Final Piece Consulting, LLC

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I think Buddy the Elf signifies what is inside a person. Honestly I believe that’s why the movie Elf resonates despite it being another Christmas movie with many of the same tropes and themes of any other Christmas movie.  That and the insanely funny Will Ferrell.

We want to be innocent again. We yearn for those days when we could experience things for the first time.

You stink. You smell like beef and cheese! You don’t smell like Santa. – Buddy the Elf

There’s a kid inside us all that would come out if it wasn’t for responsibilities like providing for a family, paying a mortgage, growing a business, etc.

I think that’s why the holiday season means so much to everyone. No matter what your religion, this time of year allows that little kid deep down to peek his head out. Even if it is only for a few days.

We spend so much time moving as fast as possible that we rarely take the time to sit back, reflect and appreciate our friends, family and clients.

I personally know that I wouldn’t be where I am today without those aforementioned folks.

• My wife gave me the courage to step out on my own despite all the reasons not to do so.
• My friends have supported me by sending me business whenever they can.
• My clients have trusted in my vision for their business and chose to spend their marketing budgets on that vision.

2011 was a wonderful year for me, my family, my business and for many of the clients around me. There truly aren’t words to express my gratitude towards those folks, and I can’t do much more than offer this thank you.

I think that’s why I love Buddy the Elf so much. He doesn’t need to wait until the holidays to show how grateful he is for the people around him. He just does it all the time.

Hopefully the kid inside me will make sure I do that more in 2012. I know I’m happy to see him right now.

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After reading a great article in Inc. Magazine last month on the best business bargains for self-funded entrepreneurs I felt obligated to share what I believe to be the Top 10 Websites for Small Business Entrepreneurs.

When I say the Top 10 Websites for Small Business Entrepreneurs, I mean the places you can visit for great deals on mission critical items every small business entrepreneur needs to run and manage a successful small business.

A few of these I ripped straight from the Inc. Magazine article – but only because I have used them in the past and fully agreed with their inclusion.

I hope these help you, because they have truly helped me!

*****

1. 99Designs.com - You obviously need a logo and you probably have no idea where to find it. 99Designs offers logo packages for as low as $295. Worried that cost will affect quality? Don’t. 99Designs is chock full of graphic designers who are ready to submit entries once you sign up and describe the type of logo you are looking for. These creative-types then enter a contest where you are the judge and get to select a logo from a bunch of entries. Obviously the more money you put up the more entries you get. But I can tell you from experience that even if you shell out $500-$750 you are spending WAY less than you would with a design shop and you will most likely be very happy with the end result.

2. eFax.com - Save paper, save time, save money. No need for a fancy fax machine or a second line in your home. With plans as low as $12.95 you can send and receive faxes that will come directly to your email in PDF form. You may need to invest in a scanner, but come on, you have a business and no scanner?

3. Elance.com - Need some high quality help but don’t have the money to pay a full-time employee yet? Elance offers a robust network of freelancers that are great at what they do. Whether you need web developers, programmers, writers or a variety of other experts – Elance has them. Don’t worry about the quality of work either as everyone is rated and you get your pick from a pool of qualified professionals.

4. Download.com - Need some new software? This CNET hosted site offers up a plethora of free and paid desktop apps in one place. My favorite part is that you can read thousands of reviews and see how many folks have downloaded each program so you don’t waste your time learning to use garbage.

5. iContact - I’ve used a bunch of email marketing software and for overall quality and price, I believe iContact is the way to go. I appreciate their transparent pricing structure as well as a software platform that can be mastered by those with little experience to those who are HTML masters.

6. Dreamhost.com - For a guy like me that manages a ton of websites, I want a company that has good customer service and can offer explanations when there is any downtime. Dreamhost also offers a variety of “one-click installs” that makes it fast and easy to upload WordPress or Joomla to the back end of your website so you can save all your time for design. They also have great pricing and a user friendly dashboard for those with at least moderate experience in web development.

7. Hubspot.com - If I had to choose a monthly service that is well worth the commitment for any entrepreneur that either does a lot of business online or is interested in generating business online (which you should be) – Hubspot is it. For a commitment as low as $3,250 for an entire year of services you get a package that will help create, nurture and convert leads. They also offer great support and will help those businesses unsure of how to qualify the value of social media.

8. Craigslist.org - I know, I know – you’ve heard of Craigslist. But have you used Craigslist to purchase office furniture, office supplies, electronics or even to find interns willing to work for you? If you haven’t, go there now and truly experience all it has to offer. You don’t need to think of it simply as a place to sell your old Nintendo games anymore.

9. Tabsite.com - If you are a small business than you would likely benefit from having a presence on Facebook. A presence that can offer current and potential clients another avenue to get support, discuss your products and services and create a [INSERT BRAND NAME] community. For as little as $50 per year, Tabsite will help make that Facebook experience one that visitors won’t forget. You’ve seen a Facebook Page I’m sure – Tabsite will change what you think of a Facebook Page.

10. Google Products - The great thing about Google is all the free products it offers. What’s even better is that many of these products can really help the small business entrepreneur. Whether you want to track online mentions of your company, analyze website traffic, share online documents or get blogs sent directly to one location – Google Products can help.

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I’ll go ahead and admit this is shameless self promotion before I even start. But more than that, it is a man proud of something he has nurtured since inception and seen grow and become something he is supremely proud of.

While I have been working with a bunch of great clients already – this is the first major project under the umbrella of Final Piece to officially launch.

The great people at Mate1.com and I came up with a comedic concept to build their brand online. As everyone in this industry knows, ideas and concepts come and go, so when you get one that sticks and you think it may have legs, there is a certain thrill and excitement to it.

That idea then generated a partnership (with the Weasel Pauly Shore no less), video storyboards, awesome creative,  PR strategy, a website and many late nights at the office.

While the contest has just begun and doesn’t come to a close until 1/15/2011, meaning there is a ton of work to still be done, I thought talking about how proud I am of the launch would not only be therapeutic as I prepare for step 2 but also allow me a second to sit back and make sure I enjoyed what has already been done. Too often we race, race, race and never take a chance to appreciate ourselves and the people around us.

So if there is anything you can do for me – just check out the website and let me know what you think.

At the very least, take this opportunity to appreciate some work you’ve done recently and are proud to have worked on before racing to your next project.

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It’s funny how one of the main social media tools you are an advocate for can fall to the back burner when you get too busy.  Being a business owner is certainly not easy and effective time management is truly the key to success.  But even when you feel great about all the client goals and deadlines you’ve met – you can still forget to look out for your own business.  I’m speaking about blogging of course, and not only its importance, but finding the time to do it for yourself and not just your clients.  I spend a large portion of my time building blogs, creating content for blogs and measuring the success of blogs.  This makes it hard for me to find time to blog for myself anymore.  This poor blog died a quick death almost right after it started and my personal blog hasn’t been updated in months.  I love writing and miss finding the time for it.  I’m hoping this post is therapeutic and I force myself to schedule blogging into my calendar right along with everything else.

I miss blogging.

My website misses the benefits that come from blogging.

My mind misses speaking for the world (or my mother) to hear.

I know and sell to businesses the importance of blogging, social media and really all inbound marketing. I need to get back to it and I hope you can help me. Otherwise I might forget what got me here and turn into one of the morons who responded to the survey below.

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My industry news intake has suffered drastically over the last few weeks thanks to a good deal of new business.  Now don’t get me wrong , new business is a great thing for my livelihood and more specifically my wife’s shopping habits, but it can make it hard to blog when you are a small start-up company. 

I did however have the opportunity to check out a few very intriguing articles and wanted to share them with you in this week’s edition of Monday Links.

1. Google TV Announces Its Programming Partners

Google continues to do everything they possibly can to turn America into 1984. I kid, I kid (kind of).  They plan on launching Google TV in the next few weeks and have signed contracts with HBO, CNBC and Turner Broadcasting (TBS,TNT) to name a few.  As with anything Google does, they hope to be the “leader in the growing industry of Internet-connected television sets, which Forrester Research expects to be in 43 million United States homes by 2015.” What do you think about turning television screens into bonafide web portals?

2. 4 Reasons The Social Media Industry Has a Credibility Problem

We need to stop talking about what we are going to do and actually do it.  We need to stop thinking our time is more valuable than someone else’s. Most of all we need to help others that don’t get social media instead of lashing out at them.  Basically just a great post from a great blog to help put things in perspective.

Just because some of us may be on the right side of a revolution doesn’t mean we are better than anyone else.

3. Why are Social Behaviors Plateauing?

Are we done acting as creators and instead shifting towards consumers?  And better yet, if we as communications professionals aren’t focused enough on creation – what will there be to consume?  One thing not changing – joiners. Joiners are the people that decide to test the waters with a social network presence meaning there are still more and more engagement opportunities out there.

 Where will the next shift be?

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Starting this Monday and running until the end of time I plan on posting 5-10 of my favorite links from the previous week on social media, marketing, public relations and business. Some of this may have already appeared in my Twitter feed, but for those of you who like your coffee served with a nice mix of RSS straight to your Google Reader or inbox - this is for you.

1. Top 11 Free Resources to Improve Your Blog’s Content

Some fantastic links from Harry Hoover that cover the blogging gamete to make sure you are creating compelling content targeted at those people you want to read your blog.

2. There, I Said It: Screw Viral Videos

Although I don’t agree with the overall idea of the post – this is a great read from Jim Louderback.  I personal think the main problem is simply the word – viral.  Great video content is a necessity online it’s just your expectations and initial investment that need to be in check.

3. See How They Did It: 104 Social Media Case Studies

Just like it sounds and just as glorious. The Conversation Agent has used her blog to review 12 case studies specifically and then link to another 92.  Not too shabby. Enjoy.

4. Wake Me Up When Your Press Release is Over

Extremely true take on why boiler plates are so awful and how companies can move away from the traditional way of ending a press release from Jonathan Grieb at CEC Insider.

5. 60 Proven Ways to Increase Your Online Marketing Influence

60 sentences taken from The Influencer Project from the good people at HubSpot.  Special shout out to my buddy Kipp Bodnar who is currently crushing it up in Cambridge!

6. The 10 Worst Business Books of All Time

Great topic and hilarious entry all around from Geoffery James.  Either don’t read these books or read them and decide whether or not they made you dumber

What links did you enjoy last week?  Help me out because I can’t read everything!

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I use a lot of different tools for a lot of different clients in a lot of different ways.  I just wanted to give a quick shout out to those tools whom I use every day and couldn’t live without. Most of you probably use these already, but for any of you that don’t – I’ll be here all week

1. TweetDeck - For awhile there TweetDeck had me worried as it seemed like I was having issues with old mentions and DM’s for a solid week about 6 months ago.  Then came version 34.2 and I fell in love with the dashboard all over again.  It’s ease of use and simplicity had me at hello and I’ve been an avid user ever since.  I have a girlfriend on the side in HootSuite, for some clients, but have never fallen for her like I did with TweetDeck. 

2. Social Mention - I can search user generated content across all social channels for free? Yes, please. I’m a big fan of anything that makes me more efficient and Social Mention analyzes content from almost all social media platforms and even offers up some basic insight and statistics.  It may not get the job done for extremely specific tasks but it sure does cut down on time for others.  And it’s fun!

3. Alexa - This site is sort of like the Griff Tannen of these five sites but it can sometimes be the most helpful in a application sense.  Alexa offers up a ton of great insight on any web properties you own and even some on ones you dont.  I especially love the comarison tab and top queries data.  I treat Alexa along with Google Analytics like they were part of the family.

4. Addict-o-Matic - Not only an awesome aggregate of social information, but it lets you create custom pages of the terms you are searching for! I love the name because this site is just that – addictive.  I view it as  my morning paper for each of my clients as I have that first cup of coffee.

5. YouTube - That’s right I said it – YouTube. I said this list was 5 Free Social Media Tools that I use everyday and to me it is a very valuable tool.  Just because it isn’t some site used only by social media nerds like myself doesn’t mean it isn’t worth a daily visit.  Whether it be for humor, ideas, tutorials or old sports clips – I’m there.  I think YouTube wears many hats and I am certainly an avid watcher.

What 5 Free Social Media Tools do you use everyday?