I received a Tweet this morning that stated the Micro Enterprise Resource Group of Connecticut had closed its doors after 5 years. This really doesn’t surprise me that much because micro businesses seem to be too diverse and distracted to get any kind of political message out. Most of us hunker down and go to a chamber meetings or small social media networking gatherings, but seldom spend much time thinking about policy and politics. I think we all agree the micros don’t get much respect from the government, banking institutions and even our slightly larger peers. How many times have you heard “Oh you work from home?” I think most people just think we are unemployed.
So the question remains can micro businesses come together if not physically or on a specific agenda but more philosophically in a virtual community. Could a Facebook Fan Page or group foster some kind of community spirit that wouldn’t take much effort or more importantly time. I don’t know but it’s just a thought, let me know your opinion.
Don’t forget to click on the MERG CT link on the left of the page the organizers left a little treat for you there.
Sorry for the month long absence folks, but I’ve been working on a few things and trying to catch up with some other projects. Anyway for those of you that know me I’ve had this side thing going on for awhile now where I got out and listen to local music on the weekends. Well a few weeks ago while I’d been working on the website (which isn’t finished), I decided to promote my fan page on Facebook. Initially I had convinced 4 of my friends to join but hadn’t posted anything, but with about 50 videos up on YouTube I finally had something for people to see.
Initially I sent invites out to about 100 people that are my friends this generated about 50 people signing up within a day or two. Well I wasn’t exactly happy about that number, but eventually it organically grew to about 100 fans. Considering I have slightly more than 150 friends on Facebook that’s not a bad number, but I really wanted to see if there was any interest in what I was trying to accomplish. So I decided to take the plunge and set aside some money for a Facebook advertisement.
Well I am a newbie at this but Facebook has a really easy system for creating an ad, especially for Fan Pages. I am not going to go into detail on how to do this part because it is really simple and Facebook has some great help documents on how to do it. The biggest decision I had to make was in the pricing section either Pay per 1000 Impression (CPM) or Pay per Click (CPC). Based on Facebook’s advice I went with CPC which means you only pay when somebody clicks on your Ad. I targeted my Ad with the criteria listed in the image below, which gave me a pool of around 175,000 people. Wow really, that’s a lot of people to reach, what’s the circulation of a typical daily paper? No wonder the paper’s are losing advertising revenue, and remember these are targeted.
So after about a week and a half of playing with the daily maximum that I was willing to spend, along with the cost per click out of 175,000 people, 77 people clicked on the Ad and 42 people signed up for a total cost of $54.99. The Ad actually was displayed over 175,000 times but that is irrelevant because I choose CPC, it would only have been a factor if I had chosen CPM.
So here in a nutshell is what I learned:
It was in my mind over 50% effective in getting people to become a fan when they clicked on the link. This was with hardly any effort in producing the Ad, I took my logo and mission statement and did a cut and paste.
Fan Pages have a viral quality, since the people who joined the Fan Page also had friends with similar interest for each person that became a fan other’s joined. This is because the newsfeed now posts when somebody joins a Facebook Group or Fan Page.
I wasn’t selling anything so your results may vary if you are promoting a product or service.
People on Facebook don’t click on the Ads very much, but this is irrelevant if you select CPC.
Know your target demographics bid as close to the suggested maximum and keep an eye on it; reduce it when you don’t think people will be into what you have to offer. I increased my bidding in the afternoon, because if you’re into local bands and have been out I doubt you’re going to be up early.
I now have the confidence to go through with the project, based on the feedback and people I have met through the Fan Page.
So the inevitable question becomes will I continue promoting the Ad and I have mixed emotions on this one. While I want to promote the community the final website isn’t up so is it worth paying a $100/month, I’m not sure. Once the website is up, yes I would use Facebook advertising to drive traffic to the Fan Page, then ultimately to my website.
Anyway I hope everyone is having a great year so far and check out my Local Band Review Fan Page and the Local Band Review YouTube Channel. Also make sure to go see some of our hard working local talented bands most of them work for little money and they put on a great show. Technically all band members work from the basement or at least the garage.
While attending the TweetCrawl in Glastonbury last month Suzi Craig and Lisa Davenport announced that they would be throwing a party to raise money for Operation Home for the Holidays (OHFH). Which at the time seemed like it was going to be just another CT TweetCrawl event; well it didn’t turn out that way. Along the way this was planned to be a Rave Party, Dinner Event and ended up being something even more spectacular. Now I really don’t think Suzi or Lisa actually sleep, because to pull this off with all the changes in less than a month is simply amazing.
The goal was eventually set to raise $25,000 which even in a good economy with only a month’s time frame is a tough task. This was to be done originally through traditional large business sponsorships of the event, well that didn’t happen. Money is really tight and trying to get even smaller donations from larger clients is harder than ever. So what happened instead, the little guys pitched in, and I think we did really well (and by “we” I mean everyone who donated or helped)! Not only did the event go from being a traditional fund raising dinner (albeit in a warehouse), but it became kid friendly, fun and spawned these other events listed in this article here. I also got up on stage and raised money by singing bad karaoke.
A lot of small businesses, micro-businesses and individuals donated and continue to donate without having to go through corporate hoops. (Hint: check out the sidebar on the right of this blog to donate until December 4th, 2009.) Dealing with the smaller donors is harder, but with the Internet and an existing Social Networking presence it is a lot easier than it used to be. Suzi and Lisa where able to rally the troops (literally, just check out the pictures in the resources at the end of this post), and raised over $12,000 which is a pretty good amount with still over 2 weeks left to go. It wasn’t even the money that was the most amazing thing, but the donations of time, food, auction items and raffle prizes that rolled in. (yes I won the first raffle with no superglue this time, but I still got yelled at…) I was by no way an insider into this, and other than going to TweetCrawls, participating online and raising money I can only imagine the amount of work done to pull this off.
So to everyone who participated, I think congratulations are in order for a great fund raising effort, especially Suzi Craig, Lisa Davenport, Enza Dandeneau and The Marlborough Business Association who planned the whole thing. The food was also excellent and was provided by Agave Grill which was one of the first TweetCrawl hosts. The MCs where Ann Nyberg and Damon Scott who did a great job keeping the event moving along throughout the day, and announcing the winners for the auctions and raffle prizes.
To everyone wondering how my efforts paid off I was very close to my goal of $250 most of which was handed in at the Karaoke event. My personal thanks to everyone who showed up to watch me make a fool of myself and to anyone else who donated. One thing I learned from this is just because your business is small doesn’t mean you can’t contribute to a larger cause and do great things, Micros Rock! On that note I’ll leave you with a serenade…
Resources:
Suzi Craig’s The Deep End Article here:
Stephan Krauchick’s Video here:
CT TweetCrawl Page here:
Brent Robertson’s Photos here:
Seshu’s Photos here: NEW: Order T-Shirts online here:
The photo used in this article courtesy of Brent Robertson, his other photos of the event can be found on Facebook by using the resource link.
As I mentioned above we are still trying to raise money so please click on the ChipIn widget on the right sidebar to donate or buy a Limited Edition T-shirt for $15 (Leave a comment on this article if you want one). Also you can order prints ($10 each, 5×7) from Seshu, and 20% of the proceeds will go to Operation Home for the Holidays.
I just wanted to mention a few good events coming up over the next few weeks that might be of interest. This Friday Oct 30, 2009 Diana will be at the Middlesex Expo in Cromwell Ct from 9:00a– 8:00p at her B-Law booth, I’m sure she would be happy if you all stopped by. Our friend Charlie Schein will also be helping Diana man her booth.
The ambitious event schedule for TweetCrawl continues with fund raising efforts this time focusing on Operation Home for the Holidays. If you haven’t been to one of these yet it would be a good time to meet new people and help a great cause. Diana and I will be at the one on November 11th in Middletown, we are not sure about which of the others yet. It’s Karaoke night so stop by and see if you can get Diana on the stage to sing.
7:00pm – 10:00pm
$40 per person to benefit Operation Home for the Holidays.
Order your tickets here or RSVP on Facebookand pay at the door.
Another Event that I would recommend is the “Starting and Staying in Business – What it takes to survive in today’s crazy world“ seminar hosted by Rothstein & Co. Alan is a great speaker and is very engaging, this should be a really good presentation. A donation of $10 to FOODSHARE would be appreciated, please rsvp to cpa@rothsteinco.com and let them know you read about it on WFTB. The agenda and contact information is listed below:
Job Stability is Being Self Employed Alan Rothstein, CPA/PFS Alan works extensively with small business owners and entrepreneurs
What can go wrong in business, and how to prevent it Susan Busby, Attorney
New Rules on Marketing and Communications Using Social Networking to grow your business Darlene Susco, President Susco Visual, Inc.
November 11, 2009
Farmington Marriott
15 Farms Springs Road
Farmington, CT
7:00pm – 9:00pm
$10 per person requested donation to FOODSHARE
I want to thank all the people that got back to us about Diana’s Thankful Friday post, it was one of our biggest days here at WFTB. It was very encouraging to hear that we are helping motivate others in their daily lives.
I went, I saw and well I didn’t Crawl, but I did gingerly step around things. This week’s TweetCrawl was held at Lisa Davenport’s Home Gallery in Glastonbury. The Home gallery was the first TweetCrawl I’ve been to that was not in a restaurant and I must say it was fun. My only problem was that I was afraid to put my drink down on any of the nice furniture. Another thing that was really interesting was that I stood all night while the people new to the TweetCrawl just sat down in the comfy chairs, how’s that for conditioning.
This was the first time Diana and I went out to specifically promote this blog, and based on the results the day after I found that the TweetCrawl is a great place to get traffic to your site. I also won the door prize again and I am beginning to wonder if my business cards are embedded with superglue.
This TweetCrawl had over 60 people registered for it, and I think most of them attended. A lot of people new to Social Media took up refuge on the couches and received some training on a laptop. I had a lot of great conversations with people about contributing to this blog and picked up on some great people to follow. This didn’t stop me from mingling with the group now known as the regulars, and heading out to the Diamond to continue our conversations afterward.
Suzi Craig has been working hard on these events and announced a couple of changes. In the next month there will be an event or two every week and even a Party in a warehouse. I emailed Suzi about this and she made a couple of points.
December is a bad time to schedule anything so there will be nothing in December (as of now).
A lot of people have been unable to make these events so she is scheduling them throughout the week.
By spreading to different venues and more diverse locations more people may attend.
Suzi also announced a fund raising campaign to help Governor Rell bring troops Home for the Holidays, which means you need to have an ambitious schedule.
Suzi also hinted at more changes to come next year, not bad for something that’s only 6 months old and was initially promoted just on Social Media sites. While I hope to keep trying to make a lot of these, I am afraid even a person normally stuck in a basement like me won’t be able to keep up. This is by far one of the most fun networking events in Connecticut at the moment and attracts a great bunch of people. I also promised Suzi that I would not put my business card into the drawing for the next few weeks, so come out while you still have a chance to win something.
Some semi-irregulars and new people hanging out at TweetCrawl
Again we would like to thank Tim Tracey for contributing to yesterday’s blog and being our first guest blogger. Anyone interested in contributing to Working From the Basement please just signup as a registered user and shoot a message out to @WFTB on Twitter.
pictures courtesy of the CT TweetCrawl Group on Facebook…
I thought I would put together a little something about the upcoming TweetCrawl before it happened to entice any one that is on the fence about going. Suzi Craig from Fathom has been putting these events together for about 6 months now and so far I haven’t been to one I didn’t like. Tweetcrawl is not only for those of us who use Twitter, but for anyone interested in making connections through any Social Networking outlet i.e. Facebook, Linkedin etc… This is a great resource for the solo entrepreneur to leave the basement and meet other people.
The events used to be held primarily at restaurants, but now are expanding to other places, such as the current one at a Lisa Davenport’s Home Gallery in Glastonbury CT. Attendance has been growing for each event and while there are the regulars such as myself, new people come to each event. I have met a bunch of people that I wouldn’t have run into at chamber meeting and other such groups. Remember while you may not make a direct business connection an indirect recommendation works just as well. One of the side benefits of a trust economy is that you can start doing business with people you actually like and get along with. Going to a TweetCrawl lets you find the connections you need, while allowing you to go beyond just an elevator pitch about yourself.
Top Three Reasons I like TweetCrawls:
A chance to meet interesting and friendly people.
low cost or free alcohol and great food.
I get to leave the basement.
Like any good social media event the signup is hosted on a social media site, so let Suzi know you are coming by registering for the next CT TweetCrawl Event on Facebook. You can also follow @CTTweetCrawl on twitter for the latest updates. I hope to meet some new faces, so come out for the evening and hang out with the cool kids.
Like all good things in life, I came upon the Marlborough Business Association (MBA) in a serendipitous fashion – a friend of a friend of a colleague insisted that I needed to meet Donna Finnochairo, the President of the MBA.
Two and a half hours into our first coffee at The Gathering, and running a mile a minute with ideas, I was hooked. Donna is the kind of person who’s full of energy, excitement, and passion for her work and her community. She believes if you’re going to do something, do it right. (As my friend Brian says, “Go BIG, or go home.”)
Next thing I know, I’m drinking the kool-aid and signing up to be on the MBA Board for the 2009 year. And, I have to tell you, it was some of the best kool-aid I’ve had in a long time.
Here’s what’s so awesome about the Marlborough Business Association:
They are real people. In contrast with the traditional business-networking event, where you’re locked in the corner, getting the hard sell from some copier salesman, the MBA events are really more like hanging out with a good group of friends. There’s no hard sell. There’s no polished “Life is awesome, and I’m the best businessperson ever” personae. (Okay, maybe a few exceptions once in a while, but that’s not the point.) This is a group of people who honestly enjoy each other’s company, for the sake of sharing a glass of wine and catching up on what’s happened since the last meeting, and not for “what’s in it for me.”
The MBA Board gets shit done. The group is small enough that it still feels intimate and personal, and doesn’t have the bureaucracy and politics you might find in larger groups. Want to form an Educational Committee? Suggest it, and it’s yours. Technology Committee? Sure, sounds great! We don’t need to go through an elaborate approval process to get things done. We suggest, vote, and implement.
We meet monthly on the third Thursday. Location varies – we rotate among local businesses and community groups. It’s kind of like a secret club – you’ve got to really be looking for us to find us.
It gets lonely in the basement and once and awhile you need to get out in the light. Meeting on a regular basis with other basement dwellers can help keep you motivated and focused. One of these groups meets the first Thursday of every month at Ken’s in Glastonbury, CT. It is important when forming one of these informal peer groups that a specific schedule is planned. Groups that don’t do this are bound to fail, some people will always be absent, but by setting a specific day most of the members will attend. Small groups like this can be either a great addition or replacement for the more stringent BNI groups that have strict attendance guidelines. BNI groups can be particularly rough on solo entrepreneurs, since we are the only ones available to service our clients.
While the Geek Meet caters to the technology crowd it is actually attended by people in other businesses and has grown from 4 to about 8 regulars. This time we didn’t get our regular table ahead of time so we had to spread out and make the rounds. Some of the attendee’s are as follows:
Michael Lawson – (Me) Advanced Technology Consultant and head Geek
Ted Jennings – Financial Software Harry Kiernan – Computer Consultant, Artist, Organ Donor, and Chief Schmoozer Rick Williams – Web based Training and Compliance Software Rachel Pianka – Website Design Diana Bartolotta – (Diana) Awesome Attorney and certified geek Greg Flint – Network Design and Consultant
Steven Summit – Desktop Support Charlie Schein – New Independent Insurance Agent, formerly in Insurance Software sales Tim Tracey – Insurance Software and founder of YouGottaCall.com referral network
Joe Courchaine – Former business owner
What most of these people have in common other than some technology interests is that we all are either independent, virtual or very small businesses. Some of the conversations included Diana and I discussing our new collaborative website and getting the participants of Geek Meet to contribute articles. Tim explained his website and how it can help grow your business, along with reminiscing with Charlie and myself about Insurance software. Since I have the only Iphone I was being picked on for looking at it every 5 minutes, then showed everyone the new app I purchased called TFLN. Harry is donating part of his liver, after donating one of his kidneys a few years ago, so I guess we will be seeing less of him (just joking). Lastly Charlie and I discussed some personal Insurance that I was interested in. I am sure Diana will post a comment with what was discussed at her table once she reads this.
While groups like this may not always directly lead to business opportunities they can help keep you sane and provide a much needed break. Larger informal groups such as the Tweetups also allow for even more exposure for your business and are good for network building. Currently Suzi Craig runs the one in Connecticut called the CT Tweet Crawl and I highly recommend it.
On another note we all have a name for our spaces at home and I picked the name of this article based on Rachel’s. She credited me with giving it that name, so whether you work from the basement, dining room, living room or “fortress of solitude” always remember to change out of the PJ’s, brush your teeth and put on your super hero cape.
So, I’m dying to attend Dreamforce this year. A trip to San Francisco, however, is not exactly in the budget. And even if it were, right before our down season…..? Not going to happen.
In any case, I thought I’d throw it out there for those of you who can attend.
First, let me tell you why I want to attend:
1. Cloud computing is the wave of the future (no pun intended).
2. San Francisco holds so many great minds.
3. People who are embracing cloud computing are embracing other, cutting-edge things that I haven’t even yet thought of.
Here in the northeast it has seemed like we haven’t had a summer yet so this is probably as close as it gets. Podcamp this year focused on the use of social media and how it was being used. Being focused on the business aspects, I learned a few things that I think will help my clients and customers which are reinforced by my own experiences. The number one lesson is that while companies are recognizing social media as a buzz word they need help utilizing it. Just twittering the special of the day may work for one business but not another. A game plan for using Social Media has to be developed for companies based on their individual goals and expectations. The value and pricing of these services by both parties seem to be all over the map. Leveraging your existing relationships and skill sets may help you in setting up a model that works for you.
Social Media currently seems to be a generalized area where specialization hasn’t occurred yet, this became obvious in the discussion on the future of work session. The early adopters are just beginning to get rewarded for their pioneering efforts in educating businesses in the use of a more developed community based online presence. It is still clear that no experts really exist in this field but a lot of bright people are making different aspects work. Companies are looking for people with Social Media skills but assuming this to be a single person.
Tracking your social engagements still seems to be in its infancy, much like tracking Internet metrics was 10 years ago. The difference is that the industry has grown up and a lot of what we learned in the past should be able to be transitioned.
Video is playing an increasingly important role and should not be ignored; webinars and short information messages are replacing older voice only podcasting. The Hubspot people did a great presentation on how to produce videos without much editing. Keeping videos short and less than 2 minutes seems to keep people’s interest longer.
On a latter note I will say that Apple IPhones and Macbooks seemed to be required appendages. While hyper local got redefined for me when somebody tweeted for toilet paper while in the first stall of the ladies room.
Most of my insight as advertised did come for the interactions in the hallways and impromptu sessions on the lawn. I’m already missing podcamp and all my new friends…
Welcome to Working From The Basement, our collaborative blog dedicated to all those who work from home. Come join us for our daily trip up and down the stairs, while we reflect on how to keep our sanity and focus.
I received a Tweet this morning that stated the Micro Enterprise Resource Group of Connecticut had closed its doors after 5 years. This really doesn’t surprise me that much because micro businesses seem to be too diverse and distracted to get any kind of political message out. Most of us hunker down and go to a chamber meetings or small social media networking gatherings, but seldom spend much time thinking about policy and politics. I think we all agree the micros don’t get much respect from the government, banking institutions and even our slightly larger peers. How many times have you heard “Oh you work from home?” I think most people just think we are unemployed.
While attending the TweetCrawl in Glastonbury last month
I just wanted to mention a few good events coming up over the next few weeks that might be of interest. This Friday Oct 30, 2009 Diana will be at the Middlesex Expo in Cromwell Ct from 9:00a– 8:00p at her B-Law booth, I’m sure she would be happy if you all stopped by. Our friend Charlie Schein will also be helping Diana man her booth.
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