Learn social media in a hands-on workshop at the Art Institute of Colorado

Successful business owners know how to communicate and what tools work best for them. E-commerce offers all kinds of new tools, opportunities to leverage and new clients!

As part of the Art Institute of Colorado’s Continuing Education Series, I will be teaching a course on social media for e-commerce August 28 & 29. Independent contractors, recent grads and creative professionals will benefit from this 14-hour workshop designed to help learn the who, what, why, how and when of social media for e-commerce.

Topics:

1. the basics of social media interaction
2. online reputation management
3. e-commerce tools for your market
4. where/how do prospective clients find you
5. deciding what social networks and tools are best for you
6. productivity tools
7. social “netiquette”
8. privacy & security
9. community building
10. listening & learning

Who should take this course?

• independent creative professionals
• independent business owners
• prospective & recent graduates embarking on their career

We can’t wait to meet you. To sign up contact Melissa Jacobs at 303.824.4937.

The course  fee is $250 for 14-hours of instruction time in a small-class, hands-on setting. The course is not designed as a lecture, but as a workshop to do hands-on learning as we cover each topics. Additionally, students will be asked to offer a case study on the second day for feedback and ideas.

Twitter was down this morning and a number of folks complained about seeing the beached whale.  (I know, twitter being down is not news.)

A wifi crash as I logged into TEUXDEUX (one of my favorite online productivity apps that I posted on for Fresh City Life) produced this error message.  TEUXDEUX lets us down with a good laugh, something we can all learn from. And I am sure Nutella gets a nice buzz off of it. The TEUXDEUX FAQ on the home page is hilarious too, so take a break to check it out, and get organized.

These are the top ten questions I get asked about social media and how I answer them. What would you say?

10. What social networks are you on?

I try out a lot of social networks, but you can find me on twitter & LinkedIn. Facebook is private for me. I know that is opposite the trend, but I started out that way and intend to keep it that way. Facebook is how I keep up with my friends. Twitter is for being social. And LinkedIn is professional. I also participate in Outright.com’s online community to learn more about the financial end of running my business.

9. What is social bookmarking?

Saving your favorite links on sites like delicious, stumbleupon, and digg so that you can share them with others. And, you learn about their favorite sites. It also helps with search. If someone likes your link and shares it on any of these sites, it can drive traffic to your web page or blog. In the case of digg and stumbleupon, links are voted on, so that can give your a leg up too

8. What is most important for me: a blog? facebook? twitter?

BIG question. And the answer is different for each individual and organization. It all depends on: how you want to participate online, what’s fun for you (like if you are into baking Bakespace.com is awesome!) and how much time you have. In the case of a company, it depends on how and where you want to engage the community that loves your product or service. And, it matters who on your staff is good at what type of social media. I learned that from James Clark of Room 214 fame. He once recommended that part of an organization’s social media success was learning who in the company was best at what type of social medium. A simple point, but often overlooked when we think everyone in the company must use every social media channel.

7. What is Foursquare?

It’s a geography-based game that lets you compete with friends as you “check in” at different locations- bars, zoos, city council chambers, dessert restaurants, etc. As you check in at places, you get badges. Foursquare addicts are often the “mayor” of their favorite haunts.

6. What is an app?

It’s a tool found online, in your phone, or on your desktop built out of software. Think: flickr, Android apps, Google Docs, Tweetdeck.

5. Do I have to be in Social Media?

That is really up to you. Some folks think you must be on there, others not. A lot of people are on at least one social network they like and use a lot, so if you want to stay connected, being there with them is the way to go. Sometimes the perception is that “If I am on a social network, I have to be on it all the time.” Not so. You decide when and how to participate.

4. What is a personal brand?

It’s basically your personal reputation which is augmented by how your participate online- what your linkedin profile says about you, what pictures you or your friends have posted about you, the political fight you started on twitter–you get the idea. Be smart. If you don’t want your mom to see it on the news, don’t put it out there.

3. Who is the top expert?

This is a trick question! I don’t believe in experts, gurus, geniuses, know-it-alls and “thought leaders.” (although that last term is getting at something important- there are people out there leading the way trying things out, but it doesn’t mean they always will be, or that you won’t be one.) I do believe in Elvis, Bigfoot, the smell of pine and cinnamon swirl bread. Smart folks you can follow are Kellye Crane, Connie Reece, Bryan Person, Jennifer Leggio, Tim Jackson, Angela Berardino and Charlene Kingston. That is just a few!

2. What is “the Cloud”?

Even the experts argue about this! My answer: all the data, applications, and communities that exist in servers outside your computer, or office even. You can find a lot of pros opining on CloudAve.com.

1. How do you stay on top of the rapid changes in Social Media?

I probably don’t. The trick is to narrow down your areas of interest. Note I said “areas.” I use a feed reader, google reader, to manage all the topics I want to follow.

Start by going through CloudAve.com, lifehacker.com, SocialMediaDIY Workshop, Google’s Official Blog and mashable.com. You can follow these for industry news, how-to and opinions by the “thought leaders” of the cyber-world.

UPDATE: Glaring omission above. The Quick-n-Dirty Podcast always keeps me on top of things! As do the other listeners as we exchange info in the chat.

How would you answer these? What are the top questions you would ask/get asked? Let me know in the comments below!

What are you passionate about? Try it out on Wordle.

Feeling a little overwhelmed #GlueCon?

Research
I want to know as much as I can about the sessions, who’s speaking, what old friends I’ll run into and who I’ll meet. Secondly smooth travel logistics are key and, budget, accounting and record-keeping needs to be addressed.

After checking the Blog and Agenda for GlueCon, my next step would be to dive into Gist and see who I know that will be attending. Since Gist just launched a Google Apps Gadget, it makes it easier to keep up on activities of friends and colleagues- right through my email!

Crowdsource- ask my socnets what advice they have, who is attending.

Remember
After making notes and tagging them, I can easily access the info in my iPod Touch. (if you’re old school Gist has a “dossier” that you can print out.)

I will take notes and store them in Evernote- which I already have done with the conference schedule. (Note: put a face with a name, take a picture of your friend holding up their b-card and save to Evernote!)

Connect
Have already introduced myself to the CloudCamp – Unconventional Computing group on LinkedIn, will see who will be attending and learn more about folks I haven’t met yet, and who may share my love of Japanese Chess.

Follow up with members of the media to see if they’ll be there and when we can connect. And I am sure my buddies at CloudAve will have a lot of folks on the scene

Make sure I am following everyone on Twitter. You can follow me @DebInDenver.

Checklist
Pick up new business cards desinged to include my Twitter handle & blog URLs. (Set reminder in Gqueues to pick them up.)

Entered all expenses to date in Outright (saves bookkeeping headaches later).

Set up RSS feeds for key news sources, speakers and topical searches (like “cloud computing security”). NetNewsWire is my RSS reader of choice and it syncs with Google Reader.

Call old friends and arrange happy hour. Plan to meet Sunir Shah of Freshbooks for bacon.

Check TripIt to see when friends are arriving. (If you’re flying in, did you know United and some other airlines allow you to download your boarding pass to your iPhone? Look ma, no paper!)

Bake cookies! (nice biz dev swag )

Have envelope prepped to send collected business cards to shoeboxed for processing.

Bring extra power chargers and batteries for devices.

Break-in new running shoes. (GlueCon people run!)

Check bus schedule on Google Transit and bike route! (Going Green- busing it and biking it) Call Omni Interlocken to see if there are bike racks on site.

Get laptop ready for taking lots of notes!

Tell me what you think!

Man this looks like a love letter to all my favorite productivity apps! What are your faves? What did I leave out?

*disclosure: I am a recent contributor to CloudAve.com, and a user and recent prize-winner of Outright.com

Simple, free, online accounting.

Remember that $500 I spent on gourmet chocolate thanks to winning a contest with Outright.com? Well the nice folks at AccountingWeb covered it and shared the love to fellow contestants and Outright.

Fellow indie PR pros, etsy & ebay merchants and freelancers check them out! Outright makes your life easier, freeing you up to do the fun stuff- like sip martinis on the deck.

Have a good one! And thanks again AccountingWeb.com.

“Cloud Computing”

“In the Cloud”

“Cloud-based applications”

“Back-up to the Cloud”

Cloud computing are services, storage and data all based in companies’ servers external to your computer’s hard drive.

You are already so active in the Cloud, you don’t think twice about it: facebook, gmail, google apps, flickr, online banking, shopping….the list goes on. All the information we exchange that is stored outside our computer is “in the cloud.”

A lot of anxiety has developed over privacy and security issues in the Cloud, so learning your Internet Service Provider’s terms of service is important- as is that of any social network you belong too. The Open Cloud Consortium, the Storage Networking Industry Association (SNIA) and the Distributed Management Task Force are a few of the organizations working to make storing your data in the cloud safe.

- another “un-sexy” topic, I know. I will have to distribute another recipe to balance that out…maybe for my salty caramel chocolate tarte?

Rudy Chow Ledger: my bookkeeper is on it!

Let’s face it, even a tiramisu recipe is not going to make this topic sexy. (And, yes, I will post the recipe this weekend for those that have asked.)

My recent winning of the Outright.com Tax Extension contest got me to thinking- not everyone is comfortable putting their finances in “the Cloud.” Even online banking is tough for some folks at the recent Future of Money conference, Wells Fargo reported that only 50% of their customers use online banking. So as solopreneurs and small businesses, where do we find our bookkeepers & accountants and what online resources do we use?

For keeping track of my finances,  I use a hybrid system: online bookkeeping and a real, live accountant reviews entries and prepares my tax documents. You know me, I love to use apps in “the Cloud,” but not everyone does. If you are of the same feather, here are many free, or almost-free online applications to help solopreneurs, small businesses and freelancers make things easy- Freshbooks, Expensify, Outright, Xero, IAC-EZ. (links below…you have to keep reading

Where do you find your accountant?

I put the question out in several places- through contacts on twitter, on the great community forum at Outright.com and to the Solo PRPros Group on LinkedIn. While this wasn’t a scientific poll- I had over 50 responses across a number of networks.  And, while I was asking the question on an online medium, the majority said they would get a personal referral. Where did they get the referrals from?

• Fellow Churchgoers
• Through their hairstylist
• Fellow Practitioners
• Online networks

After asking your personal network, the most common answer was, “ask other businesses like yours.” It’s a great point. What do sole proprietors in the same field, or an overlapping one, look for in a bookkeeper? Common knowledge and approaches, shared values and a comfort level that the bookkeeper knows the ins and outs of their specialization.

Professionals and small businesses who had employees did tend to search for larger companies who could handle managing their payroll, accounting and bookkeeping. They recommended doing your homework on pricing, level of service and experience.

What does this mean for online bookkeeping apps? A certain segment may be finding you via search, but I still think strategies have to incorporate a strong word-of-mouth approach. People who responded to my questions did say that the referral could be online- from someone they know, or from an identified trusted source- such as the local Chamber of Commerce, Service Corps of Retired Executives and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Dovetailing the online with the offline will be key to marketing success.

Online bookkeeping & financial management applications are great options- be sure to comparison shop to see which app best meets your needs:

Expensify

Freshbooks

IAC-EZ

Outright

Shoeboxed (receipts!)

Xero

A number of these apps integrate with one another and with your banks, credit cards and Google Checkout and PayPal for online invoicing and payments.

So we have a lot of options and online apps hold a lot of promise, but they still require due diligence, a human touch and some tiramisu to get you through tax season.

Thanks, extremely profuse thanks, to everyone who participated in the survey by asking their networks, or by answering themselves:

Kellye Crane

Sonny Gill

Tim Jackson (aka MasiGuy)

Connie Reece

Solo PR Pros Group on LinkedIn

Most of my readers, we are just learning about “the Cloud.” Don’t think about it as a bunch of tech-speak that you’ll never understand. Do you use Evernote? Gist? Online banking? Facebook? Then you are already in the Cloud and your personal data is too.

Usability, security, data management will be tackled by technical experts at the upcoming GlueCon in Broomfield. Participation from non-technical types is key too. Doing my part, I will attend CloudCamp Denver on (5/25) to give feedback and a perspective from the average Joe, uh, Jane. I hope you will be there too! Let me know if you are interested in either so I can put you in touch with the Cloud Connection