What: Blog Competition

Who: Central Virginia residents who own and operate a weblog! 

Deadline for Submissions: May 15th, 2009

Blog-Off Date: Friday, May 22nd @ 9 a.m. 

Where: The Muse coffee shop in Wyndhurst

Why: To evaluate the effectiveness of local bloggers!

What is Friday 2.0?

Friday 2.0 is a local Virginia networking group who meets on Friday mornings at 9 a.m. at The Muse coffee shop in Wyndhurst. Friday 2.0’s goal is to get educated about social media tools and opportunities. The most passionate and curious professionals attend this un-meeting as a way to connect with like-minded individuals and discuss the topics and trends relevant to technology, social media and the future of social media. Everyone from the freshly-minted twitter-er, to the tech-advanced executive managing 500 people are encouraged to attend and participate. All voices are equal and welcome at Friday 2.0! Join our Facebook Friday 2.0 Group.

Battle of the Blogs!

Friday 2.0 meets every week to talk about the effectiveness of blogging. Each week leading up to our ‘Blog-Off’ our panel of judges will be presenting the criteria by which they will be judging!

By submitting your blog to our panel of four judges, you will be entered into our first ever ‘Blog-Off’. Your blog will be evaluated for:

1. Sexiness (Look and Feel), evaluated by Andrew Potter
2. Usability, evaluated by Jennifer Bailey
3. Search Engine Optimization, evaluated by Phil Tucker
4. Community Engagement and Social Media, evaluated by Nannette Saunders

Instructions on Submitting Your Blog to the ‘Blog-Off’:

To submit your blog you need to…

• Write a blog about the ‘Blog-Off’. Make sure we know 1) your name, and 2) why you are entering the contest
• Post a link to your blog below in the comments section of this article!
• Submission deadline is May 15th, and the ‘Blog-Off’ event will take place on May 22nd!

The Grand Prize:

Winner of the ‘Blog-Off’ will receive something so incredible, so amazing, that we can’t tell you what it is just yet.

We all have a story. We have visions, and goals, and passions. As women, we traditionally have used word of mouth and networks of friends to communicate and have influence. 

Social Media Phenomenon + Women = Influence that we cannot ignore!

Whether is for your job, your cause, your church or your family… social media can give us influence. 
—
Expressions Laboratories director Jennifer Mills is hosting a functional and inspiring lunch event discussing the critical position that women are in and how social media tools can be used to have influence. 

Jennifer Mills educates small businesses and organizations on effectively using social media to cut marketing costs and increase sales. After helping nonprofits and churches learn to use public relations to reach mass audiences, Jennifer founded Expressions Laboratories, a web development company specializing in helping businesses and organizations reach their brick and mortar goals. Jennifer’s company has brought new strategy and online publicity to hundreds of organizations nationally. 

Jennifer’s passion is in creating solutions where they need improvement. So as technology has redefined the way organizations perform outreach and achieve their goals, Jennifer has redefined the way public relations works for businesses. 

More about Jennifer Mills >

Our Guest Speaker is Cheryl Smith from Culture Smith Consulting! 

Cheryl Smith, IOM, is President of CultureSmith Consulting LLC where she works with businesses and non-profit organizations that concentrate on improving corporate culture. After more than twenty years of experience in nonprofit and corporate settings, Smith has turned her personal interests and experience into what is now her passion – helping people and organizations develop their potential.

Cheryl speaks to audiences about customer service, team building, communication, behavior preferences, networking and life work balance. She also has a thing or two to say about overcoming life’s challenges while maintaining a positive attitude.

Learn More about Cheryl Smith >

Come and learn more about this social media opportunity. To influence the world with our unique sense of relationship. With compassion, care, courage and collaboration. 

When: April 29 @ 12:00-2:00 p.m.
Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Lynchburg VA
Cost: $19 for lunch (Chicken salad or wrap)

REGISTER NOW

This two-hour coaching lab will get you started with a marketing plan for 2009!

Social media are just tools for marketing and publicizing your business on the web. If you optimize your time and energy in the right way you can grow your small business. You aren’t meant to be an expert in the social media field! But you can continue to be an expert in your own field and use social media experts to make a smooth transition from industrial media to the infinite possibilities of publicity that the internet offiers.

Learn how to use social media tools to cut costs and increase your organization’s reach. We will take you through the necessary steps of creating a social media optimization plan specific to your niche, products and services.

When: February 5 @ 2:30-4:30
Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Lynchburg VA
Cost: $49 for non members
Discount: SM101 Members pay $20 for food and materials

You Will Learn:
Defining Social Media
How to Make Social Media Work for You
How to Integrate Traditional PR Strategies
How to Put Together a Social Media Optimization Plan
Which Social Media Tools to Use

REGISTER NOW

Remember the term “information superhighway” in the 90’s when the World Wide Web exploded? The Internet was defined as an electronic “cyberspace” of infinite data that could connect the world together. 

It still is. But now it is less of a theory… we are actually doing it. 

The scale is tipping from a place for just information to a world of social interaction and connections. We have a global village at our disposal where 6 degrees of separation is turning into instant connections with new and extended networks. 

And while these infoways (information highways) are being built to connect our infinite cybervillages, average Joe who is still here on earth is left to try and comprehend it all… 

The truth is I can preach social media all day to every business in town… but it comes down to the ultimate question that I get almost daily: 

“Is it worth my time?”

The answer that small business owners want to hear is, “Yes, it will lower your marketing cost and bring you instant new clientele.” 

The answer that I have to give is still “yes” – but I have to add, “If you do it right.” 

The truth is that I know entrepreneurs and small business owners who use social media in a way that it has brought them extensive new business opportunity and continues to do so… but those are the catalysts and pioneers for this new industry called social media. They are the forerunners who spent unlimited hours testing the infoways and finding the right combinations to create cybervillages. 

You aren’t meant to be an expert in the social media field. But you can continue to be an expert in your own field, and use social media experts to make a smooth transition from traditional marketing to the infinite possibilities of publicity that the internet offers. 

Social Media Optimization (SMO) is a defined by Wikipedia as “a set of methods for generating publicity through social media, online communities and community websites.”

Stay tuned for information about Which social media tools are better for small businesses, and why?