Simplex-IT BizBlog

Simplex-IT was pleased to host Tim Dimoff, nationally recognized security expert and President of SACS Consulting (http://www.sacsconsulting.com), who gave the 30+ attendees his views on what to look out for with Social Media in the workplace. Several real-world scenarios were presented and discussed, highlighting the importance of having and enforcing a clear written policy regarding employees’ use of Social Media.

Tim’s presentation was centered on the fact that while Social Media is the fastest growing segment of business e-marketing, unrestricted employee access to these tools has a great deal of negative potential. These include:

- Lost Productivity

- Corporate Security Breaches

- Potentially HIGH legal costs and much more!

The inevitable conclusion of Mr. Dimoff’s presentation was every business should be using social media and EVERY business must learn to regulate it. At Simplex-IT, we concur!

Founder and President of SACS Consulting & Investigative Services, Inc. Tim is considered one of the nation’s leading authorities in high-risk workplace and human resource issues, security, vulnerability assessments and crime (see www.TimothyDimoff.com for Mr. Dimoff’s full bio). Simplex-IT is pleased to announce that Tim will be our guest speaker at our next Lunchinar on the topic of Social Networks: Policies, Procedures and Pitfalls this coming Wednesday, September 21, 2011 from 11:30am-1:00pm at Hattie’s Café, 164 N. Main Street in Hudson.

The explosive growth of online social networks has altered the way people communicate, share ideas, and disseminate information, but with it comes certain risks. The lines between professional and private lives continue to blur, and while these communication tools create great opportunities, they also create ethical dilemmas and challenges for businesses.

Every company needs to examine the risks this new medium brings to their business and what they can do to protect their company, their employees and their customers. This presentation covers the fundamental elements needed to establish good decision making, policies and protocols to protect the business and mitigate the risks.

Join Simplex-IT and Tim Dimoff for a stimulating discussion of importance to every business while you enjoy a free lunch and great networking. Seats are limited so please RSVP to John@Simplex-IT.com or call 234.380.1277. You won’t want to miss this highly informative presentation!

The response to our Social Media Strategy Lunchinar has been fantastic and we are very happy to announce that the entire presentation has been captured and posted on Simplex-IT’s YouTube channel. For your convenience we are also embedding all 4 parts right here on this blog entry.

To view a clip simply click on the thumbnail and it should begin playing. We hope you enjoy these and remind you we always welcome your comments.

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 1 of 4. Topics include: Introductions, Why Create a Strategy?, What’s a Pod Camp?

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 2 of 4. Topics include: Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 2 of 4. Topics include: What’s the First Step?, Branding, Testimonials, B2B vs. B2C, LinkedIn

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 3 of 4. Topics include: Push vs. Pull, To Link or Not To Link, Repurposing Content, Building Relationships

Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business – 4 of 4. Topics include: Google Local & Google Places, Following Social Media, Google Alerts, Twitter, Steps to Your Strategy, Call to Action

Simplex-IT’s June 2011 Lunchinar on “Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business” was a Standing Room Only success! Nearly 40 attendees enjoyed over an hour of stimulating conversation on how to best utilize the most revolutionary marketing tools ever – Social Media!

The event featured three business leaders and social media experts – Chris Brown, Deborah Chaddock Brown and Norma Rist – in a panel discussion chaired by Simplex-IT’s own Bob Coppedge, punctuated with frequent questions from the attendees. Which social media is the best – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter? Not as much a How To as a session geared toward helping the various business owners gain insight on developing the best strategy for their particular marketing niche.

"Social Media Strategy for Your Small-Medium Business" event at Hattie's Cafe

Simplex-IT hosts regular monthly Lunchinars featuring a range of topics of interest to the small-medium business owner. Our goal is to help you find ways to integrate the latest in information technology into your daily processes to help you be more successful in what you do. Watch the Simplex-IT blog to find out what’s being offered in the coming months and join us. We’d love to add you to our growing family of fans!

It’s been almost a year since Simplex-IT first presented this topic and it remains today one of our most highly attended events. This year, we’re happy to announce that our panel of experts has agreed to return and share their collective wisdom to help you effectively promote your small-medium business through the various social media like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter.

Chris Brown is the owner of a full service marketing consulting firm, Marketing Resources and Results, for business professionals who want to improve their marketing strategies, tactics and results. Marketing Resources & Results, Inc. helps companies with their marketing needs, offering marketing consulting and marketing tools to get the job done. Since 1998 she has specialized in customized marketing programs that work.

 She also writes her own blog on the subject, Branding & Marketing, that is chock full of good marketing tips and tricks.

Deborah Chaddock Brown opened AllWrite Ink in 2005 and helps businesses build credibility, community and customer relationships with social media and by writing WORDS PEOPLE READ® for websites, newsletters, and employee communications.  Deborah is also an accomplished speaker and the author of two books:  It’s a Party:  Planning a Successful Retail Sales Event and Back to Basics: 30 Tips to Market Your Small Business and Establish Your Expert Status in the Industry.

Deborah also serves as the editor of Make or Break Moments, a customer relationship blog and Ohio Web Writer, a blog dedicated to sharing tips and trends in online communication.

Norma Rist is president of Norma J. Rist CEO Consulting, Inc., a company that provides strategic growth and profitability solutions. She has over 20 years of experience in marketing, operations and financial management. Her management experience includes positions as controller for a $200-million division of a public corporation and vice president and general manager for a $40-million manufacturing and wholesale company, Pepsi-Cola Bottlers of Akron, Inc. Norma is the author of Small Business Savvy (Adams, 2001).

As a consultant and business coach, Norma works with business owners to analyze financial information, improve operational effectiveness, and assess new opportunities. She has assisted hundreds of entrepreneurs in growing their businesses and improving profitability.

Having seen the reaction of the attendees from last year’s event I can assure you that the time you spend with these three veteran business leaders will leave you wanting more. But seating will definitely be limited so you would be wise to get your RSVP in early.

Join us on June 15, 2011 from 11:30am-1:00pm at Hattie’s Café, 164 N. Main St. in Hudson.

Call John at 234.380.1277 or email John@Simplex-IT.com to reserve your seat TODAY!

Dateline June 16, 2010 – It was the monthly Simplex-IT Lunchinar and the turnout was our best ever! In fact, it was so good we were afraid we were going to exceed the room’s maximum allowable limit as set by the local Fire Department! Lucky for us there were a few no shows.

Chris Brown, Norma Rist, Deborah Chaddock Brown, Bob Coppedge

The strong turnout was no doubt highly influenced by both our topic and method of presentation. Social Media for the Small-Medium Business was moderated by our own Bob Coppedge and discussed by an esteemed panel of local experts:

Norma Rist – (www.normarist.com) author of Small Business Savvy and owner of Norma J. Rist CEO Consulting Inc.

Chris Brown – (www.resources-results.com) publisher of Branding & Marketing and owner of full service marketing firm Marketing Resources & Results

Deborah Chaddock Brown – publisher of www.MakeOrBreakMoments.com and owner of All Write Inc LLC

And what a discussion it was! Here’s what one of the attendees reported to us in an email after the event: “Just wanted you to know that I have attended several different informational meetings on social networking in the past 6 weeks or so and today’s lunchinar was outstanding. I learned so much…”

Just part of the crowd at Social Media for Small-Medium Business

Perhaps appropriately, the majority of attendees learned of the event through LinkedIn, although we did also communicate the details through our eNewsletter (if you’d don’t currently receive it and would like to you can sign up here).

We host these monthly Lunchinars to promote the latest trends in IT, share a free lunch, present the attendees with a networking opportunity and meet new people with whom we have not yet become acquainted. We hope you will keep in touch and join us!

Bob presents to Hudson Chamber

On May 25, over 50 members of the Hudson Chamber of Commerce enjoyed a relaxed and informative presentation at their monthly luncheon meeting by Bob Coppedge, President of Simplex-IT, on some of the latest and greatest developments in the world of Information Technology.

The range of topics was broad, as you can well imagine, and included the latest Microsoft offerings, Windows 7 and Office 2010 (Simplex-IT is a Microsoft Small Business Specialist and Partner).

Cloud-based services, like Microsoft’s BPOS (Business Productivity Online Suite), were covered as they continue to generate great response from the marketplace. It seems like everyone likes the idea of eliminating the expense and hassles of keeping hardware, software and administration all onsite when instead they can offload those issues to a reputable business partner for a low, fixed monthly fee. What a great concept!

Also of significant interest among the attendees were the many different kinds of Social Media that many companies are rushing to use to stay in touch with their customers – Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and blogs being the big ones many people are familiar with.

And, as it just so happens, Social Media is the topic for our next Simplex-IT Lunchinar that will be held at Hattie’s Café in Hudson on Wednesday, June 16 from 11:30am-1:00pm. If you’d like to join us you can reserve your seat by calling 234.380.1277, or emailing mailto:John@Simplex-IT.com. We’d love to have you join us!

As you can probably tell, Bob really loves to talk about technology and how, when properly managed, it can help companies lower costs, increase productivity and grow the bottom line. If you would like him to make a presentation to your group or organization, contact him and he will be more than willing to make that happen!