What Seperates NYC from Orlando? Big Spenders

Are companies stingy down here in Orlando or are we (Social Media leaders, gurus, consultants, add your title here) afraid to ask for the bucks?

Orlando doesn't have the skyline, the billboards, the glitz and glamor of New York, but we do have some great companies and the potential to market and promote them in a New York way. They key to local Orlando marketing is finding your niche.

3 key niches in Orlando

1. The college crowd - 55,000+ at UCF and don't forget Rollins College, Valencia, Seminole, Full Sail and the bevy of career colleges in the area.
2. The out of towner's - The tourists, mostly from overseas who are spending more money than we can think about at this point, and they are doing it in our backyard.
3. The locals - Downtown O-Town is not NYC, but there are plenty of areas that we can improve in promotion, marketing and brand awareness.

How to get the money:

1. Ask for it. I had been shy in my first few client interactions and paid for it drastically. Up all night working on tedious client work for pennies. I woke up, analyzed my time and now ask for what I want from clients.
2. Prove it. I once heard that an SEO is only as good as his own sites perform. How can they get you to the top if they are stuck at the bottom? Now that I have established my brand, I can (unfortunately) neglect my own site in favor of my clients as long as I am producing for them and well, my dinner table is good to go.
3. Analyze - What are they spending their money on? Look for trends and ask about their ROI. If they are spending 6 figures a month on Times Square billboards, what will 4 or 5 figures put into Social Media or PR or recruiting do for their business.

This is not a complete list, but rather my list. It has worked so far. Getting companies involved in Social Media is not always an overnight task. It is a growth period, a time for trial and error, commitment to the project and an investment. If companies do not see the monetary investment of using your services, move on.

There are plenty of businesses here in Orlando and every city for that matter. The more we can teach them about Social Media, the more opportunities will arise for us to make money and feed our families with Social Media.

At Social Media Camp NYC, the speakers were talking about their clients that spend money. The courses they teach that make them money and the commitment of their clients to try this thing out and make it work.

We need to open up some eyes here and get them to open up their budget. The ones that do will be the big winners when the economy turns. Brand yourself as a leader now.

Why wait for things to get better, when you have the power to make them better now?

It's all about the Benjamin's baby!

-Greg Rollett

Vacation, Social Media Camp and Ahhh

The airport these days is simply terrible. Makes me think twice about traveling the globe via a commercial airplane. Other than that the trip was fantastic. Highlights include:

Social Media Camp NYC









I got an email from Duncan Freeman saying, hey SummerMash NYC is tomorrow and you are going to be in NYC so, duh, head over there. Unfortunately I didn't make it over to Mashable's main event but I did bus my way over to SMCampNYC over at the Sun Microsystems building on Park Ave.

It was a truly amazing event hosted by Erica O'Grady who opened things with a fun presentation.

Next was a treat from Howard Greenstein and Dean Landsman on “What Old Media can teach New Media.” My favorite topic was that "tv is a lean back media, the internet is lean forward and mobile is in your face media" (don't think that's how they worded it, but you get the point).

Check out their slides on Slideshare.

Another great presentation was from the Head of Magic at FreshBooks, Saul Colt. His view on community management and showering people with love is unbelievable.

Meeting up with Justin Thorp of ClearSpring is always a good time as well. This whole Community Manager role is growing on me and more and more companies are bringing it on.

Other notable attendees (from my eyes at least) were @kstoddard and @brazendan (Ryan's bro and new sales guy at BC)

If I didn't get the chance to meet you there, please say hello in the comments and know that you always have a guy to drink a beer with and chat Social Media in Orlando.

Fun Things in the City
Free Tibet Protest

Lunch at Bryant Park


Apple Store in Greenwich Village

Loads of other stuff

Well, I feel totally relaxed and ready to go. It's going to be a run few weeks ahead as SkatterBand goes back into development, the FaceBook App gets rewired for Facebook 2.0 and the eCourse on Music Promotion gets closer to being done.

Catch you kids later! More on NYC vs Orlando later.

-Greg Rollett