Kitchen Table Companies 2 - Raul Colon - photographer, digital marketer & writer living on the beach in Puerto Rico.

Presentations Tips from @chrisbrogan & Nancy Duarte

June 3, 2011 by Raul Colon

I am currently looking for ways to improve my presentations. I think these 30 minutes that @chrisbrogan and Nancy Duarte prepared for you and me might help you a lot in improving presentations. Just like @chrisbrogan said on the video even if you can watch the first 5 minutes it can be of much value.

Are presentations working for you?

Are there any other business issues you are trying to work with? Maybe joining in on the conversation Kitchen Table Companies (Affiliate Link) might help you get some of your questions answered.

How can I help You?

May 28, 2011 by Raul Colon

[slideshare id=8138624&doc=workwithme-110528191234-phpapp02]

For most of my adult life it has been very difficult to explain to others what I do for a living. Before setting up CIMA IT Solutions I use to work as a Senior IT Security Consultant for American Systems. Prior to that I worked as an Information Risk Management Associate for KPMG. I guess those two titles are not as a easy as saying i’m a teacher, doctor, lawyer, mechanic, engineer, and the list can continue.

These last few days I have had the luck of having @chrisbrogan and @alexklevine ask me how they could help me get more business ( I am extremely grateful for that).

I went ahead an modified the CIMA IT Solutions corporate site to make the following services a bit more specific and understandable:

To help others assist me in getting more opportunities via my blog I decided to create the Work With Me presentation. I really want the presentation to show how I can work along you or anyone in need of my services.

Being active with the Kitchen Table Companies (Affiliate Link) helped identify things that I need to fix. Thanks to the questions and answers posted, I have received lots of valuable feedback on how I can improve my marketing efforts.

The post on My Virtual Plaza made me realize that other people might not understand what I do. When this happens I miss out on the opportunity of some one referring me to others in need of my services.

It would be of great value if you could go through the presentation and let me know if my presentation helped you understand how I could help others.

Is it easy for you to explain to others what you do for a living? If not how can we help each other get that message through?

My Virtual Plaza #KTT (Kitchen Table Companies)

May 24, 2011 by Raul Colon

My Virtual Plaza – Kitchen Table Companies

View more presentations from Raul Colon

I was born in Ponce, Puerto Rico and at the age of two years old my family decided to relocate to Connecticut (first time was when I was 7 months old for a few months). I lived in Connecticut until I was 12 when my parents finally decided to return to the Island of Enchantment. During my childhood, I use to come and visit every summer and stay with my Uncle and Grandmother. One of the things I enjoyed the most about every summer night when I was a child was my uncle taking me to Plaza las Delicias. Puerto Rico was first colonized by the Spaniards. They brought the concept of the plaza or meeting place to every municipality. Since I was always interested in history, I found out how the plaza was the major center of interaction, business, fun, and many other things. Before they had a major mall in Ponce, Plaza de Las Delicias was a key place where many would meet for many reasons.

Purpose of a Plaza

The plaza initially had many purposes such as:
- Holding Three Closely Related Institutions
- Cathedral
- Cabildo or Administrative Center
  - Governor’s house or City Hall
- Audience or Law Court
At times of Crisis large enough crowds to hold a military parade ground
Time for a “Fiesta” large enough for a crowd to gather.

Overall the plaza was a Center of Cultural Life

The years have gone by and people have moved away from visiting the plaza which has lost its essence and magic. As @garyvee expressed in the Thank You Economy, human nature seems to stay unchanged for basic needs.
I have to say that I am always seeking for an environment similar to the plaza.

Part of exchanging business ideas has been covered in the virtual space.

My Virtual Plaza

Many months ago I learned about a program @chrisbrogan was creating called Kitchen Table Talks (#KTT) on The Pulse Network. This was also the start of @chrisbrogan setting up an online forum called Kitchen Table Companies (Affiliate Link). @Chrisbrogan has been very supportive in many of my efforts and has been helping me with my small business way before he started Kitchen Table Companies.

What makes up KTC (Kitchen Table Companies)?

Seminars
Interviews
Online TV
Q & A Podcasts
Roundtable
KTC Community
Book Club

How do I related the Plaza to Kitchen Table Companies?

The plaza was very useful for many purposes. By someone being present at the Plaza, people where able to speak with others. At KTC you are able to “speak” to others and not necessarily be present physically to participate in the on-line conversation.

Keep the Conversation Going
The forum allows you to leave a question or idea and have people interact. The on-line conversation can keep going for days, weeks, or who knows how long. Being at the Plaza and living close by, boosted ones social status.

Roundtable
Local business individuals used to have a roundtable about certain topics near the plaza or at the plaza; now you can have a roundtable at any time regarding small business related subjects.

Events
At the Plaza there were events that gathered people from town; there are also events at KTC. The weekly Kitchen Table Talks Show on the Pulse Network and now Office Hours where questions are answered by the great team at Human Business Works. For those that are more passive, there is even a book club to share your thoughts and recommend other books.

Military Parade Ground
Just as the plaza held military parades and the soldiers were able to show off their precision in marching, I have seen how many of my business issues have been attacked with precision by the members of the forum. KTC is a parade ground for an army of advisors ready to reach out and attack your small business problems.

The Great People I have met thanks to KTC

* @raffel
* @MargieClayman
* @SuzanneVara
* @shelmke
* @Runnerbliss
* @BobBurg
* @wicked_neat
* @lushbeads

And the chance to get to talk to two individuals who I admire like @joesorge and @chrisbrogan. Here is last weeks video on #KTT

HTC EVO Advice from the Pro’s @raffel & HTC Team

May 12, 2011 by Raul Colon

@Meet_Meme Fun Business Cards and/or Personal Branding Tools

March 23, 2011 by Raul Colon

I am not a big fan of exchanging business cards since most of them end up in a trash can or in someone’s desk collecting dust. One of the things that was very difficult for me while attending SXSW was making sure I kept track of all the people I was meeting.

There are a few apps that can help with keeping track of who you meet but it sometimes can break up the flow of a conversation. While you are grabbing your phone, getting your phone ready, logging into the application, searching for the area to add the person, requesting their contact info, and finally entering them into the application. When you have precious seconds to invest in knowing a bit more about what the person you just met is all about this can be very detrimental to keeping the conversation going.

Being able to meet @houseofbrew at SXSW was a great opportunity to finally find a solution to this challenge. What a more perfect place than SXSW where you meet so many people in such a short period of time for him to be handing out a very practical and fun contact card by the name of Meet-Meme (affiliate),

Meet-Meme as stated in their website “helps you bring online persona to the offline world, allowing you to further your networking efforts with an engaging extension of your personal brand.”

I was handed my first Meet-Meme card by @houseofbrew and he ran me through how useful this card was in connecting offline with online. If you see below it includes his Name, email, blog url, company website, and the most interesting part of the trading card the QR code that connects you from offline card to online profiles.

Photos of Raul Colon Web Developer Puerto Rico

Once you get the QR Code or visit the link provided under the QR Code http://mtme.me/efdc59 you will see the following screen on your mobile phone the second image belongs to the browser version. On the mobile version you can see three tabs Card, Connect, Share. The version that appears once you have entered either the url or used the QR code is the card.

Mobile Version

Browser Version

On the Connect tab you get the user’s profiles so you can add or follow them right from the options you have available. This was one of the most useful features I found on the card.

The Share tab provides the opportunity for you to share the card via Twitter or on Facebook.

I really think that what I have seen these cards do really helps in the process of connecting and cutting all the hassle of hunting down people on multiple networks. I see many business uses for these cards and will probably be sharing a few with you on future posts.

Can you see how to implement this to an event or to extend your personal branding? In the mean time I will be working on updating my avatar and getting a good pic to order my first batch.