipping point, I wonder, to take down a giant like U-Haul or force them to do things differently, and when does our collective patience run out? How do we translate the negativity we feel and express in words, and translate it into action by not supporting the brand enough where they have to change or perish? What separates a stubborn brand from one willing to evolve based on what they learn?

Can social media tip the scales and turn talk into action?

Fancy term. Really (really) basic ideas.

If the term "social media" freaks you (or your boss or your clients) out and causes consternation in the conference room, consider this. It's a fancy term that describes the tools we use to do something that's been around in business since the dawn of time: get more customers and keep them happy.

Let's scrap the tools for a minute - forget the "What" part of social media and suspend your notions of Twitter or Facebook or blogs or podcasts.

This actually seems so utterly fundamental that part of me hesitates to write this as if everyone's going to say "well duh, Amber." But I keep seeing folks scrutinizing social media as if it were this revolutionary, alien concept in business that has no bearing on what they're used to. And when it comes to the technology specifically, that may be the case. These are the means, but not the end game. In practice, all social media does is facilitate a few good tenets of a customer-oriented business like:

Saying Hello
A good part of smart business is finding new ways to say hello to people who are not yet your customers, ideally by carefully locating them somewhere they gather most, and starting a conversation about something interesting. (Note I did not say finding your customers and immediately starting off by selling something.). And of course, greeting your regular customers in a friendly way, wherever you see them.

Being Available
Before someone does business with you, they may have questions they want to ask about who you are and what you do. They may want to see the people behind the business, get to know and trust you. And once they're your customer, they'll look to you to be accessible, responsive, and personable when they interact with you. Because as we've all heard a dozen and forty times, people do business with other people they like.

Being Accountable
Every business screws up eventually. The more you learn about exactly how and where you've screwed up - including from people who would never tell you directly, but who might tell their friends instead - the better your chances of fixing issues when they happen (if not before). Apologizing, taking responsibility for the mistake, and offering a remedy builds trust and credibility. And a little sense of humor never hurts.

Solving Problems
You're in business because something you make or do makes life or business easier for someone else. Your contributions are more valuable if you can hear the subtleties of those problems in order to better your product or service. And if you hear new problems to solve, that's even better. One suggestion box is good. A few hundred (thousand?) - with built in ways to respond quickly and easily and provide valuable ongoing information to your customers? Better.

Saying Thank You
So much easier when you have people actively listening, and widespread mechanisms for communicating with them.

The real question we ought to be asking ourselves, folks, is not what social media is going to do differently for us. It's how we're going to use a host of new, more amplified, and more ubiquitous tools to do what we ought already be doing, but better.

photo by helico

Social Media Powers Better Advertising

One of my issues with advertising has always been that, as a consumer (not an ad expert), I feel like so much advertising misses the mark. It's not personal. It's not relevant. It's often flashy or gimmicky or shocking for the sake of it, but rarely does it help me better understand a brand or build a relationship with it. My good friend and marketing smart guy posted recently about advertising that sucks, and I posted about an ad from the ASPCA that I think totally misses the mark.

I watch the Super Bowl commercials each year like everyone else, but have to be honest that I rarely remember the brands themselves that were part of the remarkable spots. And as much as I love the Budweiser Clydesdales, I'm still not going to buy their beer.

To me, advertising should be about creating awareness for a company, product, service or idea in a way that really connects with people. In human terms. And demonstrates how the brand embodies those ideas. People develop brand loyalty because it does something for them in a way nothing else can, or because they feel a personal affinity for the company/product/service for a particular reason.

And I don't find any of those things in a jingle, a stunt, sophmoric humor, or flashy weird graphics that are meant to be bizarre or avant garde but have no material connection to the brand itself. And I see lots and lots of ads that do so many of those things. The ads themselves may be interesting or "remarkable" but that doesn't translate to the brand. Am I missing something?

And I know we use Dell as an example a lot, but that's really because they're doing so many things right, like their ReGeneration project. They've asked a question: What does green mean to you? And as part of their project, they launched a contest on Facebook where they asked folks to submit artwork that spoke to their feelings about being green. I'm actually a bit behind here - the campaign is several months old now - but it has sticking power in my head because of how open Dell was to letting the community determine the direction for their project.

The cool part to me is that Dell did something that's one of the pillars of social media in my mind: They let their community create their advertising for them. They took some of the artwork and created ads around them. No fancy agencies, no "crafted messages", no gimmicks or in-your-face corporate speak. A sample is below.

Dell realized that their customers could and do build up their brand as well or better than they can. Jeremiah Owyang has a good breakdown of the campaign here.



So are you leveraging what your customers and fans are doing on behalf of your brand? How do you think companies can better embrace the brand assets that their customers might be creating for them? Do you think advertising is as misguided as I do, and if so, why hasn't it changed? Would love to hear your thoughts in the comments.

Contemplating the Social Media Plunge

When I asked around about the reasons why companies hesitate to get involved with social media - whether misconceptions or legitimate concerns - it sparked some great discussion.

By far, the overwhelming consensus was that social media makes companies far more transparent than they're used to being. Dave Murr and Matthew T. Grant on Twitter and Sonny Gill on Plurk all said that companies are uncomfortable not completely controlling the brand message anymore. Of course, the message we're delivering loud and clear is that customers are the ones driving much of your brand messaging anyway, with or without you (and they started doing it the minute they became your customers). Frank Martin says that the practice of some traditional media - press releases, advertising messages - being company-controlled gives companies the illusion that they should be able to control all of their marketing. In a digital age, that's nearly impossible.

Putting time and money toward something that doesn't have hard ROI attached.
Beth Harte and Laura Pritchard agree that many companies want to see a hard, direct line between efforts and sales leads. So far, metrics for social media are soft and indirect, and tend to be reflected instead through measurements in other areas - website traffic, customer satisfaction levels, strength of relationships with customers and prospects. How do you think these effects compare to other cultivation efforts - like customer appreciation events, golf outings, or other business development activities?

Taking communication outside the communication department. Companies may have a hard time trusting their non-communications trained employees to do and say the right thing without intense supervision. The trick is that customer service reps are talking to customers about product issues, your accounting team is discussing the slow decision processes with their vendors, your product managers are talking about disagreement about the new widget design. Employees aren't following the script in their everyday business interactions, anyway, and giving them a chance to communicate more openly on behalf of the company can bring to light new insights.

Thinking that social media is an all-or-nothing proposition. Jeremiah Owyang of Forrester has a great post today about how scare tactics are causing some companies to steer clear of social media. The reality is that social media isn't an overnight sea change, nor is it a silver bullet. It's one (important) part of a comprehensive, and well thought out communication strategy for any business.

Being faced with questions they don't have answers to. Tara Whittle mentioned this one and I was glad she did. Sometimes, online customers will ask questions or point out issues that don't have immediate resolutions. In these cases, I think it's less the immediate solution to the problem, but how the company handles it that matters. Do they have the confidence to answer "We're not sure! But we're going to find out, and here's how we'll let you know when we do." That can build trust and credibility.

Committing the resources to do it right. Social media done comprehensively takes an investment of time, capital, and human resources. As I've posted before, engaging in social media can be a part of anyone's job. Listening alone takes effort - GM alone has at least 10 staff people dedicated to monitoring their brand on the web. As Sonny says, monitoring social media has become an extesion of brand mangement. And once you've heard what's being said, responding and doing something of value with the feedback you receive requires new thinking and sometimes, new ways of doing things. And, as another savvy plurker pointed out, some companies might even think that shifting their position and messaging in response to feedback can make them seem weak. I'd venture to say that evolving your messaging to respond to your community does quite the opposite, but would welcome your take on this too!

It's just new. Frank points out that it may not be fear so much as that many companies simply aren't early adopters, and he's right. Kellye Crane points out that much like websites once were the unproven tool, some companies are waiting to see just how other companies are making use of social media and how they in turn can leverage it for their specific business. And some may be comfortable with the status quo, thinking that "if it ain't broke...". The more that bellwether companies like Dell, Starbucks, Ford, Beam Global, Southwest Airlines and more blaze the trail, the more likely others are to see the value for themselves, too.

So how about you? Is your company venturing into the waters of social media, and what are your concerns? Are you the champion for social media, and how are you addressing these concerns with your clients or management? Please share in the comments!

Photo by danflo

On Women and the Internet

This morning, the New York Times ran an article about women online, this time in the Technology section about advertising on women's sites.

I thought the article was well done, and I'm glad that it was placed where it was. (BTW - I get the whole logistics about the siloed section placements in the mainstream papers. We've been over this, so please let's not revisit that quagmire. I still think it's a crappy system. But that's not what this post is about.)

The article had a very balanced tone, was very business focused, and featured objective writing about the appeal of female-centric websites for advertisers wanting to reach this influential audience. Statistics and studies abound - see just a few results from Forrester here - about the influence and buying power of women in markets both online and off.

I do think there's tremendous value in segmenting gender demographics for marketing and branding purposes, because let's face it - men and women are different. And statistically speaking, we skew our interests toward certain things. Marketing and advertising have spent many, many millions of dollars on gender-focused campaigns for this very reason. And as far as social media goes, advertising dollars are shifting online, and in large part to women-centric sites.

The discussion on Plurk this morning, however, shifted gears a bit, and we started talking about women and the internet in general. How do they use it? Are the largest volume of them really using sites dedicated to fashion, food, or entertainment?

To wit: this question from my social media-savvy friend Deb from I Can't Keep Up:

Why not show how women participate online in other ways? I really struggle over this issue. I would rather see more evidence of women using the internet intellectually, professionally, and even for their sport. So maybe I just want to see something on women's participation in non-gender based sites. Then we would have an idea of women's impact overall.

This report from Pew talks about how women are more likely to use the internet to foster their human connections with others. The popular blog Lip-Sticking talks about marketing to women online - and covers topics as diverse as entrepreneurship in Afghanistan, health and fitness, real estate, and technology (and yes, there are plenty of posts about fashion, family, and other traditionally female topics).

Personally, I don't frequent sites that are female-focused exclusively. I prefer to get my information from all across the web, and my tastes are probably not "traditionally" female. But oddly, I talk to a LOT of women who have similar interests to mine, and eschew destinations focused on lighter fare like fashion or celebrities. (For the record, I wholeheartedly endorse the work of bloggers like Dooce. 850,000 people read her blog - including me on occasion - which means she is unequivocably providing fun and at times irreverent content that people love. Great stuff, and the essence of building a community online.)

So, the big questions:

Am I just swimming in a fishbowl of other non-traditional women? Are we predisposed to dismiss "women's" sites simply because they're not our cup of tea, and are we missing something as a result? Are we too sensitive about the idea that women like to talk fashion, celebrities, and sex?

Does the impact of women online who don't target their activities based on their gender matter to the future of the internet and social media?

The statistics don't lie, and the women's sites abound and thrive (which I think is great, for the women who DO want that content). Advertisers are spending their money there, and presumably they're seeing returns for their efforts. But according to the NYT article, advertisers just aren't seeing the value in reaching women on sites that focus on more serious topics like politics or business. Why is this?

How is the internet going to adapt to and connect with women that aren't in that traditionally female niche? Should it?

Are they reaching us already, in more mainstream ways? Are we in the minority, and is it merely a numbers game? Do we just not respond to advertising in the same way, and why should they care about us?

Would love to hear your thoughts and insights. I know I'll be chewing on this one for a while!

photo by Valerie Renee

The Plurk Brain Trust

Today, I was stumped.

I was suffering from writers block for the blog. It happens. So, I threw out a Plurk to my friends asking about what they'd like to see here.

The discussion that ensued was a rapid-fire, but deep well of information and inspiration.

My very public thanks to friends Deb Robison, Sonny Gill, Te-Ge Bramhall, Justin Whitaker, Mack Collier, Eddie Soto, Donna Tocci, Naomi Meredith, Connie Bensen, Mao de Mao, Amie Gillingham. You guys - along with all of my connections on Twitter, Plurk, and everywhere else - are the very definition of community.

So, stay tuned for a new post series I'm researching on internal social networks. Seems more and more companies are exploring them, and I'd like to focus in closer on some of the advantages, challenges, and questions that these create. I think building communities and connections within companies can be as important as doing it outside, and I'm excited to see what I learn. Look forward to sharing with all of you, and as always, thanks for reading.

image by flattop341

Are your social networks too scattered?

On Plurk, my friend Kellye Crane pointed me to a social map that Brian Solis of PR 2.0 did for his online presence - both the places where he maintains a presence, and those where he's simply in touch or aware. Check out his post about it here.

So naturally, it got my gears turning. Since social media is so much of what I do and breathe every day, I'm pondering where the perfect fulcrum is to balance having a social presence with being so completely decentralized that you can't give any one community it's due. Brian says:

The truth is that we are embracing new tools because they’re are either intriguing and fascinating to us and/or because those within our social graph are also adopting them to stay connected and participate in online conversations.

We are responsible for the decentralization of our content and our attention.

Some individuals are using things like FriendFeed to aggregate all of their sites and try to stay abreast of them all. Personally, that removes the unique elements of each community and seems to make participating more about me than contributing to the community, which kind of goes against my grain. And I don't see companies making use of FriendFeed to connect with individuals (please let me know if you know otherwise, I'd certainly be interested!).

Then there are tools like Ping.fm that help you post a singular update to many networks. But again, this takes away some of the interaction quality to me because, in my case, it wouldn't be as natural to hang around and participate in the (hopefully) ensuing conversation.

I haven't yet participated actively on YouTube, StumbleUpon, or Mixx even though I have a presence in those places, if nothing else to understand what they're about in basic terms. Obviously, I've barely scratched the surface. And I haven't even touched many other sites at all - ooVoo or Qik or Utterz. In some cases, I avoid something that seems like a new-but-not-distinctly-different iteration of something I already use with success, like Twitter or LinkedIn.

Shift gears away from my personal experience, and put it in business perspective. Where are my potential clients online? Where are your business' potential customers and clients? How are they using these tools, or are they? Is this all a fishbowl, and are we swimming around just running into the same people in different places?

My savvy and always insightful friend Connie Reece put it this way:

Amber, yes the "right" networks are the ones that will be most profitable for your business, and that will be where your customers are.

Takes a lot of research and careful consideration to find exactly what those are, sure. But to me, this is a critical aspect of making social media strategy a viable, effective part of your overall communications plans. Many of these networks are most familar to the early adopters, or people who focus on this space for a living. But is this where the critical mass of customers is?

Taking the time to understand your customers and how they're using the web to engage with businesses cannot be underestimated. Not every social site or network is going to be right for every business. And participating in one or two at a really engaged, invested level is much more important than having a face everywhere but a personality nowhere. It's also important to recognize that just because I enjoy participating in a social community, it doesn't mean that I'm connecting with a business audience of potential customers. They may be somewhere else entirely.

So what say you? How do you draw the line, and what criteria do you use to make sure your investments of time and effort in social media are paying off? Do you have different criteria for your personal involvement and that of your business? I'd love to hear about your approach.

image by jurvetson

ASPCA: Marketing For a Cause Gone Awful

I'm a huge animal lover. I have two rescue dogs, two rescue cats, and would probably have a houseful if only I had acreage.

But I cannot watch the ASPCA commercial that's been on the air now for several months. (I'm embedding it below, but I warn you that it's hard to watch, and might be near impossible if you're an animal lover. I had to stop it playing on YouTube just so I could copy the link. If you're sensitive, might just skip it and take my word for it.)



It's been running on the Food Network, which is a favorite TV destination of mine. This whole thing is awful to me for two big reasons.

1) Food Network is losing a viewer on a regular basis, because every time the commercial comes on, I switch channels. And often I forget to switch back. This morning, I've switched three times in the last hour, and I now will not go back for fear of running into this spot again.

2) The ASPCA has gone past the line of sympathy and empathy, and crossed into anguish. If I can't watch the commercial because of how distressing it is, I'm not going to be compelled to stay tuned and give. It's causing the opposite reaction - complete avoidance, despair, helplessness. That's not what they're after I'm sure. And I've heard from literally dozens of people who won't watch the commercial either. Are they giving?

Tugging at heartstrings might have it's place in advertising, marketing, fundraising - emotional appeal is a cornerstone of strong messaging, and I understand the motivation. But I think there's a line. I'd be much more likely to get online and give if I saw a spot full of success stories - happy animals moving on to bigger and better lives after being rescued by the ASPCA. Instead, I'm afraid to head to their site lest I be bombarded with horrific images of mistreated animals all over again.

I *know* what the ASPCA does - I'm not ignorant of the mistreatment of animals, it's harsh reality, and the great strides the ASPCA is making to combat it. But seeing it in all of its brutal reality isn't making me more likely to get closer to their organization.

So what do you think? Is this spot too extreme for you, or do you think this is just the right message? Are you motivated to give, or to change the channel?

Blogs from the Social Media Fishbowl

A few days ago, I was asking around on Twitter and Plurk about social media people's must-read blogs. After a good influx of responses and requests to share, here we go! I'm happy that while some of these are old favorites, a few were new to me. And of course this is not an exhaustive list and isn't meant to be definitive; these simply represent the 25 that were mentioned most often (most more than once).

Some focus on PR, some on marketing, some on a blend of everything. Please add yours in the comments, too.



1. The Buzz Bin by Geoff Livingston

2. Chaos Scenario by Cam Beck, John Herrington and Paul Herring

3. Church of the Customer Blog by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba

4. ChrisBrogan.com

5. Communication Overtones by Kami Huyse

6. Conversation Agent by Valeria Maltoni

7. Diva Marketing Blog by Toby Bloomberg

8. Every Dot Connects (multiple authors)

9. For Immediate Release by Shel Holtz and Neville Hobson

10. Influential Marketing Blog by Rohit Bhargava

11. Logic+Emotion by David Armano

12. Marketing Profs Daily Fix (multiple authors)

13. Mashable (multiple authors)

14. /Message by Stowe Boyd

15. Micropersuasion by Steve Rubel

16. Online Marketing Blog by Lee Odden

17. PR Squared by Todd Defren

18. PR 2.0 by Brian Solis

19. Read Write Web (multiple authors)

20. Social Media Explorer by Jason Falls

21. The Social Media Marketing Blog by Scott Monty

22. Social Media Today (multiple authors)

23. Techipedia by Tamar Weinberg

24. The Viral Garden by Mack Collier

25. Web Strategy by Jeremiah Owyang

Like I said, I could easily extend this into a list of 100+, so please share in the comments what blogs are can't-miss for you!


Image by Mike Licht

25 Reasons Social Media Can (Should?) Be Anyone's Job

Social Media is still a new thing to many people and companies, so I’m thinking optimistically - even aspirationally - here. There are most certainly companies that are ahead of the curve with the way they’re allowing social media to be an undercurrent of many aspects of their business. Here, 25 ways that social media can apply to lots of different job descriptions, no matter what you’re in business to do. Add yours, too, in the comments!

Marketing and PR
This is the obvious category, of course, since these are the folks responsible for crafting, managing, and communicating the company’s messaging to customers and prospects. It’s often (but not always) the “home” for social media in a company. Here, social media can:

• Help you understand if your customers are online, and if they are, what sites and tools they use most.

• Provide insights into your own company culture and highlight your business’ comfort level with social media tools.

• Give the company a human face through online discourse, highlighting the people behind the brand and the hearts and minds that drive it.

• Let you hear how your community – instead of the company – defines the brand. Messaging in their language is more likely to stick.

• Give you human insight into market dynamics, instead of relying on only structured reports or surveys. Take the “pulse” of your community, from their perspective.

• Hear how your competitors are perceived online, too, to identify additional ways to differentiate your brand from theirs.

Sales and Business Development
In sales, finding and solving problems is the key to success, and good listening skills are essential. In the world of social media, business development pros can:

• Locate prospects that might be self-identifying elsewhere on the web without making themselves readily apparent to the business.

• Listen to the words your customers use to describe you, for better or worse. They might write your sales pitch for you.

• Maintain relationships with customers before and after the sale by continuing to connect with them online.

• Again, competitive analysis and insights about how and where your competitors are reaching the prospects that you might be looking for.

• Identify trends and niche markets that you might not yet be tapping.

• Hear how your prospects and clients are articulating their needs and pain points so your future presentations and proposals can address them directly.

• Open more channels for communication – different tools and sites – and provide opportunities for dialogue that are more comfortable for customers.

Customer/Client Services
Customer service can be a never-ending, demanding job but it’s absolutely a make-or-break piece of any business. So, how can customer and client service pros tap into social media?

• Identify product or service issues that are being talked about online first. Believe it or not, some people don’t come straight to the company with their issues.

• Say thank you to clients and customers in their own space.

• Solve minor issues on the spot (even in other peoples’ online territory, like their website or a community forum) and demonstrate that you’re listening. Be the conduit back to the company to resolve more complex issues, faster.

• Build trust by developing and maintaining relationships with customers during a critical time – in between sales.

• Serve as the outward-facing voice of the company to build its’ community and provide a direct line of communication back to you.

• Actively ask for feedback from your customers about their recent experiences with you, and what would have made it better. Doing it live and online turns it into a living, breathing dialogue instead of just another static survey.

Product or Brand Managers
Even though product or brand managers aren’t always directly customer facing, social media can still play a key intelligence role. By listening, your product and brand teams can:

• Identify quality issues in competitor’s products for a leg up in product improvements.

• Hear customer’s “wish lists” that they’re posting on the web for products you may not have, or enhancements to the ones you do.

• Work with customer support teams to develop comprehensive responses to product or service issues in real-time.

• Help develop a useful FAQ for customers and clients based on common issues communicated on the web. Instead of relying on third party forums, make your company site the destination for information.

• Gather anecdotal evidence of innovative ways that customers might be using your products (that could be very different than what you intended!). Great example: Ikea Hacker.

• Create product tutorials that directly address the feedback and issues you might hear from users online. (Best part: go where they are and introduce them directly.)

I didn’t break out executive ranks above because I’m thinking there’s an executive role in every category (?). But as several people pointed out to me, executive buy in is critical. Otherwise, the big gold mine of information gathered via social media won’t be worth a fig. Somewhere, someone has to do something with the insights and use them to move forward.

Seems as though that might be the biggest challenge of all: what to do when you know the information is valuable but there are disconnects? Executives might delegate without being invested in the results. Managers might not be empowered to act. Production folks might not have all the information they need to understand why that information is important in the first place. Perhaps another post for another time. I’d love your thoughts on this one!

Thanks to Geoff Livingston, Frank Martin, Gianandrea Facchini and Sonny Gill and all of my fantastic fellow marketing/social media mavens for their great input on this post! You all teach and inspire me daily.

What do you think, folks? Help me round out the list with your ideas, and let’s share these with our colleagues, clients, teams.

cool image by Ralph Bijker

50 Days (and counting) until SBMU!

Have you signed up for SBMU yet? I'm going, and last month I told you all about why. I hope you'll join us - you've got until August 29th to get the early birdie deal. Go on! I'll wait. (Jennifer is even helping you find airfare deals to get there.)

Done? ok!

So why am I posting again? Because whether you're going or not, your biz might just be right for sponsorship of this super event. You've got a tight knit audience of small and medium business owners and decision makers that might just need to do business with you. And I'm a big proponent of sponsorships that do what they're supposed to do: connect great businesses with the people who need them to solve problems and might not find them any other way. (We all know it's a big pond out there...)

In particular, SBMU is putting on a speed networking event as part of their activities that benefits COSI, the Center of Science and Industry in Columbus. 100% of the proceeds from the tickets and silent auction go to COSI's Community Access program that provides tickets to the center for low income and at-risk families. And the event is open to the public, so beyond just connecting with SBMU groupies, you're reaching out to the Columbus community. My love for a good cause runs deep, so I hope you'll give it a look.

Can your company be a sponsor? Benefits include logos, links, and mentions in Search Engine Guide and Small Business Brief Weekly Newsletters, email connections with conference attendees, a chat with the charity networking event attendees to let them know about you and what you're up to, and the best part: admission to the conference. Go here and have a look at the sponsor packet to see if this or another SBMU sponsorship might be a good outreach for you.

(Note that I mean outreach, not just any old marketing buy. You're reaching and communicating with a savvy audience that's dedicated to investing in their business and in relationships. And you'll get to connect with them personally.)

If you think your company might be a fit, or you know someone who might, drop the Unleashed team a note.

I can't wait to absorb and learn and network and surely have some fun. See you in Columbus!