SOCIAL MEDIA FOR SMALL BUSINESSES- July 17th

 July 17, 2013 | 10AM | Oakland City Hall

Now on its third year, SMfSB is an accelerated three-hour event that serves as a neutral, educational and learning platform for local small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

 

Let’s Talk About Social Media for Small Businesses

The event introduces practical and emerging social networking platforms to help educate and empower small businesses to succeed in the digital economy.
Register today to hear from the leaders of tech: Twitter, Google and Constant Contact. Break social media down into easy-to-understand parts to utilize digital tools and technology as a platform to grow your small business.  

Event hashtag: #oaklandsocialmedia 

SMfSB Key Takeaways include:

• Engage existing and new customers with email marketing
• Use email communications to improve customer loyalty
• Building your online presence with social media marketing
• Google: get on the web, say more with video, work better together with apps, find new customers, and see who's coming and going
• Understanding Twitter and growing your business 140 characters at a time
• Reaching, engaging, acquiring, and retaining customers through Oakland Digital's Digital Equity program
  

Cost: FREE (suggested donation of $25/person), each donation of $25 or more, will receive a Google notebook and Oakland Digital schwag.

East Bay Small Business Symposium

Please find the flyer for the EastBay Small Business Symposium, July 31^st, from 7:30am to 11am at the Shattuck Hotel in Berkeley.  The Symposium is free and will help East Bay entrepreneurs and small businesses, from startups, to young, growing and mature companies with their business growth and success. 

Who will be there: Small business resource providers: financing, marketing, planning, employee recruitment and training.

What can you expect: You will be able to connect with a wide range of experts who can help you manage and grow your business.

FOR More Information visit: http://www.ebsmallbusiness.com

Why Entrepreneurs should join their local Chamber of Commerce

Business people who succeed in business know that this is a relationship business. Nothing can replace face to face networking and face to face business relationships. Some network marketers call it “the warm market.”  I call it just doing straight up commerce and people brokering. A lot of times we spend countless hours on the computer doing internet marketing with minimal results. You have to cultivate your networking leads. “Like my mama would say a close mouth doesn’t get fed”. You have to let other business professionals know what’s going on with your business and what kind of referral you are looking for in order to continue to keep business thriving in Oakland!

The two main reasons why it is importance to join the Chamber of Commerce are:  Accessibility and Visibility. You need to be accessible to meet with like minded business professionals to exchange ideas and do business together. Attending meetings, quarterly mixers, networking events, ect. puts you out there in the public limelight, which in turn makes you more visible. Visibility is crucial to building a network on a local level. Joining a Chamber of Commerce is a must for local economic development and growing any business, especially in today’s economical climate.

Triche Christmon 510-874-4800 x321 or tchristmon@oaklandchamber.com