May
1
2010
Communities…more than just block watch!
Author: Inside Stuart's head...Over the past week I have spent many hours deeply engaged with local and industry communities. At the beginning of the week I started off at the HTG Peer Group annual summit in Dallas, TX. HTG is a community that I was deeply involved with during my days as a Calgary Computer Support Specialist. HTG is made up of like-minded IT firms and brings them together in large groups, small groups and special interest groups built on the sharing of best practices and getting involved in the health of each member’s business.
At HTG Summit, I had an opportunity to speak about “online marketing” to a small group of HTG Marketing Professionals on Monday. Marketing your business and ensuring you have a strategy to keep your business pipeline full is just one of the critical success elements for all business. Doesn’t matter if you are a tech company, selling real estate or selling hot dogs on the street corner – marketing is a must. Great marketing is the heartbeat of any business. What I shared with these HTG professionals is the importance of online marketing when it is balanced with all other aspects of your business marketing, you have look at your overall strategy and how the web fits into your marketing. You can read my review of the first couple of days with HTG by visiting “The VarGuy site“.
When I returned to Calgary on Tuesday, Ulistic jumped into education mode and brought together a number of great business people for a day of LinkedIn training at our monthly LinkedIn Workshop. This week we had an experience with a national industry peer group and also a local community of business professionals right in our own backyard.
How do communities work with your business?
Are you the type to engage with community or walk away from those you see as competitors?
I heard something from one of my friends and mentors, Dr. Leslie Roberts from Calgary small business training firm GoForth Institute about competition in our world today during my small business podcast. Plus, I also just need to turn to what Erik and Lyf are doing in Minneapolis with their Techpulse Minneapolis event. In MSP, Erik and Lyf come together, competitors in the same industry and they also bring their own customers and share….very powerful. A great community of professionals led by two leaders in industry.
Here is my advice…don’t hide in the corner, sucking your thumb…get out and engage with others in your community.
