Last Friday, I attended a Social Media Breakfast in Portland, ME.  It is a bit of a road trip, so when possible, I try to dovetail a few appointments while I am there.  If there are Social Media Breakfasts in your area, you should check them out.  Inexpensive and most often before the work day starts, what business owner doesn’t like that?

This particular breakfast there was a real powerhouse of a speaker, Peter Shankman.  I have been reading his blogs, watching his videos, I really like his style and he often reminds me of things I have stashed away in my brain, or written about on this blog, that sometimes gets lost in the shuffle.  He has a way of simplifying things and tosses in some humor and I love that part too. (Well okay, maybe that is my favorite part.)  Listening to Peter made me feel really good about things we have been talking about at our company. Things that we think are important.  A few months ago we posted something about the fact that I hated the term “Social Media.”  Peter mentioned something like that too and we also talked about it in this post.  We talked about interaction with clients and some tips to operate your Facebook page a little more effectively.

One thing Peter did do was crush my dreams with a dig on Four Square.  Now I love Four Square, I think he mentioned it RIGHT after I checked into the Masonic Hall where he was speaking that day!  But I did see his point, he got me to think about it a little differently, without making me feel like I was dumb.

Peter also had a great bunch of points about Branding and electronic use of your stuff.  Mainly his points were around photos, graphs, etc. on your websites, blogs and Facebook, but he drove the point home that people right click on your work and steal your stuff.  Maybe that is okay with you but the biggest power card here is VIRAL spreading of your Brand.  Let others spread the Brand for you and make sure your Brand is there and not just your creative work that your competitors use and don’t pay you for or give you credit for (and you know who you are…)

Peter Shankman is a blog worth reading, plain English not so big picture mumbo jumbo and is very helpful for any business person to read.  You are too busy running your business and making payroll, you don’t have time to search for and study this stuff, much of it is too technical and very boring, but here is a guy worth your time.

Thank you Peter for coming to Portland.  It was great meeting you and learning from you, (even if you are a cat person!)