UNIFIED SMALL BUSINESS ALLIANCESMALL BUSINESS NETWORKING EVENTSSTARTUP

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UNIFIED SMALL BUSINESS ALLIANCE OVERVIEW?

MISSIONThe Unified Small Business Alliance is an organization established to Create, Restore and Maintain a Healthy Business Environment.

EVENTSThe USBA organizes free networking mixer events every week where you can market your business, connect with other business owners and develop quality business relationships.

For the regular mixers people sit down in a large circle and pitch in 30 seconds what they do. Afterwards people get out of their chairs and walk around to introduce each other.

REVENUE MODELCurrently a sponsorship based revenue model with added marketing services such as promoting your business through their website, social media and other resources.

Aurelio MattucciFounder of Unified Small Business Alliance

WHO ATTENDS USBA’S EVENTS?

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Previous event attendees include:

Alain Carpenter | Independent Associate at Legal Shield Barry Steinberg | On Air Talent at Day Talk Radio Betsy Johnson | Owner at Ginger G Enterprises Brian Clouser | Business Performance Advisor at Insperity Craig Kovar | Owner at The Parlor Shop Eric Grollman | Account Executive at Time Warner Cable Erik Soto | Owner at Erik R. Soto Photography Heidi Butzine | Founder at ShopLocal.usIrving R. Katz | Business Coach Jean Morris | Licensed Acupuncturist Jose Rodriguez | Founder at Dare 2 Care 4 The HomelessJim Mills | Financial Advisor at Waddel & Reed Marc Gold | Owner at 24KT Sound & Video Robert Riviera | Account Executive at Cotua Marketing Todd Burke | Owner at Tin Cans N String Wei Houng | Breakthrough Coach

USBA’s attendee profile is very diverse. You have a great amount of solopreneurs and various sales people but also a few successful entrepreneurs who run small businesses with employees. The male-to-female ratio is about even with the core age range starting in the mid 30s to late 50s.

While there are a few “regulars” who attend most if not all the USBA events you still get a worthy amount of new faces at each meeting which is a key for making these events successful because seeing the same people over and over again diminishes the value of the events significantly.

Knowing our target audience allows us to develop a better digital marketing strategy. The USBA has already build up a respectable following on Facebook. Our recommended Facebook advertising strategy would include to do more targeted advertising to gain new followers and do boost important status updates that promote the USBA’s brand.

USBA EVENT HEADSHOTS

“If you are able to help people market themselves in ways that they cannot market themselves you’ll become irreplaceable for them.”

Headshots: Every business professional needs headshots but very few have them. Even fewer have recent headshots of themselves. The main excuses of why people don’t have headshots is because 1) they don’t know who to hire and 2) they don’t want to spend the money which may be a few hundred dollars.

Event Integration: Have the photographer setup a plain background and direct people take their headshots one after another. USBA or a sponsor will pay the photographer or you can negotiate with the photographer to do the photos for free in exchange for getting so many good leads. Make sure that your logo and/or sponsor’s logo are added to the image in a noticeable but non-obnoxious way so that it appears when people use this image as their LinkedIn or Facebook profile photo.

USBA EVENT HEADSHOTS PROMOTION

“When you are offering something of great value you need to make sure that it’s sufficiently marketed so that people can get excited.”

Headshots Event: The photos would be taken at a special event not a regular meeting because it will take up a significant amount of time (2-3hrs) to take all the photos. These headshots should be only offered once a year which raises the events exceptionality and PR potential.

Marketing Materials: Because headshots are of such a tremendous value they deserve to be promoted with more than a single line on an event flyer. With the photographer’s permission use photos of his part work to promote the headshots continuously.

Manage Demand: People will drive out of their way to get free professional headshots. Make sure to tell people to arrive early and that photos will only be taken for a certain amount of time (first 2-3hrs) of the event which encourages people to get in line and take the photos as soon as they arrive and not try to rush in towards the end of the event.

USBA EVENT HEADSHOTS CONTENT REPURPOSE

“Producing quality content is not easy nor is it cheap which is why it is so important to repurpose content as much as possible.”

Sponsor/Speaker Promotion: When they decide to sponsor a future event you have a quality photograph to use to promote the event.

Social Media Promotion: You may choose to randomly promote attendees, not just sponsors throughout social media and having a quality photo really raises the credibility and marketing value of that promotion.

Interview Promotion: Doing interviews with attendees, especially email interviews, is a quick way to build up a lot of content. People want to be known in the USBA network and that becomes so much easier when you have a quality photo.

Marketing Materials: Not just do you need quality marketing materials to promote the USBA to new attendees but sponsors also want to see polished presentations with smiling faces who are real attendees.

CONTENT PRODUCTION OF EMAIL INTERVIEWS

“You have the unique opportunity to be their 15 minutes of fame.”

VALUE OF EMAIL INTERVIEWS - Interviews have a surprisingly long shelf life - People show a strong demand for this type of content - It’s that type of content you share with everyone you know - Very cost effective method to build up brand value and reputation - The opportunity to create a lot of repurposed content

HOW TO DO EMAIL INTERVIEWS - Create a criteria for the type of people that you will want to interview - Brainstorm a list of generic questions that you would be able to ask multiple people - Generate a sample interview and general guidelines (no marketing copy allowed in the interview) - Put together a short list of 30 people you want to start with - Send each person 5-7 questions via email with the sample interview and guidelines - Follow up with each person after 2-3 days just to make sure they have received your email - Once you receive the email with the answers do a proofread/spellcheck - Publish the interview on the website blog or on a dedicated website

* You can do email interviews with people who have not attended the event but have a great story to share. Those can submit their headshots if they have them.

CONTENT DISTRIBUTION OF EMAIL INTERVIEWS

“A dedicated website provides a lot more long-term value and credibility while a blog is the easiest to create and manage.”

DEDICATED WEBSITE (MICROSITE) - A microsite gives you the opportunity to expand the brand by adding the “Unified Small Business Magazine” to the portfolio. - The interviews can be more beautifully displayed on a dedicated website. People are more likely to share and link to the content. - Developing a separate website does not have to be costly but it will cost more than creating a blog. - Maintaining an additional website does take more work than maintaining a blog but it can be run very efficiently with tools. - With a dedicated website you have new revenue opportunities that are not just limited to advertising revenue. - It’s the only choice if you want to be serious about growing your digital footprint effectively.

COMPANY BLOG - Creating a blog for your website can be as easy as flipping a switch from a technical standpoint. - The interviews on your blog will drive more direct traffic to your website than the microsite could. - There are ways to monetize a company blog but the options are far more limited over a dedicated website. - Being interviewed on a company blog is not as admired as being interviewed in a magazine. - A company blog can be very distracting from the website if it’s too heavily marketed or it remains unseen if not properly displayed.

* Not only can Startup Elite build the microsite but we can take over the entire interview development and publishing process. STARTUP ELITE

SAMPLE INTERVIEW Q&A

Tell us a little bit about your business and the services you offer.I am a social media consultant and I have been in the industry for 10 years. I help develop digital strategies and provide hands-on social media management services to small to medium sized businesses throughout the United States. My clients include mainly B2C companies in the tech, fashion and hospitality industry.

Are there any interesting social media trends you can share with us? Content Marketing is really on the rise for both B2B and B2C companies. Not every company has a proper strategy in place or even attempts to measure the ROI from these activities but there seems to be an overall understanding in the business community that content marketing is a vital piece of the digital strategy.

What’s your reason and experience in attending networking events?When I started consulting independently it was difficult to get quality leads. Cold calling in nonsense for my type of tailored service so I knew I had to get in front of people in order to shine which is when I started attending various networking events.

What key factors drive your marketing strategy as an independent social media consultant?Being on my own I obviously have to be very scrappy. The key factors that drive my business are 1) networking 2) receiving referrals 3) getting testimonials and making case studies that highlight my work. Networking is the first and most important step in my marketing strategy and without it my business could not exist.

CONTENT MARKETING: QUOTES

“Content marketing can set you apart from the competition that’s especially the case for original content.”

VALUE OF CONTENT MARKETING - Drives website and social media traffic as well as engagement - Develops trust and establishes you as an authority in your line of business - Very effective and scalable process that has a proven track record - The ability to capture new attendees and keep current ones engaged

QUOTE GRAPHICS - You can develop tons of quote graphics from the interviews - Even without the interviews sharing business quotes is valuable content - You can use the same quotes multiple times using a different graphic design - Use multiple design dimensions for different social media platforms - Create hundreds of graphics in a short time and schedule them for publishing - Use a software such as Hootsuite to schedule your posts for months in advanced

Sample Graphic:

SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS

Once you 1) understand your audience, 2) have developed a content marketing strategy, and 3) created a subscription model you’ll need to 4) identify which tactic will be most effective for your company.

Tactics that have statistically proven to generate the largest return on investment (ROI):

• Articles • Video• White Papers • Photos• Infographics

CONTENT MARKETING TACTICS:

• Social Media • Articles• eNewsletters• Blogs• Case Studies • Videos • White Papers• Online Presentations • Webinars / Webcasts • Infographics • Research Reports • Miscrosites • eBooks / Books • Mobile Apps • Podcasts • Digital Magazines

STRATEGIC CITY EVENT EXPANSION?

CURRENT CITIES - Torrance - Gardena - Lomita

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The USBA has developed a core following throughout the Southbay area which will allow it to expand further into cities where strong small business communities exist.

SOUTHBAY CITY EXPANSION - Redondo Beach - Hermosa Beach - Manhattan Beach - Carson - Palos Verdes Peninsula - San Pedro

To significantly grow the USBA network it will need to go beyond the walls of the Southbay. To do this successfully will require building a highly duplicable yet versatile event networking model that can run itself. The cities of Long Beach, Lakewood and Downey are great targets for immediate expansion.

LAUNCHING NEW CITY EVENTS?

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For the USBA to launch a new city event that is sustainable it needs three key components: 1) Venues 2) People and 3) Sponsors.

Venues are relatively easy to find considering the size of the event is usually no more than 70 people expect for special events. Since the sponsorship fees are very affordable securing sponsors is also not a daunting task.

Venues: To identify venues to work with will require building a database of local small businesses that have a place of business large enough to accommodate our needs. The goal is to identify venues for long-term partnerships.

People: Word-of-mouth has been the most popular marketing tool of the USBA but with a digital marketing strategy we can ensure that new city events are well attended right from the start.

Sponsors: All of the sponsors will either be venue partners and/or previous attendees. It will be fairly easy to leverage the current network to identify sponsors for new cities since most small businesses do not have a city limitation in providing their products and/or services.

USBA

EVENTS

VENUES

PEOPLE

SPONSORS

DIGITAL NETWORKING EVENT PROMOTION PLATFORMS

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Website: To effectively promote events through your website requires having an optimized and mobile-friendly event website with a user-friendly design and a strong content strategy.

Facebook Events: Facebook is a very strategic tool to promote events and it works especially well for free events that require no RSVP. People can see who is attending the event, invite more friends and they will even be reminded of the event the same day with directions only one click away.

Meetup.com: Meetup is a powerful tool to market any type of event. Because the website has such a strong user base that actively searches for local events means that by not listing your events here you are missing out on a lot of followers and potential attendees.

Other Platforms: There are tons of websites out there where you can list and promote your events and while listing your events may be free the time it requires to make all the listings might not the worth it or even possible.

KEY COMPONENTS OF AN EVENT WEBSITE

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COMPONENT #1: CONTENT - Informative Content: Event dates, locations, sponsors etc. - Marketing Content: Strategically placed marketing copy that provides a clear call to action

COMPONENT #2: FEATURES - Registration Process: The ability to quickly and effortlessly register for the events - Multiple Registration Paths: Implementation of landing pages to target different types of attendees - Sponsorship Payment Features: The ability for sponsors to pay the fees online hassle free

COMPONENT #3: CONNECT - Social Component: Get people activated to follow your social media channels and share the website - E-mail Capture: Offering newsletters and insightful premium content to get the email address of non-attendees

We recommend re-building the current website using Ning.com which allows you to create a custom social network where people can interact with each other in a similar way they do in Facebook. The website will enable users to network without having to attend the events and can therefore be offered as a premium.

EVENT WEBSITE DESIGN

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NavigationNavigation can make or break a website especially for websites with many pages. Simplify navigation, make it intuitive and use drop-down menu if necessary.

BrandingThe branding throughout the website needs to be consistent. Inconsistent visual communication creates a negative association for your company.

ContentContent is king. While a good website has a lot of content you need to make sure that it is presented in a small digestible format written in a warm and welcoming tone.

Trust A well placed video, featured attendee testimonials, and lots of “More Information” links establishes the type of trust that gets people to take action and attend your next event.

A website with great features will drive traffic but without the modern and user-friendly design the conversion will suffer.

EVENT MARKETING STRATEGY

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“As you promote your events through your various channels it is important to modify the language and tactics over time to keep the message from going stale.”

ANTICIPATING GROWTH Currently there are three events per month. That could easily double or triple within the next three months. When you are marketing 2-3 events per week it affects your entire marketing strategy. While you still have to promote each event individually you have to be careful that your marketing doesn’t feel like spam which will cause people to disengage.

E-MAIL IS HUGE E-mail invitations are the most economical event marketing method and drive more attendance than any other marketing medium. When you have a target list of a substantial size that becomes very attractive for sponsors and will increase revenues.

EXPERIENTIAL MODIFICATION It’s one thing to get people excited about your event, it is far more difficult to keep them coming back. For a monthly event series you need to start implementing experiential components that will as a byproduct also make the events more fun. These experiential components will also make the events more suitable for a user-generated content campaign.

EXPERIENTIAL MODIFICATION

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FEATURED CLIENT: GERMAN AMERICAN BUSINESS ASSOCIATION (GABA)

“A media wall is the single most cost-effective way to raise an event’s production value.”

GROWTH PROJECTIONS & OBJECTIVES

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EVENT ATTENDEES & FORMATCurrently 3 monthly events with 70 attendees yields 210 monthly attendees. This number will grow significantly within the next 6 months as you move towards 12 monthly events with 70 attendees which yields 840 monthly visitors. The goal is to keep the events limited to around 70 people otherwise the 30sec pitch component of the event will take too long. Because we can’t bring more people to this event the only way to grow the network is to aggressively grow in opening new cities. While the current model is scalable it does limit the growth potential of the organization until the USBA introduces new event formats more suitable to larger audiences such as Expos and Galas.

WEBSITE TRAFFIC AND E-MAIL SUBSCRIBERS Once the new website is designed using the Ning.com platform we will be able to capture the email of thousands of business professionals and build an online community that is highly targeted, engaged and therefore profitable. Once we reach a database of 30,000 subscribers email marketing starts to become a very profitable activity. Website traffic will grow month over month since we don’t just have an informational website but an highly interactive one.

SOCIAL MEDIA Social Media will remain at the core of the USBA’s marketing strategy but the new objective is to re-direct traffic to the websites where social media followers become profitable website visitors. Through a strategic content marketing plan that includes the interviews the followers of both the page and the group will exceed 10,000 followers within a six month time frame.

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