Allan Grafman of All Media Ventures was the featured speaker at today’s joint event sponsored by Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF); Wayne Brown Institute; Utah Technology Council (UTC), and Mountain West Capital Network (MWCN). Held in the Garden Room at Thanksgiving Point, 200+ entrepreneurs and business leaders paid close attention as our skilled presenter spoke on the elusive subject of “Exits, Monetizations & New Media.”

In preface to Allan’s remarks I was able to put in a plug for UVEF to the group. I mentioned that despite our economy, it’s a great time for entrepreneurs. I referenced Hewlett Packard, Howard Johnson, and Boeing as entrepreneurial startups during the Great Depression. I expressed my enthusiasm for today’s speaker as our Public Relations business and all services carrying the “message” to target markets must master social media as yet another terrrific tool for getting the word out and engaging with target audiences.

Allan spoke candidly about the negative ROI being experienced by most investors in 2010. He also pointed to Online Gaming, Virtual Goods, Advertising, and Content providers as near term winners in monetization of social media. He cautioned startups against slowing their time to market to “get it perfect,” saying that an early beta launch can build viral support while gleaning invaluable feedback from which to improve the offering.

One key point that resonated with PilmerPR’s client counsel in the new “PR 2010″ is that EVERY company is now a media company. Those companies which offer the best and fastest content stack the deck in their favor.

Matt Dorey, 25, envisioned Curve Dental as a teenager.

Utah ranks high on list after list of economic indicators, including best places to start and grow a business. The state is the envy of others with an unemployment rate almost three percent lower than the national average. Why? To start with, according to Forbes, Utah is a “hotbed for entrepreneurs.” I would add that the state is also a hotbed for “whiz kid” entrepreneurs. Perhaps this is due in part to Utah public schools teaching entrepreneurism starting in the 4th grade.

We have heard a lot about two college students, Josh James and John Pestana, who started a little technology company that grew into the largest tech acquisition in state history – Omniture. But, they are just the start. Many know that Paul Allen dropped out of school to run his startup, Infobases. Later, he started MyFamily.com, which grew into the present mega-family history service, Ancestry.com. Novell, WordPerfect, the list goes on of legacy companies led by Utah’s whiz kids.

Today, a new crop of young people are farming for fame and fortune in new entrepreneurial startups. Utah Student 25 recently recognized 25 new startups that created more than 100 jobs and $3.9 million in revenue in 2009.

Matt Dorey began the research and development phase for Utah-based Curve Dental five years ago as a teenager with a vision for a simpler web application designed to bring the dental industry into the computing “cloud.”  After securing $9 million in funding, Curve Dental released Curve Hero earlier this year.  Still too young to rent his own car at 24, this young executive was recently named among the top five “People to Watch” among industry pundits.

Read more of John Pilmer’s post on Utah Business Blog.

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Entrepreneurship is risky by definition. Success demands confidence in the face of challenges. An entrepreneur must believe in his/her product or service, or no one else will.

But when does healthy assurance become dangerous arrogance?

A few months ago, Forbes Magazine published the article (and accompanying slide-show), 10 Arrogance Traps For Entrepreneurs. The warnings are sound, and some go counter to conventional wisdom.

In Part 6 of 10 of PilmerPR’s “PR 101″ webinar, John Pilmer discusses five traps from the list we feel are most common and dangerous to entrepreneurs.

To learn how PilmerPR can help your business reach audiences with a proper communications strategy and spokesperson training, visit our contact page.

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Many revolutionary ideas come into the market, and then die from “lack of demand.” The problem is not a bad idea, nor that demand does not exist. Too often, the problem is a failure to reach the audience that demands it.

The Internet is making it easier than ever to find your market, but harder to compete. When consumers are flooded with many companies vying for their attention, repetition is key. A good company must reach those customers through web development, search engine optimization, a strong social media presence, news articles, and more.

In Part 5 of 10 of PilmerPR’s “PR 101″ webinar, John Pilmer discusses how small businesses can find the lucrative “watering holes” and reach their target markets on multiple fronts.

To learn how PilmerPR can help your business reach audiences and increase sales, visit our contact page.

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If a bomb went off in your backyard, would you know it? How about if that bomb was an explosion that took place on the internet and the wider it spread the more damage it did to your business and your brand. When would you hear about it?

Organizations of all types and sizes are finding they have to monitor their online reputation closer than ever before. If you don’t manage your brand and listen to your customers, you could be inadvertently losing leads, revenue and destroying your brand.

United Airlines learned the hard way about monitoring their brand and the difference that one person can make. You might remember Dave Carroll, a talented musician, on a flight to Chicago who, from his window seat, watched his guitars get thrown and broken. Carroll wrote a song about United breaking his guitars and within a few days, the video was featured on CNN, the LA Times, Chicago Tribune, Rolling Stone Magazine & the BBC to name a few. Although United apologized, they cannot replace the now 8.5+ million views of the YouTube video that humorously demeans United’s reputation.

Read more at Utah Business Magazine

You’ve spent time and money planning a public relations campaign, with press releases and social media involvement, and now you need a way to measure its effectiveness. The problem is compounded when you notice there’s little money left for high-budget tools like surveys and ad-equivalency evaluations.

Does this sound familiar?

In Part 4 of 10 of PilmerPR’s “PR 101″ webinar, John Pilmer lists the simple (often free) ways budget-conscious small businesses can evaluate their PR results. To learn how PilmerPR can help achieve cost-effective campaigns with measurable results, visit our contact page.

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On the same May day that the stock market took a steep one-day dive, investors heard from Utah-based REIC that the company had upgraded their five-year forecast, doubling estimates for growth and income. With expansion into 15 other states and new real estate education products, they heard that the company hired 35 people in 2009 and plans similar new jobs in 2010.

Listen: Steve Earl – CEO talks company growth – Apr2010 wealth summit

As energy continues to affect every economic sector, Utah’s U.S. Synthetic recently topped the 500-employee mark. Their forecasts show strong growth with innovative synthetic diamond products coming to market.

Startup Illumra, an Orem incubator (CEDO) company, is ramping sales and staff as they launch disruptive new energy efficient self-powered, wireless electronics that are turning industry heads. In my work with UVEF, Utah Student 25, and other entrepreneurial groups, I see brilliant technologies and bold new products and services stimulating the economy.

While there are still turbulent times ahead, there are positive signs of growth and much to look forward to on the state’s business horizon.

Do you think the economy is on the rebound?

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There’s a war in the communications world, right now, between the terms “press release” and “news release.”

Though the former phrase is still common, and may accurately describe the release’s purpose, others argue it is a relic of the pre-internet era. The Web has made releases instantly available to the world, and not just press. Many times, PilmerPR team members have browsed news online, and found that the top results for their searches are “press” releases.

So how can your small business capitalize on this? How can the releases you are already producing reach your target audience, directly?

In this second parts of PilmerPR’s 10-part “PR 101″ series, John Pilmer will discuss what it means to “think web first,” and how to get your news to your targets with or without media gatekeepers.

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The crowd of entrepreneurs attending today’s UVEF presentation responded enthusiastically to Todd Pedersen, CEO and founder of  APX Alarm. With 5500 employees, the company expects to knock on 10 million doors this summer as it gobbles market share in the home security market. 850,000 installations to-date puts APX in the top 4 companies in their industry.

If you think Todd is ready for a vacation, you would be mistaken, and don’t let his casual dress fool you.  I work out with the guy at Gold’s Gym. This guy is on fire with passion about life, family, and business. His down to earth approach to relationships communicates empowerment to others left elevated by his presence.  Todd is moving the company aggressively into the “energy management” space and plans on having 100,000 such customers by year end. [Now, that's energy efficiency that gets this cleantech PR guy excited.]

Todd’s secrets for success? Here are a few:

“I love stress… If I’m not stressed, it stresses me out.”

“I love problems.”

“Adapt non-stop- change on the fly.”

“Treat employees like gold…employees are the product.”

“If profit is your only motive, you are done already.”

Today’s crowd of around a thousand business, government, and education leaders heard the good, the bad, and the ugly about Utah economic recovery in 2010 and beyond.  While morning keynote and former Wells Fargo Bank VP, Kelly Matthews stated that “headwind issues will trump tailwind ones” this year in Utah, he also quoted comparatively positive unemployment (6.5%) inventory, sales,  and investment numbers that are among the strongest in the nation.

While Former Under Secretary of the U.S. Treasury, Randal Quarles, talked about continued downside pressure in financial markets due to credit market meltdown and the spiraling  U.S. national debt (80% expected growth in 2 years), others expressed optimism.

David Chen, Chair for the Oregon Innovation Council, shared an outsider view as one seeing Utah as “an enviable place to be” especially compared to other struggling western states.  Governor Gary Herbert echoed this positive view pointing to growth sectors like hi-tech, cleantech, energy, biotech, financial, and healthcare. Having just met with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, he said California’s governor may know what it is like to be the “captain of the Titanic.” Utah in contrast, Herbert said, has third parties gushing about our state’s relative strength:

#1 Most Dynamic Economy – Kauffman-State New Economy Index

#2 America’s Healthiest State – Forbes

#3 Best State for Business – Forbes

#1 Expected Economic Recovery – American Legislative Exchange

Governor Gary Herbert says Utah economy "turning the corner"

Multiple speakers including the Governor and GOED director, Spence Eccles, agreed that the support and growth of entrepreneurship is critical to the state’s ongoing economic health. In my more private meeting recently with the governor and Eccles as the the Chairman of the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (UVEF), that point was driven home with the promise to promote an regulatory environment of limited government to allow entrepreneurs and the free market economy to thrive.

As a entrepreneur and business owner (PilmerPR & Junto Communications), my takeaway was appreciation for the state from which we serve a national clientele.

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