Clarkston Chamber eNews Connection

July 28, 2009

Welcome to the Electronic Newsletter of the Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce

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Take 5 (Five Fast Facts)

1. Social Media Bootcamp with Charlie Wollborg, Terry Bean, Jason T. Ryan, Dan Izydorek and Sue Kinch will help you sort out the good, the bad, the ugly and the amazing that tools like Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, Digg, Motor City Connect and My Space. These are dynamite speakers, you won't want to miss this one! (We have 50 people signed up for this workshop already--how about you?)

2. Taste of Clarkston (click for photos of past events) planning is well underway. We need 300 volunteers to help set up, host and clean up this event. Volunteer shifts come in 2, 3 and 4 hour blocks.

3. The EXPO committee is just getting up and running.  If you would like to help promote the EXPO email to volunteer!  EXPO will be November 12, 2009

4. SAVE THE DATE October 22, 2009 BullsEye Small Business Conference.  Definitely take advantage of the early bird registration rates!  And consider having an exhibit table or sponsoring this premier small business conference for North Oakland County!  (event hosted by Clarkston Area Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with Waterford Area Chamber of Commerce and Pontiac Regional Chamber of Commerce)

5. Clarkston Area Chamber has over 500 Followers on TWITTER--as of 7/24/09. 

Upcoming Networking events

Announcements and Updates

FREE Sports Physicals for Oakland County Students

Chamber and Community Events

• JULY 31, 2009 Social Media Bootcamp 101  Register Here
• AUGUST 8, 2009 Networking & Job Search Workshop (hosted by Clarkston Community Church)  9:00-11:45 a.m.
• AUGUST 9, 2009 Noon-4 p.m. Stars and Stripes 8th Annual FREE Family Fun Open House
• AUGUST 13 2009 Bucks for Buses Fundraiser at Bullfrogs (benefitting Independence Twp. transportation services for seniors and persons with disabilities) 

• Amyloidosis Foundation  GOLF OUTING AUGUST 16, 2009 at Fountains Golf and Banquet

• SEPTEMBER 3, 2009 Beer University 5:00-8:30 p.m. at On the Border. Order Tickets early and SAVE$$
• SEPTEMBER 11, 2009 SCAMP Golf Classic at White Lakes Oaks

Improving Business Performance

by Ron DeLorme,

Manage Max Performance Improvement

June 30, 2009

Best Practices of Best-in-Class  Companies

Social Media Corner 

by Jason T. Ryan

Vision Fuel Media

Follow me on Twitter

Have you registered for Social Media Bootcamp on Friday the 31st of July?

If not, why not?!  If you are waiting to get in the game you are hearing so much about, this is your chance!

This event is well worth your time and your $30.  In three and half hours you will get a crash course on eMail Marketing, Computer Security & Back Ups, and the latest in Social Media.

Guest Columnists

GENISYS Gives to Operation Medicine Cabinet
Auburn Hills, MI, July 27, 2009 – Genisys Credit Union was a sponsor of the “Operation Medicine Cabinet” Prescription Drug Collection launched on Wednesday, July 15, 2009 by Sheriff Bouchard and Home Instead Senior Care.
The event allowed the public to drop off their expired and unused prescriptions as well as over-the-counter medications to insure that the drugs were disposed of properly. It also created awareness of drug abuse and the negative impacts it has on society.
“Recent studies in Michigan and other states have revealed that many of the substances that have been dumped down the toilet or thrown in our landfills are now showing up in our watersheds, streams, and lakes,” said Shannon Wygant, Home Instead Senior Care Representative. “Even more frightening is that some of these substances find their way into the hands of our youth. Our seniors are also at danger trying to keep track of the myriad of drugs they are prescribed.”
“This was a great way to help keep old prescriptions out of the wrong hands and keep our communities safe,” said Lon Bone, Vice President of Public Relations and Community Involvement.
For tips on what to throw away, please call (248) 922-1400 and ask for the “Tips Handout.”
Genisys Credit Union, formerly T&C Federal Credit Union and USA Credit Union, now serves over 125,000 members throughout 25 branches. “Meeting Financial Needs, Your Way” is our mission, and we strive to accomplish this through our values of being trustworthy, people focused and providing quality service. We are glad to be part of your community, and we truly believe that Genisys is “where you come first.”

TWITTER 101 

So what does Twitter do for businesses?

Twitter is a communications platform that helps businesses and their customers do a number of useful things. As a business, you can use it to quickly share information with people interested in your company, gather real-time market intelligence and feedback, and build relationships with customers, partners and other people who care about your company. As an individual user, you can use Twitter to tell a company (or anyone else) that you've had a great--or disappointing--experience with their business, offer product ideas, and learn about great offers.

What’s up with the name?

Twittering is the sound birds make when they communicate with each other—an apt description of the conversations here. As it turns out, because Twitter provides people with real-time public information, it also helps groups of people mimic the effortless way a flock of birds move in unison. On these pages, we’ll show you a few examples of that powerful Twitter characteristic.

Twitter connects you to your customers right now, in a way that was never before possible. For example, let’s say you work for a custom bike company. If you run a search for your brand, you may find people posting messages about how happy they are that your bike lets them ride in the French Alps—giving you a chance to share tips about cyclist-friendly cafes along their route.

Others may post minor equipment complaints or desired features that they would never bother to contact you about—providing you with invaluable customer feedback that you can respond to right away or use for future planning. Still others may twitter about serious problems with your bikes—letting you offer customer service that can turn around a bad situation.

You don’t have to run a bike shop or a relatively small company to get good stuff out of Twitter. Businesses of all kinds, including major brands, increasingly find that listening and engaging on the service lead to happier customers, passionate advocates, key product improvements and, in many cases, more sales.

A key benefit

One of Twitter’s key benefits is that it gives you the chance to communicate casually with customers on their terms, creating friendly relationships along the way—tough for corporations to do in most other mediums.

But Twitter isn’t just about useful immediacy. The conversational nature of the medium lets you build relationships with customers, partners and other people important to your business. Beyond transactions, Twitter gives your constituents direct access to employees and a way to contribute to your company; as marketers say, it shrinks the emotional distance between your company and your customers. Plus, the platform lends itself to integration with your existing communication channels and strategies. In combination, those factors can make Twitter a critical piece of your company’s bigger digital footprint.

For instance, let’s say you run a big retail website. In addition to learning more about what your customers want, you can provide exclusive Twitter coupon codes, link to key posts on your blog, share tips for shopping online, and announce specials at store locations. And you can take things a step further by occasionally posting messages about fun, quirky events at your HQ, giving others a small but valuable connection with the people in your company.

Why 140 characters?

SMS (i.e., texting on your phone) limits each message to 160 characters. Twitter takes that limit and reserves 20 characters for your username, leaving you 140 characters to play with. That’s how it started and we’ve stuck with it!

Tip: Twitter can be "ground-breaking” for businesses—a big claim. We truly believe it because we’ve seen lots of examples, many of which we share here. But if you’re new to Twitter and still wondering what all the fuss is about, hang around the site (or a good third-party client) for a week or two and give it a few minutes a day. Twitter almost always delivers “Aha!” moments for people, but it can take some getting used to before you have your moment of enlightenment.