Tag Archive for: Stephen Chen

GrandCare gets “called out” by Forbes on Social Media!!

To tweet or not to tweet….that is the question….

Back in March, I spoke on a social media panel for the 2012 What’s Next Boomer Summit hosted by Mary Furlong & Associates.  I spoke ( too quickly and spastically.. or so I’m told…) on guerilla marketing and using social media to promote your brand on a panel with Stephen Chen from NewRetirement.comAndy Cohen from Caring.com and moderated by Lori Bitter from The Business of Aging. When the panel was finished, Deborah Jacobs of Forbes introduced herself and said she was in the process of writing an article for Forbes on dos and don’ts for social media from a business perspective.  She wanted to know if she could interview me on my thoughts.  Not being one to hold my thoughts back (like….ever), I eagerly agreed.

I told her about how we got the word out about GrandCare Systems, back in 2005 when the market was in its prenatal stage.  As a high tech start-up, we didn’t have a large marketing budget and we certainly didn’t want to throw money at a deaf audience. There was so much education that needed to be done on digital health technology in general, much less which one to choose.  It was a bit of lucky thing that social media was really starting to hit its prime right around that time period as well. In the early days, having more time than money and the fascinating NEW world of social media was a perfect mix.  I unofficially began what would later be coined as our social media campaign.

It was odd and exciting because there really were no rules. There was nobody out there that could really say you were doing something wrong, because no etiquette had been defined (yet).  Nobody was considered an expert, because people were still exploring and experimenting and really trying to see how the new platforms worked and how they could benefit a business.  It was the perfect time to just try marketing strategies out. I still remember when LinkedIn was new enough that you could simply send an inMail to someone (and maybe you still can do this a little bit) and they would actually respond…well…if they were actually continually checking their account. Through LinkedIn, I managed to get in touch with people that I believe would have never responded to a basic email.

This reminds me a bit of back in the mid-nineties when email was new enough that you actually READ them! Remember when forwards and chain letters were actually things that people read and weren’t embarrassed to send?  It’s all about timing and the number one thing we are aiming to gain is someone’s attention.  Getting someone’s attention will continually evolve…we will need to move to new platforms to keep them engaged and interested in what we have to say and it will be even more important HOW we say it; whether it’s a video, a picture, an insightful comment, a quote, humor, etc.

The resulting article that Deborah released today on Forbes.com was an interesting and insightful piece on what social media etiquette might be…  She did a great job and I was proud to be a contributing source.

And as far as Deborah’s grandstanding? A+ for grace!!! 🙂

How To Grandstand (Gracefully) On The Web

by Deborah Jacobs

“For Laura Mitchell, who describes herself as a “grassroots guerrilla marketer,” the key to using social media is starting an engaging conversation. In 2005 she co-founded GrandCare Systems–a Milwaukee company that provides elderly people with technology that helps them age in place.

Mitchell writes her own blog, then drives traffic to her posts by a variety of routes. For example, if she sees an article somewhere else that interests her–say on Forbes.com–she might comment directly on the FORBES site; quote the article on her own blog and link to the FORBES story; then go on her LinkedIn groups and post her comments on LinkedIn, along with a link to her blog.

“Social media is about providing information on yourself and your interests,” says Mitchell. “That includes where you work and what you do.” Whether you’re selling a product, a service or entertainment, think of your website as a store, and social media as the tool that draws people into that store, she adds. The key is to offer some insightful comment, rather than purely trying to get attention.

By using that approach when she commented on an August 2010 NPR segment, Mitchell brought her company prime billing on the Discovery Channel …

To read the entire article, click here

2012 What’s Next Boomer Business Summit

The 9th annual What’s Next Boomer Business Summit is produced by Mary Furlong & Associates, and is the official post-conference event of the American Society on Aging (ASA) Aging in America Conference.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel Washington D.C.
Website: www.BoomerSummit.com

This years Theme: The New Normal

The New Normal will showcase the groundswell in social media, the surge in a Service Economy, and rising of the independent sector.

Join us where America’s leading analysts, corporate strategists, brand managers, entrepreneurs, nonprofit executives, authors, bloggers and tweeters meet to explore:
  • Who profits from the senior market and global boomer
  • Emerging trends in Markets, both Global and US
  • How mobile and wireless growth lead to monetization of boomers and their children and grandchildren.
  • Distribution models for reaching and engaging the boomer, the senior, the  caregiver, and the grandparent
  • Trends that engage consumers with integrated media; whether local, social, mobile, print or through gaming
  • New Normal Frugal Economy: the forecast for financial services, housing, consumer directed healthcare, aging in place, and entrepreneurship
  • Raising money for a start-up idea; brands entrepreneurs need to jump-start business
  • The boomer-seniors effect on the 2012 election

How to Accelerate Lead Generation Through Social, Mobile & Integrated Media 10:30 am – 10:45 am

In the new normal, it is all about customer acquisition, retention and service. Discover the latest trends in how companies are using media to drive leads.

Laura Mitchell – VP, Marketing, GrandCare Systems Will be a Featured speaker along side:

Moderator – Lori Bitter, President, Crew Media
Andy Cohen, CEO, Caring.com
Stephen Chen, CEO, NewRetirement