News and reviews of made on Maui products and Maui-based companies and success stories. Also featuring island shopping guides

Posts tagged ‘Workshop’

Top Facebook Tips from Maui Facebook Users

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want a cool Facebook sign like this? scroll down to my section for the link!

Last month, Facebook presented a workshop for small businesses on Maui.  There was a decent attendance, but since there were a few people who could not attend, I decided to put together a few tips that I found useful (included at the bottom) and I also interviewed a few Maui Facebook users who attended or presented at the event.  My interviewees include all levels of Facebook expertise, so there are tips below for everyone!  If you have further questions or want to share your own tips, please leave them in the comments below or on our Facebook Page.

Dean Wong – Executive Director, Imua Family Services

“I was impressed to learn that over 25 million businesses are on Facebook and that 92 percent of searches for business are happening on Facebook as well. I really agreed that cross promotion of business via Facebook promotes community good will. I always find with Facebook either personally and/or for business (in which I include nonprofit business) that authenticity and human connection are the most important factors and what make social media feel more real, personable and raw.”

Dean Wong is currently the Executive Director of Imua Family Services, but you may recognize him (besides being on the cover of Maui Times Weekly) as the Founder/Owner of Green Banana Cafe and Green Banana Frozen Yogurt Bar in Paia, former Front of House Manager at Maui Arts and Cultural Center.

 Miranda Camp – Owner, Maui Mana Adventures

“One of my favorite tips was to make sure people know what your business is all about when they land on your page, because my page does not do that.  So I am in the process of improving my page.  I know it seems obvious, but I really didn’t consider it much before.”

Miranda Camp is the owner of Maui Mana Adventures, which offers personalizes tours of Maui, involving hiking, stand-up paddling, snorkeling, or any combination of the three!

Erik Blair – Web and Social Media Consultant, The Accidental Consultant

“Here are my top tips from the Facebook Event:

1.  Remarketing:  They mentioned the ability to upload your email list and then select that list to add into your ad marketing.  I recommend making a special ad, with a special link to a unique page that presents a special offer only available via FB ad.  That way you can watch the FB insights and google analytics to see how your ads work, and who is responding from your list.

2.  The emphasis was on boosting posts and ads for website links.  I think that’s the best advice they provided.

3.  What NOT to do.  I don’t recommend “promoting your page” for “LIKES” alone.  That seems to be open to “Click Fraud” type activity.”

Since Erik is an expert on Social Media, I also asked him to provide some tips for anyone interested in learning more about Social Media on Maui:

A.  Be a part of the Maui Social Media Users Group #MauiSMUG –

http://www.MauiSMUG.com and https://www.facebook.com/groups/mauismug/

B.  Follow everybody on this list – https://twitter.com/MauiSMUG/members/members

Erik Blair is an independent web and social media consultant on Maui that helps small businesses focus on what they do best and enjoy most by providing a simple way to share their business or passion with a larger audience. Check out more on Erik at Google Me, Twitter, Blog, Website,  and you can check out his thoughts on Tiny Houses!

Amanda Robson- Owner, Maui Children’s Bookstore + Cafe

“When asked to participate as a panelist for the Facebook Small Business Boost event, we were totally excited! Since our business is only 6 months old and in it’s current form, is a traveling one, Facebook has been an extremely important way for us to start a rapport with our families. We don’t have a storefront to welcome them to on a daily basis, so our Facebook page is their “window” into our business.  As Bess Yount, the Facebook presenter mentioned at the event, beautiful, eye-catching content is really important. Because personal posts receive the bulk of space on user’s news feeds (as they should!),  I challenge myself to share content I feel is visually inspiring. After all, we’re presenting our business posts amongst precious photos of lil babes, beautiful sunsets, and other visual moments people consider to be very important to them. I think respecting that fact helps me to gauge what is worthy of a post and so far, our audience seems to respond really well to our content.

4 tips we received in our panelist packet literature from Facebook that I think are worth a share (maybe every attendee received one):

  • Be authentic: Share your passion and your customers will be excited to.
  • Be consistent: Regular posts can help people notice you and build trust.
  • Be responsive: When people comment on your posts, respond. This shows that you listen to what they say.
  • Turn successful posts into valuable ads: When your post gets lots of comments and likes, boost it to tell new potential customers about your business.”

Maui Children’s Bookstore + Cafe plans to create a beautiful space that will excite the senses of children and their loved ones through books + art + food. Until they find their permanent location, they will be teaming up with locally owned shops for one-day pop-up events this Summer.

Liz Smith – MauiMadeBlog and Dazoo Restaurant

Here are some of the tips that I found interesting and/or good reminders to check!

-Set your address on Facebook so that people can find you on their phones using the ‘Nearby’ tab on Facebook.  (helpful because of all the visitors we have on Maui!)

– Use a cover photo of the front of your business if applicable, so after they find your page, they can see you as they walk or drive by!

  • Ask questions – the more likes, shares and comments a post gets, the more Facebook will share it!
  • Post large, colorful photos (seriously, scroll through Facebook – do any of the posts NOT have images?)
    • and according to presenter Koa’s Seaside Grill, posts with people in them ei: a bartender holding a drink, get the best response.
  • how to schedule a post on Facebookschedule posts ahead of time (for when you are on vacation, or actually working when you want your post to run) – just create your post and then click on the little clock!

And because people love the personal side of Facebook – here are two great suggestions!

  • Take a photo of a customer and run as ‘Customer of the Day’
  • Encourage your fans to send in their own photos and share those!

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Facebook Tips

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Startup Weekend Comes to Maui Next Weekend

Do you have a business concept that’s been rolling around in your head for a while, or scratched out on napkins, and you just don’t know where to start?  Well – here’s an idea->  Startup Weekend and mbloom, Hawaii’s first startup incubator and technology fund, are teaming up to bring the Startup Weekend event to Maui for the first time ever. The event gives local techies, designers, marketers and business people an opportunity to learn how to launch a company in a weekend.

Maui Startup Weekend will take place at the Maui Research and Technology Park between 6:30pm on Friday, May 16 and ends Sunday, May 18 at 9pm.

To register and see the weekend’s schedule – click here – . Tickets are $99 for the event, with discounts for students.  The public may also attend the final presentations on Sunday afternoon and view the judging for $25.

What is Startup Weekend?  All Startup Weekend events follow the same basic model: anyone is welcome to pitch their startup idea and receive feedback from their peers. Teams organically form around the top ideas (as determined by popular vote) and then it’s a 54-hour frenzy of business model creation, coding, designing, and market validation. The weekends culminate with presentations in front of local entrepreneurial leaders with another opportunity for critical feedback.

Event organizers also recently announced that the winner of the Maui event will receive an equity-crowdfunding campaign on new crowdfunding platform CrowdAlliance , and the opportunity to raise up to $50k in startup investments.

Participants will receive guidance from Startup Weekend Coaches including Doug Nelson, CEO of Kinection, Keith Powers, Managing Partner with Engaged Partners, Jeanne Skog, President and CEO of the Maui Economic Development Board, Tina Fitch, mentor with Blue Startups  and Sara Smith, CEO of Wrappily (a Maui Made Fave).

Sara Smith attended Startup Weekend in Honolulu last April, at the urging of a close friend and mentor, where she presented her Wrappily concept (which ended up being the winning idea!). “The whole process invigorated the Wrappily concept and kickstarted my commitment to launch,” she explained. “It was a shot-in-the-arm that I really needed. Winning was nice, too.”

Although she’s still just launching her own company, Sara agreed to join the Maui Startup event as a coach, at the urging of one of the event organizers, Peter Liu. “Having just been though Startup Weekend, and basically still in the trenches of launching, my coaching angle is more as someone who is just freshly through this initial stage. The other coaches are much more seasoned and successful, I don’t have their start-up wisdom, but I do have insight as to what these teams are going though and what lays ahead.”

The team of Maui judges includes Arben Kryeziu, co-founder of mbloom and award-winning creative digital agency Bump Networks, Jamie Dinckelacker, the Maui-based Director of Engineering for Google’s Niantic Labs, Kevin Jardine, CEO of Jardine Capital whose current portfolio includes Off Planet Digital, Canadian Cartel and Sharper Image, and Eric Nakagawa, co-founder of icanhascheezburger.com.

 

More info about Startup Weekend:

Startup Weekend is a global grassroots movement of active and empowered entrepreneurs who are learning the basics of founding startups and launching successful ventures. It is the largest community of passionate entrepreneurs with over 1800 past events in 120 countries around the world in 2014.   The non-profit organization is headquartered in Seattle, Washington but Startup Weekend organizers and facilitators can be found in over 200 cities around the world. From Mongolia to South Africa to London to Brazil, people around the globe are coming together for weekend long workshops to pitch ideas, form teams, and start companies.

More Info about mbloom:

Closing its first fund at $10m at the beginning of 2014, mbloom is an accelerator and co-working office for startups in the Hawaii tech space. Located among palm trees, green pastures, and the beautiful Pacific Ocean, the company is the first organization of it’s kind on Maui, Hawaii. mbloom is run by two successful entrepreneurs, Arben Kryeziu and Nick Bicanic, who mentor select startups to help build their products, create strategic business plans, and get to the next milestone in their journeys.

 

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Amazing Workshop Opportunity for Crafters on Maui!

CORRECTION: Early Bird discount ends: JULY 28 –

Attention Maui Artists and Crafters:

Amazing two-day workshop to be held at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center, hosted by the Arts Business Institute: Early bird discount ends soon: July 28th!

The Arts Business Institute is coming to Maui (and Oahu, too)!  ABI has been devoted to helping artists since 2004. They are bringing their highly acclaimed 2-day workshop to the MACC on September 9th and 10th, 2013.  (And Oahu – September 12&13). This workshop is jam-packed with topics like Pricing for Profit, Wholesale fundamentals, Creative Marketing Skills, Design a Collection, Studio Production, Best Practices, and so much more. This workshop helps artists learn what it takes to go from struggling to sustainable – even local to national. The workshops have helped thousands of small studios launch and grow into full-time careers. They help creatives learn how to sell directly to top galleries, shops, museum stores, on line catalogs and more.

EARLY BIRD PRICING ends on JULY 28th! – Maui Workshop discount of $50

Here is the link to sign up: http://www.artsbusinessinstitute.org/maui-hawaii/

Oahu: http://www.artsbusinessinstitute.org/oahu-hawaii/

The Arts Business Institute is a very well-respected and highly acclaimed non-profit organization that is part of a larger entity called the Rosen Group. The group, which includes the highly rated and oldest trade show of Made in American arts and crafts called the Buyer’s Market of American Craft, also publishes Niche Magazine and American Style. The Rosen Group is all about promoting hand-made and Made in America and has been for nearly 40 years.

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