A flood of VC money... now's the time to turn your idea into a business

By Mark Helfen

If you have a great product idea, now is the time to get started, and get venture funding.

Or so says next week’s panel moderator Ed Lohmann. The next SVForum MarketingSIG meeting will be at our regular place, EMC, on March 12.

The panel is titled “Mobile Social Networking: Achieving Best Practices and Ongoing Engagement,” but in my interview it seemed clear that Lohmann has a broader agenda.

Venture funding is about to explode in the valley. “It’s a very exciting time” to be starting a business.

His logic is that as social media businesses go public, local fortunes are created. All that money creates “plenty of angel investors,” who start “like or aligned businesses,” meaning in the search, social, or mobile area. He lists recent IPOs like LinkedIn, or Yelp as sources of investors. And of course, the upcoming big one – Facebook.

The larger venture funds follow the angel investors. Lohmann predicts a “major flood” of VC funding into the Bay Area

The geography also plays a part. Businesses start where there are an educated work force, close proximity to cultural offerings, low taxes, and access to ports – airports and sea ports. Silicon Valley (Lohmann specifically lists Palo Alto) has these qualities. OK, maybe not the taxes. But enough positive factors so that close to half of all recent venture funding ends up around here.

And the amount of funding is increasing. A Price Waterhouse survey showed that VC funding had significant growth in 2010-2011, with more forecast this year.

The members of the panel are “very capable people” with expertise in the search, social, and mobile market, along with business development and successful technology startups.

So if you have a good idea, don’t wait.

“It’s an exciting time to be in the valley.”


PLEASE REGISTER IN ADVANCE for the MarketingSIG meeting at our Meetup page:

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Mark Helfen is a freelance writer, journalist, and marketing consultant.

He can be reached at: mhelfen@wordpixel.com
Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/markhelfen
Facebook: facebook.com/mark.helfen
Follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/mark_helfen

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Who do you trust? Using reviews to turn browsers into buyers

By Mark Helfen

NOTE: AFTER OUR ONE MONTH CHANGE, WE ARE BACK TO OUR REGULAR LOCATION.
If you go to where we were last month, you will miss all the pizza. 
And the cookies……


Who do you trust?

It’s not an idle question, according to our upcoming speaker. Pehr Luedtke will address the topic Social Commerce: Are There Sales in Social? at our February 13 meeting.

According to Luedtke, there is a “trust ladder” for retail consumers, with manufacturers at the bottom (least trusted) and customers at the top. If you have purchased from Amazon, or at least checked out a product, think of the relative weight you give to the reviews of other customers, compared to the product description supplied by the manufacturer.

Luedtke is CEO of PowerReviews, which supplies a “white label” ratings and review service. Companies such as REI, Toys”R”Us, and Staples incorporate the system on their commerce site to allow customers to review and comment on products. PowerReviews products provide data and analysis of how customers are responding.

This is all part of the ongoing move of power from sellers to customers. There is an “explosion” of social tools that allow customers to respond and discuss what retailers sell. By supporting this discussion on their web sites, retailers can turn “browsers into buyers,” or at least that’s the objective.

Your Personal Marketing Strategy for 2012: It’s Time to Occupy Your Brand

Your Personal Marketing Strategy for 2012: It’s Time to Occupy Your Brand

by Linda Popky

Last month I spoke to the SV Forum Marketing SIG about the importance of managing your personal brand in a social-centric world. We talked about how important it is to apply the basic principles of Marketing to your own situation: You are the brand, and you need to position and promote yourself accordingly—whether you are employed by a company, looking for a position, or running your own business.

A number of people told me after the presentation they were going to become more actively involved in marketing and branding themselves. This is great news, but it doesn’t go far enough.

It’s time to take a lesson from the protest movement that has spread across America over the last several months. It’s time to Occupy your Brand.

The Product is You. Managing your Career in a Social-Centric World

By Mark Helfen

PLEASE NOTE: THIS MONTH THERE IS A ONE TIME CHANGE IN MEETING LOCATION. 

Our January meeting will be at EMC on 2441 Mission College Blvd in Santa Clara. This set of buildings is on the other side of Great America Parkway from where we normally meet, right near the Marriott. Back to normal next month......
 

The more things change, the more they stay the same. At least in terms of the core elements of your marketing strategy. Some people think that technology, particularly social media, has changed everything, but these only changes the tactics. The key questions - what makes your product better, and who will care - still need clear answers.

At next Monday's SVForum MarketingSIG meeting, the focus won't be on marketing systems or software, instead the product will be you.

Linda Popky will speak on the topic Marketing Brand You: Managing Your Career/Business in a Social-Centric World. Popky is founder and President of Leverage2Market Associates, a marketing consultancy that helps companies of all sizes, startup to Fortune 500. Part of her business is to help and mentor individual consultants in improving their personal brand and business marketing - she is a Certified Master Mentor. In addition to her consulting practice, she is an instructor in marketing as Cal State San Francisco, and was part of the team that designed a new certificate program in Social Media Marketing.

Her 2009 book is titled Marketing Your Career: Positioning, Packaging and Promoting Yourself for Success, which would seem to be about her topic on Monday. Available here or here.

b-to-b social media. Harder than it looks....

By Mark Helfen

Social media has become something of a code word that can mean many things. A way of keeping personal connections. Networking with professional associates. Keeping up with the news.

Not to limit to using Facebook. Twitter has become a way to both keep in touch, communicate, and sell a brand or product. LinkedIn for business connections.

But in addition to person-to-person connection, Facebook in particular has become a way to manage a brand, promote and generate consumer interest, and just plain old sell stuff to consumers.

But what about business-to-business? Not only selling, but also communicating with everyone in your sales channel, keeping people informed, motivated, and helping their success. And yours.