Monetizing Social Media w Allan Grafman – UVEF, MWCN, UTC, WBI
Thursday, August 19th, 2010
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.








Two of the top three
As the new 2010 Chairman of the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum (