Emerge Inc. Blog

Join us for the Credibility Conversation, a three-part speakers series on building personal and business value through social media, hosted by Emerge Inc. and LorainCounty.com.

The first event, Featuring an expert on LinkedIn (Lewis Howes) and the head of social media for Nationwide Insurance (Shawn Morton), is next Wednesday, November 11 from 7:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. at LCCC Spitzer Conference Center . Upcoming speakers including a consultant on business credibility (Tom Wanek) and a New York Times best selling author (Chris Brogan).

The regular cost is $45 per session; $90 for all 3 sessions. But, readers of the Emerge blog can register for the discount rate of $60 for the series when registering online at www.CredibilityConversation.com/emerge.

H1N1 is on the mind of many of us during the start of the fall. Seems like everywhere you turn there is another story of H1N1. Lorain County Health Department, through an Emerge developed website, has put together a special H1N1 section on their website. The section contains statistics of H1N1 vaccinations during the department’s Flu Clinics along with prevention information. The department also added a link to the H1N1 Pre-registration form available through the Ohio Department of Health.

Lorain County Auditor Mark Stewart released the 2009 Triennial Values on-line through an Emerge developed website. Every 6 years the Auditor’s office is required by State Law to visit every property in the county to establish its value. Three years after that establishment, the office is required to reevaluate the values. During the Triennial review, the office reviews statistics of sales and transfers and determines through a math formula the new values of the properties. The Auditor with the help of Emerge team members released the values on-line at http://www.LorainCounty.com/auditor/summary/.

How does your company’s Web presence reflect upon its trustworthiness and professionalism?

Transparency is a philosophy that many businesses have adopted in order to better serve their customers, but it is quickly becoming mandatory thanks to the Internet. While it was once difficult to research customer feedback about specific companies, the Web has allowed consumers to quickly amass a large quantity of information about your business.

Unfortunately, some companies see Internet transparency as a threat to their customer base, since anyone can post criticism about a product in countless places on the Web.

Here at Emerge, however, we believe that the Internet gives your company the opportunity to better satisfy customers through feedback, interaction and tracking.

If used correctly, the Internet can allow you to connect with the pulse of your customer base like never before. Rather than looking at negative feedback as a hindrance, you should consider it an opportunity to identify areas where you can improve your products and customer service. By doing so, your clients will appreciate your honest efforts to better serve them.

The concept of a static, unchanging company website is quickly being replaced by that of an online gathering place that lets a business interact and share ideas with customers. Thanks to advances in social media and community-oriented plugins, it’s now easier than ever to transform your site into an exciting, customer-friendly online experience.

By embracing the transparency that the Web lends to your company and products, you’ll be able to increase revenue, expand your customer base and create “buzz” about your business.

And that’s exactly what Emerge wants to help you do.

JDRF hosted their annual Walk to Cure Diabetes on Sunday, October 4 at The Ohio State University campus in Columbus, Ohio.  This year’s walk had over 6,000 walkers and hundreds of volunteers participate.  For the third straight year, Emerge has worked with the Mid-Ohio JDRF to develop the walks website to promote their event and to provide event details.  For more information and photos from this year’s event, visit the Walk to Cure Diabetes website.

Tom Wanek, a good friend of mine and one of the presenters at the Credibility Conversation, has an excellent blog post on his daughter’s first day of pre-school. This real life experience shows how a small (and inexpensive) gesture can demonstrate to a customer (in this case parents) that your business cares about their needs and is worthy of their trust.

If your looking to better connect with customers, find time to read Tom’s insightful post.

Disclaimer: I am biased, the preschooler in the story is my goddaughter and I can’t believe she is old enough to be in preschool!

I am extemely excited to announce that social media rock star and New York Times best selling author Chris Brogan has been added to the Credibility Conversation speakers series.

Due to a schedule conflict and an opportunity to add another exceptional speaker to the agenda we have made an adjustment to the schedule.

The series will now run the 2nd Wednesday of each month November 11, December 9 and January 13. Lewis Howes who was originally scheduled for October will join Shawn Morton on November 11. Tom Wanek will present on December 9.

On January 13, our speaker will be Chris Brogan, co-author of the New York Times best seller Trust Agents: Using the Web to Build Influence, Improve Reputation, and Earn Trust (amazon). Chris is a ten year veteran of using social media to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals and his blog ChrisBrogan.com is in the top 5 of AdAge Power 150, a daily ranking of marketing blogs and in the top 100 on Technorati.

For more information and to register, please visit CredibilityConversation.com.

UPDATE: New York Times best selling author Chris Brogan has been added to the Credibility Conversation (blog post) and will speak on January 13. Lewis Howes will join Shaun Morton and speak on November 11.

We are excited to announce that we (Emerge Inc. and LorainCounty.com) are hosting a 3-part speakers series focused on the themes of trust, authenticity, transparency, relationships, engagement, community and social media.

Each session will be on the 3rd Wednesday of each month (October 14, November 11 and December 9 and January 13) from 7:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m. at Lorain County Community College Spitzer Conference Center.

ThreeFour exceptional speakers have agreed to present at what we are calling the Credibility Conversation:

October 14November 11: Lewis Howes, author of LinkedWorking: Generating Success on the World’s Largest Professional Networking Website and host of “LinkedWorking” events around the country that create opportunities for online connections to gather face-to-face.

November 11: Shawn Morton, Director of Social Media at Nationwide Insurance, previously employed with CNET Networks focused on large-scale community and social media initiatives.

December 9: Tom Wanek, Author of Currencies that Buy Credibility: Methods to win your customers trust and consultant with clients in the United States, New Zealand, Australia and Canada.

The price for the event is $45 per session or $90 for the series. Early registration for the Credibility Conversation is now available for just $60 for the 3 part series.

A number of great organizations have partnered with us for this event including the Lorain County Chamber of Commerce, Community Foundation of Lorain County, Visit Lorain County, Lorain County Association of Realtors, Leadership Lorain County, and WOBL & WDLW Radio.

This is one of the most ambitious things we have put together and we would be honored if you could attend and share in the conversation.

If you have any questions or if I can provide additional information, please call (440) 284-4949 or email (Ed@EmergeInc.com) me.

There’s been a lot of talk in industry circles lately about the “graying” of social media.  Websites like Facebook, Twitter and FriendFeed are watching as the average age of their users gradually increases.  While many of the newer, more mature social media users are simply looking to communicate with old friends online, the “graying” audience is also a consequence of business professionals taking note of a valuable networking tool.

Many older professionals are just waking up to the amazing things that social media can let them do online, but high-school and college-age web surfers have known about the networking power of Facebook (and other social sites) for much longer.  Like most new technologies, it was the younger crowd that popularized social media websites before it became “cool” for the grownups to use.  Even today, students are ahead of the curve when it comes to using and comprehending social media.

That’s why it’s so exciting for me to be heading up a search for interns to help with an amazing new social media project here at Emerge, Inc.  We’re looking for local high school and college students who have experience connecting and sharing with friends on social media websites like Facebook, MySpace, YouTube and Twitter.

And Emerge isn’t just interested in one kind of person; we want students whose extracurricular activities include computers, sports, band, academics or anything else. The more different types of people we have involved in this project, the more successful it will be.

Although I work with social media for a living, I have no doubt that there are plenty of brilliant Lorain County students out there who could teach me a thing or two . . . and we’re hoping that they contact Emerge.  If you think you’re the type of person we’re looking for, please start the process by answering a few questions on our online form.

On August 27th, the Lorain County JVS released a new website developed by Emerge. The new website features a dynamic design along with a restructuring of the site navigation to assist visitors in locating the information they are seeking in a fast and efficient manner.

Within the website, visitors will find information regarding the High School, Adult Career Center, and District information. There are also sections of the website dedicated to students, parents, employers and community services. Visitors can also view a calendar of events or download video from one of the Career-Technical Programs offered at the JVS.

You can also become a fan and follower of the Lorain County JVS. The website was expanded to incorporate links to the Lorain County JVS’ Facebook, MySpace, Twitter social media sites along with RSS feeds and Share This.

To learn more about the JVS and to check out the new website, visit: http://www.LCJVS.com.