On Meeting Chris Brogan…. and a Sneak Peek at Microsoft NERD Center, Boston

Last night I had the opportunity to meet Chris Brogan at #MeetChrisBrogan event at the Microsoft NERD Center in Cambridge, MA. The event was graciously put together by Keith Griffis of ifSimply.com.  Thanks Keith!

Chris Brogan is an interesting guy with lots of experience in keeping customers happy in business. He gave us a few tips on making a commitment to your business as an entrepreneur that I'd like to share with you.  Nothing earth shattering but a great reminder of ….

WHY YOU'RE AN ENTREPRENEUR AND HOW TO STAY ON TRACK & COMMITTED:

1.) COMMIT:  Make a commitment to yourself by making a decision and doing it!  Write it down and follow up with yourself.  Make it happen, no matter what! Do not be afraid to fail, in fact, fail a lot.  It's how we learn.

2.) INVEST: You must invest in your commitment and pour yourself into it.  If you don't, no one else will. This is your baby, get it done.

3.) ACT: Do not sit idle and think, "oh, I'll get to that" or let other things take priority.  Act upon your commitment and GET IT DONE!

4.) COMMUNICATE: Communicate your commitment to everyone you know. Let them know what you're doing.  Bounce ideas off trusted partners along the way to make sure you're on the right track.  Take their advice or don't, but communicate it to everyone.  This will hold you to your commitment.

5.) CONNECT: Connect with people and share your final commitment with people.  Email, Tweet, Facebook, Instagram, Call, Connect in Person.  Whatever it takes.  Get your message out.  Plant seeds with people, don't just throw your message out there, connect with people and follow up. (Make sure it's clear, concise and consistent! - HC)

6.) SERVE: Now that you've got your message out there, commit to serve your clients with your business. Your business will not go anywhere if you do not serve your clients…. ALL, THE, TIME. Also, don't forget to serve your connections.  Check in on them often and see what they're up to.  Keep those connections fresh.

So as you kick off the new year, stay committed to your business and your clients! And, thanks for the advice, Chris Brogan.  He recently launched an online magazine for entrepreneurs, Owner Magazine.  You can check it out here and see if it is for you.

Stay tuned for other posts on some interesting people I met last night.

SNEAK PEEK! Microsoft NERD Center, Cambridge, MA. Below are a few snapshots of the Microsoft NERD Center.  It reminds me a lot of Hasbro & Black & Decker office; lots of creative space for creative meetings. Check out the interesting lighting, clean cabinetry and meeting spaces.  My favorite was the "Pebble" room, as I called it.  The furniture in the room looks like pebbles and the carpet is green like grass. The view of the Charles River and city line is stunning with the tall floor to ceiling windows.

On Moving to Rhode Island

Wickford, Rhode Island Harbor

Well, we did it. We've moved our offices to the Ocean State, Rhode Island.  This has been a very busy and exciting year to say the least.  In March of this year my husband told me that we were moving to Rhode Island for the company he works for, North Sails.  Kicking and screaming, I knew this was the right thing to do, so after several house showings and viewings, we landed in North Kingstown, RI.  A beautiful, quaint New England town.  Wickford, the main town, is full of history, restaurants, marinas, gift shops and antique shops.  Just beautiful. (Quite like our old town, Guilford, CT) We're only a half hour on the boat to Newport Harbor, which is nice!


While I love Rhode Island, and used to live in Newport and work at Hasbro, Inc., there are so many things that I loved about Connecticut.  My favorite things about Connecticut: its proximity to New York, the people, the friends, the schools, the business colleagues, the scenery and the Long Island Sound. While we will miss having close friends, business colleagues and partners close by, we are only an hour and a half away. As I review the things I love about Connecticut, I see that most of these things exist in Rhode Island, except now the closest city is Boston.  Not a bad trade off for cities in my opinion. My son has already noticed there are fewer Giants, Ranger and Yankees fans here and to his liking, many, many Patriots, Bruins and Red Sox fans.  Go Sox! 

We welcome this new adventure!  I look forward to maintaining current clients and meeting new friends and business colleagues who may be added to the wonderful list of friends we made in Connecticut. 

Newport Rhode Island Harbor

Stay tuned for new blog posts.  I've been away for a while tending to clients. I'm back.  So you are aware, I generally use this space to share a fresh perspective on marketing and companies and clients who are doing it well.  

Wickford, Rhode Island

Why you should share your Egg Nog .......

As 2011 begins to wind down we'd like to take a moment to thank all of our valued clients and partners for their support. Between celebrating New York state heritage, sailing with SailQuest Mystic, working with financial companies, in-home care companies, partnering with airlines, digital media companies and philanthropic causes and more it's been a great year!

While we have had a wonderful year, we understand many across the nation and world have not. Please take a moment to help those in need this holiday season; food pantries, toy drives, hospitals and more. Even a small donation of $5 can help a person have a warmer holiday whether figuratively or literally. It is so important. Why you should share your Egg Nog: So instead of buying that extra carton of Egg Nog, think about donating that money to someone who is really in need. It WILL make a difference.

We look forward to a successful 2012 and a prosperous new year for all!! Have a safe and happy holiday season!

Are you at REALTIME NY 11 TODAY? June 6, 2011

If you're at Realtime NY 11 Conference at B.B.King's today, June 6, 2011, and you've landed on this page..... thanks for scanning my business card. Now that the chit-chat is over, let's get together during the networking after party to discuss some serious marketing programs! If you mention this link at the party, via a QR code transfer, I'll buy you a drink!!

I look forward to connecting with you again soon!!

If you're not at Realtime Report on June 6, 2011, I feel sorry for you! You're missing a GREAT EVENT - Realtime NY 11 AND, NOW, you're out of the loop! Tsk, tsk. Their board of advisors and influencers are quite impressive! ;)

Let's connect!

Sincerely,

Heather A. Colby

Realtime NY 11 Influencer

President, Marketing Strategist

Colby Strategic Marketing

203-435-3212

Twitter: @heathercolby

You're Invited to A Connecticut Christmas!! Please join us for a holiday celebration of this wonderful State of Connecticut !

Date: Saturday, December 11, 2010

Time: 1-4pm

Where: High Hopes, 36 Town Woods Road, Old Lyme, CT 06371

Admission: Food or a $5 donation to Connecticut Food Bank. (Did you know a $5 donation can buy 17 meals!!!?) Please bring a food item that are protein rich and shelf stable - i.e. - peanut butter, chunky soups, cans of tuna, etc.



A Connecticut Christmas - for Connecticut Food Bank and Tiffany Farm, is a benefit for those in need of food this holiday season and Tiffany Farms who's lower barn burned to the ground in September 2010.



A time to help our neighbors. According to the Connecticut Food Bank, the need for food in Connecticut is up an incredible 30% over year ago and up a stunning 100% in areas where people never before had to ask for food.



About Tiffany Farms: Tiffany Farms, located in Lyme, CT has been in business since 1841 as a dairy farm in Connecticut. As we all know, the farming industry is in dire need of support all across America. Tiffany Farm is no exception and in addition to this need, Tiffany Farm had an incredibly unfortunate fire in their lower barn in September 2010. The barn held equipment, antiques and well over 1,000 bales of hay that were to feed the animals over the winter. This benefit will help to ease their pain of rebuilding the barn and feeding the animals.



You're invited to come celebrate the holiday season with us. Many people across the State are coming together to be a part of this wonderful event. The indoor Farmer's Market participants are donating 15% of their event proceeds that will go directly to Tiffany Farm. In addition to the Farmer's Market, there will be music, a holiday bell choir performance, coffee provided by Ashlawn Farm Cafe, tours of High Hopes Riding Center and many, many other surprises. Individuals to large Connecticut companies are jumping in. The excitement and participation around this event will continue to grow as we get closer to December 11, 2010. Additionally, a truck will be parked on the side of the event building at High Hopes to collect food donations for Connecticut Food Bank.



Your admission to the event is to bring at least one food item or a $5 dollar donation to Connecticut Food Bank. As an aside, did you know that according to Connecticut Food Bank your $5 donation can feed 17 people! 17 people!!! That is amazing and something we can all afford to give this holiday season.



A Connecticut Christmas - for Connecticut Food Bank and Tiffany Farm event is lovingly produced by Heather Colby, Carol Dahlke, Ann Nyberg and Anna Rubino.



Please join us. If you are interested in being a vendor or would like to be a volunteer for the event, please email Heather Colby at hcolby@colbystrategicmarketing.com with the name of your business, address and contact information including contact phone number for day of the event. For volunteers, a phone number and your location will suffice.



We sincerely appreciate your participation in this event and looking forward to seeing you all on December 11, 2010!



Sincerely,



Heather Colby, Carol Dahlke, Ann Nyberg and Anna Rubino

Shoreline Financial Advisors Tweet Up Prize Winners

Shoreline Financial Advisors of Guilford, CT sponsored a Tweet Up at the 2010 Shoreline Business Conference on October 25, 2010 at the Water's Edge Resort and Spa. The Tweet Up was the perfect ending to a comprehensive day of innovative learning from shoreline experts. Speakers shared their knowledge on topics such as new internet marketing techniques, advertising, organizing your business, networking and legal issues.

Shoreline Financial Advisors worked hand in hand with Colby Strategic Marketing to build an event that was more cutting edge than a regular business after hours or networking event. Leading up to the event, Shoreline Financial Advisors ran contests on Twitter promoting the Shoreline Business Conference and the Tweet Up. Fellow twitterers could follow Shoreline Financial Advisors on Twitter and re-tweet (RT) the message to win free conference tickets. "Networking is what conferences are all about. We were proud to bring an innovative marketing tactic, like Twitter, to the conference via a Tweet Up," said Brendan Smith, Partner at Shoreline Financial Advisors.

NerdsToGo partnered with Shoreline Financial Advisors to bring an email service and Twitter sign up component to the Conference. According to NerdsToGo, over twenty individuals signed up for Twitter at the Conference. Brendan Smith continued, "This proves the need and interest for social networking mediums in business in Connecticut."

Shoreline Financial Advisors enlisted Blue Plate Radio online jazz station to play jazz in the bar during the event and the Water's Edge Resort and Spa offered fruit and cheese platters.

In addition to great networking and music, several shoreline businesses donated prizes for the event! Please check out the winners below:

• Shoreline Financial Advisors Tote Bag: Renee P., Guilford Savings Bank
• CTOutandAbout.com 3 months advertising: NerdsToGo
• Guilford Art Center $100 toward class: Candy D., Peregrine's Landing
• Daydream Massage & Skin Care $100: Mary S. re-think
• Comfort Keepers 3 hours light cleaning: Rose M., Essex Savings Bank
• Colby Strategic Marketing 1/2 hour Twitter Training: Mary Ellen I., Peregrine's Landing
• Blue Plate Radio Concert Tickets: Sue B., Guilford Savings Bank, Dave C., NerdsToGo

Check out the winner and Tweet Up Photos in our news section! -------------->

Look for the next Tweet Up popping up at a location near you!

Exclusive Interview with Mitchell Etess, CEO Mohegan Sun

If you're here, it's probably because you were at the Shoreline Business Conference today at the Water's Edge Resort & Spa in Westbrook, CT and saw this QR Code on my business card or on an oversized postcard in your swag bag!

Or maybe we connected via another social network. Regardless, thanks for coming here! Today, we have an exclusive interview to share with you from Mitchell Etess, CEO of Mohegan Sun.

Mitchell Etess, CEO of Mohegan Sun was the keynote speaker at the Shoreline Business Conference on October 25, 2010. He spoke about everything from Twitter to employee retention. Colby Strategic Marketing secured an EXCLUSIVE interview with Mitchell at the Conference. Check it out here!

In his keynote address, Mitchell offered business tips to the audience. Here are his business tips:

1.) Reward and care about your employees.

2.) Understand your product or service and most importantly your point of differentiation.

3.) Don't be afraid of change and making mistakes.

4.) Everything you do is marketing. From stationary to how your employees speak with customers on the phone and in person.

5.) Know what you don't know.

Featured Photo(LtoR): Heather Colby, President, Colby Strategic Marketing, Mitchell Etess, CEO Mohegan Sun, Ann Nyberg, Anniemame.com and WTNH.

You can follow Mohegan Sun on Twitter at @MoheganSun .

Many more conference photos and exclusive content to be uploaded very soon! Please come back to check it out!

** A very special thank you to Mr. Mitchell Etess for his time in speaking with us. **