Ours was more like a “single,” but it wasn’t too bad either. We never had to invest money in our business, we made a profit from the first month and at the right moment, we found a willing buyer.

Kind of a textbook story–in fact, we it call it our social media love story.

(Unfortunately, not romantic)

Our story begins when Phyllis Neill decides to follow David Sher (a complete stranger) on Twitter. David responds by sending Phyllis a LinkedIn invitation—which leads to a face-to-face meeting at Starbucks in Vestavia Hills on August 5, 2009.

We didn’t have much in common, but we both felt this new social media thing would change the business world.  We were probably ahead of our time since we spent the first year proselytizing and teaching Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn to anyone who would listen.

We are completely different, but with complementary skills—Phyllis with the experienced marketing mind and David with the connections to attract clients.

We had no business model and no model to copy—just the passion for an untested marketing concept.  We began as a social media consulting business, quickly transitioned to social media outsourcing—and then grew our offerings.

Our basic strategy—like any successful businesses—was to keep doing those things that worked and quit doing those things that didn’t work as quickly as possible.

We added content creation, blogging; e-mail newsletters—anything that could help our clients grow their businesses.

We continued to add clients, but the requests for additional services grew at a frantic pace.  Our clients and prospects wanted us to provide public relations, search engine optimization (SEO), pay for click (SEM), reputation management, web development, and video.

We quickly determined if we were going to keep our clients and attract new ones– we needed help.

Then along came the Calvary—Jake McKenzie and his troops at the Intermark Group.  We had been friends with Jake for many years–he was not only a friend, but a mentor.

What we didn’t know was that Jake had dreams for Intermark that could include Buzz12.

Intermark’s the largest advertising agency in Alabama, but Intermark primarily services large clients.  Jake saw the need for a digital advertising agency that specialized in small and midsize companies—business that Intermark was too large to handle.

So the perfect storm was created.  Intermark’s unable to serve smaller and midsize clients—Buzz12’s unable to serve larger businesses.

We both had the same problem, but in reverse—and what made it most appealing is the market for small and midsize firms is huge.

So Intermark purchased Buzz12.  Phyllis remains as the Buzz12 division president and David hangs around to handle business development.

Our existing clients are happy because they continue to get the same personal service with the Intermark team and resources behind them and we grow our business with additional offerings and the referrals that Intermark would have turned away.

What began as a social media love story has turned into a fairy tale like Goldilocks and the Three Bears.  Not too little, not too big—but just right.

IT’S FREE! Become a member to get the tools and knowledge you need to market smarter!

I hope that captured your attention – it sure did mine.

Email is not dead – not by a long shot.

Email marketing, when done right, is still a highly effective marketing tool.  Why? Because businesspeople still rely on email as a primary mode of communication.

The best email newsletters are the ones where your company has written the content yourselves.  And it should be content that serves the interest of your clients and prospects – NOT just “PR Vomit” about your company.

You want to be liked, likeable, and perceived as a thought leader in your space. A combination of content creation and electronic newsletters allow you to do just that.

Phyllis Neill is President of Buzz12, an advertising agency in Birmingham Alabama, servicing small to medium sized businesses.  You can find more scintillating blog posts by Phyllis Neill at www.buzz12.com.

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LinkedIn stock price past year CNN Money

There’s no stopping LinkedIn.

Five years ago when Phyllis Neill, my biz partner, and I joined LinkedIn, there were less than 25 million members.  Today LinkedIn has more than 225 million with two members joining every second.  LinkedIn has added 50 million members in the past year alone.

There are 1 million groups, 2 million company pages and in the past year there have been 1 billion endorsements.

LinkedIn is now the 26^th most popular website in the world.

And LinkedIn’s quietly moving from computers to mobile devices.  Twenty-three percent of all views are now on mobile phones and tablets and the number is growing exponentially.

You and your company won’t be competitive if you don’t pay attention to LinkedIn.

Your LinkedIn profile and connections will determine:

• whether you can be found on the Internet
• your credibility and reputation
• your accessibility to business contacts

And LinkedIn’s just getting started.

LinkedIn just announced the launch of LinkedIn Contacts.

This new feature brings all your contacts from your address books, e-mail accounts, and calendars together with your LinkedIn network.   From these sources, you’ll automatically be able to pull in the details of your past conversations and meetings, and bring these details directly into your contact’s profile.

If you’d like to learn more about LinkedIn profiles—click here to join their wait list.

If you’d like to learn more about how to use LinkedIn, click here to download our FREE e-book–LinkedIn Guide for Executives.

David Sher is a co-founder of Buzz12  Advertising. You can read more of his posts by looking for the “David Sher Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website.

I’m speaking to a group of them on Tuesday at Hoover High School.  I’ve been asked to speak about social media marketing.

Many of them don’t really remember a life before Facebook, since it was started in 2004 (9 years ago).

Most of them have mastered Twitter, where they went in droves when all us “grown ups” started figuring out Facebook and posting on their wall (“honey you look so cute in that outfit you’ll always be my little buzzy bee yes you will”)

They were on Pinterest before us adults even knew what it was, exchange most of their pictures via Instagram, and text like there’s no tomorrow (or at least, no email.)

So – what can I possibly tell this group of kids they don’t already know about social media marketing?

I’m thinking I will stick to “the basics” – not how to use the tools, or even which tools are popular. But the actions all consumers and businesses should be taking when using social media for business:

1. Be kind, and share information. Nobody wants to hear all about how great your company is until they learn how much they care about YOU. Share interesting, relevant, and targeted information your customers can’t wait to read.

2. Consistently show up.  Blog every week, talk to several people each day on Twitter, provide meaningful updates on Facebook and answer all questions. A barren Facebook page is worse than no Facebook page at all, just as an infrequently updated blog is worse than no blog at all.

3. Figure out where your customers are, and show up there to talk. It might be that your business’ best customers are spending most of their time on Linkedin. If that’s the case, review wall updates, “like” the ones that are interesting, update your Linkedin company page a few times a week, and personally “share” those updates onto your own page.

Hopefully, they won’t think I’m just another old fart, but seriously: by the time you were in first grade, we had already learned many of these rules, didn’t we? It’s funny to think about how the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Anyway, I’ll let you know if they eat me alive.

What Dasha probably looks like

“Women love me.”

I never expected to say those words.

I was shy in high school;  I got married right out of college, so in my younger years, I didn’t have much interaction with women.

But then it happened.

I was working on my computer when I received an unsolicited e-mail.  It was from a young woman who said she saw my picture on the Internet and wanted to get to know me.  At first I thought this was a fluke, but I kept hearing from other women.

Here’s one I received from China:

“Hi, David, I am Chunyan 22 years old from China. Share the year ahead with me!  You can see some of my new photos here: http://www.????????.  Get in touch soon!  I’m waiting

Or this e-mail I received from a mysterious Russian beauty:

Hi David, I believe in my luck and  I dream of someone to share my luck with!   I am seeking a caring, understanding and honest man. And that is why I have just one question, maybe it’s you?  Write to me dasha@?????? if you want to continue exploring with me!  Dasha.

Then this morning I received this urgent notice.

Sabrina Walton 22 y.o.

Georgia, US

Member status: GOLD

Flirted with you.

…also, We have 12 female members within 2 miles of Birmingham.

Can you believe my good fortune?  Even GOLD member women are interested in me.

And it gets better.  I often receive e-mails from companies offering huge discounts on Cialis, Viagra & Levitra, so when the time is right, I’ll be prepared.

It’s so rewarding that as I get older and spend more time on the Internet I get more and more popular.

So when your life gets tough and you’re having a difficult time, remember there’s hope.  Go straight to your computer and one day,  just like me, your dreams may come true.

David Sher is a co-founder of Buzz12  Advertising. You can read more of his posts by looking for the “David Sher Posts” category in the sidebar of Buzz12’s website.

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My father loves all kinds of sports. So naturally when March Madness came about, he was always glued to the television set.

I hated it because basketball always preempted all my favorite TV shows (probably Andy Griffith and Happy Days).  And once you missed a TV show, that was it – no watching it again later.

Nowadays, when basketball preempts one of my favorite shows, I just buy my missed show on Netflix, or watch it on Pay-Per-View- no big whoop.

Today’s television – like the internet – makes it easy to not watch or consume what you do not like, and what is not relevant, compelling, or interesting to you.

Remember that next time you post something on your Company Facebook page.

Phyllis Neill is President of Buzz12, an advertising agency in Birmingham Alabama, servicing small to medium sized businesses.  You can find more scintillating blog posts by Phyllis Neill at www.buzz12.com.