Entrepreneurs are news at VT KnowledgeWorks, too.

The deadline of an Intent to Compete form in the  VT KnowledgeWorks Second Annual Entrepreneurship Summit Business Concept Competitions - one for students, one open - is February 5, 2010.

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VT KnowledgeWorks is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0.

When Mary Harder and I spoke on the phone about Beaux Arts Galleria, I will admit to half-listening at first. Having lived in the "big city" for two decades, then having returned to my hometown, I keep trying to find my former life in some way.  I was thinking, "Did she know the dashing David Harder, an upper classman when I was a bespectacled eighth grader at Blacksburg High School?"

During the classic conversation that begins, "Are you local?", I learned that not only did she know David Harder, she married him! 

And then I learned she, too, was from around here.  She was Mary Munford Harder.

Oh, I was taken back to the halls of what is now the old Blackburg Middle School, so unsure of my eighth grade self in my Converse All-Stars, Levis, thin hair long and parted in the middle, glasses and braces. I looked up to the beautiful Mary Munford, a poised, confident senior girl with porcelain skin.

In the lives of eighth grade girls, senior girls are movie stars.

I got tears in my eyes when we met at Beaux Arts Galleria.  She was her same lovely, enchanting self.

And the photo shows that the stage for our meeting was movie-star perfect, amidst stunning museum-quality home furnishings and decor in the historic district of Blacksburg, Virginia. 

Let's just say that, in 1973, we didn't have that in Blacksburg.

In seeing Mary Munford Harder again, and still knowing her and being known by her, I felt as if something unaligned had been put back in place.

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Beaux Arts Galleria is hosting an Open House.  All are invited!

Beaux Arts Galleria Open House
Thursday, February 11, 4:00 PM - 7:00 PM
R.s.v.p. 540-443-0003

Beaux Arts Galleria is located at 105 East Roanoke Street in Blacksburg, Virginia.  Here are directions.

Here's are the full details and invitation to the Beaux Arts Galleria Open House and more about the showroom from The Roanoke Times: Beaux Arts prepares for unveiling.

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Beaux Arts Galleria is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0.

Much ado exists about the pros and cons of outsourcing corporate social media.

In The Story of a Corporate Facebook Page, I used the metaphor of Shakespeare's  A Misummer Night’s Dream and the idea of a play within a play to begin to use Handshake 2.0’s Facebook Page as a case study for companies seeking their own answers to "What do we do about Facebook?"

In this case study, creation of a Facebook page for an enterprise - Handshake 2.0 - essentially was outsourced to a third party social media services provider - Handshake Media.  The "play within a play" is that Handshake Media owns Handshake 2.0.  While the story isn't Shakespeare, it does have a thick plot.  With animals.

“Feed the beast.” 

Once a social media site is up, whether it's a blog, a Twitter account, or a Facebook page, a company is holding an empty bag of dog chow for a sad-eyed puppy.

Through social media content - generally text, images, and video - people and companies express who they are and what they’re doing, and fans can share the same.  And in terms of cold, hard business reality, Google and other search engines now list real-time social media content in their search results.  If a company isn’t providing real-time content, it’s decreasing its likelihood of appearing in searches done by people they definitely want to know and be known by.  And as we say at Handshake 2.0, even online, "It's still who you know."

How does a company feed the content best?  In-house or outsource?  I'm both, so here's my story.

Updating a Corporate Facebook Page - How Often, How Much, and How Long Does it Take?

I update Handshake 2.0’s Facebook Fan page on weekdays, once per day, usually in the morning, often with several updates.  I respond to fans’ comments at that time as well. 

Creating the content of the updates requires thinking.  What do we want to have happen as a result of our Facebook page?  What content could I post today that would align with our vision?  Usually the answer is a “value-added” about posts on Handshake 2.0.  What hasn’t been said in the post that I could share on Facebook for greater “who you know” interest, entertainment, connection and value for the Facebook page’s visitors?

Sometimes I know the answer immediately and the mechanics of typing the update in Word to double-check spelling and grammar, pasting that into the update box on Facebook, copying and pasting the link from a browser, clicking to attach the correct picture - all that takes 10 minutes.

When the answer isn’t immediate and I need to reread, think, do research, or generate new content rather than a value-added - that can take a half an hour. 

I average about 1.5 hours per week updating our corporate Facebook Fan page and interacting with fans.  We charge $100 per hour for my consulting services.  If I were outsourcing my Facebook Fan page to my company as a third-party provider, it would cost me $150 per week, or $600 per month for a 4-week month.

Since the beginning of 2009, the top sources of traffic to Handshake 2.0, according to Google Analytics, have been direct traffic, Google search results, Twitter and Facebook.  In the last quarter of 2009, traffic to Handshake 2.0 increased by 25% when we stopped using feeds to update our Facebook page and added thoughtful, personal updates instead.

I’ve written about the difference in value of traffic vs. audience, but traffic is the standard measure by which the value of an online property is measured.  The second measure is where the site’s content appears in search results.  Those measures make sense.  "It’s who you know" - word of mouth generates business referrals - so the more you know, the more business is likely.  To be valued beyond its content, Handshake 2.0 needs traffic and high search engine listings.

Every company needs traffic from all sources, including from search engines.  It's the source of "It's who you know" leads.

Based on the Handshake 2.0 case study, and given that I am "a play within a play," both an in-house, corporate Facebook page manager, and a provider of outsourced Facebook page services, would I outsource my Facebook page management to a third party?

For me, the answer depends on these questions.

1. Can we co-create enough content to "feed the beast"?  Do I have a blog, an email newsletter, a direct mailing from which my third party company and I can co-create value-added content for my corporate Facebook page?  If not, creating original, mission-driven and mission-worthy content will take time and thought, both of which are costly, whether done in-house or outsourced.

2. How does my sales funnel and contact-to-conversion ratio work?  If from 1000 visitors to my site, I can get 1 conversion that results in $1000 in sales, how much am I willing to pay for those 1000 visitors?

3. What percentage of my sales ultimately originate from search engine results?  Do people use Google to check out me or my company before they even begin to think of contacting me?  If so, when I Google myself or my company, what shows?  When search terms related to my business are used, does my company appear in the results?  With Google now measuring the size of a social media footprint, i.e. current content in social media channels like Facebook, am I being outplayed by my competitors who use social media, however modestly, even ineptly?

I don't have a clever quote to end this post.  I have shared over and over again how much I care about companies using social media in a way that will work for them and produce desired business results.  What occurs to me is Juliet's lament about already being engaged when she meets Romeo.  I want no good company with good people and good products and services to utter, "Too early seen unknown, and known too late!"

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For more ideas about corporate, business and enterprise Facebook pages, feel free to view our category for Social Media.

These two posts read together may prove of value:

The Story of a Corporate Facebook Page
Outsourcing a Coporate Facebook Page

Fans of Shakespeare may remember that in A Misummer Night’s Dream, a troupe of actors perform a play for the main characters in the play, hence the phrase, “a play within a play.”

I’d like to offer “a play within a play” and a research case study on one component of a company’s corporate social media strategy: a Facebook Page. 

The "play within a play" is the story of Handshake 2.0’s Facebook Page unfolding within the context of outsourcing its creation to a third party social media provider - Handshake Media, Handshake 2.0’s own parent company.

First, the setting. Handshake Media's CTO launched Handshake 2.0’s Facebook fan page in June, 2009, and we set up the content to be automatically generated including our Twitter feed and our site’s content feed.  The resultant page resembled lines of inscrutable code with post titles, Twitter tweets, URLs and no updates made personally and no photos or images.  Interaction regarding that content was taking place at the source - replies and retweets on Twitter, comments on the blog - so we had no comments or updates from our few Facebook fans.  But, by gosh, we had a corporate Facebook page and we could link to it from our site’s home page!

Our thinking evolved, as did Facebook’s features, and we revised our strategy in the third quarter of the year by asking the question we should have asked before launching the page in the first place:  What do we want to have happen as a result of our corporate Facebook page?

Answers can range from building brand awareness to building customer relationships, but for us, Facebook fits beautifully with our vision:  People do business with people they know.  Online, “It’s still who you know.” Our Facebook page could be one more “handshake way” of helping our clients and site users get known. 

The Twitter and blog feeds are gone. I now post updates to our Facebook page myself by hand.  I do my best to post content that showcases “who to know” and invites interaction among all who might do business together.

According to Google Analytics, comparing the traffic sources from the last two quarters of the year, 7/31/09 - 9/30/09 to 10/1/09 - 12/31/10, traffic to Handshake 2.0 from Facebook increased by 25%.  For the full year, from 1/1/09 to 12/30/09, traffic to the site from Facebook more than doubled.

For this case study of one, our conclusion is "The play's the thing." Or the story's the thing.  While we entered the Facebook show sort of haphazardly as one of a crowd of groupies, once we paused and thought about what we were doing and why, we realized a corporate Facebook presence is more like a play within a play where actors and audience switch roles until which is which hardly matters. They mutually create the story of people and companies and how they work and play together.

Handshake 2.0

Promote Your Page Too

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For more ideas about corporate, business and enterprise Facebook pages, feel free to view our category for Social Media.

These two posts read together may prove of value:

The Story of a Corporate Facebook Page
Outsourcing a Coporate Facebook Page

Here on Handshake 2.0, the topic of enhancing a social media footprint as a means of getting found on the Web has been addressed many times. Authors of these posts have encouraged readers to Google themselves to find out how they rank in search results both as individuals and as the businesses they represent.

Engaging in blogging, using Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social media tools have been recommended as strategic moves to increase prominence on the Web. While all of this has been solid advice for any Web marketing and/or social media strategy, the relevance increased significantly when, in December 2009, Google announced it was changing its traditional search methodology to include real-time search. Search engines Bing and Yahoo quickly followed Google's lead.

Now, it's not just a company's web site that gets indexed by search engines.  Updates to Twitter, Flickr, YouTube, and Facebook Fan pages are indexed immediately after they are posted. And, according to an article by Adam Ostrow on Mashable, real-time search also works on some mobile devices.

Activity in social networks not only increases a company's Web presence, it now impacts how Google ranks an individual or a company in search results. Size matters - businesses and individuals with the bigger social media footprint are more likely to be discovered on the Web.

If you've been putting off starting a corporate blog, using Twitter or making a video and posting it to YouTube, maybe now is the time to do so.

How competitive are you? Would knowing a competitor appears in the top level of search results ahead of you because they use Twitter or have a YouTube channel be reason enough to enlarge your social media footprint?

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Z. Kelly Queijo is the founder of SmartCollegeVisit and a frequent contributor to Handshake 2.0. You're invited to follow SmartCollegeVisit on Twitter, @collegevisit.

I know who the guy in the paper bag is.

Here's another stellar example of a corportate video from Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R) in its series "What makes Coldwell Banker Townside #1 in the New River Valley?"

The deadline for voting for Best of the NRV - New River Valley of Virginia - is days away.  The results are published yearly in Discover from The Roanoke Times.  If you'd like to vote in the new poll, here's the Best of the NRV 2010 poll.

To understand the "plot line," Mike Eggleston was voted the #1 Best Real Estate Agent in the Best of the NRV poll. Jeremy Hart was voted #2.

The dog is funny.  But the guy in the paper bag? Why, I'd trust him to buy a house for me.  Maybe two.

A corporation spoofing itself in a video?  That takes confidence.  Nicely done.

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The "What makes Coldwell Banker Townside #1 in the New River Valley?" series is on Coldwell Banker Townside's blog, Keepin' It Real Estate.  CBTownside was voted #1 Best Real Estate Agency in the NRV (New River Valley of Virginia) through a poll conducted by the New River Current, a division of The Roanoke Times. The videos can be viewed in Coldwell Banker Townside's YouTube channel.

We covered two more videos in the series: He Wanted To Be a Snake Handler and A Corporate Video from Coldwell Banker Townside REALTORS (R).

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Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R) is a full service real estate agency specializing in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Roanoke, and Salem, Virginia real estate and homes.  Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R) strives to be the best online source for real estate listings in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Roanoke, Salem and all of the  Roanoke Valley and New River Valley.   Experienced agents are available to provide expert real estate advice and quality customer service.  You're invited to view this week's featured properties, learn the latest on CBT's blog, Keepin' It Real Estate, and see more CBT on Handshake 2.0.

Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R) is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0.

Well, not exactly.

I am a fan of the Breakfast of Champions and have spooned it down for decades.  Since taking up sprint triathlons two years ago at age 49 - I start training today for my third season - although I don't really follow the sport, I was delighted to see triathlete Hunter Kemper on the front of a Wheaties box. I went to the Wheaties site at the time and savored images of all the athletes on the packages (the site's redesign seems to have reduced the history to this .pdf).

Upon my return from the Roanoke Regional Writers Conference in Virginia, I found what, to me, was a personal gift from my husband - something I had never seen before:  a box of Wheaties Fuel. 

My box sports Terminator 2-like logo text and the serious-eyed Albert Pujols.

I like the cover.  It appeals to the tough, triathlete side of me.

I turned the box over.  Hunter Kemper again! Then...

I took a shot of the back with my BlackBerry and tweeted, "I'm guessing the target market of new Wheaties Fuel is guys."

Image source:  Handshake 2.0 on TwitPic

Ya think?!

Apparently, Wheaties Fuel, according to the New York Times, is For Those Who Want Their Cereal Extra Manly.  Also, apparently, women have traditionally made cereal purchases, but men increasingly "are taking over a lot more of the shopping occasions." In this case study of one,  Mr. Handshake 2.0's "shopping occasion" reached an unexpected customer:  a fan of the old product, willing to become a fan of the new one.

But a non-guy.

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(Did I thoroughly savor, like a spoonful of Wheaties, writing the title of this post? Yes, I did.)

In common culture, the rose symbolizes love and beauty. Throughout history, the flower has been a focal point for such artists as Claude Monet, Pierre-Auguste Renoir and others. According to Hoovers, the U.S. florist industry alone is about $7 billion, while the U.S. nursery, greenhouse and floriculture crop production industry is approximately $16 billion.

But the rose itself is a truly amazing flower with which I’ve become most enamored.

While in career transition, I’ve been working with floral and event designer, Caroline LoRocca Hammond, owner of Posh Floral & Events, and have prepared nearly 1,000 roses for brides or special events in only a few months. “Roses are the most popular flower request and the recession has not impacted how much clients are willing to spend on flowers,” said Hammond.

Unarguably, the flower alone is beautiful, sophisticated and smells delightful. But the care and maintenance roses require has been surprising. The preparation for a Saturday wedding begins as early as Monday or Tuesday. The roses arrive from a wholesaler, who has received the roses from a specialty grower. In the United States, Tyler, Texas is known as the "Rose Capital of America," which produces about 20% of commercial roses for the rose-growing industry. However, roses arrive from growers all over the world.

The flowers are carefully packaged, covered in plastic with wet paper spread between the roses for extra protection. The packaging gets removed and the stems receive their first cutting. The roses are then placed in buckets of fresh water, transferred to a 40° Fahrenheit cooler and left to begin their opening. The following day, the roses get stripped of all their thorns and leaves to allow water to provide all of its energy to the flower so petals can open to perfection. The roses receive a fresh cutting and are placed in fresh water. The following day, the roses are handled again, this time to remove the less-than-perfect petals. They are cut again, and returned to fresh water. They are ready for the designer to work into stunning bouquets, center pieces and other arrangements for special events.

I will never look at a rose the same way again.

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Christina Motley is an award-winning marketing and communications professional, writer and consultant. You're invited to follow her on Twitter @christinamotley.

View from Nellie's Cave Road, Blacksburg, Virginia

Photo credit:  Steve Jacobs

Steve Jacobs is an optometrist, photographer, and philanthropist in the New River Valley of Virginia.  Two groups close to his heart are the Valley Interfaith Child Care Center (VICCC) and NRV Cares.

"Lighten up!"

While I may have been given that advice, I bet Jeremy Hart, real estate agent with Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R), never has been.

In A Corporate Video from Coldwell Banker Townside Realtors, we featured an interview with Mike Eggleston, voted the #1 Best Real Estate Agent in the Best of the NRV poll - the New River Valley of Virginia.

This video features an interview with Jeremy Hart, voted the #2 Best Real Estate Agent in the Best of the NRV. No further introduction is needed.

The Jeremy Hart video is part of a "What makes Coldwell Banker Townside #1 in the New River Valley?" series being unveiled on Coldwell Banker Townside's blog, Keepin' It Real Estate, a follow-up to the agency being voted #1 Best Real Estate Agency in the NRV (New River Valley of Virginia) through a poll conducted by the New River Current, a division of The Roanoke Times. The videos can be viewed in Coldwell Banker Townside's YouTube channel.

The results of the Best of the NRV poll are published yearly in Discover.  If you'd like to vote in the new poll, here's the Best of the NRV 2010 poll.

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I've been exploring the corporate use of online video for marketing, advertising and public relations purposes.  These may be of interest:

Video Yourself
A Cost-to-Benefit Analysis of Creating a Corporate Publicity Video
Yes to Social Media Authenticity, But No Way I'd Be in a Video with My Hair Looking Like That
Angel Investor Video Pitch Trashed
Should My Company Use Online Video Marketing in 2010?
About That Corporate Video

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Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R) is a full service real estate agency specializing in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Roanoke, and Salem, Virginia real estate and homes.  Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R) strives to be the best online source for real estate listings in Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Roanoke, Salem and all of the  Roanoke Valley and New River Valley.   Experienced agents are available to provide expert real estate advice and quality customer service.  You're invited to view this week's featured properties, learn the latest on CBT's blog, Keepin' It Real Estate, and see more CBT on Handshake 2.0.

Coldwell Banker Townside, REALTORS (R) is a client of Handshake Media, Incorporated, the parent company of Handshake 2.0.