Yes, social media is probably over discussed. And for good reason. It is hot and awesome (insert joke here). And also an amazing set of tools for the entrepreneurial arsenal. For the final RISE lunch of 2010, I asked two esteemed friends to join me on a panel to field questions, offer some predictions, and explain how we use social media (as opposed to giving fluffy theory and ideas…I wanted to base it, like everything on RISE, on real experience). Joining me on the panel are two really cool people bringing different perspectives. Chris Reimer (Chief Shirtologist and Founder of Rizzo Tees) who built his brand from scratch using social media as a relationship builder. He is also the CMO of Scorch Agency. As a side note, Chris has a heck of a story. If you haven’t checked it out, make sure to watch the interview I did with him right here. Also, Erin “Steinburglar” Steinbruegge, Co-Founder of The Loud Few, who can explain technology to even those amongst us who don’t know the difference between a megabyte and spider bite. Below is the uncut video (meaning nothing is left out) and it runs about an hour. Grab a cup of coffee (or eight) and enjoy! As always, would love to hear your thoughts, questions, and all the jazz. Feel free to hop into the conversation. The water is fine.

Click Here If You Prefer Audio Only I’ve seen it happen many times at events. Chris Reimer walks up to someone and introduces himself. They give a blank stare. Then, he often says, “I’m @rizzotees on Twitter.” And the person’s expression changes from a “who the heck are you?” look to a “ohhhhhhhhhhh, I know who you are!” look. Chris has a heck of a story that he shares during this interview. And I’m always looking to bring on interesting, creative, unique, passionate entrepreneurs and marketers on the show, so this was a logical fit. He went from a passionless job to building massive online influence (over 42,000 Twitter followers…even though numbers aren’t everything, this gives good context) with a backend business (selling tshirts), and then his life took another twist when he was offered his dream job at Scorch Agency. Interesting. In this interview, Chris shares it all, including: How and why he decided to start Rizzo Tees. What he was expecting to build and what he actually built. The keys to moonlighting while also working a day job. Why he decided to focus so much energy on Twitter. The keys to marketing and promoting himself. Why he ended up taking a job (and couldn’t be happier) …plus much more. As always, hop into the conversation in the comments and leave your $.02. We all want to hear from you. Connect With Chris (and tell him you saw him on RISE!): On The Rizzo Tees Website On Twitter On… Read More

Little change up today (and who doesn’t like a change up now and then?) These are four talks from this past month’s RISE Lunch in St. Louis, Missouri which brings together entrepreneurs, forward-thinkers, marketers and innovators for some schmoozing, great food from Araka Restaurant and short, powerful, actionable presentations. Here are the presentations in their entirety (I will get some slides for you as well up soon). The next RISE Lunch is May 5th and is going to be a heck of a good one focusing on Sales 2.0: Online, Offline, Everywhere. From lead generation to closing the deal. Tickets for these events fly (limited to 50) and last time it sold out with just one email…tickets will go on sale later today. TICKETS ARE NOW ON SALE (Nab ‘em before they are gone!) Note: This are a little low-rez. I’ll have high-rez up soon. In order of appearance: #1: Picking The Experts Brain: Search Engine Optimization. Three buzzwords heating up this year in the business world. But what can SEO do for your business? JoAnna Dettman and Kaysha Kalkofen co-founders of tSunela (a top search engine firm in St. Louis and disclosure: Sponsor of RISE) join David to discuss the current state of SEO as well some basics for business owners…without getting too techy: Bonus: As mentioned in the video, if you want a free website audit (sweet) from tSunela, they have generously offered it to the RISE community. You can take ‘em up on it here. #2: Building… Read More