Posted by
Liz Dean on Wed, Apr 17, 2013 @ 02:13 PM
America Means Business, an event about how to start, grow, and manage a business, attracted scores of entrepreneurs and small business owners from across the DC Metropolitan Area on April 9 at George Mason University's Arlington, VA Campus! Attendees enjoyed educational, networking, and social events focusing on small business growth.
If you attended, we would love for you to help us grow this great entrepreneurial event by:
- Tweeting about your impressions of America Means Business using #AmericaMeansBiz. Tell us what you loved and which features you thought were most beneficial and/or
- Emailing us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com and letting us know how the event helped you get closer to your dream of starting or growing your own business.
America Means Business is presented by the Stevie® Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards, in conjunction with the School of Management at George Mason University.
If you didn't get a chance to attend the second annual America Means Business event, email us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com and we'll be sure to keep you updated on future events and opportunities.
Leave us a comment and let us know how you enjoyed America Means Business.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Mon, Apr 08, 2013 @ 01:20 PM
America Means Business, an event about how to start, grow, and manage a business, is tomorrow, April 9, at George Mason University's Arlington, Virginia Campus.
If you haven't yet registered, you can pre-register for free here. (Registration is just $10 at the door and you can attend the entire day or any part of it, it's entirely up to you.)
The second annual event will feature several sessions about how to start and grow your own business, and everything in between, from how to finance and staff your business to how to develop your products and services, how to market them, and how to service your customers.
Among the sessions you can learn from with your free registration are:
You can also schedule a free 30-minute consultation with an experienced small business consultant, learn from other entrepreneurs at the event, and network. See the complete schedule online and pre-register for free.
America Means Business is presented by the Stevie® Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards, in conjunction with the School of Management at George Mason University.
Have questions about America Means Business? Don't hesitate to contact us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com or call us at +1 703-547-8389.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Fri, Apr 05, 2013 @ 08:54 AM
America Means Business, an event about how to start, grow, and manage a business, is only four days away! If you haven't yet registered, you can pre-register for free here. (Registration is just $10 at the door and you can attend the entire day or any part of it, it's entirely up to you.)
Set to take place on April 9 at George Mason University's Arlington, Virginia Campus, the second annual event will be packed with educational, networking, and social events that will show entrepreneurs how to bring their dreams to life.
America Means Business will feature several sessions about how to start and grow your own business, and everything in between, from how to finance and staff your business to how to develop your products and services, how to market them, and how to service your customers.
Among the sessions you can learn from with your free registration are:
You can also schedule a free 30-minute consultation with an experienced small business consultant, learn from other entrepreneurs at the event, and network. See the complete schedule online and pre-register for free.
America Means Business is presented by the Stevie® Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards, in conjunction with the School of Management at George Mason University.
Have questions about America Means Business? Don't hesitate to contact us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com or call us at +1 703-547-8389.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Thu, Mar 21, 2013 @ 12:50 PM
The Stevie® Awards, organizer of the world’s premier business awards, announced several scheduling details for America Means Business, an event about how to start, grow, and manage a business. Set to take place on April 9 at George Mason University's Arlington, Virginia Campus, the second annual event will be packed with educational, networking, and social events that will show entrepreneurs how to bring their dreams to life. See the preliminary schedule online.
If you haven't yet registered, you can pre-register for free here. (Registration is just $10 at the door and you can attend the entire day or any part of it, it's entirely up to you.)
America Means Business will feature several sessions about how to start and grow your own business, and everything in between, from how to finance and staff your business to how to develop your products and services, how to market them, and how to service your customers.
Highlights from the current schedule include:
- Roundtable Discussion: Starting and Growing a Successful Business, presented by members of the George Mason University Business Roundtable
- Innovative Strategies to Help You Grow, presented by Jim Wolfe, Entrepreneur in Residence at the George Mason University School of Management
- The Secret of Getting Better Customers, presented by Jeanne Rossomme, Founder of RoadMap Marketing
- 1-to-1 Counseling Lounge providing immediate small business feedback by SCORE’s small business professionals
We will continue to add to and update the AMB calendar of events so we suggest periodically checking to learn about new opportunities for entrepreneurs at America Means Business. Click here to view the current America Means Business calendar.
America Means Business is presented by the Stevie® Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards, in conjunction with the School of Management at George Mason University.
Have questions about America Means Business? Don't hesitate to contact us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com or call us at +1 703-547-8389.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Fri, Mar 08, 2013 @ 10:02 AM
Free pre-registration for America Means Business, an event about how to start, grow, and manage a business, is now open. Set to take place on April 9 at George Mason University's Arlington, Virginia Campus, the second annual event will be packed with educational, networking, and social events that will show entrepreneurs how to bring their dreams to life.
If you haven't yet registered, you can pre-register for free here. (Registration is just $10 at the door and you can attend the entire day or any part of it, it's entirely up to you.)
America Means Business will feature dozens of events about how to start and grow your own business, and everything in between, from how to finance and staff your business to how to develop your products and services, how to market them, and how to service your customers. Events at America Means Business will include:
- Basic startup education,
- Inspirational keynotes,
- Informative panel discussions, and
- Networking opportunities.
You can also schedule a free 30-minute consultation with an experienced small business consultant. Pre-register now.
America Means Business is being crowdsourced, meaning that dozens of organizations across the nation are contributing to its programming. Anyone who wants to hold an event related to entrepreneurship and business creation is invited to become an Event Partner. (There is no cost to stage an event.)
America Means Business is presented by the Stevie® Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards, in conjunction with the School of Management at George Mason University.
Have questions about America Means Business? Don't hesitate to contact us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com or call us at +1 703-547-8389.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Mon, Feb 11, 2013 @ 11:47 AM
Join the mailing list for America Means Business, an event about how to start, grow, and manage a business. Set to take place on April 9 at George Mason University's Arlington, Virginia Campus, the second annual event will be packed with educational, networking, and social events that will show entrepreneurs how to bring their dreams to life.
If you haven't yet done so, you can join the America Means Business mailing list here.
America Means Business will feature information about how to start and grow your own business, and everything in between, from how to finance and staff your business to how to develop your products and services, how to market them, and how to service your customers. You'll also be able to schedule a free 30-minute consultation with an experienced small business consultant and get the advice you need to start or grow your business.
Interested in sharing your experience and expertise with attendees? We're looking for speakers, experts, and moderators.
Interested in attending? Free pre-registration will open next month.
Join the America Means Business mailing list and we'll send you more information as it becomes available.
America Means Business is presented by the Stevie® Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards, in conjunction with the School of Management at George Mason University.
Have questions about America Means Business? Don't hesitate to contact us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com or call us at +1 703-547-8389.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Tue, Sep 25, 2012 @ 03:41 PM
The Stevie® Awards are pleased to share our recap video of America Mean Business, the landmark new event about how to start, grow, and manage a business, which took place on June 13-15 in New York City. Attracting more than 1,000 people over the three days, attendees enjoyed educational, networking, and social events focusing on entrepreneurship and small business growth.
The brief video offers a comprehensive overview of America Means Business including interviews with:
- Attendees,
- Speakers,
- SCORE Mentors, and
- Exhibitors
Watch the video now.
America Means Business is presented by the Stevie® Awards, the organizer of the annual American Business Awards.
To learn more about America Means Business, visit www.americameansbusiness-nyc.com.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Mon, Aug 27, 2012 @ 02:24 PM
Janine Popick, CEO and Founder of VerticalResponse in San Francisco, California, USA, has won multiple Stevie® Awards, most recently for Best Entrepreneur in the 2011 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, and the Gold Stevie for Executive of the Year/Advertising, Marketing & Public Relations in The 2012 American Business Awards. (The entry deadline for the 2012 Stevie Awards for Women in Business, the world's premier awards for women executives, entrepreneurs, and the organizations they run, is August 29. If you can't make the deadline, late entries will be accepted through September 28 with payment of a late fee. Request your entry kit today.) Janine recently spoke at America Means Business, a three day event for entrepreneurs, sponsored by the Stevie Awards. The following is an extract from that presentation: 
As a business owner, the last thing you’re probably thinking about as you go through your day is posting to Facebook or tweeting on Twitter. I get it. I’ve been there. But getting started with social media is not that hard or intimidating—really! And if you are already using some form of email marketing, it’s even easier. Here are four tips on how to make the most of your already limited time and to make social media work to grow your business.
1. What to Publish
You’ve probably heard the phrase: Content is king. With social media, content is more important than ever. But who has all this content, and who has the time to create it? Not me, you’re thinking.
Here’s a secret: You already have a ton of content that you can share with your fans and customers. Here are some fresh examples:
- Employee stories
- Photos and videos
- Guides, whitepapers, or notes
- Outside content (content you don’t own but can share)
- Questions and polls
- Great offers
- Events
- Press and awards
If you have a blog, this is where all your content should reside because a) you can post your content there and easily link to it in your social media posts, and b) a blog is ever-changing while your website is not. (If you don’t already have a blog yet, this is a key reason to start one.) A blog also gives you search engine optimization (SEO) benefits because search engines like Google love content. The more new content you have about a particular topic or category such as your industry, the more likely it is to appear on the results pages when someone is searching for those words.
The next step is to create a social media content calendar. It can be as simple as a monthly calendar that shows what you plan to post every day throughout the month. You'll want to leave room for spur-of-the-moment posts, of course, but having a plan will keep you organized and focused on the big picture. Don’t forget to designate who will be in charge of writing and/or posting them.
2. How to Increase Reach
The ultimate goal of being on social media is to increase your reach—i.e. the number of people who have the opportunity to be exposed to your company and message—and to increase engagement. There are multiple ways people can engage with you on social media, from someone answering a question, sharing your post or your tweet, or commenting on a post, to liking your Facebook post or Facebook page.
How do you encourage engagement? You can:
- Ask questions
- Share blog posts, events, company news, industry news, videos, and photos
- Thank your customers on their Facebook profiles or send them a tweet for mentioning your company or sharing your content (people love to be acknowledged!)
- Include calls to action with your content
- Use contests and giveaways to incentivize your followers
- Send solo email campaigns encouraging a follow or like (be sure to offer a bonus offer or flash discount)
Just remember: Your posts don’t have to be all about business, and they definitely shouldn’t just be about you. Tap in to your audience’s interests. You can share content about topics that are currently in the news, or a worthy cause, or just something fun. The goal is to catch your readers’ attention and get them to take an action.
3. Get it all to Work Together
Recent research by my marketing technology company VerticalResponse found that businesses that use both email and social media get a 28% higher open rate on their emails than those that don’t use both channels. Here are some easy ways to integrate email, blog content, and social media that will get more people to pay attention:
Blog:
- Add an email opt-in form to your blog.
- Repurpose blog posts as content for your email newsletters.
- Use email to help build a strong following for your blog.
Get that email address!
- Ask Facebook followers for their email address.
- Have a welcome tab on your Facebook page with a form asking for their email address.
- Tweet “sign up to receive email-only” offers, then link to an opt-in form.
Email and Social Media:
- Post your email to your Facebook page and Twitter feed.
- Include “like us on Facebook” and “follow us on Twitter” buttons in your emails. Most email service providers offer the option to include these.
- Send a solo email asking recipients to follow you on your social networks.
4. Keeping Track
Like any business plan or strategy, when it comes to social media it’s important to see what’s working, what isn’t, and to learn from what you’re doing. Fortunately there are a lot of free or low-cost tools out there. Google Analytics is a great, free tool that tells you how many people visit your website and what they like to click on. Facebook Insights is another free, easy-to-use tool that lets you see which posts are popular, how many people they reach, and other metrics. For Twitter, check out Twitter Counter or TweetDeck.
Social media should not take you away from running your business. Instead, put these timesaving ideas in to action and watch your business grow!
For the full American Means Business Days presentation, download it for free here.
Did you enjoy this post? If so, sign up for the free VR Buzz weekly newsletter and check out the VerticalResponse Marketing Blog.
About Janine Popick:
Janine Popick is the CEO and founder of VerticalResponse, a leading provider of self-service email, social media, event marketing, online surveys, and direct mail solutions for businesses and non-profits. She has won the Stevie Award for Best Entrepreneur in the Stevie Awards for Women in Business every year since 2008. Janine recently won the U.S. Small Business Administration award for Small Business Person of the Year and was named a 2012 Small Biz Influencer Champion by Small Biz Trends. Janine brings over 20 years of experience leading direct and Internet marketing programs for some of the biggest brands in technology and entertainment. Follow her on Twitter at @janinepopick.
About VerticalResponse:
VerticalResponse Inc. provides a full suite of self-service marketing solutions for small businesses including email marketing, social media marketing, event marketing, online surveys, and direct mail marketing. Its mission is to empower small businesses and non-profit organizations to easily and affordably create, manage, and analyze their own marketing campaigns. Users can benefit from a wide variety of features via a single dashboard, including more than 700 free email-marketing templates; social media management tools to create, schedule, and publish content, and engage with followers; and robust reporting so that they can understand overall marketing success. VerticalResponse is headquartered in San Francisco, California. For more information visit www.verticalresponse.com
Posted by
Liz Dean on Wed, Jun 20, 2012 @ 01:58 PM
America Mean Business, the landmark new event about how to start, grow, and manage a business, June 13-15 in New York City, attracted more than 1,000 attendees over the three days! Attendees enjoyed educational, networking, and social events focusing on small business growth.
If you attended, we would love for you to help us grow this great entrepreneurial event by:
Tweeting about your impressions of America Means Business using #AmericaMeansBusiness. Tell us what you loved and which features benefited you most.- Emailing us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com and letting us know how the event helped you get closer to your dream of starting or growing your own business.
Photos from the event are now available online at http://www.flickr.com/photos/stevieawards/sets/72157630123869270. Please feel free to share with your family and friends.
If you didn't get a chance to attend America Means Business, email us at AMBInfo@thestevies.com and we'll be sure to keep you updated on future events and opportunities.
Leave us a comment and let us know how you enjoyed America Means Business.
Posted by
Liz Dean on Fri, Jun 15, 2012 @ 02:12 PM
America Mean Business, the landmark new event about how to start, grow, and manage your own business, continues on Thursday and Friday, June 14-15 in New York City. Registration is just $10 at the door and you can attend the entire event or any part of it, it's entirely up to you.
Here are some of Friday's sessions and events at Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 W. 18th Street in Manhattan, you can learn from with your free registration. Doors will open at 9:15 am - be sure to arrive early!
- An Informative Keynote Presentation with Carol Roth, Startup Consultant and Author of "The Entrepreneur Equation"
- Sessions About Public Relations Basics for Startups, How to Use Social Media to Build Your Business, and More
- Presentations by Successful Entrepreneurs About "How They Did It" Including a Babysitting and Nanny Agency, a Public Relations Agency, a Designer Apron Maker, and More
- 1-to-1 Counseling with Experienced Small Business Mentors from SCORE
- An Expo of Products and Services to Help You Bring Your Dreams to Life
See the complete schedule online.
Help us spread the world about this great new event. Tell your friends, family, and co-workers that registration at the door is just $10.
If you can attend for only an hour, or for the entire day, America Means Business will help you to make your dream a reality!