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March 31, 2010
11:00 am
St. Louis RISE Lunch
at Araka Restaurant (131 Carondelet Plaza Clayton, MO 63105)

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April 15, 2010
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Launch, An Event for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
at Moonrise Hotel (6177 Delmar in the Loop)

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St. Louis March 31st RISE Lunch SOLD OUT (in one week)

And we are completely sold out for St. Louis RISE Lunch on March 31st featuring forward-thinkers, entrepreneurs, business owners and more coming together for lunch, schmoozing and short, powerful presentations.

If you missed out (because this one sold out in a HURRY...one week), mark your...

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RISE #25: How To Build A Massive Kick-Butt Online Community

Building An Online Audience: A Discussion With Anita Campbell

I’ve gotten this question countless times via email, Twitter, Facebook: How do I build a passionate audience online?

Fantastic question especially since in 2010-and-beyond many entrepreneurs are viewing themselves as publishers and community builders.

Two-way conversation starters. Educators. Inspirerers (not a word, but hey it works).

How do you bring in folks to your website/blog and more importantly keep them interested?

This is something we strive hard to do every day on The Rise To The Top (and if you have suggestions on what you would like to see, please let me know. More interviews? More tips? More resources?), but Anita Campbell is an absolute rock star at building community and has been doing it online since 2003.

I invited her to come chat with our community to offer some ideas on how to build and maintain that elusive passionate audience.

Her website Small Biz Trends caters to over 250,000 entrepreneurs and small business owners monthly. Anita also owns a really cool social bookmarketing site (see our button below) called Biz Sugar which is sort of like a Digg or StumbleUpon for business content.

Grab a cup of coffee and enjoy this one (so many juicy tidbits).

In this interview Anita and I discuss:

-How she built her online community.

-Tips for building your online community.

-Social bookmarketing for entrepreneurs and small business owners.

-Her favorite trends and unique resources for “Do It Yourself Marketing” including:

1. GetListed.org: Check your local listings in the search engine.

2. KnowEm.com: Reserves your company name on hundreds of social media sites.

3. LotusJump.com: Enter keywords and it will let you know where you should be participating online to gain legitimate visibility.

Thanks To Our Local Presenting Sponsor Johnny Londoff Chevrolet

He believes in our mission and wants to help businesspeople like yourself – especially during tough times like we are in.  So if you tell him that you heard about his store through RISE- you will get SUPPLIER PRICING.  This deal is unbelievable – no negotiation is necessary.  All you have to do is pick the vehicle you want and the terms are pre-negotiated.  You will have a hard time finding a deal like this anywhere else

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  • David- I have been in contact with multiple middle aged business owners who want to build an online community for themselves and their companies, but don't fully understand the concept and aren't able to grasp the benefits of creating their online network. From a business standpoint, have you seen any numbers or studies that prove businesses active in social media/blogging have a higher ROI?
  • John - Interesting question.

    Hubspot.com has some interesting studies on this and so does Chris Brogan: http://delicious.com/chrisbrogan/casestudy

    Hope that helps.
  • Thanks David! This link looks interesting- I will check it out!
  • David- Great Interview! I thought you discussion of finding a way to break through the "noise" clutter was very interesting and something that seems to be more and more important. At the end you talked about keeping up with the new tools that are developed very rapidly. Do you have any good blogs or places to visit on the web that would help me stay on the cutting edge of this new technology? Thx!
  • John - Thanks for sharing and nice tidbit you picked up there.

    We are going to try to do that as much as humanly possible here. And I'm all ears for what you would find the most value in.

    For example:

    1. Reviews/screencasts of new technology for business.

    2. Thoughts on whether you will want to use it or not.

    3. A special resources section updated frequently? Perhaps a membership site?

    4. An "Tech For Biz" DVD that is updated every few months (I'm all ears)
  • Thanks for your reply! I guess I'm not really sure what would be the best. I have learned a lot from your site, so I will stay tuned and let you know if I think of any ideas! I love your RISE videos! It is refreshing to get some good information with out the fluff! I will keep exploring your site and give you a shout again if I have any comments/questions. Thanks again for the great content!
  • Sounds great, John. Keep me posted as to what you would like to see.
  • I have so enjoyed keeping up with the Rise over the last few weeks...and today's video w/Anita is extra wonderful. Thank you, David for sharing such great info with us~! We need to get you down to NW Arkansas to share your brain~!
  • Janet - Glad to have you a part of the community! Anita is definitely a shining star and glad you pulled away some tidbits.

    NW Arkansas you say? Is that razorback country?
  • PS...totally love BizSugar~!
  • A MUST site for entrepreneurs/small business owners.
  • As another fan of Anita I appreciate your generous sharing of the spotlight and of offering so many concrete ideas
  • Kare - Glad you enjoyed it. It is all about community and Anita is an amazing innovator & mentor.
  • Great information & great interview David! Thanks for bringing Anita in & having her share her awesomeness :-)
  • Mike - My pleasure. Anita is definitely awesome and glad you found it valuable. I love her "tool and resources" suggestions at the end.
  • Yes, me too! KnowEm & LotusJump are one's I will definitely be checking out.
  • Great, great resources. I'll try to get the folks from Lotus Jump to come on and chat with us.
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