Immigrant Entrepreneur Summit Drake University
November 14, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
I had the pleasure today of speaking at the Immigrant Entrepreneur Summit at Drake University. It was a powerful day filled with the entrepreneurial spirit and rugged individualism that makes this country great.
I connected again with the conference organize Ying Sa and her magical company Community CPA that is the driving force and creative vision behind IES.
I also got to connect with Igor Dobrosavljevic and his smart girlfriend (she attended my session 
Suzana. I finally met Justin Volrath too. There was ample opportunity to chat Lori Bosley too from Mojo’s (you have to have their fish tacos!) and Foxboro Business Center. Toni Lampley was here too among others from NAWBO Central Iowa that I met recently when I spoke to their group.
So the bottom line is that I spent the day absorbing the power and spirit of Central Iowa’s rich immigrant community and participating in the awesome collision of the ON and OFFLINE worlds. What a day! I hope I can come back again next year and have stories to tell about how many immigrant entrepreneurs we guided into online findability bliss. Thanks so much for asking me to participate. Videos below. It seems the recordings broke into 2 pieces on their own. Sorry for the quality and the walking off camera…I just set up the Mac book on a whim to provide a record of this talk for my guests. No paper!
Cheers
Promo Video for Entrefest
April 1, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
We put together a little video to promote Entrefest. Hopefully Entrefest 2010 will benefit from this piece where we tried to capture the collaborative, informative, and upbeat environment that surrounds the conference. The create WOW media team is proud to have been a part of the show!
Graceland University Sandage Center SIFE Entrepreneurial Roundtable Talk on Social Media Marketing
March 25, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · 2 Comments
I am proud to be participating in the Graceland University’s Entrepreneurial Roundtable on April 9th in Lamoni. Details are below. As you can see, the topic is “Building Online Business”. Do you think that’s relevant in today’s world where most people “Google It” first? You betcha partner. Now let’s do this! Details below. Please join us and say hi! This is FREE before March 31 so hope to it and create some WOW of your own.
create WOW media seeks recently fired Iowan ready to build his or her personal or new business brand
January 30, 2009 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
Today at 1130AM is the first installment in the Lunch and Learn series called “Now What: A 6 Part Entrepreneurial Survival Guide” presented by Lava Row and 48Web.
Now this series is like someone dumping about 24 units of entrepreneurship classes on you in 6 weeks (without the thousands of bucks leaving your wallet!) Imagine the value of the networking alone! (A a little birdie tells me there are gobs of well connected folks attending.) Rewind about 72 hours ago where I was chatting with Daniel Shipton and Adam Steen about the HUGE impact this series could have on lives around Des Moines with so much “Corporate Carnage” leaving people’s lives in its wake.
If you’re convinced already, click here to buy your ticket or FULL SEASON PASS here towards the bottom of the page (otherwise keep reading)
The plans evolved. So the create WOW media team has decided to do the following:
- We’ll fully sponsor attendance to the ENTIRE Now What Lunch and Learn series for one LUCKY recently fired or furloughed Iowan. (I know there’s one today that you may miss but we’ll give you the cliff notes). That’s a $150 value right there so you’re already UP! (See how getting fired has opened doors already?)
- create WOW media will do a “personal branding video” for you in the shiny new green screen studio at Impromptu Studio. You decide how you want to market your new business or yourself and WE will “dress you up and take you out!”
- I (Dougie) will do an audio interview with you in the studio where we’ll really dive into what you (or your newly formed company) brings to the table. Media Maestro Paul Gratton will wrap up this interview into a nice portable mp3 podcast nugget that you can use to clue the world into what you’re all about.
The rules of engagement:
- You do NOT have be actively starting a new business this instant to win. It took me quite a while before I pulled the trigger but you’re showing the thirst for entrepreneurial knowledge so that’s cool man.
- You MUST submit a video entry of no more than 60 seconds making your case. (Attach video file to an email you send to doug AT createWOWmedia DOT COM with the subject: NOW WHAT VIDEO SUBMISSION.
- You MUST submit your video by next Wednesday, February 4 at HIGH NOON.
- If you’ve already bought and paid for your FULL series admission you aren’t eligible…this time. If you have ONLY purchased a ticket for TODAY’s event, you are totally cool man so send your submission in.
All set? Questions can be directed to me at the email address I listed above. We can’t wait to see what you have to say. Submit away!
Here are the details of the Lunch and Learn series:
Making the Jump: Mistakes and Hurdles
Friday, January 30 – 11:30am-1pm
Join Liza Kindred (Lullabot) and Brian Hemesath (Diligent IS, Catchwind) as they discuss common pitfalls and mistakes made when forming a business, and how to overcome various logistical and emotional obstacles.
Networking: Get out there!
Friday, February 13 - 11:30am-1pm
Andy Drish (Principal Financial Group) and Justin Brady (Test of Time Design) will share various methods of getting out there and networking yourself socially and digitally – whether you’re looking to start your own biz right now or a few years down the road.
Avoiding the Day-to-Day: Staying Inspired & Motivated
Friday, February 27 - 11:30am-1pm
Ron Wagner (comic book & storyboard artist) and Teri TeBockhorst (serial entrepreneur & former owner of East Village Books) join forces to talk about the emotional side of being in business for yourself: how to stay motivated, how to avoid depression, and how to constantly reinvent yourself.
Running Cheap & Lean: Bootstrapping 101
Friday, March 6 - 11:30am-1pm
Jason Walsmith (The Nadas, Authentic Records) and Doug Mitchell (CreateWOWmedia) share success stories (and horror stories) of how they bootstrapped their respective businesses.
Character: Don’t be an @$$hole
Friday, March 20 - 11:30am-1pm
Brett Trout (Law Offices of Brett Trout) and Adam Steen (25 Connections) talk about the importance of character in business relationships, and how it can affect your reputation, referral network and bottom line.
Marketing: How to get creative in a tight economy
Friday, April 3 - 11:30am-1pm
Mike Ferrari (SmartyPig.com) and Mike Wagner (White Rabbit Group) share various ways in which they’ve creatively (and inexpensively) marketed their businesses in a tight economy.
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“Become Findable on the Web” class offered in January in Des Moines
December 15, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
My class formerly titled, “Blogging for Business” has been renamed as sort of a test to compare response rates, to “Become Findable on the Web”. It’s being offered for only $50 and is being held at Roosevelt High in Des Moines.
For those of you outside of Des Moines, watch for the same class among many others being offered in our Interactive Learning Environment early next year.
Here are the details and if you have questions of course let me know.
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| Blogging can be the most effective and affordable form of business marketing. Taught by Doug Mitchell, a successful technology entrepreneur, this class will provide an action-packed workshop-style class. Students will learn to search for, subscribe to, create, and effectively write blogs while gaining a clear understanding of available technologies, most of which are simple and low cost (if not free). Most importantly, students will understand how business blogging can translate into more loyal customers and enhanced ‘findability’ on the web. The class will include numerous professional-blogger guest speakers from around the metro. Instr: Mitchell | |||||
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Audio and Video of Doug Mitchell’s “Increasing Your Internet Findability Factor” Session
December 2, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 2 Comments
I was honored to speak in front of the New Iowa Entrepreneurs Meetup group last Wednesday evening. The group had some great questions and was totally engaged. The small room format lent itself to an intimate setting where I could connect with everyone close up.
Below I’ve posted the audio file of the discussion (with most of the QA) and the video of the entire session. The video is broken into smaller chunks for easier digestion. Sorry for the “back to the camera” angle. I was in the center of the room managing my slides and was engrossed in the moment!
The headline of the seminar, “Help My Company Is Invisible!: Increasing Your Internet Findability Factor” really resonated and I’ve received 3 word of mouth referrals from this talk. Thank you all so much for honoring me with your evangelism. The create WOW media team is out there trying new things every day to help our findability online and those experiments are translating into results for client partners. Thanks again and please let us know if you have any questions.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V
create WOW media Chief Brand Amplifier Doug Mitchell Speaks at Drake on Entrepreneurship
November 25, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 1 Comment
Tom Swartwood was gracious enough to ask me to speak at his Drake Entrepreneurship class on November 18, 2008. It’s been a while since I interacted with a room full of 18-22 year olds and even though I pride myself on being fairly savvy…there were moments when I felt like the guy with Bermuda shorts and loafers.
The message of the talk was that entrepreneurs need to ASK for help. It shows strength…not weakness…to demonstrate your desire to make progress.
If you have a few moments, take a peek at the video.
Iowa Venture Capital and Entrepreneur Conference Notes
October 16, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · 5 Comments
I attended the Iowa Venture Capital and Entrepreneur Conference yesterday in downtown Des Moines. The conference was well attended as always and the breakout sessions had some great information from Iowa based entrepreneurs/start up companies.
The overwhelming message was to “look around you” and breathe in all the innovation, growth, and positive outlook. So true. I’d say, “What recession?” “What banking crisis?” “What credit crunch?”
Rooms were full of current and future business owners networking and connecting.
The AM keynote was given by Mark Thompson, co-author of Success Built to Last. His talk was inspirational. The key takeaway for me was listening to audience members define success. As you can imagine…all different. The point was that success and the path to success is different for all of us and often requires brazen disregard for what OTHERS define as reality. I’ll take that! How many entrepreneurs do you know that simply accept “the way things are.” No go.
I scanned as many company websites of presenters and keynote speakers, etc. as I could this morning to see how they leverage web video and rich media to enhance Internet findability. Not so much. I can think of no better time to leverage the powerful “explanatory nature” of video than early in a company’s lifespan. One firm I met said, “We have trouble explaining what we do to the masses.” I say, “Let video capture and display your best elevator pitch/explanation.”
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Yes. Yes. and Yes. Small business can thrive in downtimes
September 25, 2008 by Doug Mitchell · Leave a Comment
Image via Wikipedia
So everything you read in the paper and see on the news talks in terms of crises. Yes things are rough out there for the likes of Wall Street. On main street, things are down. But since no one is offering up a trillion dollar bail out for us, we keep grinding, creating, pushing, and delivering.
This article in the Wall Street Journal is called “For Entrepreneurs, Opportunity Still Knocks” and I couldn’t agree more. If you’re feeling down or need some encouragement give it a read.
When the economy stumbles, “big companies tend to cut back on innovation,” Gaebler says. “You’ll [even] see big companies divesting from businesses.” This means that smaller, more innovative companies can move in and gain market share.
Exactly. Maybe that’s why our business continues to grow at a steady clip. We of course fit the mold of a small business, but we work almost exclusively with small and medium businesses. We’ve got our nose to the small business grindstone…our ear to the bootstrap ground…our…well you get the picture.
You see SMB‘s don’t have the luxury of moping. We don’t get bailouts. We get bankruptcies if we don’t perform. So buck up little buddies.
NOW is the time to differentiate, lead, show the world what you’re made of. There’s no better time to invest in your success and attract more business as cost efficiently as possible. You can hand out fliers on the street. We certainly approve of such guerrilla moves. But you might gain 100x the exposure by giving yourself a little “Internet Findability Spa Treatment.”
Perhaps we’ve hit on a new marketing plan…yes…that’s it! You visit a spa with us in tow for 48 hours and we pamper your Internet Findability while you get pampered with spa treatments. Imagine the video we could capture from that. Yikes.
What say you?
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