Team and a Dream Launches SociallySourced™ for Smart Crowdsourcing

PHILADELPHIA, PA – Team and a Dream, an interactive marketing agency, will launch a new offering for creating Social Media strategies called SociallySourced™. The offering will be launched as part of the event Entrepreneur 2.0: Social Media Strategies for Startups at the Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship, Drexel University, 5:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m., Tuesday, December 1, 2009.

Workshop leaders Skip Shuda and Marilyn Moran will lead the pilot launch of SociallySourced™, a proprietary methodology that draws on the expertise of a diverse panel of social media experts, to create an Social Media Action Plan for a Baiada Center company.  Program Director Bechara Jaoudeh indicated that GreenKonnect, a search engine for the green building industry, will be the first company to receive a Social Media Action Plan that is SociallySourced.

“We are excited to help cause-based organizations understand and use the tremendous marketing benefits that social media offers,” said Jaoudeh.  “And, as a company, we’re especially excited to debut our new methodology for developing innovative social media strategies. We think it’s going to be an effective model for many different kinds of companies.”

Advanced registration is required and is available at http://www.lebow.drexel.edu/Centers/Baiada/Calendar

WHAT: Entrepreneur 2.0: Social Media Strategies for Startups Workshop
WHEN: Tuesday, December 1
TIME: 5 to 7 p.m.
WHERE: Laurence A. Baiada Center for Entrepreneurship
(Drexel University’s Main Campus)
3225 Arch Street, Ground Floor, Room G-55

ABOUT WORKSHOP LEADERS:

Skip Shuda, Co-founder & CEO, Team and a Dream
Skip has a passion for working with Internet startups and using his experience, lessons and tools to assist fellow entrepreneurs.  As CEO of Team and a Dream, he helps accelerate the launch of web businesses by focusing on the creation and deployment of strong eBusiness models.  The company also provides social media marketing, market and competitive assessments and Internet marketing strategies.

Skip is an active participant and speaker in the Philadelphia entrepreneurial community.  In addition, he teaches at the Wharton Small Business Development Center and consults with the Ben Franklin Technology Partners of Southeastern PA.

Marilyn Moran, Internet Marketing Strategist, Team and a Dream
Marilyn is a passionate and experienced internet marketing and social media consultant. Prior to working with Team and a Dream, she managed Internet marketing, web development, and social media solutions at several interactive agencies. Her knowledge and creative approaches to using the social tools for marketing have made her an authority in this emerging field.

To learn more about Team and a Dream, please visit http://www.teamandadream.com. For media inquiries, please contact Marilyn Moran marilyn (at) teamandadream (dot) com.

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SociallySourced is a registered trademark of Team and a Dream.

A New Partnership for Smart Internet Marketing Success

Philadelphia Internet Marketing Company

Marilyn Marketing has partnered with Philadelphia Internet Marketing Company Team and a Dream. Based in the Philadelphia suburbs, Team and a Dream provides high-level Internet marketing consulting to startups, small- and medium-sized businesses. We consult and develop solutions in the following areas: brand positioning, inbound marketing, natural search engine marketing, pay per click marketing (Google Adwords), email marketing, social media marketing, and lead generation marketing.

I’m proud to be partnered with such a smart and fast-growing company. Contact us at Team and a Dream to learn how we can push your Internet marketing efforts to the next level!

P.S.: You can still email me at phillymarketing (at) gmail (dot) com.

Philly Social Media Club July 2009 Meeting

Topic: The Benefits of Having a Corporate Mullet

Time: 6:30-8:00
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Location: Red Tettemer
Register at: http://smcphillyjuly.eventbrite.com/ (UPDATE: SOLD OUT! Post message on Facebook group for consideration)
Speaker: Duncan Alney of Firebelly Marketing

It’s true…the mullet is back in fashion! Didn’t you hear the latest from Glamour, er, Business Week?

Come on, how can you not have an affinity for something that’s ‘business in the front and party in the back?!’

Duncan Alney from Firebelly and the Indianapolis Social Media Club will join us to discuss the importance of socializing your business online (the party) while balancing the importance of business protocol in some social media situations (the business).

Duncan is flying in from Indiana to join us, so please give him a warm Philly welcome!

Philly Twitter-LinkedIn Workshop

Last Tuesday, I participated in a workshop at Temple University’s Center City campus that focused specifically on Twitter and LinkedIn. I presented the Twitter portion, while Ed Callahan spoke of LinkedIn.  We had about 35 people attend the workshop. I found that to be a very comfortable number of attendees.  With a show of hands, we asked the audience who was currently participating on Twitter and LinkedIn.  Far more people were on LinkedIn than Twitter. Most of the people who said they were on Twitter were relative newbies.

My presentation was geared for the small business owner who is just getting started. I focused on the basics of setting up a good profile, Twitter search, etiquette, and viable reasons for using Twitter for business. There were many questions from “Should I put my email address in my profile?” to “How do I get more followers?” It’s clearly evident that small and medium-sized business owners and executives know they need to leverage Twitter as a business tool, and there is still a lot of confusion on how to use it effectively.

I’ll tell you what I tell everyone before they embark on a marketing strategy: know your goals. Develop obtainable objectives around those goals. Then brainstorm and experiment on the tactics and actionable items that may accomplish those goals.

Let’s face it, the major goal of any business or company is to increase revenue, right? But increasing revenue can only take place if you have qualified sales leads. So, an example of a sales-driven objective and some action items could be:

Objective:
Increase prospective client & qualifed lead pipeline

Venue:
Twitter

Tactics:

• Create search-friendly profile and tweets
• Download/use desktop or mobile phone-friendly Twitter client
• Use Twitter search for specified and relevant keywords
• Manually follow and monitor appropriate Twitter users
• Follow thought leaders in your industry or area of expertise
• Review daily Twitter stream
• Tweet daily
  • Share relevant links and information about your industry or area of expertise
  • Join relevant conversations
  • Engage Twitter followers: ask questions! give answers!
  • Respond to replies or direct messages
• Promote your product or service moderately
• Monitor and analyze traffic to website

Your social media mileage is going to vary. What works for someone else, may not work for you. Test often, but always keep your objectives in mind. Revise & refine as you need to. Twitter, or any social media for that matter, is not a sales & marketing cure all, nor should it replace other, successful methods you’re currently using. They are one of many tools you may use in your business-building efforts.

Click Here for more information about the Twitter-LinkedIn Workshop. Contact info@teamandadream.com if you wish to discuss setting up a social media consult or social media coaching session with me.

Tonight: Getting Back to Basics: Social Media and Public Relations Planning

TONIGHT!

Getting Back to Basics: Measurable Objectives in Social Media and Public Relations w/ Ken Jacobs

Location:
Science Leadership Academy
55 N. 22nd St

Time:
6:30pm

Register at: http://smcphillyfeb.eventbrite.com/

Why social media and PR this month? Because in today’s world, nearly every “public” with whom you’re trying to build a relationship is online!

In the current economic environment all of us—whether business owners, freelancers, or those who execute communications for non-profits, government agencies, or corporations—need to be on defense when it comes to our work.

The best protection against the budget cutter’s sword is a rock-solid plan—one with measurable objectives, strategies that overcome roadblocks and tactics that ultimately help achieve marketing goals.

So let’s get back to the basics of planning and discuss some best practices!

Ken Jacobs of Jacobs Communications Consulting, a PR consulting, training and coaching company, will present and facilitate a discussion on the basics of plan writing. You’ll learn, among other topics, how to:

• Create objectives that are objectives; neither strategies nor tactics
• Make sure your objectives are measurable
• Understand the Three Kinds of Objectives: Output, Outtake, and Outcome

The Philly Social Media Club has partnered with the local PRSA (Public Relation Society of America) chapter and its new social media committee. Please welcome them to the Social Media Club!

See you tonight!

Philadelphia Twestival

Philadelphia Twestival - Thursday, February 12th

On February 12th, 100+ cities around the world will be hosting Twestivals which bring together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity: water.

Philadelphia Twestival
The Get Happy Pub
509-511 S 2nd Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147

There will be a Rock Band Tournament, 50/50 raffle, prizes, and drink specials all night!

Tickets are on sale now: Amiando, Twestival ticketing partner.

Please blog, tweet, or spread the word any way you can!

Philly Social Media Club

According to the Philly Social Media Club wiki, the December meet up is SOLD OUT!  Space was limited, so it sold out quickly.  The topic is a hot one, too:  journalism and blogging.  Notables from Philly.com will be on hand to discuss social media and its impact on the future of journalism.

But never fear social media lovers, after the discussion with Philly.com, the group will be converging at the Irish Bar & Restaurant Tír na nÓg (located at 1600 Arch Street) for socializing.  Come on out!

It’s that time again: Bloblive!

bloblive is back!

Monday, November 24th
at McGillin’s Olde Ale House
1310 Drury Street, Philadelphia
(between Chestnut & Sansom Streets / 13th & Juniper Streets)
Doors open at 6:00 PM
Idea sharing and collaboration begins at 7:00 PM
Space is limited – Only 75 seats available!

Myself and Gloria Bell will be “Guest Advisors”. In other words, we will be available for brief 1-on-1 advice giving sessions with those who present ideas!  Naturally I will be giving marketing and/or public relations advice. Gloria will be giving advice on how to take that seed (idea) and grow it!

See you there!

Philly Standards Lecture: Barrier-Free User Experience

As I noted the last time I posted about Philly Standards, I have a “thing” for web design, programming, and development.  A “clean” site not only plays a crucial role in ensuring search engine friendliness, but in user experience as well.  Ask my roommate, I have a pet-peeve for poorly designed and flashy websites that are hard to navigate and read.  But I digress.

This past Tuesday at Ly Michael’s, Philly Standards hosted a presentation by Kel Smith who explained what Section 508 is and why it is important for anybody with a web presence, or marketing a website, get up to speed on what he calls “inclusive design”.  More on that later.

I <3 Philly’s Creative Community

There’s always something great and exciting happening.  Whether it’s casual meetings of creative people socializing, monthly lectures by groups such as PANMA or Philly Standards, or bigger all-day events like PodCamp and BarCamp Philly.  Then there are resources like the Philly New Media Hub that track all of this exciting creative activity.  There’s literally so much going on, it could make your head spin.

Just this past Saturday, BarCamp Philly took place at the University of the Arts. I was unable to attend due to not feeling well.  This pained me as I knew it was going to be a day filled with learning and networking.  From the sounds of it, it was a resounding success. I still don’t feel well, but according to attendee David Konopka, BarCamp Philly was mind-blowing. After reading that, I am quite sad I was not able to attend.

However there are talks on the BarCamp Philly Google Group about holding monthly BarCamp-related meetups.  At first I was worried because there are a lot of other similar groups that hold meetings, and there is certainly overlap – but then it dawned on me – why should these meetings of creative folks be tied to just organized groups?  Why not hold impromptu meetings according to subject matter and whoever is interested in attending just show up?

The pro is that there is no toe-stepping, everybody is welcome no matter where you come from.  The con of it is it could get too disorganized resulting in chaos.  But, like David says, “Do First, Worry Later”.  I like that mentality and that’s what is so great about this town.  People not only TALK about things, they ACT!  In big numbers, too.

I’m proud to be a part of this vibrant, smart, and enthusiastic community of doers.