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November is a great time to start putting together your social media plan for 2017. This month, our very own Willmar Lakes Area Social Media Breakfast team will walk you through the steps to creating your very own social media marketing plan. Our panel will discuss all of the different tools and techniques that we use in our own marketing endeavours. This open Q&A style session is designed to be informative but very much discussion based. Bring your questions and ideas and be prepared to leave with a solid jumpstart on 2017.

Join us!

WORKup (located on the MinnWest Technology Campus)
Thursday, November 3rd, 2016
8:00am – 9:00 am
FREE coffee and breakfast provided
FREE event, but we do ask that you register below

Your blog is probably one of the 152 Million (or more) websites that use Google Analytics. So how can a tool that is so widely used possibly give you a competitive advantage? In this session, I will show you how to use Google Analytics to gain that competitive edge. You’ll learn how to use Google Analytics to focus on your blogging goals and hold your content and your social media efforts accountable.

About Steve

Steve Slater (@theSteve_Slater), or Slater to coworkers and clients,  is an SEO Specialist at Vivid Image, Inc. in Hutchinson, MN. But don’t let the title fool you, Slater spends his days running PPC campaigns, getting deep into Google Analytics, and optimizing sites for both users and search engines. He has 9 years of sales and marketing experience and he uses that experience to design marketing campaigns that don’t just drive traffic but that also help businesses sell their products and services.

August 4 @ 8:00 am – 9:00 am

Stamp-n-Storage owner Brett Haugen and Marketing Manager Carly Koeberl are our featured speakers at Social Media Breakfast Willmar Lakes Area on Thursday, August 4th, 2016. Brett and Carly will share the story of starting this business and using social media and other marketing channels to gain traction. Find out how their marketing efforts evolved and grew over time and how they encourage their customers to provide marketable content.

About Brett: Stamp-n-Storage Founder, Brett Haugen, is an OCD mechanical engineer who enjoys woodworking. His wife, an avid paper crafter, was looking for better ways to organize her supplies. He built a prototype for her, and the company blossomed.

About Carly:  Stamp-n-Storage Marketing Manager, Carly Koeberl grew up in Hector, MN and earned her bachelor of science in Marketing at the University of Northwestern, St. Paul.

Stamp-n-Storage has four core values: Customer Happiness, Attention to Detail, Stewardship, and Safety.  “Organize your craft.  Unleash your creativity!” is their tagline, and Stamp-n-Storage is passionate about providing paper crafters with high-quality, space efficient, desktop craft storage and organization solutions which allow them more time to enjoy their hobby.  Learn more about the Stamp-N-Storage Company and their products.

June 2 @ 8:00 am – 9:00 am

A few tips, tricks, and shenanigans for Non-Profits and really everyone to use social media to help reach and engage their audiences, create momentum and build community.

James Miller is the Executive Director for the United Way of West Central Minnesota, involved with Safe Avenues, Willmar Fests, Vision 2040, Willmar Rotary, 20+ year member of the Ten Club, an unapologetic procrastinator and Social Media Experimenter…

May 5 @ 8:00 am – 9:00 am

Join us for the May 2016 Willmar Lakes Area Social Media Breakfast at the WORKUP!
We kick of at 8am and conclude around 9am. Free coffee. Free breakfast. Free knowledge. All we ask is that you register! All are welcome!

About the May Social Media Breakfast
In the rush for “immediate” marketing results on social media, is your creative process suffering or getting skipped altogether? Betsy Bonnema from REDstar, a full service advertising agency in Willmar, will talk about the importance of maintaining a collaborative, insightful and rigorous creative process, no matter where you want to advertise.  Along the way, she’ll give you a behind-the-scenes look at her team’s creative journey in the launch of WORKUP, a new coworking space she opened in May of last year. Marketing for the space has relied heavily on social media, and Betsy will share some of their creative wins and losses throughout the journey.

About Betsy
Betsy Bonnema is the owner of REDstar, a full-service marketing and advertising agency with a 25 year history in the Willmar area. In May of 2015, Betsy and her team launched a new business venture called WORKUP, a coworking and meeting space on the historic MinnWest Technology Campus in Willmar. Her growing REDstar team is now the anchor tenant and marketing agent of WORKUP. Betsy is also an active community volunteer, organizer of the annual TEDxWillmarLive event and mom of two teenage daughters.
About Willmar Lakes Area Social Media Breakfast
The Willmar Lakes Area Social Media Breakfast (SMB) kicked off for the first time in 2012. Since then, a dedicated group has served on the committee working to bring local organizations to the table to share their social media knowledge with the rest of us! Since it’s start, the group has grown to bring in regional experts on not only social media but also analytics, email marketing, blogging, social advertising and other digital marketing techniques. We gather the first Thursday of each month at 8am to hear from these experts.

The Willmar Lakes Area SMB group would not be here if it wasn’t for the folks who serve on the committee and our generous sponsors.

Our Sponsors
Thank you to our sponsors for contributing everything from the necessities (like coffee) to time and funding. We truly appreciate you!

• SWIF
• Willmar Public Library
• TerWisscha Construction
• Donner’s Crossroads
• United Way of West Central MN
• WORKUP
• Vivid Image
• VantagePoint Marketing Consultants