Hands On Small Business

Monday night was the first Hands On Small Business session in Atlanta! We had an almost sold out crowd register and despite the waivering weather, a good crowd showed up to sharpen their skills.

In the session we covered the basics of Twitter, Microsoft Office Live and Kirtsy, in addition to much conversation of additional platforms for DIY website development. Many of the attendees were already on Twitter and Facebook but that was where their previous interaction ended.

Relationships, one-on-one interaction and discovery were the themes of the evening and I encouraged the small business owners to automate as little of their engagement as possible. As a small business owner especially, you should do everything you can to ensure an authentic presence online — one where you are genuinely interested in interacting with your consumer, potential consumers, and the collection of others you’ll run into along the way. Bumps aside, I think the upcoming sessions will just get better!

~ Tessa Horehled

Monday’s night kick-off event in Charlotte was quite cozy.

We had hoped to get 15, maybe 20, people signed up for the first class. Nope. 30 people signed up. *Gulp!* We only had a room for 18 max at Amélie’s French Bakery. Thank goodness, the law of RSVPs applied (about a third will not show up) and we had 22.

Cozy, see.

The small business owners included a jewelry designer, an art gallery/boutique owner, a professional organizer, a lifestyle blogger, a reiki practitioner and a fellow raging extrovert who makes balloon bouquets for parties.

Twitter 101 consumed a good bit of the program. We even got a “fail whale.” Their Twitter experience is complete.

However, I saw lightbulbs going on above the heads of many when the Office Live Workspace and web site demos started. They got even brighter when we talked about Kirtsy, Digg and other aggregation sites. (I’m setting up a Workspace to share some take-aways with the class.)

“This is all free?” one woman asked. “Really?”

Yes, we assured her. You might have to pay for more storage but it’s free.

We’ll be tweaking the teaching module. We’re saving Twitter and other social network sites for the end.

And they loved the prizes!

But I think most of all the small biz owners enjoyed getting a chance to connect with each other and noshing on Amelie’s most delectable goodies (including the infamous Salted Caramel Brownie).

~ Crystal Dempsey

You asked for it. It’s coming back. And it’s bigger, better, and small business-ier than ever. That’s right, we listened. We heard you. And we’re ready to get down to business! You know what we’re talking about!

We’re ready to get our hands on small business… and give practical advice, instruction, and application to rock out some of our favorite free online and social media solutions.

So we’re joining up with the cool, smart people at Microsoft Office Live to bring you 100 Hands On Small Business sessions in October and November.

You read that right.
One. Hundred. Sessions.

Seriously. We know. We can hardly wait. We’re talking 100 fun, FREE, practical gatherings of goodness to show you and yours a few new easy things to take up online.

Women across the country will be coming together this Fall for the October and November Hands On Small Business (#HOSB) series — all brought to you in by the Politics, World and Business section of Kirtsy and the very good people of Microsoft Office Live. All of the 100 gatherings will be held October 5 – November 20 in 20 areas across the country including:

NEW YORK
CHICAGO
COLUMBUS
CHARLOTTE
SAN FRANCISCO
LOS ANGELES / ORANGE COUNTY
DENVER
SALT LAKE CITY
DALLAS
HOUSTON
AUSTIN
ATLANTA
WASHINGTON DC
BOSTON
SEATTLE
PORTLAND
OKLAHOMA CITY
TORONTO
LITTLE ROCK
MIAMI

Each session will be hosted and led by Kirtsy editors, Kirtsy founders and Kirtsy friends, who just want to get together to show you some new (and maybe not so new) cool things that will help make your online life easier, smarter and definitely more interesting.

So if we’re coming to a city near you, please plan to join in on the fun! And bring your laptop if you have one!

Not in your city? Well, darn. You have two options:

1. Let us know where your city is, and we’ll try to put you on the list for the next round of fun.
2. Get yourself to one of these cities on the scheduled dates. Go ahead. Plan a field trip.

We’ll be announcing specific dates and times momentarily (all 100 sessions will happen between 10/5 and 11/20).

So watch for more details on specifics and sign up information. And get ready to save your spot in your favorite site and scheduled date.

In the meantime, get ready, and get set to go.

We can’t wait to see you there!