Guide to social media for entrepreneurs and small businesses

1. OPEN BOOK
SOCIAL MEDIA —
A Practical Guide to Business Growth
01 THE ESSENTIALS —
Anita Campbell reviews the basics for those
looking to use social media in their business
03 GETTING STArTED —
John Jantsch on how to reach new customers
using the most popular social media sites
08 wHAT’S NExT? —
Mashable’s Adam Ostrow looks at what is
on the horizon for connected business owners
10 THE BuSINESS Of SOCIAL MEDIA —
Q&A with OPEN’s Marcy Shinder
and business expert Henry Blodget
CArDMEMBEr STOry —
Rafe Totengco
RAFE NEW YORK
5

2. OPEN BOOk —
SOCIAL MEDIA
5
SOcial mEdia
AS A NEw ErA Of BuSINESS COMMuNICATION ENTErS
THE MAINSTrEAM, wE ExPLOrE THE TOOLS AND
TECHNIquES THAT ArE MAkING A DIffErENCE
welcome to the latest in our series of perspective on what social media can
guides providing practical advice to help offer the small business owner.
you manage and grow your business. In Anita Campbell, founder of the
this issue we examine the phenomenon award-winning online community hub
of social media – a collection of intuitive, Small Business Trends, offers an accessible
web-driven technologies that offer the guide to some of the concepts, tools and
prospect of low-cost, two-way interaction techniques available. Duct Tape Marketing
with customers, prospective customers founder and digital guru John Jantsch
and those who can influence opinion gives practical tips for getting started, while
about what your business has to offer. Adam Ostrow of the social media blog
what’s more, the global platform these Mashable, provides a glimpse of what
tools provide can be yours to use for no the future might hold. Describing his
up-front cost – learn about the tools and experience, Cardmember rafe Totengco
techniques that have proved successful for paints a vivid picture of the type of
businesses so far, and determine what mix commitment and the resulting success
might be appropriate for your enterprise. that can go with a proactive approach to
Across the burgeoning range social media. finally, renowned analyst
of applications and techniques that fall and technology commentator Henry
under the social media heading, there’s Blodget rounds out this issue, addressing
certainly something for everyone – but some of the commercial implications of
where to begin? In a field so crowded with social media in a conversation with OPEN’s
competing offers to deliver personal and vice president of brand marketing and
professional success in social media, we’ve strategy, Marcy Shinder.
assembled an array of highly informed Social media offers something for
practitioners, whose independent every business owner: we hope this guide
expertise provides a comprehensive helps you understand what it can offer you.

3. SOCIAL MEDIA — SOCIAL MEDIA —
MASTHEAD CONTENTS
Edited and Produced by
winkreative 01 SOCIAL MEDIA —
611 Broadway ExPLAINED
Suite 632 Anita Campbell, editor of Small Business
New york, Ny Trends, discusses the fundamentals of
10012 social media marketing
www.winkreative.com
03 SOCIAL MEDIA —
Creative Director — GETTING STArTED
TyLEr BrûLÉ John Jantsch presents some of the best
options for businesss owners looking to use
Editor — the most popular social networking sites
JENNIfEr McALEAr
05 CArDMEMBEr STOry —
Design Director — rAfE NEw yOrk
MAuruS frASEr Rafe Totengco reveals how he has used
social media to enhance his brand and reach
Designer — new customers around the world
kArEN BALEST
08 SOCIAL MEDIA —
Photo Editor — wHAT’S NExT
PETEk SkETCHEr Mashable’s Adam Ostrow looks to the
Account Director, Winkreative — future and reveals what is on the horizon
Production Editor — MEIGHAN DOBSON for success in tomorrow’s social media
JACquELINE DEACON
Project Manager, Winkreative — 10 q&A —
Sub-editors — DIANA kEH MArCy SHINDEr
AMy MACLIN & HENry BLODGET
MArIAN SMITH For American Express OPEN — The Business Insider’s Henry Blodget
CHrISTINE CuOCO and OPEN’s Marcy Shinder discuss the
Editorial Assistant — JAMI kELMENSON lasting impact of social media and its
DAVID PrOTErrA MArCy SHINDEr role in business

4. 01 SOCIAL MEDIA — Text: anita campbell
Illustration: luke Wilson
ExPLAINED
ANITA CAMPBELL
Founder & Editor
Small Business Trends
www.smallbiztrends.com
Anita Campbell is the founder
of Small Business Trends, LLC,
which manages online communities
touching more than 250,000 small
business owners and managers
each month. Her award-winning
Small Business Trends online
publication has been highlighted
in The Wall Street Journal and
The New York Times, and has
been recognized by MSNBC’s Your
Business as “Website of the Week”
and HP’s “Best Business Blogs.”
SOcial mEdia
Anita is a featured expert on the
topic of Innovation for OPEN Forum.
Find more insights from Anita at:
www.openforum.com/innovation.
ExPlaiNEd
BuSINESS OwNErS ArE TurNING TO SOCIAL MEDIA TO
MArkET THEIr BuSINESSES AND rEACH NEw CuSTOMErS.
ANITA CAMPBELL DISCuSSES SOME Of THE BEST OPTIONS
If you’ve ever visited a blog, set up a LinkedIn™ Let’s carry Seth’s idea one step further. One
profile, watched a youTube video, left a way that a small business can get attention
consumer review on a site like yelp® or surfed is by becoming more “social” and engaging
through facebook® to reconnect with old prospects and the public in more active ways
college friends – then you’ve participated in in multiple places online – and also by sharing
social media. “Social media” refers to a type of expertise and content freely at these sites.
website, application or communications vehicle This may require a change in your
where people connect with one another; approach. Instead of thinking of your web
discuss and interact; share content and ideas; presence as consisting solely of your website,
and build relationships. The most important think in terms of creating satellite outposts
word in the phrase “social media” is “social.” on the web at social media sites where your
Being more social online is a growing business interacts with others. In other words, in time than in money. This reality has been substantive blog entry in under a half hour –
trend in our society. According to a Pew you go to where your customers and prospects a rude awakening for many a small business chances are it will take you an hour or longer.
Internet & American Life Project tracking are. you join in communities where they are owner who was initially delighted with all the Like any business activity, it’s not without its
survey in December 2008, over one-third participating, or you start your own micro- “free” marketing and Pr possibilities afforded cost – in this case, time – but that time can be
(35 percent) of adults now have a profile on a communities inside larger social media sites by social media. well spent in terms of customer engagement
social networking website. That number has around the web. Take the example of a blog. Setting for your brand.
quadrupled since 2005 (it was 8 percent then). up a blog is now considered a well-established when it comes to large social venues
you can see how quickly this trend is growing. MAJOr TIME SINk — Or ESSENTIAL technique to connect more closely with like Twitter™ and facebook, it’s frighteningly
And although social media started out as 21ST-CENTury MArkETING TOOL? customers and the public, learn what your easy for you and your staff to fritter away
personal activity, businesses have caught on whoever coined the phrase “there’s no such customers are thinking and share your messages huge amounts of time. It may be fun, even
and are getting in on the act. thing as a free lunch” could have been talking in a conversational voice. A blog can be addictive. But from a business perspective, if
Marketing maestro Seth Godin has about social media marketing. All marketing free and involve literally no out-of-pocket this is done aimlessly it can be more noise than
written about today’s “attention economy”: costs you something, in either time or money. expense. But for your blog to be effective, you signal. At the end of the day, you may have
“In an attention economy, marketers struggle Social media marketing is no exception. In must “feed” it by adding content. Blogging no business results to show for it – no better
for attention, and if you don’t have it, you lose.” fact, social media marketing often costs more takes time. It’s nearly impossible to write a brand recognition, no additional sales, no

5. 02 SOCIAL MEDIA —
ExPLAINED
happier customers. Often this disappointment Once you identify clear goals and objectives,
results from approaching social media without it becomes much easier to figure out what wHICH SOCIAL MEDIA APPLICATION IS rIGHT fOr My BuSINESS?
a clear strategy and plan. Social media is not a you need to do each day, week or month SOME ADVICE frOM ANITA CAMPBELL —
one-size-fits-all activity; it’s a rich landscape of with social media. A concrete plan helps
websites, tools, applications and techniques. you separate the activities that are enjoyable There are literally hundreds – strike that – thousands of social media sites and applications.
personal diversions (or downright time for small businesses, the following are the digital outposts Anita Campbell recommends
yOu NEED A PLAN wasters) from those that drive real value as giving the best rOI for the time and money spent.
Successful social media marketing for any to your business.
business starts with a plan. It should be a Twitter.com —
subset of your overall marketing strategy, with MONITOrING yOur Twitter is a powerhouse for connecting with like-minded people, developing relationships,
very clear goals and a tactical course of action. SOCIAL IMPACT getting customer feedback and increasing brand visibility. It’s also becoming a major traffic
To properly take advantage of social media, Sound overwhelming? It’s not, really. Some driver back to small business websites. Twitter works especially well with a blog, if you
first step back and ask yourself some questions: tools and utilities can make it much easier to share links to your blog content with your Twitter followers.
manage. There are tools just to help monitor
— What are you trying to achieve? mentions of you, your products or your brand linkedin.com —
refer back to the overall marketing on the web. Set up Google Alerts and Google Every professional should have a LinkedIn profile to display credentials. But to get real
objectives you created for your business. Blog Alerts to be notified via email whenever value out of LinkedIn, you need more. Consider setting up a LinkedIn Group around your
Are you trying to drive new customer you or your brand are discussed online. business or around a topic your customers are interested in. Participate not only in your
acquisition? Brand recognition? Deepen TweetBeep.com is a similar monitoring own Group, but join other related Groups too. Ask and answer questions in the LinkedIn
relationships with existing customers to retain service that will send you alerts whenever Answers section. LinkedIn is a particularly good outpost to monitor those who market to
them? Cross-sell your products and services you’re mentioned on Twitter. the corporate or enterprise market – or who are hiring.
to existing customers? Just as clear goals and A variety of toolbars and applications
objectives are the foundation of your overall exist that make it easy to update your social YouTube.com —
marketing plan, they should also drive your presence too. for instance, Ping.fm™ allows you can set up a youTube channel to display videos that relate to your business, such
social media plan. you to update numerous social media sites as product demonstrations, how-to tutorials or website tour videos. People will find the
simply by posting a message in a single place. videos by searching on youTube itself, or by finding video results through search engines.
— Who exactly is your target market? There are even applications such as TweetLater Videos are one of the most viral (shared) forms of content today.
Be specific. Ideally you already and Adjix™ that allow you to schedule Twitter
have a clear picture of your target market updates in advance. TweetDeck and Seesmic Facebook.com —
in terms of demographic requirements and Desktop allow you to better monitor and for many small businesses, facebook is where your target market is networking and
other characteristics. If so, this step should be update your Twitter account from your spending free time. you want to be seen there with a personal profile (for personal branding
straightforward. If you aren’t sure, you’ll need computer or mobile device. as an expert, speaker or author) and with a business/fan page around which your business
to do some research to identify which social New tools are being developed all the can build a community. remember to update your business page regularly.
media sites and tools to focus on (start with time. Try some of them out. They can make
my short list on the opposite page). But think your social media activities considerably more mySpace.com —
broadly, as social media can have a viral effect. efficient and effective. If you are in the entertainment business or market to the youth market, a MySpace™
People pass along links to content. This means page is a useful outpost.
that your message or content may be shared AND fINALLy...
in one venue, yet often reach people through Social media is a learning experience. Slideshare.net and other document-sharing sites —
indirect means. It presents a dynamic, constantly evolving If you are in any kind of business or profession where you generate knowledge pieces
landscape. you’ll want to refine your social in the form of PDf reports, PowerPoint® presentations, spreadsheets, forms and the like,
— Which social media activities can help media approach as you get your feet wet. then document-sharing sites are a way to show off your expertise. Set up a channel at
you achieve your marketing objectives? you and your colleagues should spend more key document-sharing sites. remember to feed your content to these sites regularly.
Now tie your social media tactics and time on the activities that bring results, and
activities to your marketing objectives. Do you eliminate activities that haven’t panned out. Vertical-interest forums —
need to find platforms to display your expertise Make sure that you adjust your Don’t forget the old-fashioned online forum/discussion board, especially for niche
and thought leadership? Amplify your brand approach as your business grows and changes, industries. you can find forums on just about any topic or any industry. Become an active
by sharing your messages and content? Drive too. what may serve you well today may not participant or a moderator, answering queries and dispensing advice. Don’t forget product
traffic to your website? Spread the word about be what you require next year or the year after forums on corporate sites if you have product expertise and are a service provider or
discounts or special offers? Publicize events? that in your business. consultant – they are a great place to show off your knowledge.
Establish a dialogue with customers and the whatever you do, don’t remain static.
public, and create a two-way conversation? Open yourself to the possibilities of this new For more on how small businesses are using these sites to gain brand awareness, visit www.openforum.com.
Monitor your brand at social sites? “social world” on the web.

6. 03 SOCIAL MEDIA — Text: John Jantsch
Illustration: luke Wilson
GETTING STArTED
JOHN JANTSCH
Founder
Duct Tape Marketing
www.ducttapemarketing.com
John Jantsch is a marketing and
digital technology coach, award-
winning social media publisher and
creator of Duct Tape Marketing, a
small business marketing system
to help entrepreneurs expand their
businesses. His Duct Tape Marketing
blog has been featured by Harvard
Business School and Forbes and
selected as a “Best Small Business
Marketing Blog” in 2004, 2005 and
2006 by the readers of Marketing
Sherpa. He is a featured expert on the
SOcial mEdia
topic of Marketing for OPEN Forum.
Find more insights from John at
www.openforum.com/marketing.
GETTiNG STarTEd
A NEw wOrLD Of OPPOrTuNITy AwAITS THE ASTuTE
BuSINESS uSEr Of SOCIAL MEDIA: BuT wHErE TO BEGIN?
JOHN JANTSCH PrESENTS SOME POSSIBLE APPrOACHES
It’s becoming clear that social media is no people use search engines to find answers and
longer marketing’s new thing; it’s marketing products. SEO (search engine optimization)
in the world we live in today. That’s not is one of the most important elements of lead
to say that social media tactics are all you generation, but it has changed dramatically
need to concern yourself with, but it does over the past few years, becoming undeniably
mean that social media tactics need to be intertwined with social media.
considered in your marketing strategy. rather what this means is creating a system
than ask yourself if you should or should of places where people – and search engines –
not use facebook® or Twitter™, the question can find your brand. Add a blog and podcast
should be “How can facebook and Twitter to the mix. upload, tag and thoroughly
help me achieve my marketing objectives?” describe images on sites like flickr®, and
from this integrated viewpoint, social media house customer testimonial videos on and prospects can engage with it in ways that your activity – or spokes – functions primarily
participation can start to make more sense for youTube. Create and optimize profiles on support all your other branding activities. as a way to lead prospects back to the much
each individual marketer’s needs and goals. facebook, LinkedIn®, Twitter and industry- In other words, link back to your more fully developed content that resides on
related social networking sites. And become website, but also write thorough descriptions, your website.
CONTENT AS LEAD GENErATOr very proactive about generating positive add images to profiles and create the most your hub is the place where you can
few areas of marketing have been more reviews on sites like yelp®, Google™ Maps and extended version of real estate possible. engage your prospects in a total education-
dramatically impacted by social media – and Insider Pages™. Otherwise, you’re not really Give your social media assets the same care based campaign that helps them understand
the Internet in general – than lead generation. marketing “online” anymore. and attention that you might give a printed that you have the solutions they are seeking. In
The days of broadcasting your sales messages brochure, and they will serve your search fact, you can think of a great deal of your social
to willing or unwilling prospects are effectively OPTIMIzE yOur ASSETS engine efforts well. media activity as a way to create awareness and
over, with tools like TiVo®, spam filters and Creating a profile or uploading a video are an initial level of trust substantial enough for
commercial-free radio keeping unwanted good ways to start building your online assets, THE HuB AND SPOkE MODEL someone to want to know more. Social media
messages at bay. Lead generation today is but it’s equally important that you take the As you create these online assets, you need a and social networking, when combined, may
more about being found than hunting. Online, time to fully optimize, tag and describe the primary website or blog as the central hub be the ultimate permission-based marketing
this means appearing in the results when content so that search engines can index it that ties all your social media activity together. tool when viewed in this light.

7. 04 SOCIAL MEDIA —
ExPLAINED
BuILD ENGAGEMENT – AND TruST campaigns. Generate awareness of your content, remind People You’re on Twitter —
The social web is a tremendous place to build and you will get the chance to earn the trust it use tools like the Tweetmeme plugin to GLOSSAry Of TErMS —
your reputation, earn trust and gain influence. takes to actually sell something to someone. make your content easy to tweet. Add your The rise of social media is introducing
All these attributes may indeed lead to sales “follow me on Twitter” button to web pages, new concepts, terms and players into the
and profits, but not in the direct manner so LinkedIn has a reputation as a solid place to email newsletters and email signature. mainstream. Here are a few (from this
many marketers crave. In fact, building trust network, find prospects and even get hired. Add your @name to your business cards, article) you may meet as you get started:
online requires going to far greater lengths stationery and invoices.
than networking at a local event might. It Take advantage of Your Profile — aggregator —
requires a greater level of initial engagement, This is a great brand asset; don’t waste it. MONITOrING AND Software that collects content through
transparency and consistency. while those Make your profile informative, and make sure ENGAGEMENT TOOLS feeds from websites, blogs, tweets and
may sound like buzzwords to some, they are to add a photo, create a branded urL, link to It takes a powerful set of digital ears to any other online publication. Can be used
generally accomplished by a willingness to your blog, products, workshops, etc. monitor and engage in the millions of to help you monitor references to your
give – before anyone ever asks. conversations going on simultaneously. company, competitors and your business
This means demonstrating that it’s Give First — By setting up filters, aggregators and sector across the Internet.
not about you: educating, pointing to helpful One of the top features on LinkedIn is something alert services, you can find, monitor and
information, admitting when your company called recommendations. you should acquire even join real-time conversations about: del.icio.us —
makes a mistake, thanking, referring and some recommendations, and I find the best Bookmarks are a reliable way to keep what’s
serving customer needs in full view of a social way to get them is to give them. Choose people — your customers’ ongoing experience interesting to you on the web within easy
public. By doing so, you can not only overcome in your network whom you’ve worked with and — Any brand/product/CEO mentions reach. Bookmark sharing is an important
the natural cynicism that exists online, you can write an honest statement of recommendation. — Complaints about competing services part of social media, and enables users to
reap the benefits of trust – including higher — Inaccurate information about your share topics of interest. In doing so they
profits and shorter sales cycles. demonstrate Your Expertise — organization attract attention to popular references, often
An often-overlooked feature, in my opinion, — Thoughts and needs of journalists resulting in spikes of traffic to websites that
EMPLOy BEST PrACTICES is the question and Answer function. By in your industry carry relevant content.
So how do you start reaching out and engaging? answering questions thoughtfully, you can
The following are my recommendations for demonstrate expertise while potentially engaging yOur SOCIAL MEDIA TOOLBOx rSS —
three of the most popular social networking sites. contacts that are drawn to your knowledge. SHOuLD INCLuDE: really Simple Syndication – a venerable
Google alerts — ancestor of social media and still one of the
Facebook is interesting because it has so Twitter is probably the hottest and least- Google Alerts allows you to set up customer best ways to publish all kinds of content to
many users and has built some very nice understood social networking tool, but with a searches for any phrase and receive email or subscribers, independently of your website
engagement tools. few consistent practices, you can derive plenty rSS alerts anytime your phrase shows up in or any other online destination.
of value from Twitter. online media, blogs, web pages and news.
Build a Fan Page — @name —
Any business on facebook can create a fan Tweet Great content — Search Twitter — A part of your online identity that may
page for the business and start optimizing find inspiration by following people who for now, monitoring Twitter is a separate become as important as your email or web
additional content there. Add applications, always tweet interesting stuff, subscribe to stream – using the advanced search function address: this is how you can be accessed and
newsletter sign-up pages and events, and blogs that feature great links and reviews, scan allows you to set up very specific searches, followed on Twitter. It’s worth registering
promote them to your “friends” on facebook. weekly and daily email news digests, cruise even including geographic details. These your @name now, before someone else does.
when someone becomes a fan of your page, over to the del.icio.us popular page and read searches produce rSS feeds and can then
your updates on the page show up on his or print publications of interest. All these sources be subscribed to. #hashtag —
her wall, providing additional exposure. (most of which can be scanned in a 15-minute A way to add context to your Twitter
sitting once you have them set up) are rich with Tweetbeep.com — posting – and make it easier to find as part
Take advantage of the apps — content that your followers will want to read. Similar to Google Alerts, but for Twitter. of a shared group of messages tagged in the
Promote events, upload or record video, hold Set up search phrases and receive notifications same way. Simply prefix the term with a “#”
contests and polls. All this extra engagement Get Familiar with Twitter Search — anytime your selected phrases show up in in the body of your tweet.
is so easy to do using pre-built tools. And for many power users, search is the most Twitter conversations.
don’t forget to integrate your facebook important feature of Twitter. you can use the Tweetmeme —
activity back to your website and blog using Twitter advanced search tool to create elaborate Backtype.com — An aggregation service for Twitter,
a facebook fan Box. searches that filter out only the tweets that Backtype is a search engine of sorts that providing categorized links to popular
address your specific industry in your specific focuses on blog comments. Blog comments topics and enabling you to amplify their
Use Facebook ads for awareness — geography. I would also include the use of the don’t often make it into the mainstream popularity by retweeting them to your
you can target ads to facebook members on #hashtag as a search tool. Get in the habit of search results, so this is a way to listen in Twitter network.
all kinds of criteria and run pretty low-cost ad using it to promote your events and promotions. on this set of content.

8. 05 CArDMEMBEr STOry — Text: Stuart Husband
Photography: mackenzie Stroh
rAfE NEw yOrk
Name: rAfE TOTENGCO
Company: rAfE NEw yOrk
Location: NEw yOrk, Ny
Member Since: 1997
raFE NEW YOrK
DESIGNEr rAfE TOTENGCO uSES TwITTErTM, fACEBOOk®
AND TwO BuzzwOrTHy BLOGS TO PrOMOTE HIS
THrIVING ACCESSOrIES BuSINESS IN THE LATEST fASHION
rafe Totengco describes his accessories label, Totengco has embraced with alacrity the
rafe New york – colorful clutch bags and totes, opportunity to promote rafe New york – and
subtly stylish shoes – as a “stealth brand.” himself – via social media. He already has more
“I’m not one of those mega-fashion names that than 2,800 fans on his facebook page and nearly
you feel almost coerced into buying. If anything, 650 followers on Twitter; he’ll send out tweets or
I’m the opposite – my branding and my logos posts announcing new rafe lines or secret sales
are all very understated. I want you to wear (“60% off at the online store now – run, don’t
the bag or the shoes, rather than the other way walk!”) to dramatic effect. “The evidence is very
around. I’m looking to create a strong emotional anecdotal and unscientific,” he says, “but as soon
attachment to the brand.” He grins. “That’s as we make those kinds of announcements our
absolutely crucial when you don’t have a huge online sales really spike, to the point where we’ve
advertising budget to throw around. you want to had complete sell-outs.”
make the most out of every dollar you spend.” Totengco generates further buzz for the
In the past few years, however, Totengco brand through his blogs: canitellyou.rafe.com,
has found a way to compete with fashion’s big guns where he describes in chatty detail the fashion
– if not on a level playing field, at least on a slightly events and parties he’s attended and the various
less skewed one – thanks to the inexorable rise of celebrities he’s encountered, and rafeloves.rafe.com,
social media. “Oh, thank goodness for facebook, where he posts photographs of his customers
Twitter and Lookbooks.com,” he exclaims. “In proudly sporting their rafe totes or kitten heels.
the bad old days, if I got some amazing press, “I just started blogging because I thought it was
I’d have to email people all the time to let them fun,” he says. “I didn’t realize how sophisticated it
know. It was so exhausting, clicking ‘send all’ could be, for tracking and stuff. My early blogs
over and over again. Now, through facebook didn’t even tag or link to anything. Now I’m
and LinkedIn™, people get notified of new posts hyperlinked and I can see who’s following me.
and updates automatically. It’s a fantastic way I didn’t want it to be dry. I wanted it to be an
to toot my own horn in a not-so-blatant way.” extension of my personality, like a magazine gossip

9. 06 CArDMEMBEr STOry —
rAfE NEw yOrk
column, but with an insider point of view. It’s been Donna karan, Calvin klein and Perry Ellis, day and this actress walked in with a five-year- BElOW
seen by people around the world, and it’s really thinking, that’s where I want to be.” old – that is, vintage – bag of mine. I walked up The designer’s
gotten my persona out there.” As for the rafeloves His decision to concentrate on to her, told her I designed it, and asked to take well-heeled creations
blog, he says it was not only an alternative way accessories was a purely pragmatic one. “It was her picture. She’s jumping up and down – ‘I love
of promoting his products, but also “a way of a case of ‘one size fits most,’ ” he says, laughing. this bag, it still looks good, it’s still my style’ –
celebrating the individuality of the people who “I had no means to present a whole fashion which is such a compliment, because to keep a
buy my products. And believe me, at this point, no collection in New york. I was fresh off the boat bag for that length of time, without trading up
one is camera-shy. I’ve got a waiting list of around and had no connections. So accessories was a way for this season’s must-have, is like breaking one
30 girls clamoring to get on there.” He shakes for me to establish a business while producing of fashion’s cardinal rules.”
his head. “It’s funny to think that people are now something I enjoy.” And he went about selling you could imagine this anecdote
connecting as much with me as with the brand.” his first collection in 1994, with the same artless turning up, verbatim, on Totengco’s blog, or
Then again, Totengco’s engaging, charm that fuels his social media success today. indeed the photo of the actress in question being
effervescent personality seems tailor-made for a rafe New york has picked up awards posted on rafeloves. There’s a sense that everyone
hyperlinked world. He was born 41 years ago in and acclaim along the way – Totengco won on the receiving end of a post or a tweet is a
a small town in the Philippines; his interest in Best Accessories Designer from the Accessories confidante, which has spread Totengco’s brand
fashion was sparked by his two elder sisters, who Council in 2001 and was the first accessories awareness beyond his hardcore bag- or shoe-
were part-time models. “I saw the way they could designer to create a capsule collection for the crazy constituents. “It’s obvious that some fashion
be transformed by clothes and makeup. It was so mass retailer Target®, in 2005 – but the brand’s designers don’t write their own blogs, or that they
exciting, seeing the power of fashion up close at reputation was built largely through word-of- can’t be bothered to update,” he says. “I think that
that age. I became addicted.” he says. mouth. “It’s happened quite organically,” says if you’re not going to throw yourself into it, why
He started a successful clothing business Totengco. “I always design after my own aesthetic bother?” But does he now feel the pressure to
in Manila, growing from one seamstress working rather than some marketing plan. I guess I have update his status every hour? “Oh, I’m not a ‘just
on his dining table to about 30 employees in a one foot uptown and one downtown – my bags had breakfast, really full’ kind of tweeter,” he says
much bigger apartment. He left for New york don’t look like obvious status bags, which I think dismissively. “I might tweet twice a day, or once a
in 1989. “I always had the city in my sights,” he helps preserve their longevity. I’ll tell you a story,” week, just whenever I feel like it. Likewise, I only
says. “Back in the Philippines I’d be reading about he continues brightly. “I was at a café the other post on the blog when I’ve really got something
lEFT TO riGHT
Classic Rafe handbags;
Totengco discusses details with
colleague Steffanie Hyman;
uptown meets downtown
at Totengco’s showroom

10. 07 CArDMEMBEr STOry —
rAfE NEw yOrk
riGHT
Esi Akaah, one of
Totengco’s design team, lEFT FOr mOrE iNFO ON
puts her vision to paper Totengco’s Can I Tell raFE NEW YOrK SEE:
You? blog is a chatty www.rafe.com
BElOW, TOP look at what’s going on www.openforum.com/rafe
Works in progress in the designer’s world
If you’re an OPEN
Cardmember with a
BElOW, BOTTOm BElOW story to tell and would
Debating leather Twitter keeps friends like to be considered
swatches in the atelier and fans in the loop for a future OPEN Book,
about sales, collections email us at:
stories@openforum.com
and Rafe-related news
to say. I don’t want it to take over my life. I’ve had
people say to me that they’d rather buy from a
person they know is actually writing this stuff.
But at the same time, I do have a day job!”
Given all that, could he estimate the
Ready to get more “social”?
impact that his social media presence has had on
the success of his “stealth brand”? “I can’t break it To find more tools and information to help you navigate the
down in terms of ‘we’ve sold 10,000 more bags social Web, visit OPENForum.com/socialmedia
than we’d otherwise have done,’ ” he says. “But it’s
been invaluable in raising awareness. Little pockets
of customers have caught on to the cult across the oPEN MIc oPEN BooK
uS, in Europe, even back in the Philippines. The Listen as journalist Tyler Brûlé takes a Download any of the articles in OPEN
number of visits made directly to my site and my deeper dive into the areas presented Book: Social Media, as well as the
blogs have been steadily increasing, and online in this guide. In the first of OPEN’s complete guide, or forward the link
sales are exceeding expectations. People are reading new podcast series he’ll be in to others. Previous guides on Online
my posts, finding out about my life and wanting conversation with John Jantsch, Adam Marketing and Trends can be downloaded
to ‘link in’ by commenting on my blogs, following Ostrow, Rafe Totengco and other guests. at www.openforum.com/openbook
me on Twitter or by buying one of my products.
I think it’s a paradigm shift, and one that a lot of coNNEctIoNs REsouRcEs
other businesses can and should exploit. I mean, Gain insights, connections and exposure Find more articles and tips from the
having 20 people comment on a status update and meet all our expert authors on contributors in this guide and join the
or blog entry, that means you’ve reached out and OPENForum.com discussion by leaving a comment.
interacted with them.” He pauses. “I guess what
social media has done, more than anything, is help
build goodwill for rafe New york, and that’s
impossible to quantify.”

11. 08 SOCIAL MEDIA — Text: adam Ostrow
Illustration: luke Wilson
wHAT’S NExT
ADAM OSTrOw
Editor-in-Chief
Mashable
www.mashable.com
Adam Ostrow is a new-media
entrepreneur, consultant and
commentator. As editor-in-chief
at Mashable, Adam is responsible
for the editorial management
and direction of one of the most
widely read blogs in the world,
covering the latest technologies,
trends and individuals that are
driving the current evolution of the
Web. Adam has been frequently
quoted by mainstream media,
including mentions in The New
SOcial mEdia
York Times, The Washington Post,
USA Today, Forbes, BusinessWeek,
ABC News and CNN, and is a
featured expert on the topic of
WHaT’S NExT
Technology for OPEN Forum.
Find more insights from Adam at
www.openforum.com/technology.
wHErE ArE THE TOP SITES HEADED? wHAT TrENDS ArE
ArOuND THE COrNEr? MASHABLE’S ADAM OSTrOw OffErS
POINTErS fOr SuCCESS IN TOMOrrOw’S SOCIAL MEDIA
The rise of social media over the past few years Twitter or LinkedIn and see a stream of
has left several companies and platforms in a recent activities – like new status updates,
position to dictate the way in which we’ll use photos and events – from all your connections.
technology in the future. Between facebook®, while initially the stream consisted
MySpace™, Twitter™, LinkedIn® and youTube, of activities taking place within a given social
there are hundreds of millions of users across network, it has come to represent activities
what has become known as “the social web.” taking place around the web. for example, you
There are also countless start-ups looking to can now connect your flickr® and youTube
either be the next huge social platform or accounts, and even your blog, to facebook.
build a business by feeding into the ecosystem This means that every time you upload a
that the top players have created. photo, share a video or write a new post
Determining which of these early- through one of these mediums, it can HOw TO TAkE ADVANTAGE with the social stream and portable identities,
stage services is going to be “the next facebook” automatically appear on the social network. The rise of the social stream and portable a number of third-party apps that plug in to
is an exercise in wild speculation, but we can Beyond simply connecting accounts, identities has a few practical implications these platforms are worth consideration. from
look at what the social web might be like in facebook, Twitter and MySpace now all for your business: screencasts (Screenr ) to video (TwitVid) to
SM
the future and how your business can position offer their own options for logging in on presentations and documents (DocStoc), there
itself to succeed in it. third-party websites, known respectively as amplifying Your Online Footprint — are many opportunities to improve the quality
facebook Connect, Sign-In with Twitter Automatically syndicating your blog posts, videos of the content you’re publishing to the stream
CONNECTED ACCOuNTS and MySpace ID. for example, you can now and other content to social networks raises your and, in turn, earn the social currency that can
AND POrTABLE IDENTITy log in to Citysearch® using your facebook brand’s visibility, improves traffic and creates drive the growth of your online network.
If you’ve spent much time on social username and password, write a review of a new opportunities to connect with customers.
networking sites, you’ve probably noticed local business and have that automatically improving Your Website’s Viral Growth —
an increasingly similar feature set. The concept posted to facebook, where it’s accessible to adding New Services to Your repertoire — By adding social features to your website,
driving much of this homogeneity is called all your connections. Similarly, many blogs you want to be where the people are – hence, you can get further mileage out of the content
“the social stream,” essentially the idea that and news websites will now allow you to setting up facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn you produce and further extend your reach
you can log in to a site like facebook, syndicate a comment you make to Twitter. accounts is top priority for your business. But on social sites.

12. 09 SOCIAL MEDIA —
wHAT’S NExT
A Few Options: the mobile environment. The combination of were alerted to coupons within a three-block network or site-wide for status updates, links
advances in mobile technology, a number of radius of their current location. and notes about a given topic.
Sharing Buttons — innovative startups and upcoming features Meanwhile, we’re also seeing ad However, social search is only in its
Make sure your blog posts are easy to share by on services such as Twitter point to a future networks develop around the concept of infancy. In the long run, we’re likely headed
adding buttons that allow readers to quickly in which cell phones are central to the social location-aware advertising. AdMob, one of the in a direction where, in much the same way
post them to facebook, Twitter, MySpace media experience and an equally important leading mobile ad networks, recently recorded that organic search results in Google are
and dozens of other social sites. ShareThis®, platform for businesses. its 100 billionth ad impression. Like other based on page rank, social search results are
AddThis™ and AddtoAny all provide free applications, AdMob lets you target ads based based on algorithms that look at a user’s social
buttons that can quickly be added to your — Mobile Applications on user whereabouts, but it does so across authority – how many connections he has, how
blog. Additionally, an increasing number of for starters, the iPhone has hundreds of mobile applications and websites, positively he’s viewed by others and the quality
businesses are adding these features to their completely changed the landscape for mobile giving advertisers the scale that is currently of the content he’s producing on the social
email marketing and newsletters. applications. what used to be a largely closed missing from individual apps. web. further, web and social search are likely
system is now open, and more than 85,000 to become one and the same, where results are
comment Systems — mobile applications are now available on the SOCIAL SEArCH: simply a combination of link patterns,
Portable identity is making blog comments a iPhone alone. Meanwhile, virtually every other BrINGING THE wHOLE keyword analysis and social media metrics.
valuable marketing tool – not just for you as device maker, from BlackBerry® to Palm™ to THING TOGETHEr So how does your business position
you browse the web, but for your own blog Nokia, is following Apple’s lead and launching If you’ve experimented at all with online itself to succeed in this future online world
as readers leave comments. Disqus offers a its own app stores. marketing, chances are it has been in the realm dictated largely by our capital on social media
comment system that lets readers sign in with fortunately, much of the groundwork of search, where the bulk of online advertising sites? It may sound clichéd, but looking at the
their facebook or Twitter accounts and have has been laid for businesses small and large dollars still go and where improving rankings current landscape, the key seems to be to work
their comments posted back to the social to play in this arena too. while initially apps in the organic results through SEO (search smarter, not harder. Improve your position in
network of their choice and, in turn, be seen cost thousands of dollars to develop, new engine optimization) is a full-time job for the social stream by connecting accounts.
by all their connections. This turns blog do-it-yourself solutions like SwebApps™ allow thousands of specialists. However, like so Turn website visitors into marketers by
comments into a way to generate additional you to set up your own iPhone apps, with many other aspects of the web, search is about enabling portable identity features. Extend
traffic at no cost. templates for different types of businesses like to get infused with a big dose of social. your business to the mobile world with a
restaurants and retail stores, and be up and Both facebook and Twitter have branded application.
implementing Your Own Social Features — running for a few hundred bucks. already provided a small glimpse of the road Actively participating on social media
If your website offers its own login system, ahead in search. Twitter’s advanced search sites remains paramount, but that will go only
consider implementing portable identity — Geo-Targeted Applications options let you combine a keyword query so far as you have hours in the day to commit.
solutions like facebook Connect or Sign-In Another increasingly common for tweets with other social modifiers – like Getting ahead of future trends with simple
with Twitter. Citysearch online guides let feature on cell phones is GPS. while this has location, if it came from a specific user, and and accessible technology will add significant
users review businesses and have those reviews some practical applications – like the ability even if it had a positive or negative attitude. scale to your marketing strategy and give you
published to facebook; your website could to find your phone if you misplace it – it also Meanwhile, facebook’s recently revealed a competitive edge as we continue to move
utilize these solutions for enabling product has huge potential for business. for starters, search tools let you search within your toward an ever more social web.
reviews, special promotions and contests, and location-aware applications are emerging
inviting friends who might be interested in that allow users to share their longitude and
your business. latitude with friends. CONSuMErS SIGNAL THEIr APPrOVAL —
while Twitter plans to incorporate Marketers may be adopting social media in droves, but are consumers reciprocating by following
MOBILE: this functionality soon, there are already companies and brands on social media sites? According to recent data, the answer would seem
wHErE SOCIAL MEDIA applications such as Google™ Latitude and to be a resounding “yes.” In a study provided to eMarketer™ by Anderson Analytics, more than
MEETS LOCATION Loopt® that are location-aware. Log in and half of social networking users have become a fan or follower of a brand online. Moreover,
At the same time social networks are trying you can see where all your friends are and users are far more likely to say something positive about a brand than something negative.
to aggregate all your online activities in one quickly make impromptu plans at nearby
place, they’re also looking to extend beyond the locations. The business model here should be “52% of social network users had become a fan or follower of a company or brand,
web and into the realm of mobile. And it’s fairly obvious: the ability to serve hyperlocal while 46% had said something good about a brand or company on a social networking
happening quickly: facebook has more than advertising to potential customers that are website – double the percentage who had said something negative (23%).”
65 million active mobile users, Twitter sees within a few feet of your business. (Source: Anderson Analytics “Social Networking Service,” provided to eMarketer July 13, 2009)
20 percent of tweets stream in from mobile This is already starting to happen. In other words, there seems to be much more going on beyond businesses simply setting up
devices, and mobile video watching on sites like foursquare, a location-aware app that lets shop on social media sites and hoping people will show up. rather, users are actively seeking
youTube is up 52 percent in 2009, according users “check in” at venues in a number of out their favorite brands online or being connected through other means – like a friend’s
to a study published in May by Nielsen. metro areas, recently launched a partnership suggestion, a link on a website or offline advertising. All the more reason that spending
However, there’s much more going on than with a company called 8coupons. Through the on the medium is expected to continue to increase over the next five years.
big social networks porting their features to deal, users of foursquare in New york City

13. 10 q&A — Illustration: luke Wilson
MArCy SHINDEr & HENry BLODGET
Q&a:
marcY SHiNdEr
aNd HENrY BlOdGET
OPEN’S MArCy SHINDEr AND THE BuSINESS INSIDEr’S
HENry BLODGET DISCuSS THE LASTING IMPACT Of SOCIAL
MEDIA AND ITS TruE rOLE IN BuSINESS
mS: Everywhere we turn, we’re hearing HB: yes, that has always been true in my
something about the “social media experience: If you go back to the mid- MARCY SHINDER HENRY BlODgET
revolution.” what do you think are the 1990s, Internet hype got way ahead of the Vice-President of Brand Marketing CEO & Editor-in-Chief of The Business
key reasons for businesses to engage? reality. But 15 years later the Internet has & Strategy for American Express OPEN Insider and featured expert on OPEN Forum
already had a far more profound impact
HB: There are three key reasons. first, social on the world than even the pie-eyed Marcy Shinder oversees OPEN’s focus A former top-ranked wall Street analyst,
media is where your customers are. dreamers ever thought it would. with on social media marketing, brand strategy, Henry Blodget is the host of yahoo
Secondly, social media is where your social media, we’ve already seen how product marketing, events and advocacy TechTicker, a yahoo finance® video show
customers are talking about you (and your enormously popular it is, and how quickly designed to ensure that American Express viewed by several million people a month.
competitors). And finally, social media is a it’s changing the world. Teenagers don’t OPEN delivers on its promise to be the He is a frequent guest on Bloomberg, CNN,
simple way to communicate with customers like to talk on the phone anymore; they Card that connects its customers to the MSNBC, and NPr and has recently
and potentials who want to hear from you. don’t like to watch TV or read newspapers best in business. Shinder was among BtoB contributed to The Atlantic, Slate, Newsweek
fundamentally, the relationship between or magazines anymore; they don’t even Magazine’s Top Marketers for 2007 and International, The New York Times, Fortune,
brands and customers is changing. The era like to communicate via email. Instead, 2008, has been featured in Pink Magazine, New York, the Financial Times, and other
of one-way communication – of brands they like instant messaging, texting, and The New York Times, Direct Marketers News publications. Blodget is the author of
pushing their messages to consumers facebook®. The short-term pursuit of the and has appeared as a guest on fox Business The Wall Street Self-Defense Manual:
through media outlets – is waning. Brands commercial opportunity this represents is Network’s Money for Breakfast. A Consumer’s guide to Investing.
that embrace the new conversational giving rise to unrealistic expectations in
opportunities with their customers terms of immediate returns.
will win. Those that do not will suffer.
mS: So in your opinion, does this hold greater
mS: Experience suggests that we tend to implications for how we communicate
overestimate the impact of technological overall as marketers, and as a society? rEad mOrE FrOm marcY SHiNdEr ON OPEN FOrUm FiNd mOrE iNSiGHTS FrOm HENrY aNd
innovation in the short term, and aT: www.openforum.com/marcyshinder or email her at: THE TEam FrOm THE BUSiNESS iNSidEr aT
underestimate it in the long term. Is this HB: In the short term, changes like these Marcy@openforum.com. www.openforum.com/money.
true of the “social media revolution” ? happen slowly enough that they may

14. 11 q&A —
MArCy SHINDEr & HENry BLODGET
not seem earth-shattering. But you can potential customers – and that can be monetized – and these platforms are It is eliminating the dozens of promising
imagine what the world will look like when worth a fortune. whether social media getting a huge amount of attention. opportunities you could go after and
all today’s teenagers hit middle age: They continues to grow depends on whether The “Social Graph” has the potential keeping your attention on just one or
aren’t going to start watching TV or reading we find ways to measure it intelligently. to be an extremely powerful marketing two. In this respect a certain discipline
newspapers just to look at the ads and figure It can be a lot like Pr: dependent on tool. Since the dawn of time, the most and focus is essential in your commercial
out what to buy. They’ll just ask their “friends” human efforts, not technology; difficult persuasive marketing message has been dealings with social media.
– their virtual network or what facebook to track an rOI. But a smart social media a friend’s recommendation. If companies
calls their “Social Graph” – what to buy. And effort absolutely needs to be tracked; how figure out a way to harness that without mS: So your best chance to compete
thanks to social media, that has gotten a heck did it grow audience? How many tweets freaking people out, the results will be effectively is to be sure you do one
of a lot easier. and links did it generate? And, ideally, awe-inspiring. thing extremely well?
Anytime you have tectonic shifts like this, did it lead directly to sales that can be
you’re going to have a lot of new winners... and measured? Measuring social media “buzz’’ mS: Many of our Cardmembers tell us HB: Exactly. No company can do everything
a lot of shakeout. In the mid-1990s, it would is as challenging as measuring Pr “media they would love to tap into social media well. few companies can do many things
have seemed inconceivable that companies like impressions.” we have to get smart about for their businesses, but don’t know how well. Small companies really can do only
Viacom and Time warner would be shrinking quantifying results for social media to grow. to begin or think it’s too risky. How one thing well – or maybe two, if they are
while staring up at a giant company called would you advise them in terms of extraordinary. So having the self-discipline
Google™ that is worth more than most of the mS: Economic downturns often appear to balancing their concerns with managing to stay focused is critical. The good news
rest of the media industry put together. But encourage innovation – as people try to the commercial potential this new is, if you’re the kind of entrepreneur who
that’s creative destruction at work. And as do more with less, or perhaps become medium affords? just can’t do that, it doesn’t mean your
social media really gets cranking, this evolution “accidental entrepreneurs” as a result of company is doomed. It just means it’s time
is likely to continue. changing employment circumstances. HB: for most entrepreneurs, the single to hire someone else to run it...while you
Do you think we can expect a new wave biggest business challenge is not finding pursue the next big thing.
mS: Similarly, enthusiasm in the tech stock of entrepreneurs to emerge out of the a promising opportunity to go after.
markets may tell a certain story about present downturn, much as Apple and
social media, but how can a small business Microsoft® appeared in the mid 1970s?
owner distinguish hype from reality in
terms of the bottom line benefits that HB: you’ll certainly see a new wave of
social media might bring to them? companies and entrepreneurs, but not
HB: As an on-the-ground small business
necessarily because of the “accidental
entrepreneur” factor. recessions have the OPEN Mic
owner, the best thing is to ignore the stock
market, and just stay very aware of what
your customers are doing.
same impact on the economy as winter
does on the animal world: they cull the
herd. Startups that can make it through a
From American Express OPEN
recession, or have good enough business A new series of insightful 30-minute podcasts devoted
mS: In her article for this OPEN Book, Anita plans to gain traction during a recession,
Campbell considers the “time vs. money” will boom in good times. The rest
to informing and inspiring business owners.
aspects of social media, and notes that wouldn’t have made it anyway.
business owners think of social marketing Join renowned journalist and fellow
as effectively free. This has been useful mS: All the contributors in this OPEN entrepreneur Tyler Brûlé as he uncovers timely,
practical information from experts and business
to many small businesses that have been Book are unanimous in their view that owners on the topics most relevant to your
cash-constrained in the past 18 months. social media marketing is here to stay. success, such as: Leadership, Customer Service
Do you think we will see its continued As someone who interprets data for a and Government Contracting.
growth as a marketing medium? living, do the statistics suggest to you
that social media represents a viable, lIstEN to tHE FIRst PoDcAst
HB: Anita’s right: social media is definitely long-term marketing or business Hear John Jantsch and Adam Ostrow share
not free. while the volume of commercial building opportunity? their expertise and provide guidance to jENNIE DuNDAs RAFE totENGco
use may have increased as a result of Cardmembers Rafe Totengco, Jennie Dundas AND AlExIs MIEsEN Owner RAFE NEW YoRK
Owners BluE MARBlE Member since 1997
perceived cost efficiencies in tough times, HB: Three hundred million facebook users and Alexis Miesen.
IcE cREAM
that’s got nothing to do with quality after five years, 50 million Twitter™ Members since 2007
or effectiveness. If you use social media users after two years...where to begin? Listen to the podcast at
badly, it can make you look like an idiot. Companies haven’t really figured out www.openforum.com/socialmedia
But, used intelligently, it’s a cheap way how to use these platforms effectively
to communicate with customers and yet, but they will. Attention can be

15. 12 SOCIAL MEDIA — Text: Jason rudman
Illustration: luke Wilson
OPEN fOruM
wHAT yOu’LL fIND ON
OPEN fOruM
OPEN forum is home to a number of
articles and resources specifically selected
and designed to help business owners
succeed. while we are continually looking
for more content and tools to better serve
our members, the following is just a sampling
of what OPEN forum currently offers:
Expert advice and insights from:
— Behance
— The Business Insider
— Duct Tape Marketing
— How to Change the world
SOcial mEdia —
—
—
Inhabitat
Mashable
Small Business Trends
OPEN FOrUm Exclusive online articles from:
JASON ruDMAN, DIrECTOr Of OPENfOruM.COM, ExPLAINS JASON ruDMAN — Ars Technica
HOw THIS rESOurCE frOM AMErICAN ExPrESS OPEN Director of OPENForum.com — BusinessWeek
Send comments to jason@openforum.com — Entrepreneur
OffErS A GrEAT wAy TO STEP INTO THE SOCIAL MEDIA POOL — Fast Company
— Inc.
for business owners who are new to social of Inhabitat. There are also video interviews with your profile can be a digital business card for — reddit
media, OPEN forum offers a great way to celebrated entrepreneurs like richard Branson, your company, describing who you are and
step into the social media pool without feeling segments from MSNBC’s Your Business, what you offer. Add a logo or other images, Video interviews with iconic
like you’re diving in. OPEN forum has a presentations from events like the New york your business story, and a personalized urL, entrepreneurs and experts from:
number of easy-to-use tools and practical Times Small Business Summit – and more. as well as links to your Twitter™, LinkedIn®,
tips to guide you, and you’ll be in the Participating in the right social media and facebook® pages. — OPEN’s “Inside the
company of other business owners, many channel means finding the right audience. To create a profile and start building Entrepreneurial Mind” series
of whom are just as new to it as you are. On OPEN forum, you’ll be in the company your network in the Connectodex, you do — MSNBC’s Your Business
with OPEN forum, we wanted to of other business owners whom you can need an American Express OPEN® Business — The New york Times Small
design a site where entrepreneurs could find engage with simply by adding a comment to Card. Then you can simply log in using your Business Summit
the resources they need to help them build an article or responding to others’ comments. americanexpress.com user ID and password. — Plus, exclusive webisode series
their businesses. recognizing that connections Or, if you are wondering how other business (If you don’t have these set up yet, there is a featuring profiles of entrepreneurs
can be powerful contributors to growth, we owners are handling a situation, you can ask link for more information.) and experts, produced by Big
also wanted to enable you to share ideas and them by starting a discussion topic or using Think and Next New Media
opportunities with each other. So we built the Ask the Members feature. MAkING CONNECTIONS
into OPEN forum the means for you to Third, you can begin building your network. There is also a calendar of conferences,
start using social media, a great tool for BuILDING yOur PrOfILE Members of OPEN forum have a message events and other networking opportunities,
making connections. The following offers Second, there’s the Connectodex – OPEN
SM
center in the Connectodex where they can as well as the chance to read and join
three simple ways for getting started. forum’s tool for connecting business owners. make direct introductions after viewing each discussions with other business owners –
It’s powerful and easy to use, providing you other’s profiles. you can search businesses by and more.
ENGAGING INSIGHTS with a number of ways to find, meet and industry, geography, business size and more.
first, there’s the Idea Hub, a library of insights exchange ideas with potential partners and you can participate as much as or as little as www.openforum.com
and advice from experts like Anita Campbell, customers. you can search for companies you want. As your comfort level increases you
John Jantsch, Adam Ostrow, and Henry that offer what you want, and if you have an can feel confident about engaging more and
Blodget, as well as Guy kawasaki of Alltop, OPEN forum profile, others can find you even in other channels, further building your
Scott Belsky of Behance™, and Jill fehrenbacher when searching for your products or services. network – and your business.

16. 10
we hope you’ve enjoyed the information in
this OPEN Book – featuring perspectives
on how to engage with social media, no
matter what level of activity your business
currently enjoys. To access this and other
OPEN Books online, visit:
www.openforum.com/OPENbook
If you’re an OPEN Cardmember with a
story to tell and would like to be considered
for a future OPEN Book, email us at
stories@openforum.com
for OPEN press inquiries:
rosa M. Alfonso,
Director of Public Affairs
American Express OPEN
212-640-1712
rosa.m.alfonso@aexp.com
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17. > American Express OPEN is dedicated
exclusively to serving business owners,
not only by providing valuable payment
products, but also by providing expert
advice and information that can help
you grow your business. Simply log
on to OPENForum.com to learn more
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