I’m speaking tonight at The Woodlands Cocktails & Connections business mixer.  The topic – Facebook for Business and how the use of social media can be an asset to your brand marketing.  As we prepared the presentation ( John Dawe, of Dawe Consulting is my cohort this evening) I started laughing out loud.   I should take some of my own advice!

This blog post will appear on my website, cdscreative.com and will also feed to my Facebook pages reaching a number of different audiences along the way.  It is an opportunity to present a thought, a new idea or ask a question knowing there will be those who immediately respond, those who will think about the post and respond to me directly and those who will read  and reflect without response.  (There will also be some who ignore me completely and that’s okay too.)

Social media and blogging have created the means to present the brand of your company through an additional marketing channel.  A channel that is highly interactive, instantaneous, and slightly intimidating for new users.  For those in retail (whether product or services) – this isn’t the place to hawk your weekend sale, but it is a place to talk about new product offerings or relate a customer story.  It is a place to invite customer feedback and comments or, if appropriate, take a stand on an issue in your industry.

Tonight we’ll be focusing on how to set up a Facebook page for a business, the do’s and the don’ts. We’ll take a look at some great company pages and some that could use some changes.  There will be information how to tie in Twitter and websites to Facebook and how to set up events and groups.

It should be fun.  This is the first of a monthly series of Cocktails & Connections mixers where we hope to pass along information you can use while you meet, mix and mingle with other business folks.  I’ll let you know how it goes – and I’d love to hear what you think if you’re attending.  Who knows, I might even tweet during the event – now that really would be doing as I say…..

I recently put my 2010 calendar into my datebook.  Yes, even though I use a google calendar I still like having a datebook , after all my phone can’t hold business cards, the drycleaning ticket, old Mother’s Day cards or an extra thumb drive.

As I began entering appointments for January and February, and conferences for March and April, it occurred to me that I have never been busier than I am right now.  When people ask, “How’s business?” I can honestly say “Great!”

I have found there are many smart companies who are taking advantage of the downturn economy to examine their brand position, review their marketing messages and channels, and make changes now that will help them outpace their competitors when the economy rebounds.

They have streamlined their processes and found savings in every corner of their budget.  Some plans have been put on hold or scaled back.  Choices have been made.

Realizing that the world has changed with advances in  technology, these companies are looking to employ new tools in the workplace and in their marketing.  That’s where I come in.

There is nothing more exciting to me than working with a company that is willing to challenge themselves to do better.  In some cases  we rediscover the brand promise that may have become blurred over time.  We focus on how that promise is experienced by customers, employees, vendors, media and the general public. We ask questions and are find nuggets of surprise in the answers.

It’s fun. And, as the saying goes, I love it when a play comes together.  This is a trend I see continuing as more and more companies, large and small, look for ways to bolster their brand.

So I’ll keep putting the dates in the datebook.