Social Media Bootcamp

As the next step Im attending Social Media Bootcamp with Eric Schwartzman. Learning all about

• Twitter
• Blogger
• and All Around Good Times

I also have a blog on ChicagoNow unter the tittle SocialCircuit but I haven't added anything yet.

Sifting through the BS

I dove in and Im working on schooling myself on all things social media. I stopped at the book store to pick up some magazines and books to inspire and educate. There were an insane amount of books about social media I grabbed about 10 of them that looked interesting. I found most of the books I was looking at were not the in-depth, how to books I was looking for. It was more about personal experiences and successes, and they were written very badly. Maybe its just how Im wired, but I wanted something informative and that I could use as a resource. Out of those 10, I ended up with 2 that I bought; "The Complete Idiot's Guide to Social Media" and "Get Seen, online video secrets to building your business". I also bought my standard magazines; Inc, Entrepreneur, and Mac Create. To be honest I think I get more out of the magazines then the books. Magazines have to keep creative to keep people buying and reading. Mac Create had allot of useful, creative ideas and how-to for video and photo which I think will really come in handy when I start to video blog.

What is great about Social Media is that allows everyone access to what people are really thinking. Eric Schwartzman had a great quote: "The news reports on what happened, social media is whats happening now". It also allows anyone to become a Journalist, Critic, or even Celebrity. The problem is, everyone is an expert, so you have to sift through allot of BS to get to the useful information. Also everyone is out to make a buck. Some do it by offering their service, or expertise for a price. Whether they are a consultant or author. Watch out there is more "snake oil" out there then people who truly have something worth while to offer.

immersing myself in social media

I have continued to join network after network, downloaded SM apps to my Iphone (Cant wait to get my new iphone 4 tomorrow ). I now belong to 12 of the most common Social Media networks. Im not using most of them right now. Really im just posting on Facebook, some mild Tweeting and Blogging almost daily. This is all part of my plan to fully immerse myself in Social Media. Once I get more comfortable with what Im doing and the message im conveying I plan on Podcasting and Video blogging as well, but for now Ill stick to what I know. I have recently signed up for a tweet-up. This is a SM networking party designed to get the word out about products, services, events, and people. Im attending both as a sponsor and a guest. For a 100.00 my product will go into 120 gift bags that each guest will receive. These guests will tweet about the items they receive. This is also a good opportunity to extend my social network. If I were to organize a a market research group of about 25-100 people it would cost me a minimum of 5,000. Im getting more peoples opinion on my product and they are even advertising it for me. Not to mention instead of a boring conference room with a double mirror, its actually more of a party atmosphere. People in their environment expressing opinions and exchanging ideas.

Im going to attempt to inset links into my posts so you may find it easier to follow.

Getting The Tools Ready

Since my next big step in understanding social networking and the technologies around it, I decided to update my current electronic tool set. I have to admit that a big part of this has nothing to do with the actual need for new or updated equipment, but its a perfect excuse for some new toys.

First I stayed up all night on the 14th to pre-order the new iphone, one for my wife as well. My current iphone is near death so I needed a new phone anyway. I was thinking about going back to Blackberry but Im hopping Apple/ATT have worked out all the kinks. Hopefully it will now work as a phone. A great new feature would be making/receiving calls with out constantly dropping them.

Next I was thinking about getting a new MacBook Pro. They have new ones with i5 and i7 processors, so sweet. Really mine is just fine so I looked up on the web for information on speeding up my Mac. There were allot of tips but I found two that made a BIG difference. I disabled the "Dashboard", I never use widgets anyway. Also I changed my Dock form 3D to a simple 2D, not glassy mirror effect. My computer is booting faster then the i7 now. Its amazing that you can find a answer to pretty much any question on the net.

I also took a trip to Fry's and splurged on some hardware upgrades. 2, 4GB sticks of RAM and a 1TB hard drive. This is double the RAM and space I currently have. I ran into some trouble restoring the new dive from my Time Capsule back up. Luckily the good people at my local Apple store are taking care of it for me, Ill be with out my Pro for the day but it will be worth it.

Another tool I bough a while back was a Business Card scanner from World Card. I can imagine living without it. I scans a image, processes the information into a V-card and enters it into my address book. The more I can utilize the available technology, the easier it will be to keep current. Again, this is another way to add value to myself.

The next obstacle

The next obstacle I ran into in sales was developing a competitive edge. I have managed to build great relationships with buyers. I have also developed relationships with great companies to represent to the retail buyers. However there are so many companies doing the same thing that it just comes down to the lowest price. I noticed the there are three things that make a difference in adding value to your product. 1, you have what everybody wants and nobody else makes. 2, you have a patent that nobody else can get around. 3, your products is licensed with a recognized brand name. I decided to go to Licensing Expo in Las Vegas. Maybe I could find licenses for my clients making their products more valuable and also making myself more valuable to my clients.

I signed up for some classes at the Licensing University. Most trade shows offer lectures and classes for a price, they are well worth it. I also heard from a client of mine that the show was very meeting oriented, so I started reaching out to every major exhibitor. I managed to schedule meetings with Paul Frank, Lucasfilm, and Yo Gabba Gabba. Also my client that was attending let me join in on his meetings with Hasbro, Mattel, and Sanrio.

The first class I had was Intro to Licensing. The class was great! Especially Jennifer Campbell a VP from Sanrio who was on the panel. By the end of the class I had a good idea of how things worked, the terminology used, the expected format of meetings, as well as tips and tricks to help you along. I immediately ran to my room and started putting together a presentation in the format that was expected for my upcoming meetings. I had my first meeting with Lucasfilm for Star Wars. I delivered my presentation and it went great! Lucasfilm was interested in my company holding a major part of their license. From there I went from meeting to meeting and by the end of the three day show I was well versed in licensing and made some great contacts in the industry.

One of my classes was about the importance and value of social networking. Erick Schwartzman had me sold! This is something I need to know how to do. I immediately sold my company on the value of this knowledge and we signed up for his three day boot camp in L.A. August 17-20th. Which brings me to my blog. Although I dont know all the ins and outs of social networking I figured I would get my feet wet. I joined all the sights Facebook, Twitter, Digg, Mixx, and started this blog to track my progress and transformation into the new me. My hopes are not only to make myself more valuable professionally but to find new passions and interests along the way.

Getting Motivated

My motivation has been building up over time. I recently stepped out of my comfort zone in business and went into sales. Not knowing much about what made a successful salesman I started to educate myself. I went to trade shows, read publications, attended lectures, and started networking.

The first real kick in the pants come from reading Entrepreneur & INC magazines. I read all of these success stories some of which were from companies and products I thought were stupid. They all had two things in common; Drive and Passion. I decided to educate myself on every aspect of business I came into contact with.

My company was spending allot of money on graphic designers, the worst part was the amount of time and lack of progress we were paying for. If I could come up with visual example of what we wanted it would save all the time it took for the designers interpretation. So I taught myself Illustrator CS4. This has been a big step. I instantly cut time and costs down with our work with designers. Also I noticed that since my creative juices were flowing steadily I was actually coming up more product ideas. I now have more value to my clients I represent as well as the retail buyers I am selling to.

Reinventing Myself, and blogging my way through it.

When I was younger I would think of something I wanted to do, and do it. I was fearless and nothing got in my way. In that time I was a successful actor, entrepreneur, and businessman. Somewhere down the line I lost focus and I moved from the head of the pack to the back.

I used to own my own businesses and had fun working. Im now married, a Dad, and working for a paycheck so the bills can get paid. I would never trade the experiences and comfort being a Father and Husband have brought me, but I have lost a piece of myself along the way.

I have decided to re-invent myself and bring focus and excitement back to into who I am. I am blogging about it not only as part of becoming the new me or but also to inspire others to take the journey Im embarking on. Im also hoping the fact that im publishing my challenges and successes will help me keep pushing myself forward.