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.

Social Media Consulting and Services

What is Social Media?

Social Media is People+Technology=conversation.
Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Blogs are the big names to start with.  There are Millions of users of the two main services, with Facebook getting over 700,000 new members over the age of 35 every single day.  Twitter has millions of "Tweets" every single day with people talking about where they are having lunch, how they feel to what cleaning service they are using in their homes.  

What is Social Media Marketing?

This is "Word of Mouth" on Steroids. We cannot think of another way of saying it.  When someone watches your video and learns from it, they favorite it.  This tells all of their friends that you liked it and that they should watch it also.  (Word of Mouth)  But they just told like 200 people about it.  When they LIKE your facebook page, it means that they want to keep up to date on your interesting information that you have to offer, and it tells all of their friends about it. (Word of Mouth).  And Twitter is how they share links, interests and either complain or shout out about their latest consumer transaction like "Great lunch at Vino's. Will definately come back." and along with this it can post the address and map of the location at the same time.

What is Listening 2.0?

• Listening 1.0 is when you would search on Yahoo or google for your company name to see if anyone posted a comment on a forum about you.
• Listening 2.0 is when a free piece of software on your desktop automatically notifies you of your company name being mentioned on the most used services in the world. Then you jump in and interact with that person about what they are talking about.  

How can Listening 2.0 benefit my company?

• Bob Jones Tweets: "Anybody know of a good painter in Cedar Rapids?"
• The tools that we provide notifies our Painting Company client that someone is looking for a painter in their area within seconds after the post has been made and Painter Company secretary or sales rep reply's to the post to setup up an appointment and provides a link to the company website.  Now Painter Company has first contact with a potential customer that is looking for their service before they seek out the competitor.
• Susan McFee Tweets: "Cleaning Company X just left. Still cleaning up their mess."
• Response from Cleaning Company X: "Susan, I'll send a different crew over to do that cleanup work plus we'll knock off $50 from our bill"

Now that is some real customer service.  You headed off a problem before it got out of hand and the person posted 10 more times about how the service sucked.  Susan McFee even re-tweeted to post so that her 300 followers all got the message that you sent to her.  Showing that you are on the ball with your customers and making sure to provide top knotch service.

Is Youtube really Social Media and how can it help me?

Youtube is the unique side of social media that incorporates into all other forms.  Consumers want to see your product or service in action. Show them a short 3 minute video that shows everything they want to know and leave a call to action at the end.  This gives them a more personable attraction to be able to walk into your brick and morter location and see someone that they feel like they know.  It's almost as good as the HANDS ON approach. You know, HANDS ON, CHECK SIGNED.
Incorporate that video into your website on the main page.  You spend a ton of money getting a commercial made, then you pay for it to be aired on television hopeing that someone that needs your product or service is watching.  Now take that video, expand the content with more information and let the people see it that are already looking at you as their next product or service provider. Hook, Line and Sinker - Time to Reel them in.

 CALL 3CHIP MEDIA to get things started.  Your competitor is already listening to what your customers are saying, and having conversations with them and getting them to come to their door.  They could be coming to your door.

318-361-7777

Cedar Rapids Home Builders Show

By 3Chip Media - www.3chipmedia.com 

Sunday Feb. 20th I had the chance to visit with some of the vendors at the Cedar Rapids Home Show at the US Cellular Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  

I think we were able to pick up some new clients and established some new relationships.  But what has stuck with me the most is what people were saying.  I would ask how the show was going or how much new construction they were seeing in Cedar Rapids, Marion and Hiawatha and the response was this.  There has been a huge rise in people just maintaining or updating the home that they are in now instead of searching out new features for a New Home.  This was said by just about everyone from the guys with the Overhead Doors, Patio Block and especially the insulation vendors.

So I did some searching around and found out some interesting conversations on Twitter and Facebook.

It seems that people are more and more asking their friends what they would reccomend for tips and tricks or who to call when they are looking for a service to do the job.  This is a great place for you, the business owner to start grabbing those potential customers immediately instead of them trying to Google-It and finding your competitor first.

I too am a homeowner and I am beginning to put more money into my own home rather than feeling like I am going to buy something down the road.  The economy is still shaky and will be for awhile, so most people are doing the same thing.  Taking care of the ol' place ourselves.  When we cannot do it ourselves, we ask our friends and family who does the work for them or what is a good furnace to get.  We all have some sort of experience with one place or brand, so we offer out what we experienced.  If the comments are negative, this is a good time for the Brand or business to step in and offer some sort of customer service, whether it is a facebook post or Twitter Tweet about it.

The show was amazing, I couldn't beleive the number of visitors walking around and talking to the vendors about their products and seeing people walk away saying, Let's talk more about this later in the week.  This is a great event if you want to put together a remodel, looking for ideas and to see everyone that you need to in one location, and if they are a member of the Cedar Rapids Home Builders Association, they are probably a reputable company that offers great service and products.  I learned that just from the caliber of individuals that I met there and the fact that I have worked with many of them over the years one way or another.  

I had the opportunity to run into a few of my old clients from other places that I have worked also, I remember building their first website for them and how skeptical they were at the time.  Now, they all have a website, put even more money into it and are looking now at how to compete with the other guy to get to the top of the list.  This can be pretty hard to do if you are the little guy or the new guy in the game.  These are established companies, they have a long standing reputation and they have had time to tweak their websites to come up first in Google, Bing or Yahoo and that is tough to beat.  Unless you know some tricks and how the search engines really work.

To end off this story, I have to say that I cannot wait until this summer when a few of the projects that I went to see about get started.  I'm getting some new Spray Foam insulation from one of the vendors, a little concrete work done by another one and I'm even going to get the wife that new kitchen floor from another vendor from the show.  All in all, it was a great event to attend. I would highly reccomend it for you to consider visiting the Cedar Rapids Home Builders Association Home Show next year.

Written by Shannon Appleby - 3Chip Media - Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Recommended Link - http://www.crhba.org

How to convince your boss to use Social Media

Whether you are the boss or someone that is attempting to convince your boss to build business relationships with your customers or to just offer better customer service and see what your potential customers are saying about you. Social media can do these things.  But they cannot just be automated, it is going to take some resources to handle a job like this and the boss knows that the number thing to look at is the bottom line.

An educated and knowledgeable agency can help you setup your Inbound Marketing accounts such as Facebook and Twitter, they can setup some great comments for you to post and set you up with all kinds of tools but are they going to educate you on how to continue your Inbound Marketing strategies?  Are they going to show you how to use the tools?  Are they going to continue to monitor your efforts to make sure they are working for you?

You need to have someone in place to continue the work to be done on this new and broadening landscape. When trying to convince the boss to support either your new efforts to expand the company into the social media landscape and tap into the massive resources that are out there, you need to make sure that they understand that this is what is good for the company.  You cannot just say, this is the Coolest, New thing that everyone is doing. You have to compel them with the truth about social media.  Another thing is going to be that they will try to defend the traditional media efforts that have supported them for many years. Doing this is going to be hard to do.

Here are some points to use when confronting the boss about Why Social Media should be a focus point.

• Marketing - Get in front of new customers that have never been attracted before. Organically, not with the hard sell.
• Customer Service - Now you can see what your customers are saying about you and interact with them.
• Sales - Direct promotion of Brand and Product with links to the products are easily distributed.
• Support - Easily interact with customers that have a unique issue with your product. Eleiminate them saying bad things about you with instant satisfaction with your service.

Additionally, you can also point out to your boss, that based on the research and thousands of case studies, the cost comparison between

Inbound Marketing and Direct Sales conversion shows that Inbound Marketing can save about 50-60% in cost over outbound sales.  When I say this, I mean that by having your website, twitter and facebook working for you, that an individual can maintain a dozen customers to one comparitively to the outbound sales force.  Outbound sales require a person to make the phone call, navigate through the gatekeeper and then work to make the sale, set the appointment etc.

In the end, if everything you say doesn't work, find your nearest competitor and show the boss how they are using social media, videos and Search Engine optimization along with a well designed and user friendly website to take away the market share and the money that could be coming into the company instead of going out to the other guy.

To end off this article I would like to remind you also that 3Chip Media can assist you in your efforts to begin your endeavor into the social media world of marketing with Education, training, setup services and follow through. Contact us athttp://www.3chipmedia.com or follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Youtube.  Remember, you found this article, we can help customers find you too.