Does it feel like 1999 all over again?

Remember when you didn’t think you needed a web site because you had a brochure?

Confused by all the hype surrounding blogs, Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook?

Then Social Web Bootcamp is for you. It’s a one day program that takes you from the 30,000’ view of how things work all the way down to live demos for creating a blog, a Twitter account, and setting up your social networking identity.

Date: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Time: 9 am – 4 pm
Place: ING Direct Cafe – 1958 Kalakaua Ave, Honolulu, HI

A decade ago when the internet was really taking off, I used to tell people not to feel pressured to get a web site for their business. After all, I said, the internet is not going away and you have time to figure things out.

I no longer say that.

Now, I tell people that the longer they wait, the steeper the learning curve. New interactive web applications are being created every month. Everyone can be a publisher. You no longer control access to information about you and your business. It’s been building for several years, and now we’ve reached critical mass.

If you are still trying to figure out what all this is or what it means to your business, or how and where to get started, we’ve got a program for you. Plus, you receive a $30 discount as a member of the KnowHow Cafe mailing list. Please visit our sister site, KnowHow Cafe to read more about the Social Web Bootcamp and register.

I hope to see soon!
Aloha,

We have the antidote to yesterday’s post on how to learn what you don’t know!
We are launching a new business that is all about training. We’ve helped out clients be incredibly successful on the web over the past 14 years, and we want to share this knowledge with others. We also want to do it for a lower price than our private hourly rates and we want to be able to reach many more people.

Because our phone keeps ringing (and that takes us away from actually building the site!) we are holding some live classes here in Honolulu in the interim.  Please join our mailing list to stay informed of updates and go check out the three classes we are offering in July 2009 for your education and business benefit!

Please use promo code “bfs” and receive a free eBook on Online Identity when you join the list. It’s the first place to start when getting active on the social web. Or as The Week would say, “Boring but Important.”

We can also bring private, targeted classes to your office or association too.

A Reason to Visit Hawaii?
Maybe this would be a good time and reason to book a trip to Hawaii. Airfares and hotel rates are down; I would be happy to connect you with my many tourism colleagues who would be delighted to personally assist you. Here are just a few:

Hawaii-Aloha.com - Ask for Bruce Fisher; or on Twitter
Starwood Hawaii - Ask for Candice Krauto; or on Twitter
Hawaiian Airlines – Follow them on Twitter too
Hilton Waikiki Prince Kuhio

The social web is full of free information. Many people forego formal training in favor of copying what they see others’ doing. We sometimes do this ourselves—once you have a strong base of knowledge in a specific area, it is quite reasonable to look at others’ tips or code and be able to reverse engineer them quite successfully to meet your own goals.

But when you are new to something? It’s like a child copying their parents: a lot of it sounds right, but fundamentally you don’t want that kid building your house. The best teachers know how to explain to you the logic behind a task as well as the most efficient order of events to launch your project.

Copying (as compared to learning) when you are a newcomer is often not the ideal route to take. Though I know, it is incredibly appealing, especially if you feel like you are in a hurry. But if time is truly an issue, you will be better served to learn it well the first time. It’s worth considering if a penny saved will quickly become a pound foolish.

Copiers are more than likely to:

• learn bad habits;
• create hacks that seem to work but actually misuse some of the key elements that could make your life easier;
• waste a lot of time doing, undoing, and redoing when you could be making money and building relationships;
• experience low success rates and blame it on the tool instead of your lack of learning;
• quit before you’ve really given it a fair chance.

It’s very important that you look at their assets and Google them for proof of past work. Ask for client referrals and contact them. Look for evidence of their membership in professional associations and examine those associations too. You will be taking the first step in educating yourself just by going through this process.

Then by all means work with a professional instead of trying to figure all this out yourself! I used to say to reluctant businesses, “Don’t stress; the internet isn’t going away and you have time to figure things out.” Now I say, “Get on it! The learning curve of new tools and core changes that are taking place in the business culture are growing too fast to stay on the sidelines. Every day you wait, just makes it harder for you once you decide to get started on the social web.

With Aloha,

Aloha Summit: March 18-19th, Waikoloa, Hawaii. It’s custom-made for savvy businesses who want to understand geek secrets like how Google works, what’s behind YouTube, not to mention Twitter, Flickr, podcasting, and more.

Of the many disruptions we are seeing in the marketplace as a result of the internet, the trend toward unconferences and lobby-styled events are some of the most interesting to me. I am a communicator. As much as I have enjoyed giving formal presentations for the past 20 years, the real juice usually occurs in the one to one and small group discussions in the hallways between and after the didactic sessions.

What’s In It for You?
Coming up in a few weeks is The Aloha Summit, being held here on the Big Island of Hawaii. It is a two-day event limited to only 28 guests, plus several experts in social media and internet marketing, including me. This is designed for the participants to dive right in and:

• Learn about and see demos of how social media, podcasting, and web 2.0 networking applications work, up close and personal.
• Ask your personal questions as they come up in the conversation, and as detailed and specific to your business as you want to get (or not – you are in control.)
• Create new marketing, communication, and advertising strategies for your business, using the hottest web tools.
• Show you how to manage your time and filter out the things that may not apply to your business.
• Share power user secrets so you don’t make costly and embarrassing mistakes as you venture into the always-on, transparent, and personal nature of today’s leading business practices.
• Understand what things you can get for free online and what things are worth paying for when it comes to both strategy and implementation.

Your Own Team of Private Experts and Tutors
We know how busy you are. It’s like having a team of experts at your private beck and call. We won’t be covering anything that is not directly relevant to the people sitting in the room with us.

We will be walking the talk and helping you learn to do the same. It will be private, intimate, hands-on and hand-holding: a two-day working class with smart, friendly, connected instructors. You help guide the questions; you set the pace; you reap the rewards. We are here to support and educate you.

Still Trying How to Decide to Attend?
On the other hand, it’s not for you if you don’t like immersion-style learning or don’t want to get your hands on the secrets of the web today. If your business is doing fine without knowing how to find out what others are saying about you or without finding and supporting customers via technology, then you can skip this.

However if you think your business is being affected by unknowns on the internet or if you want to use the internet more effectively but don’t know how, then this event is perfect for you.

Ideally, you may want to bring one other person from your company. The social web is all about having buddies. If you come alone, no problem. I’ll be recommending some tools the attendees can use post-event to continue your learning and support together too.

Special Pricing for Hawaii Residents: $495
Click here to get a very special rate of $495 for locals only. Use code “kamaaina” for HI residents and pay only $495 or use code “rox” for non-residents and save $250.

Though we here in Hawaii are so great at networking locally amongst ourselves, many are really behind the curve when it comes to networking our businesses with others around the world. The most frequent comments I get when speaking at local business events, are that “our company is not that tech savvy” or “the majority of our staff are older than 30 and we just don’t understand a lot of this stuff that’s happening online.” If you can put two days in to The Aloha Summit you can single-handedly change this and catch up on the amazing changes that have taken place online in the past three years.

Tourism is a key industry that would benefit from using social media, both for our visitors as well as kama’aina. It could even bridge some of the growing gaps between those two groups. Other industries IMO with untapped opportunities are some of the innovative startups we have in Hawaii, especially those related to energy and lifestyle products and services.

Think Your Business is Too Large or Too Small to Matter?
It’s not. Companies as large and sophisticated as Walmart have tried to use social media with unexpected negative results. If you’re big and you don’t have social media experts on staff or on-call, this program is critically important to your business.

Meanwhile, very small companies are using social media to create global brands on shoestring budgets. It’s an opportunity that has never before existed.

Personally, I would love to see some of my friends in PR, Communications, Advertising, Tourism, and government at the conference. There are so many ways we can build our own businesses (and those of our customers) by using the collaboration tools of web 2.0. It’s close, it’s convenient, it’s private, it’s efficient. I can’t think of a better way to go to the head of the social media class.

Got questions?
Please call my mobile and we can talk directly: 808-384-5554. I am traveling across time zones so try 6 am – 4 pm HST (which is 8 am – 6 pm PDT). Use code “kamaaina” to pay $495 if you are a Hawaii resident. Not lucky you live Hawaii? No problem! Enter code “rox” to save $250.