Asheville's Free Social Media School - May 10th - All About Blogging!

Okay, we are back on track after we got a "surprise" visit from the President of the United States. Of all the places to choose from, he decides to go to the same venue where we were supposed to hold the last social media school. We have rescheduled and we are now having the next class on Blogging, and it will be on Monday, May 10th at the Grove Park Inn (in the Elaine's Piano Bar area) from 5:00 pm - 7:30 pm. (Note to self: Afterwards we will be going upstairs to the Great Hall Bar area to mingle, listen to some music. Food and Drinks are also available until 9:30 pm)

You are going to hear from many local blog pioneers and experts including Jen from Blog Asheville, Anne from Edgy Mama, Felicia from Go Graham Go, Jason from Ashvegas, and of course me... Gary, the main contributor on the AskAsheville blog and I also build blogs for many businesses. Justin from Social Village will also be there to team up with G Social Media!

Blogging has changed the online community greatly in the Asheville area and around the world. Find out how these bloggers use it to create a strong network. Also, learn how you can use it to increase your visibilty and raise your voice online. You can email me, or RSVP on Facebook. See you there. Thanks!!

***PS: The next Asheville Free Social Media School after this one is May 27th. This will be the make-up class on Video Social Media. Same place, same time! But the "After-Party" will be staying down at Elaine's Piano Bar! Then on Friday, June 18th... we are going to have our 1st Asheville Social Media City Crawl where we meet at a location, discuss some of the ways social media can be used, and the take a tour of Downtown Asheville together, learning how to use new media. Lots and lots of fun to have and connections to be made. We are going to have a blast!!

Obama in Town - 4/23 Asheville Social Media School Cancelled

We had planned on being at Elaine's Piano Bar at the Grove Park Inn for the Asheville Social Media School class on Video Taking, Making, Uploading and Marketing; but it has been cancelled since the Presidential family will be in town. We are waiting for the Grove Park Inn to confirm the May 10th class on Blogging and then also the make-up class on May 27th for Videos. Please make note of both of these dates and plan to attend. Thank you.

Asheville Architect wins with G Social Media

When Architect Daryl Rantis entered the recent Free Green competition against over 400 other Architects from around the World, he knew that he needed a little more than the votes of some family and friends. G Social Media was contacted and an online voting strategy was quickly implemented and attached to an already wonderful home design in the Asheville NC area.

G Social Media, while already constructing a social media package for Rantis Architects; shifted gears and focused on the prize in promoting this urgent competition on Facebook, Twitter, and Blogger. The votes began to come in and the comments were great. Although other designs were close, Daryl ended up on top. The results: HE WON! What did he win? A big bag of money, his design featured on their website, and lots of other incentives.

Yes, Social Media does work. You cannot afford not to use it!

Social Media for Businesses (mentions G Social Media of Asheville NC)

Twitter, Facebook, MySpace and YouTube — names that didn't exist a handful of years ago — are now indispensable business-survival tools.

Remember when small businesses were scrambling to set up Web sites — to provide an easily accessible online presence for their clients and customers? Today, these same businesses are learning they must expand beyond static Web pages and into the continuously updated stream of information otherwise known as social media.

"Today's businesses need to have a comprehensive online presence," says Gary Charles of G Social Media, based in Asheville. "That means a video outlet, such as YouTube, an updater, such as Twitter, a photo uploader, such as Flickr, social media accounts, such as Facebook or MySpace, and a blog, such as Blogger, TypePad or WordPress."

***See the rest of the article by Edgy Mama in the Mountain Xpress

Asheville Social Media School - Class #3 April 23 - Meet The Teachers

Lots of great things planned for the up and coming free social media school in Asheville North Carolina on April 23rd from 5-7:30pm at Elaine's Piano at the Grove Park Inn. G Social Media will be moderating this event and introducing you to some of the key people in the Asheville video industry. Plan to learn lots of information about taking, making, uploading and marketing your videos. You can RSVP on Facebook or email Gary (email is in the side box my website) to confirm your attendance.

Jay Kirk of PSAV http://psav.com/
25+ years of experience in sales, advertising, marketing, training, producing, directing, designing, animating, and shooting of video, web based materials, and digital media content. With the advent of the internet, Jay became a producer creating websites, and digital media, including interactive DVD’s. 1998, Jay oversaw the creation of one of the most complex DVD’s ever created to that day. In October 2006, The Walt Disney Company hired Jay as a Global Entertainment Manager, working for Disney Broadcast Operations, Disney Event Group, and Walt Disney Entertainment. In January 2008, he was placed on the Technical Director Bench for Walt Disney Entertainment. In August, Jay was cross-utilized by Disney Cruise Lines as the Entertainment Technical Operations Manager.

David Bonyun of Asheville Video Productions http://ashevillevideoproductions.com/. I help businesses generate sales by sharing their stories on video. My focus is Video Production for Business and Real Estate. My niche is Short form Internet video production for businesses and real estate. I will be speaking about Tips and Tricks for capturing better video.

David Bourne of Bourne Media http://bournemedia.com/.

I'm a digital filmmaker and the owner of Bourne Media. We make "Moving Pictures for the Good of the Planet". My focus: We educate and inform viewers of worthy causes, services and products. If your organization does good in this world, we will help you tell your story. My niche is Nature Education, Non-profits, Entertainment, Education, plus 20 years of experience in video and new media. Se habla español. I will be speaking about: In a nutshell, "Reaching your goals through audio/visual storytelling." I will speak about the importance of understanding your goals and how video can help reach them. I'll also speak to how storytelling is particularly important to connecting with a social media audience. I'll top it off with a quick list of video advice that I've gathered in the last 20 years.

Bob Peck of Rev Pictures http://revpictures.com/.

I am a videographer/audio engineer/producer. My focus: Affordable video production/multimedia in Asheville that includes promo videos for local businesses (for internet and social media), weddings, events, real estate properties and more. I am a native of Asheville with over 9 years of audio and video production experience in the area. I will be speaking about: A very basic workflow of a video shoot--I'll shoot about a one minute clip on my Flip camera, import it into Final Cut Pro, export a video and upload to YouTube.

How My Social Media Can Help Your Business

Social media is a new form of communication. We used to write letters and talk on the phone, but those days are just about gone. If it is not in our email box, or Facebook mailbox, or in our Twitter at replies or direct messages; it is not really that important or urgent.

I have completed dozens of fully comprehensive social media packages for individuals and businesses all across Asheville, WNC and around the Country. I do social media. I do not do web design and "also social media," making it of secondary importance. This is the priority when it comes to me and my work. Originally I was doing Internet marketing and social networking as a "ghost" marketer for several private companies, but have since offered my services to anyone and everyone who needs help.

Social media is not something that we play with when it comes to business. Just because you or someone you know sets up a Twitter account or Facebook fan page for you, does not mean it will be a successful platform. Some of these new marketers only know about 10% of social media info, and to you they may seem to know everything. NOT! Many times people who do not know anything about social media get solicited and led by someone who knows just a little bit more than they do, waste their money, do not see any results, pass the hype, and eventually get discouraged by what they were taught. Don't let a novice teach you something as important as social media! Your business life and future may be hinging on making the right moves. If you are serious about your company, you need to let these shallow social media consultants practice on someone else, not you. This is business!

What I do for my clients is create a comprehensive social media and networking package that reaches the main platforms where your potential clients will be. I set up a blog, which is an article site where you can add information to regularly, giving the search engines more and more content about your business. Then I set up a update site where you can post updates about your business, things you do, links to your site, and also personal comments of sorts. I add a photo update site with a bunch of photos that have great descriptions and tags. Then I create a video channel for your company. I take and make videos or slideshows and upload them online giving them the proper descriptions and tags to make sure the search engines find them. I then make a photo album site where you have online photo albums filled with pictures of your business etc. I attach an rss feed to your blog and grab some of the bling gadgets they provide for you to reach more readers. I use a feed bin site to compile all of your social media into one place and also feed it to your update site.  Finally, I choose a social network site that best fits your business and create fans or connections for you. I am also attaching the location based social networking site called Foursquare to many of the businesses I work for. All of these social media sites are your property when I build them and they point directly to you and your website.

On top of that, I show most businesses how they can easily maintain their social media in about 5 - 10 minutes per day. This is not a burdensome activity. I set it up so you see people coming to your website and get real life results. Yes, you will have fun and you will get business if you do it right. I am here to help you and make sure that happens.