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Hybrid Entrepreneurship at Clemson – What?


So I have been asked to join the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship at Clemson University as a lecturer. I have been teaching Business Writing in the Department of English for the past two years…so this is going to be a fun challenge. It is funny how things happen, people you meet, and how planets align. After meeting with Dave Wyman this morning, he is the Interim Director of the Spiro Institute…we have a great plan for this class.

If you are interested in the curriculim of the Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurship, CLICK HERE and you will see the class I am teaching: ELE 499 – Executive Leadership and Entrepreneurship III provides an opportunity for high-potential students to participate in an entrepreneurial field experience such as starting their own businesses or participating in a special project.

So what is Hybrid Entrepreneurship? Hmm…well this will be part of the introduction to this class. But, let’s try to define.

If you look at the triangle above, you will see the three points entitled Entrepreneurship, Cause/Passion, and Profit/Discipline. If you look at Wikipedia, it defines the word “entrepreneur” as a person who has possession of a new enterprise, venture or idea and assumes significant accountability for the inherent risks and the outcome. Bottomline, the person(s) see a need, take a calculated risk to bring this idea to market with the sole purpose of gaining a return or profit. The other point of the triangle is “Cause/Passion” where someone has the desire and the passion for a “cause” and solves a social problem. And the “Profit/Discipline” point is where a person(s) gains some return from this idea using some defined discipline. Hybrid Entrepreneurship falls right in the center of this triangle.

Some would say that this sounds like Social Entrepreneurship? Hmm, well one again Wikipedia does a good job! Social Entrepreneurship is defined as someone who recognizes a social problem and uses entrepreneurial principles to organize, create, and manage a venture to make social change. Whereas business entrepreneurs typically measure performance in profit and return, social entrepreneurs assess their success in terms of the impact they have on society. While social entrepreneurs often work through nonprofits and citizen groups, many work in the private and governmental sectors.

Social Entrepreneurs tyically have the goal to take the “profit” that is generated from the venture and re-invest back into the cause. Making a profit is not the ultimate goal but a byproduct of the greater good for the cause.

Some people think that Hybrid Entrepreneurship to be similar, if not the same, as Social Entrepreneurship. Hybrid Entrepreneurs are ones that  have the same social responsibility yet have no problem with making a profit, and are willing to disclose this part of the purpose.

So…what is the purpose of the class? Well, to teach students about Hybrid Entrepreneurship and find opportunities/projects in the community to help solve problems and create business ideas to solve these problems.

Here is the fun part about this class…we will be using video and social media to document and track the projects in this class. The class will be structured to achieve a couple of goals:

1) We will be taking requests from community organizations that have some “problem” that needs to be solved…they have a need. These organizations will submit a request and the class will pick 5 to 6 different problems/issues to analyze. We will invite these organizations to the class to make a 10 to 15 minute presentation and the class will make an assessment then recommendations. Then the presenting organization will select the best recommendations during the class session. We will do this over a four week period.

2) The next part of this class will be dedicated to finding a social problem and solving this issue. The natural part of the first section of this class. The students will be exposed to local organizations and their problems through the above presentations. This will create a natural dialogue…to look for other similar ideas to solve. OR, they can pick from one of the presentations. This project will be to find, research, and solve a problem…then present in s a final presentation using video and presentation slides. The students will have to document this process using video (probably flip cams) and online properties like Twitter and Blogs.

The goal of this class, to explore the idea of Hyrbid Entrepreneurship through research and praxis. I LOVE IT!

I would love to hear from you? Have any examples of Hybrid and/or Social Entrepreneurship? Please share!

Much of this blog was based on information from Will Marre, check out his site by CLICKING HERE.

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Who are you Doctor Joe Schmo on Twitter?



As I sit here and drink my morning coffee…I am browsing through the healthcare column of my Twitter account. I have a healthcare list that follows many healthcare organizations, hospitals, doctors, healthcare marketing professionals, nurses, and any one talking healthcare and social media. One thing I have been noticing is how awkward it seems to me to watch tweets from healthcare groups using doctors names in a tweet for promotion or awareness. Well, weird that I cannot click the name to learn more.

Side Note:
If you look above, there is no link to read about Dr. March Seabrook or even an article to learn more about the award. It is not my intention to pick on Dr. March Seabrook or the hospital that posted this link. That is why I am not making it obvious the name of the hospital. I am sure Dr. Seabrook is a fine chap…so he deserves a link of some kind. So, here is where you can read more about the award…CLICK HERE.

What seems so weird about using just the name, well it is that I have no frame of reference to this person, no link, no Twitter account…just a random doctor with a name…in a sea of Tweets. If he walked past me down the road, I would have no idea who this person is and if they were even a doctor. Twitter is a good way to inform the public at-large about a doctor, their services, and even activities they are taking part. BUT, Twitter is still a place that moves so fast and crosses so many geographical boundaries. So if I am in South Carolina and a healthcare organization talks about a great piece of research or service from a doctor with no link in the Tweet…he is like “Joe Schmo” to me.

Ideas to help
Most of the time, healthcare organizations included links in Tweets to a referenced article or an event that includes verbiage and sometimes a picture of the doctor. This is good…so atleast one click can provide me with a little more information about this doctor. So how can we make these doctors names more personal on this social media platform?

1) Well, first of all…I think they should consider having a social media account (Twitter account) so that the audience at-large can click the name, see a picture of the doctor, and find more information.

2) Every time you talk about a doctor, and they do not have a social media account…include a link to read more.

3) Include the doctor in a regularly scheduled chat hosted by the health care organization. Regularly scheduled chats are a great place to build a community and then engage the audience with that program and doctor.

4) The doctor should have his own bio page inside the health care organizations web presence. This should include his/her picture, background, information about their specialties, and how they can reach them in the future (email, phone, and/or social media accounts for professional use).

5) A blog is a great way for a doctor to communicate with patients and the public at-large. This can be time consuming for a doctor, but it is a great way to write short posts that relate to the practice and their interests.

Social Media platforms like Twitter have developed their own language especially in 140 characters, so it is important for us as professionals to frame the conversation in the context of the end reader/user/community.

Doctors using Social Media
There is a time management issue that is hard to tackle when implementing these ideas, but putting together a plan is the most important to make this experience successful. Doctors barely have time for their families given their long hours of working, so their are ways to make this successful. If the doctor is interested, put together a plan to create the accounts and how often they need to be touched. Many marketing groups ghost write and ghost tweet for professionals, I am not a big proponent of this solution. The only way to be genuine is through genuine, heart felt writing.

1) Set-up a time frame to create and establish the blog and other social media accounts. This should include finding an appropriate picture.
2) Set-up a plan to engage online. Talk in terms of how often a week to get online to write a post and possibly spend with the social media account.
3) Engage the doctors in hospital chats so that they can  take part in the online experience. When I mean chats, use Twitter or any other chat platform to engage with the community. Use a hashtag for the chat so that audience understands it is a chat and that they can track the conversation.
4) Track followers, hits, and conversation created to show success.

Here are a few doctors I follow, who I think do a good job with their Social Media accounts:
1) Kevin Pho, MD – @kevinmd – http://KevinMD.com
2) Bryan Vartabedian, MD – @Doctor_V – http://www.33charts.com
3) Wendy Sue Swanson, MD – @SeattleMamaDoc – http://seattlemamadoc.seattlechildrens.org

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Say NO TO FOLLOW! A little self-reflecting rant.

Enough of this Follow Me stuff! Seriously, I follow enough stuff already. Follow me tells me you are going to push your brand, your thoughts, your ideology on me…one tweet, one post, one update at a time. Really, are we so self-indulged to think that everyone has something so important to say that we must follow everything. That is not social…it is a dictatorship of push notifications.

Say yes to join! Join the conversation, join the community, join the fun…join not follow.

Think about it the next time you set-up a campaign. But who really wants to create a campaign, everyone creates campaigns. Why not create communities. Communities do not follow everyone in the group, they join a conversation. They area community of people with common conversation.

How about just share! Share the conversation.

We are so excited that we have created a social media account, we want to stamp it on every freaking media outlet from television, print, websites, post card, etc. We place icons on these pieces with something that says “Follow Us.” But how do we follow you when you do not even put the URL for us to click and type. I guess “you” spent so much money on these campaigns, you feel like you have to tell everyone and include the social networks to make sure the “target audience” follows the message. But what happens after you follow? Seriously, what do I do after I follow. Should I sit back and feel excited that you are now going to overwhelm me with updates and not even let me join the conversation. Because when I follow you, you do not even have the common courtesy to respond with a conversation after all of your push notifications.

We are so excited that we created these campaigns, we do not even think of the un-sustainable effect they will have with a “Follow” mentality. Why…because what is going to happen when the person who is pushing the information leaves, changes, looses interest in the campaign. If it is all push, then the community is not leading the charge…the community is the sustainable part of the message.

Say no to Follow and yes to Share! Go find the community and build the technology around the community to facilitate engagement.

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Innovation: Print & Social Media Working Together



A few weeks ago, I was having lunch with one of the Social Media team members with Greenville Hospital System. They showed me this little idea they created! Little cards that had intriguing little quotes that complimented a Social Media outlet they were trying to promote. These cards were  used to hand out, place around town, used to give out in the hospital, or even at events.

How cool! They are almost the size of playing cards using the branded colors of the Greenville Hospital System. Each card had a different phrase or quote promoting a Social Media account, whether it was the Careers Twitter Account (@ghs_careers) or the main Facebook account for the hospital (Facebook.com/GreenvilleHospitalSystem).

What a fun little way to spread the word or even prompt a conversation about  the information or community surrounding a Social Media account. So simple, thoughtful, and intriguing. It is so hard to find intriguing ways to promote Social Media accounts. So many organizations and people are using Social Media to promote Social Media. When you are trying to build community, you have to assume that most people have not used these platforms or do not know the actual URL (account username) to find these accounts online.

I even see many organizations advertise on billboards/flyers and use the Twitter bird or the Facebook logo with the phrase “Follow Us.” FAIL! Nice Try! You cannot assume that people reading these promotions know how or where to find these accounts online. If you look at the bottom of each of these cards, you will see the actual URL address for the Social Media account they are promoting. Even the Facebook cards have an image with the thumbs up “Like” logo indicating the action item desired.

I just think these is so smart, it is fun to watch organizations find innovative ways to use media to engage a community with new forms of media.

To learn more about Greenville Hospital Systems Social Media presence, CLICK HERE or go to http://www.ghs.org/socialmedia

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Building Communities is a lot more FUN!

Why do we use Social Media technologies? To me…to connect and build communities of like minded individuals. Why do you use Facebook for your business? Do you use it to just update with information and events? How about use it for what it was originally designed to do, build a community of people to share and connect.

One of my favorite Facebook Page communities is the Clemson Alumni Association’s Facebook Page. You should check it out some time. If you look at the image in this post from the Facebook Page (look below), you will see how the community engages with each other. This was a video post letting everyone know that homecoming is right around the corner, bottom-line a reminder to mark your calendar. If you look below the video, someone that was new to the Clemson Homecoming experience posted a question. People from the community stepped in and engaged the conversation, reinforcing the experience. You do not see the Clemson Alumni Association respond till later, but the community of fans were the ones leading the conversation.

Do you want to control your community or do you want to let your community grow…let the technology be the platform to connect and engage. I choose the 2nd option. Are you building Social Media platforms to push information or a creating a place that connects and engages like minded people. Does it have to be a Facebook Page, Twitter Account, YouTube Account…could it just be a regular lunch meeting using a calendar as the technology that allows to connect.

I want to thank my buddy Dave Lee for inviting me to join his NFL Fantasy Football League this season. This has been a fun place for us to connect, share in our love for the game, and meet new people. Oh, by the way…it has helped me get into the NFL and follow the success of one of my favorite Clemson Tiger Alums, CJ Spiller. What a cool Social Media technology that has connected like minded people.

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Anderson Area Chamber New Media Workshop

I was asked a few months ago by the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce to spend some time working with businesses concerning New Media and Social Media Strategies. This morning was a great workshop with a small group of people inspired and engaged. It is was so much fun to work with small business owners that are so passionate about their business. This post is just for you, all fourteen of you that spent time with me this Wednesday morning. I encouraged you not to take notes, but to take part in the conversation. Here are the two presentations form this morning. The first presentation below was the primer, the place to get us going.

The second presentation below was a way to think about implementing New Media into your strategy. It is full of some examples and case studies.

I am also including the worksheet as a PDF to download. Click Here to download.

Thanks to the Anderson Area Chamber of Commerce for hosting this workshop along those who attended, specifically sitting through two hours of my crazy information.

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Social Media – A Digital Discourse Community

Over the last month I have been diving into my work and stepping back from this digital community…basically observing. This digital community that has been coined as “Social Media” has been emerging for years, and there are so many contributors. The growth of digital connection points are inflating faster than an “e” ratio.

I think back to 1993 when I was first introduced to the “Internet” and “Electronic Mail.” It was a way to communicate with a college girlfriend at Appalachian State University in Boone. By the time I was a junior at Clemson in 1995, they were teaching some of the first web development courses and creating online Dungeon and Dragons for communities to interact. These digital community continued to grow and language continued to evolve, especially with the advent of online chatting like AOL Instant Messenger. There was a distinction between Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication. Bottomline, individuals began experiencing a digital divide that separated their thoughts from their audiences…it was called a keyboard and a computer screen. This was the enabler that allowed us to become empowered with our thoughts, ambitions, and the ability to engage in discourse that would not normally be socially accepted within an in-person interaction. This was the true beginning of the digital divide as we know it…the new social media revolution. A platform to freely express and lay claim to our thoughts…and the best part, we could turn it off when it was convenient for us as the author.

The New Digital Discourse Community has been growing for the last decade and has not only empowered movements, but given voice to those who were not willing to share previously. It began to coin the term “Thought Leadership” providing ample space for free-thinkers to gain a equitable landscape against those who owned it for so many years, the mass media outlets. The printing press did the same thing with the Bible, printing books against the will of the Catholic Church and now we use this online paradigm to lay claim to that same thought leadership.

Now…communities are growing all over. From Facebook, Twitter, NFL Fantasy Football Leagues, Ning, Blogs, and the list goes on and on. The discourse communities are growing faster and the conversation is more powerful with less words. Take a look at Twitter. Communities of conversations based on 140 characters. Hashtags that help us organize thoughts or organize like minded conversations. Language is evolving and it has nothing to do with abbreviations, it has everything to do with context. The context is the new age marketing paradigm that brings voice to small people and businesses of the world to compete against big box competitors.

Just imagine, at any point in time….you could enter one of these online groups, post a comment, picture, or video and be heard around the world instantly. Just ask those who used Twitter during the Haiti earthquake, they used it to be found…someone was listening and some responded. Communities of discourse, language being traded and now we are trying to not only leverage the language  but the communities that exchange the language.

Let’s look at what Wikipedia terms as discourse community: The term discourse community links the terms discourse, a concept describing all forms of communication that contribute to a particular, institutionalized way of thinking; and community, which in this case refers to the people who use, and therefore help create, a particular discourse.

Leverage…we are leveraging the hopes of this and these communities. We are filling rooms of people, signing up clients, engaging conversations with those to pay us to help them with this discourse community. Why…for leverage. I am not complaining. I have clients that have paid me for my hands on training and knowledge to a truly un-defined marketing medium that is escalating faster than college course can be created. Hell, I am teaching students to use it to leverage others. But what are this or these discourse communities that we are talking about? Just another place to share knowledge, exchange ideas, leverage relationships, and gain market share…this discourse is the same discourse exchanged in a new, digital community…online. Are we really saving money by cutting printing costs for the new digital medium or just re-allocating resources for another marketing venue? I would be willing to bet that the communities built around traditional media, those same mediums being phased out for newer digital mediums, cost the same to run online. It costs money for servers, bandwidth, power, people and just as eco-non-friendly as cutting trees.

This is not a rant, yet an examination. It is not meant to diminish media(s) but to get right down to the core. We as practitioners must recognize the inherent value of media and the discourse communities that surround…and decide if it fits our needs. Most importantly, look at the discourse being exchanged in the communities surrounding these media(s), understand the language, and decide whether to interact or move on! It is more that just pulling out the whole fit the square peg in the round hole sales routine with Social Media. Look at the discourse being exchanged and let’s decide if we want to join the community.

If you have some thoughts, please let me know. I am noticing many people from the academic community are reading this blog post. Please share your thoughts!

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Foursquare & Gowalla – The Next Bonus Card?

Where ever you live or how ever you shop…you have been asked to sign-up for a bonus card or discount card. You know that little card that you can put in your wallet or on your key-chain. The one that is swiped each time you walk in that store and make purchase. You might be that person with all sorts of bonus cards from the local grocery store, hardware store, and even your local sporting goods store.

You were attracted to this card because of the immediate savings you will see when you check out. You can experience the “buy one, get one free” or even the “half off” special. Whatever the promotion, swiping the card earns you savings. Swiping the card provides the retailer a better understanding how to stock the store based on your demographics. It is a smart way to not only audit the “stock” but to audit buying tendencies of each consumer.

Is Foursquare and Gowalla the global bonus card system? Well, first off…let’s look at the incentives of this innovation:

  • Some retailers are offering promotions when checking or checking in multiple times.
  • Finding like minded individuals who have been to the same or similar location(s).
  • Reading reviews and/or experiences of other “consumers” at a particular location.
  • Ability to build a map or trip for group of individuals to enjoy.
  • Providing community based marketing for retailers and organizations.

How do you feel when you walk up and swiping that bonus card? Other than the great savings you are experiencing? Do you think about what tendencies are being saved when you swipe that bonus card then your debit/credit card. Now I am not preaching this whole conspiracy theory that the government is out to get us. But, what are retailers saving about us on the world wide grid. Are tendencies are being saved, each time we swipe the bonus card, the credit/debit card, when we do a keyword search in Google, and even when we Tweet. I have Google Alerts set-up with my name as the search keyword and look what was sent to me in my daily update, a link to this:

http://shopalize.com/bobbyrettew/all

Yes…I have not seen this site before (Shopalize), tracking keywords in my Tweets. Where ever I go, what ever I say; in this digital world, someone is aggregating my information for marketing purposes.

As I was sitting here writing this post, a Verizon Commercial (above) played. The one thing that stood out in this commercial (as this lady walked through the town…chatting on her phone) the “world” around her was “tuned” to her position. Each turn of the corner…tuning to her Tweets, her “Check In’s”, her searches, her purchases. Her “Check-In’s” geo-located to aggregate all the relevant purchasing power this lady has during this little trek. She has walked this path before and the little towers tuned to her position are the collectors of the magic little bonus card in her palm…the mobile device.

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Foursquare, Gowalla, Geo-Location…the new ROI?


It was just two years ago and everyone was going nuts about Twitter and creating lots of comparisons between Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn…and so on. Books were being written about the business applications of these Social Media outlets and conferences around the industry being put on, talking best practices. But the one thing that kept on arising…what is the purpose behind all the mess. Both sides were asking these questions…the groups that created these platforms and those engaging. ROI was a huge discussion. Both the investors of the platforms and the business using these outlets…why and how?

Then…this crazy thing called “geo-location” was emerging publically. Basically not only telling the world what you are thinking, but where you are located when you are saying your thoughts. These crazy technologies popped up with lots of traction, ie. Foursquare and Gowalla. People tagging their location by “Checking In.” A new craze of people jumping on board. The early adopters trying them out and others sitting back to watch the recourse.

A few months ago, I shared a few beers with Olivier Blanchard at a great pub in Greenville and we talked about what all this mess means. Well, a few beers brings out lots on creative thoughts but we both agreed on a few things. But here are two points that came up in the discussion (fyi…I am not speaking for Olivier):

1) These geo-location technologies are the true ROI for Social Media. Why, because now retailers and organizations can now place a name, information, and demographics to a decision making process.

2) These geo-location technologies are creating a true paradigm shift how retailers and organizations reach audiences. This is the point I am excited to write about.

Imagine this…you are planning a trip.  You are getting on a plane and you live in a metropolitan area like New York City. You get up in the morning, grab your bags, and head out the door. On the way to the subway, you drop into a coffee shop for a java and “Check-In.” This coffee shop knows you well because you have been “Checking In” for a while and they already have your carmel latte ready right when you “Check-In.” You grab that java and out the door you go to catch the subway. You have made this trip before because you travel for business. As walk down sidewalk, you stop for a paper and “Check-In” at the local paper stand. After picking up the paper, you make you way down the stairs into the subway…there are television and LED screens along the walls. This geo-location has tracked your tendencies, knows what food you like, what shoes you like…because you “Check-In” to the spots all the time. So now, based on your preferences, there are ads showing on these television screens targeted specifically for you. There is even one that tells you that your plane is on time and references you by name. Geo-location is creating a direct, one-to-one conversation between your location, your tendencies, your buying power….AND their message. This is just one scenerio in this Time Square Effect!

These “Check-In’s” are the public domain of your credit card transactions. But now they are combining your purchasing power with your location from a public position.  This is like the “global” version of your CVS or Walgreens Card…telling everyone where you are going and what you are doing. The marketers are eating this up as fast as they can, leveraging the information we knowingly post publicly; why…to help you make purchasing decisions.

Our Social Media transactions (both on a conversational side and a location side) are becoming the collective database we knowingly support each time we go the local super market for eggs and milk and “Check-In.” We are creating the ROI for marketers. This comes to no surprise because we are a debit card/credit card carrying society. Now…it is more public.

This post is not meant to poke holes in our Social Media tendencies but bring an awareness to the massive database we are creating. There is so much value in the “Checking In” model. We are helping the local retailers compete with the big box providers. If there is one group that should try to leverage this technology…well it is the small retailers or companies trying to compete in a global economy.