Sactweetup at the Lofts

I had an opportunity to attend last nights Sactweetup at the Lofts in downtown Sacramento. The Lofts on L street were kind enough to host the event while showcasing their beautiful 1900 square foot Penthouse Suite. The suite had amazing views of Sacramento and was definitely a showcase of contemporary design.

Alejandro Reyes (also known as @Successfool) and Sierra Friend (@sierrafriend) are the creators of this amazing Sacramento event. The first event that I attended was at Panera and there were quite a few people but last nights event showed just how much the event has grown. Walking in I passed News 10 filming so they could cover the event and give it well deserved time on the news.

What is all the Buzz about? The Sactweetup is where Sacramento and Twitter meet. Local business professionals as well as some from as far as Walnut Creek and Fremont get together and share ideas about how to grow their business through Social Media. It just doesn’t stop there. I have met with many of the professionals that I first met online and then at the Tweetup outside of the event. I have been able to exchange referrals and learn more about their businesses.  Above that I have established some relationships that transcend business. I regularly get together with a friend @thisaac and we share our faith and hold each other accountable is areas of life.

Last night, at the event, I had the opportunity to meet several more people. Each time I get the chance to go I am never let down. I carpool with one of my favorite people ever @meghanwood; the meghanshow.com and we just have a great time.

Make sure to check out the L street Lofts and make sure that you make it to the next Sactweetup. Check it out at www.sactweetup.com.
Here are the great people that I met last night to name a few:

Jason Everett – Sales Partners

Rajkumar Karthikeyan – Midland National Life Insurance

Kristi LeGue – CPA

Ryan Lucia – Voyage Financial Group

Rick Pearse – American City Realty and Financial

This list is certainly not all encompassing as I met Jennifer Bourn, Mickey O’brien and spoke to several others that I have met in the past. Looking forward to the next tweetup!

Marketing Focus: Where do you spend your time?

Yesterday morning I was at my networking group meeting. This is not the normal Letip or BNI group it is more than that for me. It is called the Christian Business Roundtable. We are group of men that share the same Faith gathering to sharpen each other and hold each other accountable in business and in life. It was my second meeting and my very first formal meeting. Each meeting it is practice of the group to have a Best Practices portion where we can share and expand each others business arsenal if you will. Today the Question was:

You just sold your business to a conglomerate and have agreed to remain for a few months as a consultant. You will receive 100K bonus if you can increase sale by 20% in the next six months but you have been allotted only a limited increase in your marketing budget and no media advertising budget.

You have gotten together with an Advisory Board to give you straight talk about ideas to drive traffic. Start getting the advice now!

• What “out of the box” marketing steps can be taken in: Special Promotions, Network Marketing, Newsworthy Press Release, Low cost Direct Mail etc.
• What steps will drive more traffic to your product or service?

As I left that meeting I had so many ideas to work on for my business but the one that stuck out was based on affiliate marketing. When market others services our reward internally is great. In addition external reward via increase in our business is nearly always the result. However, I do not want to rest on my own understanding. I realized that Facebook and Twitter have given me a large audience of business professionals. These professionals that I have come to know are always thinking outside of the box to drive more traffic. So I figured I would ask my advisory board.

What steps would you take to increase your revenue by 20% in six months? Share them hear with all of our readers and watch the explosive power of two or more.

Don’t take my word for it:

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, the other can help him up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up!” Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

***** This information is not my own. It was borrowed from the Christian Business Roundtable that I am involved with. The post here is meant to be thought provoking and to generate a massive brainstorm session amongst a group of professionals. We all can always use a jump start of fresh ideas.*****

Happy Easter! 1/4 of the Year has passed.

April 12th, 2009 Easter Day is here.

Today is Easter and as I sit in front of my computer my family is all around me doing all different things. My grandmother is deciding what croissant she should eat. My Mother-in-Law is cooking our Easter feast. My Uncle is going to color my wife’s hair so he is getting the foils ready to go. My Father-in-law is all over the place trying to be all things to all people. “Get the coffee made I am trying to blog!”Ahh, thanks Dad. My brother-in-law is playing with his niece and nephew. My daughter is married to the Nintendo DS, yes she is 7. My son is watching three ninjas. My youngest is walking around trying to figure out what she wants to do in life. Internet Marketer, Blogger, or Toymaker who knows she is not even three yet.

My hope is that all of you are with family enjoying this holiday. Taking the time to diffuse from what we do all the time. Taking the time to take it all in. There is significant meaning to the Easter holiday and I think that it is very important to take the time to recognize it.

Through the first quarter of the year I have to say that I am very happy and blessed at where my business is at. I owe that to you. I am very excited to say that through Twitter and Facebook I have been blessed with many new friends. The Tweetups have been amazing. I look forward to the next quarter of the year.

Happy Easter! May you have a wonderfully blessed day!