Experts on Hand

The Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce and SCORE of East Central Iowa have invited me to be the event facilitator for "Social Networking - The Big Picture" webinar to be hosted by Lon Safko, author of "The Social Media Bible:...." 
The event will be held tomorrow at the Guarantee Bank Building.  As event facilitator, we've been asked to do a 30 minute Q&A with the participants to answer any questions that they may have about social media and how it will work for their businesses or what they can do to get started.  We've been asked to participate as the Experts in the field because of our reputation amongst members of the Cedar Rapids Chamber of Commerce and SCORE of East Central Iowa as a leader in Social Network marketing for our clients.

We'll repost here after the event to give you all of the details of how the event went.  I would invite you all to come, but this is being presented for Flood affected businesses in the area to assist them in rebuilding their customer base.

Great day today.

While recovering from an injury, things just happen to be going our way today.  One of us attended a meeting for the Jones County Youth Coalition and ended up being a member on the Marketing committee to assist in our community, then we made a few phone calls and stops and ended up booking 3 more websites and another photography gig.  Things are picking up for the little company that can and that is great news to us.  Thank you to everyone that keeps spreading the word about 3ChipMedia.

First, a phone call from Texas Bike Works owner, Jason Ferguson to say that he really needed some help and wanted someone with experience in the Motorcycle industry to remake his website and make sure it could be found and that everything was functioning, we'll take care of that for you Jason.  Then a stop out to the Rainbow Supper Club garnished 2 more websites to be built.  We'll have those done for you in a jiffy, they liked that response.

Then another potential customer called and wanted to know about some photography, they had seen the work we did for a friend of theirs and wanted to get booked right away.  So they did.

Ending off a great day by registering domain names, recording some logins and writing notes on what needs to be done tomorrow.

Good day to all and thank you again.

TEXTING, TWEETING AND POSTING - OH MY!

We went to the Fair this past week, and not just any Fair, it was the Great Jones County Fair and Food Festival in Monticello, Iowa. What a fantastic time, great food, rides, games, shows and attractions.

Something that I noticed was how many people were Tweeting or FB Messaging about what all was going on.  I could turn around without seeing someone tweeting and texting about what cow won a blue ribbon, whose rabbits were hot or not, what recipe got first place and how awesome the concerts, races and events were at the fair.

This made me realize something, it's not just what you can send out to your fans, customers or followers that gets noticed or drives business to you, it's what kind of buzz you can create by other people talking about you.
This is when I came up with a few ideas... While at an event, offer up a coupon for anyone that Tweets about you while at your booth at a trade fair or event.  Give them a freebie item if they Like you on FB while at the booth.  Almost everyone has a smart phone today that has this ability, take advantage of it.  Get other people to talk about you and it won't seem so much like the sales pitch.

This is Word of Mouth on Steroids part II.  Anytime you can get regular people to talk about you, that's great, as long as they are sending the correct message.  A good customer experience will generate some buzz, a poor experience or a complaint will generate a lot of buzz, negative is not good buzz.
You can help to create the positive buzz by allowing them to receive recognition by putting their positive post on your website, re-tweeting their post, like it on facebook, share it or whatever, make them feel as if they are an important customer, just for saying something nice about you.  This gets them to keep up the good chatter and pushing it their friends that trust them.

Use up some of these ideas and see how well they work for you, I'm betting that you won't be disappointed.
Give us a call sometime, we'll help you set up the program and show you just how you can actually impliment this without a lot of headaches.

319-361-7777

Black Bull LLC - NEW CLIENT

WWW.BLACKBULLCAFE.COM

Black Bull LLC of Cedar Rapids contacted us about a month ago with an emergency on their hands.  Amy Grotewold (Owner of Black Bull LLC)  had hired a Website Designer / Photographer / Video production company in the area and even flew her new vendor down to Antigua, Guatemala to create a website for her United States Coffee Distribution of Toro Negro Cafe.

Well needless to say, this turned out to be a disaster.  Amy unfortunately had taken the word of the person that she hired to be that she was a legitimate professional, however, after only 3 days into the 9 day trip to gather photos, create video blogs of the adventure and to create the website, the person in question didn't even bring any editing software, a cell phone, any money at all and spent most of the time on the phone with her boyfriend and asking when they were going to the beach.  After all of that, the vendor was on a plane and headed home with nothing accomplished 6 days before the trip was completed. The vendor wouldn't even return phone calls and kept the money that had already been paid to do the job with nothing accomplished.

This is truely unfortunate for Ms. Grotewold but 3CHIPMEDIA came to the rescue.  Amy gave us the same specs that she had given to the other person with the request that the site be live before June 1st, the day that Black Bull LLC was to receive an award and grant from the SCORE of East Central Iowa as the most promising new emerging business in Cedar Rapids.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED! Now I know this term has a stigma attached to it since the president hung the banner on the aircraft carrier a few years back, but it's true this time.

The mission of the site is not just to sell coffee, but to inform people on everything from How to Brew your TORO NEGRO CAFE, all about Antigua, Guatemala and the history, rich culture and especially the people behind the coffee.

We were able to impliment all of the needs of Black Bull LLC, including landing pages for their Facebook account, Paypal product setup and implimentation along with a very user friendly customer experience. The Black Bull LLC and TORO NEGRO CAFE (Coffee) brand now has a presence on the internet, and they are implimenting the suggestions of 3ChipMedia when it comes to their social network marketing including, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn as well. Now we are in the works to do more with social network marketing, expanding the website to have a fully integrated shopping cart and are in the beginning steps of making some videos.

Be sure to visit the website, buy some coffee and kick back and relax with some of the best coffee ever grown and roasted.

Call 3ChipMedia the next time you have a bad experience with a vendor and really need to get it done right the first time.

Crappie Queen From LINDY Review

May 24, 2011. I woke up this morning to the sun shining in through the window with one thing on my mind - I wanted to try out my new jigs I bought ("Crappie Queen's" from Lindy). So I loaded up the boat and headed for the lake. Central Park has great Crappie and Bluegill, and it is just about time for them to start spawning. After getting the boat in the water and checking my lake map (which was FREE from Iowa DNR web site), I headed to the one spot I thought I would find Crappie - the south side of the lake were my map shows a sharp drop off or ledge. OK, maybe not the best spawning spot, but I knew there would be fish there. How did Lindy do with this jig?

This is what Lindy says about their jig: "The Crappie Queen's wings and front hackle give this insect-like jig a rare zig-zag and slow-sink action. That means more time--and more bites!-- in the strike Zone!" Lindy Crappie queen's"

THE QUEEN BUMBLEBEE 1/16 (Bee)

I tied the bumblebee on and made a few casts, experimenting with different jig methods. I noticed real quick that the bee was a slow sinking jig so there was no need to think that this little jig was sinking straight to the bottom as soon as I gave it a little slack. After I realized that and gave it time to work its magic, it started slowly sinking to the bottom. I had two hits right away by large mouth bass. However, I did not land these two fish. I don't think it was due to the design of the jig. Oh, lets call it operator error. Here's my jigging method: Cast pole, tighten line, pull on pole straight up, let pole drop while reeling in the slack. Repeat until jig is back to your boat or on land. I give this jig a 8 out of ten. No Crappie caught, but I'll fight large mouth all day long if I have too.

THE QUEEN WHITE 1/16.

I found this jig to react the same as the Bee, however I did not get any bites or fish with the jig. I give this a 8 out of 10 because it did do what the packaging said it would do. It may not have caught fish, but I don't think the fish wanted a white color bait today.

THE QUEEN HOT PINK 1/16.

What can I say? When LINDY called this jig hot pink they meant it. It is so bright that the guy mowing the park gave me a feminine wave as he drove by on his mower, but I didn't care as long as I was catching Crappie on Central Park Lake. Give me a pink Barbie pole with LINDY'S HOT PINK QUEEN, and lets fish! Again, I give this jig a 8 out of 10. It would have been a 10 out of 10 if it would have been a good-looking girl on the mower waving.

At the end of the day I landed one bluegill and had two large mouth Bass on the line. I don't think that is bad for 2 & 1/2 hours of fishing. The time of year is iffy on Crappie and Bluegill, so I can't blame Lindy for not catching Crappie. The product did what it said it would do and also put fish on my line. I will be keeping a few of these jigs in my tackle box for the right time. I suggest you grab a few too. At less than $3.00 a jig it's worth it. All in all I rank LINDY'S CRAPPIE QUEENS a 8 out of 10. Thank you LINDY for this great jig!

Nate Trotter Average Jo's Fishing

My name is Nate Trotter from Average Jo's Fishing. You can find me on Facebook under "Average Jo's Fishing". I hope you will go there and Like my page or you can email me at natetrotter@yahoo.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Nathan_Trotter

Disturbed Concert Photography

Recently the 3Chip Media team was called into action at last minute notice by KRNA to shoot video of an interview with John Moyer of the rock band, Disturbed.
James Larson and "The Shark" went back stage to interview John when the band played a concert at the U.S. Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids.  With a limited space and the fact that KRNA was the only one granted permission for Photos and Video, they asked that we be especially discreet with the video recording.  So to solve the problem of  being conspicuous, we employed the use of a Flip Ultra HD camera.  These cameras can be used in a very wide variety of situations.  They don't get the best audio in the world, but the picture is actually quite stunning if used right.  This solved the problem and did a great job, the video was loaded withing a matter of about an hour of the interview for the KRNA viewers to see even before the show began.  It was a huge hit with a ton of comments on the KRNA facebook page.  Also there were several photos shot during the interivew that made the site also.

John then asked 3Chip Media's own, Shannon Appleby to stick around and take some photos of the show, he requested the one you see here in particular for some possible advertising in Magazines.

Photo shot by Shannon Appleby - ON STAGE

Japan Earthquake and Tsunami

From the staff and owners of 3Chip Media

This past weekend, a great tragedy struck the island of Japan. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake and Tsunami that followed has killed over 10,000 people and  displaced millions more.
If you would like to offer some assistance financially to help provide the necessary Water, Food and Blankets to those that have survived, please visit the following websites to see how you can help.

• American Red Cross
• Japanese Red Cross
• World Vision 

EXCERPT: Source CNN.com

Widespread destruction from Japan earthquake, tsunamis
TSUNAMI

March 11, 2011|By the CNN Wire Staff

The morning after Japan was struck by the most powerful earthquake to hit the island nation in recorded history and the tsunami it unleashed -- and even as the earth continued to twitch with aftershocks -- the disaster's massive impact was only beginning to be revealed.

Rescue efforts began with the first light as military helicopters plucked survivors from roofs and carried them to safety.

The 8.9-magnitude temblor, which was centered near the east coast of Japan, killed hundreds of people, caused the formation of 30-foot walls of water that swept across rice fields, engulfed entire towns, dragged houses onto highways, and tossed cars and boats like toys. Some waves reached six miles (10 kilometers) inland in Miyagi Prefecture on Japan's east coast.


"The earth shook with such ferocity," said Andy Clark, who said he had gotten used to earthquakes during his 20 years in Japan but never experienced what he felt Friday at the airport outside Tokyo. "I thought things were coming to an end ... it was simply terrifying."

Buildings shook, heaved and collapsed by the score, and numerous fires ignited.

Hundreds more people were missing, Japanese media reported, citing local and national police. Tens of thousands of people were displaced, according to Japan's Kyodo News Agency.

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said the "enormously powerful" earthquake had caused "tremendous damage over a wide area."

The quake, which struck at 2:46 p.m. (12:46 a.m. ET), prompted the U.S. National Weather Service to issue tsunami warnings for at least 50 countries and territories.

The epicenter of Friday's main quake was located off Miyagi Prefecture, about 230 miles (370 kilometers) northeast of Tokyo, the U.S. Geological Survey said.

Also in Miyagi, officials reported that a train had derailed and authorities had lost contact with four trains in coastal areas, Kyodo reported, citing the East Japan Railway Company.

Six million households, more than 10% of the total in Japan, were without electricity, said Japan's ambassador to the United States, Ichiro Fujisaki.

In Tokyo, rail service was suspended overnight, elevated highways were shut early Saturday and surface streets remained jammed as commuters -- thousands of whom had spent the night in shelters -- tried to get to their homes in outlying areas.