Gen-Y Hospitality Report 2009

I am very excited (as I always am) to release what I feel is an amazing report that I have been working on for a few weeks now with the Endagon Innovations team. It's a free Whitepaper entitled "Gen-Y Hospitality Report 2009" and covers everything from Gen-Y's perspective on hospitality to how they spend their dollars to how they are engaging with their brands.

Here is a quick clip to let you explore more of the Gen-Y Hospitality Report:

A quick run down of what we put in this thing:

• What is hospitality to Gen-Y? (it might surprise you)
• How do they spread messages about their business?
• How does mobile marketing fit in the mix?
• Who is your Shaun White?
• Examples of successful sites, communities and conversations

I am really excited to have put this together and hope that you enjoy it. This year has been exciting for us so far in teaching and helping businesses connect with young people and new technologies. If you want to chat about the report, about youth or Gen-Y or how your business can start getting aligned with new media, please shoot me an email or give me a call.

We sent out a few early copies and received some great feedback and I wanted to share some with you!

This is one hell of a piece, man. Lots of GREAT stats and info. You make a very compelling case, no doubt.
Sam Davidson of Cool People Care

Hey Greg, it looks great! A lot of good material and very appealing too.
Ryan Healy of Brazen Careerist

“honestly, this is helpful. we were just talking about the technology aspect and how no one understands it...”
Central FL Gen Y CEO

"Studies such as these are how Endagon earns it's "Innovation" moniker. Instead of branding themselves as "guru's" and "experts" like everyone else trying to quickly make a name for themselves, they are acting as pioneers, and leaders."
Anthony Richardson from Fugitive Marketing

You can download the Whitepaper here and be instantly in love with the lovely boutique that is Endagon Innovations.

Endagon Innovations truly knows the Gen-Y generation better than most – what makes them tick, what makes them click. Their Gen-Y Hospitality Report is a prime demonstration of the proactive approaches necessary to appeal to this demographic.
Katrina Priore from Production Hub and former Asst Publisher of Create Magazine

(anyone that wants more information can find a full press release here - feel free to steal it, embed the video and share this document with your peers, that would be swell.)

Greg Rollett
greg.rollett@endagon.com
321.438.4442

Orlando Youth Trending Sessions

For the past few weeks I have been toying with throwing a small gathering of a select group of Orlando's finest and most influential trendsetters from the under 30 crowd. I wanted to do it informally, but not in a bar or at a networking happy hour. I wanted to do it in an intimate setting, fire up a mic and have really great thought provoking shit come out of some talented people.

Well I finally have some of the details worked out and am aiming for 10-12 Gen-Y'ers in Orlando that will initially be handpicked to join this event. I have the major players in mind and you will all be getting formal invites this week. Once I have you confirmed, I will be writing some short posts on how you influence people in Orlando and essentially youth culture.

So what will we do
We will chat and record a Podcast on youth trends, branding, music, fashion, school, business, technology and everything in between. It will be very informal, we'll crack open a beer, sip some wine and explore the future of the world from our perspective. The research will then be available for anyone to see, download and use in their marketing. Remember that we are not a trend, we are trendsetters.

Now here is where I hope it gets fun. I want to this every month, maybe every other month. And I also want it to grow. So we are going to grow Fight Club style, kinda. Everyone that attends the 1st session is allowed to invite 1 new guest to session 2. Every new person from session 2 will be allowed to invite 1 new guest to session 3 and so on. Essentially every new session will grow by 10-12 people.

Sponsors, Locations and Date Stuff
The first session is going to be held at Endagon Headquarters on Tuesday, February 17th at 7pm. I will sponsor the 1st session with some beer and wine and maybe some crackers or cookies (real fancy stuff). For future sessions I will be reaching out and looking for group members to reach out to companies that are looking to get into the Gen-Y and Youth crowd to sponsor the Podcast and session and provide some light drinks and snacks. As it grows I also see moving outside our offices. That is TBD. There will be no cost to attend, but those that do not participate will not be asked back.

Rules
You must be invited
You must participate
You must be under 30
No computers
No phones

If you would like to be involved in these sessions, please send me an email at greg.rollett@endagon.com or @g_ro.

-Greg Rollett

The 5 W's in New Client Education

This week has been an awkward and fun week, and its only Tuesday afternoon. We have brought 3 new clients on board and they are from complete opposite ends of the spectrum. Also some fun projects and proposals.

Industries include:
Legal
Tourism and Attractions
Pop-rock bands
Real Estate
Travel
Gen-Y SEO

So here comes the fun part. I have ideas for all these clients. But I know nothing about how they conduct their business. Or anything about their industries, minus what I know, right.

You don't know what you don't know, ya know.

Going back to school
Well, not in formal classes, that is. The key to being an outsider working on a plan for an inside company is to learn and take in everything that you can without knowing too much. Having a creative edge comes from being creative and working on your creativity daily. Not getting caught up in numbers, routines, nonessential reporting and things that are honestly out of your control will allow you to focus on your key points to improving the business.

The 5 W's for New Clients

1. Who - Who is your competition, who are the leaders in your industry, who are you listening to, who should you be listening to
2. What - What are you willing to sacrifice, what kind of time commitment is there from you and your team, what are your goals, what are you really promoting
3. When - When is the timeline, when are YOU going to be ready, when are reports due, when are the big meetings with the bosses when you will need some proof that I am worth this kind of money
4. Where - Where are you now, where do you want to be tomorrow and where do you want to be when all of this cool social media stuff grabs a hold of your business
5. Why - Why do you need me, why are you looking to social media, why is this going to be good for your business

And you can always add the how:
How am I going to have access to your site, how do you want reporting, how are you going to allow me to make changes, how many people need to approve things before we can move forward

What else should be included in the 5 W's and the H? Let's add it together and make a resource for people grabbing new clients.

-Greg Rollett
(photo by Bright_Star)

Is It All About Them Benjamins Baby

photo by DavidDMuir

It's no secret that the startup life is hard. Jun Loayza and I have traded war stories over the past few weeks on the late nights, the relationship strains and the "damn I wish I had some Taco Bell money right now."

That brings us into a struggle I've had with my company over the last few months. To take, or not to take angel funding. In the beginning of the whole creation of Endagon Innovations, we were set on being a web application company that had clients to subsidize the money going out on development. As the summer ended and funding opportunities started to dry up, I started seeing more of a need for client services in SEO and Social Media.

Small businesses were starting to catch the wave, more and more younger employees were starting to take leadership roles in local companies and mainstream media started to jump in on the craze (Twitter + Current TV for the elections). It seemed an opportune time to look into helping businesses listen to conversations and find ways to improve their brand message, communication platforms and recruitment strategies.

As this switch in a business approach came about, our overhead should have been reduced. Did we possibly make a mistake in taking on office space and extra employees too early? Unfortunately I think so. While my team kicks ass and works even harder, I often think about running a smaller operation as we get our feet wet and build up advocates and a bank account.

Then comes the questions of funding
Now that we are 80%+ client side, I have voiced my opinion about staying away from funding. With fewer lenders to choose from and an above average interest rate, it would be ill-advised to take in funding and put our company into debt during the biggest recession in our country's history.

I understand the immediate freedoms, don't get me wrong. I'd love to actually get a paycheck from MY company and maybe even be in the office during business hours. However, I would rather build it debt free and have the freedom to make choices and business decisions based on our own goals and paths, and not of those that would benefit an investor or make us second guess to make sure we have their payments on time.

Do I think we will be successful either way?
Hell yea. We are in a prime position to create a great buzz around our services and find a niche that we can dominate for long term success. Does it mean living close to broke for a few more months? I think so.

So where does this leave us? I am not sure today, I might not be sure tomorrow. I might change my mind if someone waves 6 figures in front of my face. Or I might tell everyone on my sales team that they will get a super bonus if you can find a client willing to believe in us so much that they will allow us to take on a 6-figure contract to make their company better through the belief in Social Media and Search Marketing.

So help me out. Sell out or DIY? It's like deciding on a record contract, something that I still haven't ruled out! ;)

-Greg Rollett

Listen, Talk + Relate

Operating a business with tangible goods would sure be an awesome thing right now. Selling can openers to cooks and showing them that it "opens cans at a kick ass rate" would just be sweet on a day like today.

When dealing with SEO and Social Media, our two go to services, we are loving getting our point across to prospective clients. You see, organic results on Google are never guaranteed and results cannot be truly duplicated. A Social Media "project" or "campaign" cannot be replicated to the same success either. I cannot make another Chocolate Rain video work the same way the original did.

Beyond convincing them to spend money on a medium that was never in their sight, nonetheless their budget, is convincing them that it is "them" that has to be authentic and create compelling content. We can only be the tour guide, you have to get out of the Jeep and take the pictures.

photo by Adorenomis

At the end of the day, we as consultants have to showcase the value and return for these clients and how it all factors into keeping clients, finding new ones and getting people into their doors and drinking the kool-aid. So how do we do that?

We listen
When I go into a client meeting, I shut up and listen to the problems, strengths, beliefs, values, economic conditions, clientèle perception and anything else I can get my greedy ears to listen to.

No techie talk
This is a business you are talking to. One that wants to make money so they can feed their families and keep the office open for a long time to come. They don't give 2 craps about what software you have, what language you code in and how spiders crawl into their site. They care about how that stuff is going to affect all the stuff I listened for when I walked in the door.

We relate
I take everything I listened to, and apply the stuff in my brain that our business can accomplish and relate it to their business in terms they can understand. By knowing their search traffic is disappearing 40% a month and online sales have hit rock bottom I know its time to relate new ways of doing old tricks. The thing they did well are failing them and we need to look at how their customers are searching now online. Have them moved to social communities? Are they using larger eCommerce sites? Are they looking for new keywords or phrases that were not in the initial campaign plans?

By relating their pains, problems and strengths, we can then put value to our service based business. That value is the reassurance that after a few weeks of grinding, producing content and becoming better members of their niche community, not only will their see their business come back, but the customers they serve will become advocates and create additional business through recommendations, WOM, blog posts of their own and general good will.

In a recent Cone study it read that:

56% of people believe that a company is providing them with a better service by interacting with them on a social media site.

That's value. A better service from a brand through interaction.

It works for us, it works for community, it will work for you. Listen, Talk and Relate. Pretty simple stuff if you ask me.

-Greg Rollett

Why Endagon Innovations Loves Stuff

Over the past few months I have been tying to figure out how to handle Social Media clients, internal projects and music marketing and make it into one of those "legit" businesses. After those months of work we are officially a "legit" company, with real clients and projects, real employees, rent, overhead and even staples, paperclips and printers.

Oh, and we launched a shiny new site, EndagonInnovations.com.

Overall we have received some great feedback and support, and even got some super referrals in our blast out of the site. While I have been working on many projects for a long time now, its great to have a home base, a brand and a team helping to increase efficiencies.

So about the site.
I highlighted a few things in a previous post, but I wanted to explain why we went with the angle that we did.


We created our brand around the fact that we love what we do. It is a bit overwhelming, but if you have read my blog, seen me talk or chatted with me on Twitter, you know that I live and breathe this stuff. I really do love community. I am a part of Rock For Hunger, doterati, started the Central Florida Community Guide, chat on Twitter, use Facebook, Myspace and LinkedIn, help the local music scene, participate in BarCamps, setup and attend local TweetUps and everything in between. So yes dammit, I love community.

I love Google and so does EI. Not just because it is the overwhelming traffic driver on the web, but because they offer a great product that affects our business and the way we communicate. Our whole team utilizes GMail, Google Reader, GTalk, BlogSearch, Image Search and Regular Search. Our sites carry Google Analytics, blogs utilize Feedburner, some are built in Blogger and anyday now I am waiting to make the switch to Google Docs. So yes dammit, I love Google.

We love music. Being in the music industry for over 10 years now has put some weight into this one. We had to give back to the music community and now we can by assisting them with marketing, business strategy and setup, bank accounts and finance and so much more. So yes dammit, EI loves music.

I love the products we are building. I do not invest any amount of time into something that I do not wholeheartedly believe in. I believe in Tomorrow's Athletes, the Concerts I've Seen suite, SkatterBand and even jamblr. These are projects that I have spent many sleepless nights putting together and they show no sign of slowing down anytime soon. So yes dammit, I love our innovations.

Lastly, damn right I love attention. I wasn't a front man in the band for nothing. It's why I continue to speak, lead organizations and spearhead meetings. So contact me and let's chat, because dammit I love me some attention.

Endagon Innovations is officially open for business. We are a forward thinking social media firm that is looking outside of the traditional website to find ways for clients to interact with their customers, fans, adversaries and advocates. Our mission is to help you see opportunity in places that you haven't, because you are too busy running your business. We are here to open your minds to new thinking. Traditional media and marketing is not dead and social media, SEO and viral marketing is not the total package or a quick fix to your company's problems. It is however, a new frontier of opportunity that you have the opportunity to unlock, should you accept the keys. That is the essence of Endagon Innovations.

This blog in no way reflects the company's opinions and are solely my own. So come one, come all, let's start building this thing together.

-Greg Rollett

Is It Hard To Decide What You Do?

In the midst of launching our New Media Marketing Agency, Endagon Innovations, we had our first slight arguement. It was in the copywriting and design stages for our company website and how we should:

• portray ourselves
• talk to our clients
• brand our initiatives
• interact with our clients and consumers

To me this was a vital area to our success. Logan wants to perceive a professional look and feel, and I don't blame him. That is the way every business before Social Media was ran. That is how every corporate website looks and reads, or so we thought.

I wanted to be inspirational, conversational and informational. These are 3 principles of Social Media, and an image that we can present to our clients wishing to utilize New and Social Media. I started looking at other agencies, from big shots like Cross Tech Media and Mindcomet, to locals like IZEA and NFi Studios, to truly awe inspiring and innovating like the Forty Agency and began to catch a pattern of short text, calls to action and showcasing your brilliance!


Here is how we ended up (hopefully you will be able to see it on Monday)

Homepage
We wanted to showcase what we do and who we are. What we do is cliche, but we innovate. By using New Media Strategies, and looking into the heart of a business, we listen and engage with tactics that will increase awareness, visibility and controllable noise that will help our clients grow. We are also in the music industry.

We added personality. The 4 core-members of the team will be displayed on the homepage with links to their personal e-mail, twitter accounts and facebook profiles.

We added fun in 4 lines that will tell our stroy:

1. EI <3 Community
   
2. EI <3 Google
   
3. EI <3 Music
   
4. EI <3 Innovation
   

Contact page
No contact form! This is something I fought hard for. While they look nice and neat and can be directed to the correct personnel, it takes away personal touch. When I send an email I want to send it to a person, not a form. I want to know that Jim, Jill or Jackson was responsible for reading that email and getting back to me. Putting a name to a project gives you a warm, fuzzy feeling that a real person will get back to you. So every rep for EI will have their personal contact information on this page, from name, title, email and phone to personal likes and dislikes so when you come to the office you will know to bring me a Monster Energy Drink and a free t-shirt!

Services Pages
This was another sore spot for me. I eventually gave in and we went for a corporate feel with a dash of personality (my favorite line is in Social Media Services; Tweeting, Powncing and Plurking - oh my!). In the end it makes sense to present your prospects with something that they can easily digest, understand and take action. I think we got it great.

So what do we do?
For those that have no idea what Endagon Innovations is, well, its no surprise there. Until IZEA Fest weekend we really didn't know either. We knew it was going to mesh my social media consultancy, Rollett Marketing and the entertainment aspects of Endagon Entertainment with the additions of our late night projects.

So, we are considered a New Media Marketing Agency, yet we are really a conversationalist community helping businesses listen and talk online. Sounds simple enough.

Yesterday, October 1st was supposed to be our first official day of business. It was, but it wasn't. I am hoping for Monday the 6th now, prepared for battle of juggling the 9-5, a start-up and a speaking career that stops at Create Chaos on Tuesday, October 14th on Social Media and recruiting.

Enough about me, more on Gen-Y, Social Media and Music Marketing tomorrow!

-Greg Rollett