7 Key Takeaways from the SXSW Experts

South by Southwest Interactive (SXSW) is one of the leading social media and technology conferences in the world. This 5-day conference hosts some of the most influential and innovative speakers on social media and business. Here are 7 key takeaways that I learned from these SXSW experts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dPPJXwyverE

1. Be enchanting. Guy Kawasaki, author, speaker and co-founder of Alltop.com, encourages everyone to be enchanting in his new book, The Art of Enchantment. Being an enchanting person will help make others embrace your product/service, and ultimately, make the world a better place. He offers 10 tips to help you become enchanting: 1. Achieve likeability 2. Achieve trustworthiness 3. Get ready 4. Launch 5. Overcome resistance 6. Make enchantment endure 7. Present well 8. Use technology 9. Enchant up 10. Enchant down.
2. Consider your target. Helen Klein Ross, brand fictionalist, emphasizes the importance of  thinking about your target market when engaging through social media. Your voice must be representative of your brand and who you’re talking to.
3. Leverage your small business size/mentality to build personal connections. Becky McCray, founder of Small Biz Survival, motivates small business owners to take advantage of your small size to build personal connections and relationships with your customers online and offline.
4. Keep your product/service consistent but surprise and delight your audience. Justin Cox of Razorfish advises businesses to be creative in your digital advertising while still maintaining your brand’s image and message. Brand consistency is important but you have to do something to keep people excited.
5. Customer service through social media has become the new marketing. Barry Moltz, speaker, consultant and author, says companies are growing today because they’re utilizing social media to provide great customer service. Social media has given anybody and everybody a way to voice their positive AND negative opinions about your brand. Do you know what your customers are saying online about your brand?
6. Giving is a great business strategy. Beyond being a selfless act, Blake Mycoskie, founder and chief shoe giver at TOMS Shoes, stresses the importance of how giving can also be used as a great business strategy to retain employees, build a community of customers, attract the right investors and make the world a better place.
7. Letting your employees be part of something bigger is the greatest competitive advantage. Blake Mycoskie lets every one of his employees participate in a shoe drop where they’re able to experience first-hand what it feels like to put a new pair of shoes on a child’s feet. This enables his employees to understand the real motivation behind their work. And here at Kaufman, Rossin, we too understand that happy employees translates into happy clients.

So what are you doing to help grow your business? We’d love to know!