AB Tech Small Business Center’s Annual Jumpstart

Posted by carolyn on Apr 23, 2013 in Asheville Business News, Company News, News | 0 comments

The A-B Tech Small Business Center will be having its annual Jumpstart event, sponsored by Asheville Savings Bank, at the Haynes Conference Center at the College’s Enka site on Thursday, April 25.  For those of you who may not be aware, Jumpstart is a business-to business trade show that is geared towards entrepreneurs and small business people who are looking to connect with those who may have a product of service that can assist them in taking their business to the next level.  Product and service providers will have booths on-site and make themselves available for questions that attendees may have regarding their business. 

This event, which typically draws around 200 visitors, is FREE to those who would like to attend.  Hope to see you there!

Thanks again to Asheville Savings Bank for sponsoring this great event!

Please visit our “Events” page at the following link or contact Duane Adams (7951) for more info.

Schedule: 

3:00 – 3:30 PM:  Booth Set-Up – Booths will be assigned

3:30 – 4:00 PM: Vendor Networking – NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

4:00 – 6:30 PM: OPEN TO PUBLIC

Check out Big Boom Design’s time lapse of last year’s AB-Tech Jumpstart Event below. 

WordPress Tutorial: Content Update 101

Posted by boomer on Mar 20, 2013 in WordPress Tutorials | 0 comments

In this video I walk through a basic update on a new WordPress Website that we launched this past fall. I’ve covered how to make simple updates to a post and/or page on the website or blog.

• How to make basic text changes
• How to Create and break a link
• How to Insert an Image with a particular size and alignment

Download Video with Vixy.net | YouTube Converter

Does the Internet Need a Backup System?

Posted by boomer on Mar 20, 2013 in TED | 0 comments

Danny Hillis delivers a great TED talk about the need for a backup plan if the internet was taken down. It’s true that as our day-to-day lives become more entangled with internet connected devices, we are equally as vulnerable to attacks. Hillis does a great job to help raise awareness of the issue without taking a conspiracy theory approach like so many others do.

Boomer Sassmann to speak at Tourism Summit on February 26th in Avery County

Posted by boomer on Feb 26, 2013 in Speaking Events | 0 comments

Avery County surpassed all other counties in Western North Carolina when it came to tourism spending increases in 2011, with a boost of 9.55 percent over the previous year. Avery County Tourism Summit will bring local business owners together with experts in tourism and economics so that business owners can get a better idea of what contributed to the increase, and how their businesses can benefit best from what will hopefully become a trend of increasing tourism spending in Avery County.

Source Article

Event Speakers and Presenters

Speakers at this event include Witt Tuttell and Andre Nabors from the North Carolina Tourism Division as well as yours truly, Boomer Sassmann. Sassmann will deliver a 45 minutes presentation on tourism website design for Chambers of commerce, Tourism and Development Authorities and Economic Development Commissions. He will also discuss Social Medias role on the internet today as well as Heat Map Tracking and Website best practices. Be sure to catch this energetic, overwhelming, and extremely informative presentation at this years Tourism Summit. 

–>For directions and information look here <–

Social Media Packages—You Gotta’ Have Them

Posted by boomer on Feb 21, 2013 in Social Media | 0 comments

Social media marketing: this term umbrellas several ways to actively communicate with your clients. Now that you have a website, a space within the internet for you and your business, how are you driving traffic there? Are you fostering the success of your site with the power and influence social media has to offer? Let’s consider some facts:

• About One Billion people are on Facebook
• The average Facebook user spends over 15 hours a month using it
• Twitter adds about 500,000 new users a day
• Google + reached over 10 million users in its first 16 days

These statistics speak to social media’s pure volume factors, not to mention the way it affects your relationship with your market. Your clients and potentially new clients are out there “socializing” on the web—for hours a day. Are you a part of the conversation?

The Current Players

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google +, and Pinterest are the big players. Each social media site has a slightly different approach and form. Our social media strategist will consult with you on which social media avenues are best for your business before planning and then executing a social media marketing campaign to drive more traffic to your site. All the while strengthening the bond between client and business through communication and consistently fresh content. Don’t be stagnant, be social. 

Dickson Interactive Social Media Strategy at It’s Finest

If your business or organization is serious about implementing a quality social media marketing campaign, and you want to see results; don’t make your decision without considering Scott Dickson and his team. With social media’s popularity mounting at the rate it is, so is the list of social-media-marketers for hire.

According to Dickson, “You can’t read a book and think you have what it takes to become a consultant. Opinion and theory are great, but no match for years of experience and a proven track record of execution and success,” An Appalachian State Alumni and based out of Winston Salem, you can learn more about Scott Dickson at his website, dicksoninteractive.com. 

For more information about creating a social media strategy for your business be sure to contact Dickson Interactive. Social media may be “free” to sign up but if you’re looking to get serious about your businesses digital personality look to the professionals at Dickson Interactive. 

Are you Heatmap Tracking your Website Visitors?

Posted by boomer on Feb 12, 2013 in Heatmap, slider | 0 comments

This is an overview of how the heatmap tracking works with Crazyegg.com. In this video I use a local Tourism agencies website to show the traffic data onto the website. We monitored and found that by moving a button higher on the page it increased the website traffic to that page by 18%.

“Bridging the Digital Divide” from Boomer at AB-Tech Enka Candler Campus

Posted by boomer on Feb 1, 2013 in Asheville Business News, Classes, Google | 0 comments

Boomer Sassmann will teach a continuing education class at Asheville-Buncombe Technical School on February 6th.  This three hour class, “Bridging the Digital Divide”, is targeted towards local business owners looking to streamline how they do business on the web. The goal of the class is to benefit rather than confuse; to simplify rather than complicate. All while learning what internet-tools are right for them and how to use them effectively.

Some of these business web-tools covered include: Dropbox, Google Analytics, and WordPress. Be sure to sign up now to secure your seat in the class, and expect to leave with a relevant skill set to improve your businesses online footprint. 

The class is free and will be held at AB-Tech’s Enka campus in room 2046, from 3-6pm. 

Click Here to Register Now! 

Testimonials: 

“Boomer is an excellent communicator, an important quality to have in explaining technical/coding/security concepts to many of us non-techies. His clarity and generosity in sharing important security measures helped me understand the importance of implementing basic protection for my (upcoming) WP site.”

-Jane Mitchell

“Clear, pointed, illustrative and smart! I like when there is a “leader” with teaching element – one of many of Boomer’s skills

-Anne

“Awesome! Very informative. Boomer is a great teacher.”

-Nick Andrea