The new video show Who pops your popcorn? is attracting thousands of viewers.
Have you seen it?
Watch at: Who pops your popcorn?

Watch this video show that talks about using social media for business.
Who Pops Your Popcorn?
You can also watch at the video section of this website.

Don’t miss this opportunity!
This week at the Gateway, come taste a little of what Brazil is all about.
Food, music, crafts.
Take a look at our Utah events page for more info.

The Salt Lake Community College Miller Global Business Center is once again offering its Executive Certificate of Global Business Management course to business executives, professionals, working staff, entrepreneurs and qualified students who wish to increase their knowledge and improve their strategies in global business practices.

BuzzBoosters will be presenting at the Glazer Kennedy inner circle local chapter this week.
The topic is No B.S. Social Media for Business.
don’t forget to rsvp

BuzzBooster.com- Provides marketing coaching for small business and authors
SCORE — Provides counseling to small businesses
- Ogden SCORE - E-mail
ogdenscore158@aol.com
- Salt Lake SCORE - Chapter 0049
310 S. Main St., N. Mezzanine, Salt Lake City. Phone: (801) 746-2269; Fax: (801) 746-2273; e-mail: mallen@slcscore.com
- Wayne Brown Institute — Runs the oldest and most successful non-profit venture accelerator program in the country, helping technical entrepreneurs from every social economic level raise money for their businesses.
- Grow Utah Ventures — A privately funded organization established solely to advance entrepreneurism and high growth business creation in Utah. Among its initiatives are the eStation Business Incubators and Launch– The Magazine for Utah Entrepreneurs.
- Small Business Development Centers
– Provides counseling and training to small businesses.
- Small Business Administration — Provides information about small business (Click here for Utah SBA)
- Utah Micro Enterprise Loan Fund — Provides counseling and funding for small business
- The Pete Suazo Business Center — Provides counseling and training for Hispanic/Latino businesses
- Utah Business.gov — Provides online access to Utah Government services; one-stop shop business registrations
- Export.gov — Provides information on how to export your product.

Ogden City announced yesterday the “Concept to Company” contest, which aims to attract new product ideas and new companies to Ogden’s burgeoning outdoor recreation business environment.

With the support of primary sponsors Zions Bank, Grow Utah Ventures and USTAR, Concept to Company may be the first competition in the nation to focus on spurring innovation in the outdoor recreation products industry.

The winners will be announced on September 27th, as part of the City of Ogden’s “Mountain to Metro” festival. The contest is open to any Utah-based inventor or small business with a product or service idea that applies to outdoor recreation. Ideas should focus on skiing, snowboarding, cycling, climbing, hiking, paddling, and other non-motorized, non-fishing or non-hunting sports. The idea or invention must not yet be introduced into the market and must have no sales revenue.

“Ogden has gained a reputation as an outdoor industry-friendly town,” said Ogden City Mayor Matthew R. Godfrey. “We want to further that reputation by encouraging creativity and product development that could impact a wide range of sports.”

A panel of outdoor industry experts will evaluate ideas based on innovation and marketability. The winning entry will receive a $20,000 award, comprised of cash and the equivalent value in consulting or prototyping services to help bring the idea to fruition. Two runner-up winners will receive $10,000 awards, comprised of cash and services.

The contest is open to individual inventors or to innovative small businesses with less than $5 million in annual revenues. Applicants must reside or be based in Utah.

“Contest winners will get a lot of attention from the outdoor recreation industry, and that could lead to increased opportunities in licensing or in the actual launch of some new businesses which is our ultimate goal,” said T. Craig Bott, president of Grow Utah Ventures.

The Concept to Company contest may be unique. “There are a number of product innovation contests around the country, but to the best of our knowledge, this is the first and only one to foster new ideas in outdoor recreation,” said Curt Roberts, Northern Utah Regional Technology Outreach Director for USTAR. “We look forward to working with the winners to help them turn their concept into sales revenue, or better yet, into a company.”

Industry sponsors of the contest include Amer Sports Winter & Outdoor, Backcountry.com, Black Diamond Equipment, Ltd., Deer Valley Resort, Descente North America, GOODE, Mountain to Metro, Ogden City, Outdoor Industry Association, Ogden Climbing Park, Petzl America, Rossignol Group North America and Seed Weber Davis Morgan.

Applications may be submitted now through the submission deadline of Aug. 30, 2008.

Contest rules and an application form are available at www.launchutah.com/concepttocompany.php.

by Sarah Ryther Francom

“Utah’s economy has slowed from about 70 mph to 25 mph, while the national economy is parked by the side of the road with a couple of flat tires.” said Jeff Thredgold, economic consultant to Zions Bank, during the bank’s recent Business Builder’s Breakfast. Last week Zions Bank released a report, written by Thredgold, discussing Utah’s economic situation.

According to the report, Utah’s economy is being negatively impacted by two primary factors: the nation’s fixation on U.S. economic weakness and home price declines. This has led to lower consumer confidence levels and softer spending, Thredgold says, but Utah’s economy remains relatively steady.

“Utah’s economy was the single strongest state economy in the country in the last two years as measured by growth and employment,” Thredgold says. “During the last 12 months, Utah’s economy has generated 25,000 additional net jobs at a growth rate of 2 percent.” While this growth is better than every other state (except Wyoming), it is a sharp decline when compared to last summer’s growth rate of 4.5 percent and the summer of 2006’s growth rate of 5.4 percent.

Though job creation is sluggish, Thredgold says that the state’s labor market remains largely intact. “Utah’s unemployment rate averaged 3.1 percent during 2008’s first four months, again ranking among the nation’s lowest,” he said.

According to the report, the most significant change in Utah’s economy has been the major slowing in new home construction. In fact, today’s residential construction levels are at the weakest rate since the 1990s, the report says. “The biggest problem is the housing market, which is true of most parts of the country. We got little carried away with home building and we have an excess of homes to sale,” Thredgold says. Because of the state’s excess supply of new homes, Thredgold predicts that new home construction will remain weak in 2009.

Though the nation’s economy, and Utah’s economy, has sharply slowed, Thredgold says that the Beehive State could benefit. “In a series of economic slowing, it’s a good time to look for opportunities to attract talent or other people from other parts of the country,” he says. “There are great challenges in periods of economic weakness, but great opportunities as well.”

According to Thredgold, Utah has an array of strengths that could attract outside companies. “[Utah has a] young workforce, rising population, strong work ethic, recreational opportunities, good airports and good infrastructure,” he says. “This combination of factors does play to our favor…My outlook for Utah continues to look good.”

by Sarah Ryther Francom
Utah business magazine

“Public relations will never be the same as before social media,” said Brian Watkins, public relations manager of social media at Omniture. Watkins spoke to Utah Technology Council (UTC) members about how public relations professionals can utilize social media in their communication strategies.

Watkins said that social media is becoming the way to communicate with customers, noting that the key difference between social media and traditional forms of PR communication methods is that social media is interactive. “Social media allows anyone to participate in a conversation, and the conversation is in real time,” Watkins said. “Your customers can reach out to you and you can reach them.”

Watkins said that many companies are reluctant to utilize social media, with the main concerns being time constraints, fear of giving the customer too much authority and legal implications, among others. But those companies are missing out on reaching many customers, Watkins said. “Participating in [social media] will increase your visibility, increase your customer loyalty, will give you the ability to watch your customer’s behaviors and then allow you to respond fast. [Social media] is also a lot cheaper than a focus group,” he said.

To the companies that are participating in social media, Watkins advises to do so with a strategic plan. “Everyone has this attitude of ‘Hey, we should be doing that.’ I think it’s really important that you be strategic about whatever you do. Don’t just do it to do it. Use [social media] as a strategic tool,” he said.

Before hopping on the social media bandwagon, Watkins said that each company should begin with an assessment. “Find out where your customers are. Are they blogging? Are they on Twitter?” he asked. Next, Watkins said to write up a detailed strategy and make sure that you’re using the right social media platform.

Once your company begins participating in social media, whether through a blog, MySpace, etc., Watkins said that it’s vital to be authentic. “You must be yourself. Customers can see right through fakeness.” He added that companies must be prepared to receive negative feedback, be prepared to fix customer-related problems and have a code of conduct. It is also important, Watkins said, to designate one individual who will watch and evaluate the content, whether on the company’s site (like a company blog) or on an independent site (like a customer’s blog).

To be successful, Watkins maintains that companies should respond to customer queries and complaints, and respond quickly to any potentially damaging comments. “You should respond to anything that could be harmful to your company within three hours,” he said.

Watkins also said that companies should not be reluctant to participate in another company’s (or an individual’s) blog, Website, etc. For example, while many companies hesitate to provide a link to another company’s Website, doing so can actually benefit your company, Watkins said. “The whole point of social media is to establish a community. If you link to them, they’ll link to you and you’ll see more customers on your site.”

All-in-all, Watkins said that PR professionals should remember that traditional PR rules apply in social media, but PR professionals must also acknowledge that the communication arena has significantly changed. “The whole point of social media is that it’s an individual talking to another individual. It’s not a faceless organization broadcasting content to its customer. It’s not targeting anymore, you’re having a conversation.”

Shahar and Nash will present to a high-powered, like-minded, energized group that gets together each month to NETWORK with each other, and to learn about and discuss EFFECTIVE MARKETING methods.
Check this business event in Salt Lake City