Social Geek

Our first guest for the month of December will be Hollis Thomases.

Hollis has built a reputation as online marketing’s “Voice of Reason.” In January 2010, Thomases’s first book, Twitter Marketing: An Hour a Day, a 478-page business text on the application of Twitter in marketing, was published by Wiley/SYBEX. Since 2005, Thomases has bi-weekly authored the “Planning the Buy” column for top Internet marketing resource site, ClickZ(.com). Thomases has appeared on television (local ABC, NBC and PBS stations) and on TechTV’s “Working the Web” and in such print publications as the Business Week, Advertising Age, Baltimore Sun, DM News, and The Examiner. She frequently speaks at industry and trade conferences such as the American Marketing Association, Search Engine Strategies, The Newsletter and Electronic Publishers Association, The Kelsey Group, the Laboratory Product Association, The Direct Marketing Association of Washington DC, and the Vocus Worldwide User Forum.

This week BJ and Deb are joined by Jared Degnan, host of the Marketing Diner. Http://marketingdiner.com/blog. We'll be covering return on investment within social media. Don't miss this important discussion with a real brand geek.

Our guest, Jay Steinfeld, Founder of Blinds.com built his company from inception in 1996 to $80 million revenue, including three acquisitions. Ranked #192 of all U.S e-commerce companies, #1 e-commerce company in Houston, and the world's #1 online retailer for blinds, shades, and other window coverings.

Jay is also author of "The No Nonsense Boss" http://www.bnet.com/blog/grow-business for BNET. (BNET is a website dedicated to issues of business management. It is owned by CBS Interactive and is marketed alongside TechRepublic and ZDNet as members of the BNET Business Network.)

Join us as Jay shares his secrets to on-line business success and leadership!

Robin Raskin will be our guest this week. For nearly 30 years Robin has followed technology. Her company Living in Digital Times creates conferences and exhibitions that showcase products, technologies and ideas about what it means to be digital today!

Robin produces a series of conferences and exhibits at CES (Consumer Electronic Show). One of them: Kids@Play is devoted to looking at the digital life of today's kids. Silvers Summit at CES looks at technology through the eyes of the mature adult.

Robin's been the editor-in-chief of Family PC Magazine, and columinist for USA Today Online. She's served as a consultant and spokesperson for high tech companies including Nickelodeon, Intel, Microsoft, SONY, Disney Publishing, etc. She has produced her own monthly television tours and has appeared on NBC Early Today, MSNBC, Live with Regis and Kelly, CBS Early Show, and Fox's Good Day New York!

Join us as Robin shares what it means raising digital kids today!

How can a solid social media presence dramatically increase a website's search engine ranking? Do you know how to use correct page titles, metadata, alt-tags for images, anchor text, etc? Join Deb and this week co-host Lorri Wyndham (@LorriW) and guest AK Stout from WebConjunction. AK will share how she has helped many small businesses grow their business by enhancing their online presence and manage their reputation via social media channels.