Whether you want to explore social media tools or discuss how you can more effectively market your business in today’s quickly evolving marketplace, The Conversation Factory can be your learning center. From facebook, twitter, and other social media applications to establishing a trustworthy online presence and managing your time, we’ll tailor one or a series of Custom Conversation sessions that can get you moving in the right direction with clarity and focus. Fast.

1-on-1 Conversation:*
$70 per hour

2-on-1 Conversation (bring a friend, save a few bucks):
$50 per person per hour

3-on-1 Conversation (bring two friends, save a few more):
$40 per person per hour

Please email me for groups of more than three.

Book your Custom Conversation by simply emailing me or calling 850.459.8192.

If you’d like to learn more about the kinds of ideas and guidance we can offer, consider attending one of our fun, electric Conversation Friday sessions held every Friday (unless otherwise noted) from 12-1pm at The Conversation Factory, just off Capital Circle and Mahan. More about those sessions here.

*Previous guests of Conversation Fridays will receive 1-on-1 sessions for $60 per hour. Discounts available for non-profit organizations.

Posted via email from michaelcalienes’s posterous

Conversation Fridays at the conversation factory weren’t meant to be networking sessions in the traditional sense. We certainly don’t exist for the purpose of pitching business to each other. But what’s happening is exactly what I hoped would happen: guests are beginning to earn trust and business by sharing their perspectives and ideas. After all, sharing ideas IS pitching business, but doing it like this is so much more powerful, genuine, and human than traditional sales approaches.

By the time each session ends, everyone knows who you are, what you do, and what makes you unique in your space. Of course, this last part depends greatly on your participation during our one-hour session.

If you’re interested in attending, email me or just post a message on the conversation factory’s wall on facebook. We encourage reservations because we limit our sessions to 9 people so that everyone can participate, though we certainly don’t frown on you if you’re a serial listener.

You can bring your business cards and your ideas, just leave the sales pitch at the door. A one-hour conversation beats 10 second elevator speech any day of the week — especially Fridays.

Have a great weekend.

Posted via email from michaelcalienes’s posterous

It’s that time of year again when messages from business owners and staff  requesting a vote for their companies in the Tally Awards begin filling our inboxes and blanketing our newsfeeds.

Maybe your business will win; but, man, what if you get absolutely NOTHING?!

Before you go bunching your panties, think about what it takes to win a Tally Award. It takes getting more people to vote for your business than any other business in that category. I don’t know what that tells you, but that tells me it’s a popularity contest. It also tells me that a mediocre business with a well-networked staff can easily beat out an exceptional business whose staff prefers doing business beyond the perimeter of the spotlight.

I’m not saying don’t enter. I’m not saying don’t vote. I’m saying keep it in perspective. And seriously, if you have the ability to get a few hundred people to click some buttons on the internet, consider directing them here, here, or here. Maybe you can help change the world, or even a small part of it. Now that would be something deserving of an award.

Thanks to Chad Caufield and MMB Boston for calling us in on this :30 Subway project. The original spot was conceived by the creatives at McCarthy Mambro Bertino. Transplant was subsequently called in to assist with transcreation into Spanish language, casting selects, and voice direction.

¡Muchas gracias, compadres!

We all know the calls. They interrupt our dinner, our weekend paper, our children’s bedtime. They make us shift our attention from what’s important to us for something someone deems important to them.

The wonderful news is these types of unwanted interruptions are migrating en masse to our social networks. The bigger Facebook gets, the more it will happen. The more “friends” we have on Facebook, the greater the odds one or more of them will treat us with the same disrespect unruly marketers treat people on purchased email lists. What’s worse, we gave these “friends” our permission to do it — absolutely free.

Just because we accept someone’s friend request (or vice versa) doesn’t give them — or us — free reign to email anything and everything at will. We have to remember that we can click the “block” button with the same ease as we clicked the “accept” button.

Before going to that extreme, however, it would be good to let them know. If we don’t, then we can’t complain when it continues to happen.