Over the past couple months I have been presenting “Marketing on a Shoestring” to several different groups of business owners. The purpose of my presentation is to show business owners how incorporating new media into their traditional forms of marketing can help businesses build greater awareness of their brands and engage their communities in a whole new way. I discuss the benefits of blogging, using Twitter and Facebook, as well how to take advantage of LinkedIn as more than just an online resume.

Once we’ve had a chance to discuss these social media tools and answer questions, I go through a number of client “success stories.” These examples show the incredible results that BCG clients have had by incorporating social media into their overall marketing strategies.

I really enjoy helping business owners learn how they can make social media another valuable tool they can use. It’s a great topic to discuss with a group because everyone is different, every business is unique, and they will each use social media tools to accomplish different goals.

My favorite thing about presenting is that it allows me to interact with a variety of businesses and break down the walls they have put up as a result of the tough economy. In these economic conditions, many business owners are quick to slash their marketing and PR budgets as a way to save money. This is such a huge mistake! Being able to show business owners why this is a mistake is great, not only because it allows me to express my strong belief that marketing your business in these times is critical, but because I put our client’s success stories right in front of them and also because these marketing tools are so cost efficient.

Over the next few weeks I’m going to use Barcelona Creative’s blog as a way to address some of the most frequently asked questions I’ve encountered during my presentations, and some of the positive feedback I have received that has allowed me to enhance my presentation EVERY time I get up in front of another group. These experiences are helping me become a better speaker and thought leader.

That’s another reason I enjoy interacting with groups of business owners – THEY are making ME better at what I do everyday. Learning from them is helping me put myself in their shoes so that I can see the problems they are facing in their businesses everyday. As a marketing partner, we must know the issues our client is facing in order to create an effective marketing campaign. How’s that for breaking down walls!

I hope that over the next few weeks, you will feel free to post your own comments and questions on our blog. By relating to one another, understanding the problems we face in our businesses and learning from each other, we can all be more successful going forward.