Creativity

If you’re an entrepreneur or small business owner in Austin, don’t miss this year’s RISE conference the week of March 7. Created originally in 2007 by Roy and Bertrand Sosa as a week-long, free “un-conference” for- and by- entrepreneurs in Austin, Texas, RISE has now grown into an ongoing annual program that leverages its proprietary web interface to provide one-of-a-kind resources and experiences to entrepreneurs worldwide for free.

There are dozens of sessions to choose from in locations all over town ranging from bootstrapping your business to sales training to the kick-off event with Robert L. Johnson founder of the RLJ Companies and Founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET).

Of course, I hope you’ll join me for one of three sessions I’m hosting on Monday March 7 at the Better Business Bureau Conference Room on La Posada Drive:

8-9:30 am:  Seven Steps to Marketing Success

10-11:30 am: The Social Media Pyramid: Unraveling the Mystery of Social Media Marketing

12-1:30 pm:  Winning the Local Search game PLUS Teaching Your Business to Market Itself with Referrals

See you there!

My semi-regular weekend roundup of marketing stuff with Moxie that I came across recently.

Facebook Business Page Upgrades

Mashable’s Vadim Lavrusik posted a good review on the new features Facebook launched last week for “Fan” or business pages.  One of my favorite improvements is the ability to post comments and likes under your business entity, rather than just your personal name.  Read more.

50 Places to Find Images for Every Small Business Need

From Small Business Trends:  ”Your blog posts, your marketing materials and your website all need images. As a small business owner, you probably think that photos come with an expensive price tag, but they don’t have to. In this post, we highlight 50 image sites and services where you can get photographs and types of images for free or a low cost.”  Read more.

Add Skills to Your LinkedIn Profile

LinkedIn has added a beta tool to help you search for people (and list your own) by their skills. More and more, Linked In is getting it right with powerful new features to help you connect and grow you B2B business.  Read more.

Are you having any fun in your work life? Home life? Married life? Single life? Have you heard about the Eight Irresistable Principles of Fun?  Click on the image on the right and watch the movie. It'll take a few minutes but you'll feel refreshed after you watch it.  Working on your marketing plan or a project right now and feeling stuck or overwhelmed? Stressed or tired?  

Feed your brain.  Relax.  Have fun. You'll be more creative and people will like you better.  

What's your favorite principle? I like number 8.