A Blogging and Social Media Intensive: How to harness new media to build your brand and directly connect with your customer

Southern Weddings Magazine has taken the wedding world by storm using social media as a powerful tool to connect with readers, customers, and advertisers directly. The Southern Weddings blog started in April 2008 and quickly gained a national audience using up-and-coming progressive media outlets such as Twitter, Facebook, daily blogging, and key networking secrets that will be shared in this intensive workshop. SW was conceived as a local magazine in Pensacola, Florida, and thanks to the blog and these social media outlets, SW was picked up by a national distributor, placed on the Alltop list of top wedding blogs, is linked on thousands of other websites, and reaches hundreds of thousands brides each month with nearly 2,000 daily subscribers. The print version of Southern Weddings launched this January all over the country to rave reviews. Southern Weddings is the total media package: a small town business turned national powerhouse thanks to social media and clear strategy.

This workshop will help you breakdown your business model--whether photographer, event planner, publicist, entrepreneur, hotelier, big business or small business--and help you to see how social media is essential to survive and thrive in today's market. New media has proven to take any business to the next level in profitability--if used correctly with several easy techniques taught in this workshop.

The SW Social Media Intensive is geared to those who are not tech savvy. Learn the basics and essentials of blogging and reaching a limitless, specific audience online.

• Learn why using social media is essential for your business in this economy. Customers are craving connection and transparency.
• Learn the basics of blogging.
• Learn why and how blogging can be profitable for your business.
• Learn how to create a blog that brings (and keeps) the audience you desire.
• Learn how to interpret web traffic and statistics.
• Learn how to use Twitter and Facebook for business.

The SW Social Media Intensive includes personalized business strategy advice and a Q and A portion with the SW editors and publisher, Lara Casey. 

About the publisher: Lara is originally from Pensacola, Florida where she owns Bliss Event Group, a wedding and event firm handling all aspects of event production. Lara graduated with honors from Carnegie Mellon University and studied art and design at Yale University. Lara is a member of Mensa, a National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts Scholar, and an avid fitness buff. Mrs. Casey has a wide array of successes including having been a celebrity personal trainer in Manhattan, a contributor to Shape Magazine. Lara is currently Publisher of Southern Weddings Magazine, and has been featured in numerous wedding and event publications including The Knot Weddings. She is a Certified Bridal Consultant through the Association of Bridal Consultants. Lara is thrilled to have been an integral part of celebrity event firm Corridan and Company in Santa Barbara and florist to the stars Mark's Garden.

Registration is limited to 50 attendees.