Monday, January 05, 2009

Speaking

You've heard about blogs and social media. You know that there is 'something' there, but you aren't sure exactly what that 'something' is, or how it can help you grow your business. I understand. In my presentations, seminars, and workshops, I take these seemingly foreign topics and boil them down into simple terms that you can easily understand. I'll walk you through what these social sites and tools are, and help you tie their potential back to your business' bottom line.

My presentations, seminars and workshops can and have been delivered to audiences as small as a few dozen, or as large as a few hundred. Please email me if you are interested in having me speak at your business, company, private event, or conference.

Click here to get more information on:

Presentations
Workshops and Seminars
1-Day Blog Coaching Sessions
Video Interview with WebProNews
Upcoming Speaking Schedule
Speaker Testimonials

Some of my more popular presentation topics include:

Blogging for Business:
Many businesses are trying to figure out whether they need to integrate blogging into their marketing plans. What will be the ROI from blogging? Will customers be more inclined to buy because you have a blog? These are just some of the questions being tossed around by intrigued marketers. I'll touch on blogging as a component of a greater marketing scheme for your business including engaging content, customer feedback, and sales tools. I will show you how you can position a blog as a tool to grow your business, and also cover if a blog is right for your particular situation.

What is Social Media and How Can it Impact Your Business:
Here, we dive into the social media waters and explain what exactly blogs, social networks, and micro-blogs really are. After covering exactly what these social sites and tools are, I'll walk you through the unique advantages and challenges that are associated with using each one. Finally, we'll wrap up by showing you which tools/sites you should be using, based on your unique business goals.

Monitoring the Blogosphere and Social Media:
Even if your business isn't blogging or actively using social media, you can still benefit from these tools by monitoring what is being said about your business online. In this session, we'll talk about the importance of finding and responding online feedback (both positive and negative) that others are leaving about your business. We'll cover the tools you can use to do this, and how to interact with people that are using these tools to communicate online with each other about your business.

Micro-Blogging 101:
Twitter? Plurk? What are these sites anyway? I'll explain to you how to get started using micro-blogs and sites such as Friendfeed to better connect with, and communicate with current and potential customers. We'll cover how you can use these sites to provide improved customer service, better monitor your industry, and as professional networking vehicles.



In addition, I also offer extensive workshops and seminars that delve deeper into using social media sites and tools to achieve your business goals. Here are a couple of examples of possible topics:

Everything You Need to Know About Creating and Launching a Successful Blog:
In this intensive workshop, we'll show you how to lay the proper groundwork for your blog, and get it off the ground. All elements will be covered, including creating a monitoring system first, then choosing your blog's focus, and how to handle trouble issues that may arise as your blog grows. I'll break down the four elements of a successful blog, and how you can correct any problems you may have with your existing blog. We'll also cover handling blog comments, building your blog's readership, and how you can position your blog to better achieve your larger business goals.

Creating a Social Media Strategy:
This workshop will first give you an overview of each subset of social media, such as blogs, social networks, micro-blogs, and using podcasts/videos. After we cover what these tools are, we'll then break down each tool's strengths and weaknesses in helping you reach your larger business goals. We'll also focus on the time and manpower requirements for each. Finally, we'll talk about which tool is best for you, or if you should incorporate multiple social media sites/tools together to reach your business objectives.


Finally, I also offer extensive 1-day coaching sessions for blogging businesses. I'll meet with your blog's writers on-site, and we'll spend the day dissecting every element of your blog and examine how effective your blogging efforts are in reaching your larger business goals. I'll take the time to coach each of your writers on their writing style, so we make sure that your blog content is positioned with your reader's best interests in mind. We'll also cover what your writers can do to encourage more comments and interaction with visitors on your blog. Additionally, I'll show your writers how to monitor their blog's traffic for patterns that can help them better understand what topics are resonating with your readers. Finally, we'll make sure your business has a solid system in place to monitor the blogosphere and other social sites so that you are aware of all feedback that current and potential customers are leaving about your business.

Please email me for a quote on the price of this service.


I also frequently speak at industry conferences and events. You can see me present at the following events (updated regularly so please check back):

Blogging Fundamentals
Webinar (Marketing Profs) - March 26th, 2009

From Blah to Blockbuster; How You Can Build a Blog that Excites Your Customers Webinar (Marketing Profs) - March 27th, 2009

Online Media Bootcamp - Philadelphia, April 9 2009

Social Media Club Workshops - Birmingham, Alabama, April 27 2009

Marketing Profs B2B Forum - Boston, MA, June 8-9 2009

Small Business Marketing Unleashed - Fall 2009 (Tentative)

Learn About Web - Denver, September 14-15 2009


Here's a short video interview that WebProNews conducted with me after a recent speaking engagement:



Here's what conference organizers and audience members have said about my presentations:

"Mack was hired as a speaker for our first Learn About Web conference. He was a fan favorite. He helped bridge the gap for companies who want to use blogging as a marketing tool in a way they could understand. Highly recommended for your conference, he will speak at more of ours!" - Craig Sutton, Learn About Web

"(your presentation) inspired me to love blogging again" - Li Evans, Search Marketing Gurus

"you rocked the house on your blogging for business session" - Jennifer Laycock, Small Business Marketing Unleashed

Here's what other marketing thought leaders have said about me and my writings:

“When it comes to using technology to bring the community of your customers closer together, there simply isn't a more creative visionary than Mack Collier." - Jordan Behan, Owner Tell Ten Friends Marketing


"If you claim to be interested in where marketing is heading, then you really ought to take a look at Mack Collier and his Viral Garden-which is turning out to be an interesting case study in how to grow your personal brand in record time." - David Armano, VP of Experience Design with Critical Mass


"Mack shares simple truths about building and feeding a blog audience. The piece should be required reading for any blogger, seasoned or just getting started." - John Jantsch of Duct Tape Marketing


“Mack's ability to focus solely on the community's needs solidifies his reputation as a marketer who practices what he preaches." - Mario Sundar, Community Evangelist at LinkedIn


"Mack Collier is an evangelist's evangelist." - Ben McConnell, author of "Citizen Marketers" and "Creating Customer Evangelists"


"I thought your blog was great, why would I not!!" - Terry McBride, CEO of Nettwerk Music

Pic via Flickr user Storyspinn

Pic of SXSW panel via Flickr user Jeremiah