The Social Media Marketing & Communications guide for Natural Health and Wellness insiders.

CHFA Webinar w/ Roy Prevost

Roy Prevost and the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) have asked me to co-present a webinar for CHFA members. The webinar will focus on social media marketing approaches for health food businesses.

This complimentary webinar is for CHFA members only.

When: February 23, 2011. 11am PST

Details can be found on the CHFA website:
Complimentary Webinar Featuring Social Media Expert, Justice Marshall

CHFA webinar with Roy Prevost

CHFA Expo West: Highlights from the Trade Show Floor (Part 2)

Here’s Part 2 of my CHFA Show Floor Highlights (See Part 1 here). Once again I’ve chosen to spotlight smaller companies that I believe are well positioned to leverage social media tools.

Note – My comments and recommendations are based on brief observation and are meant to provide a learning opportunity for readers. None of the companies that I feature in this post are current or past clients. Full disclosure: I have received no financial compensation from any of these companies.

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Reserveage have a very strong visual brand and a niche product, claiming to have the only certified organic Resveratrol on the market. They’ve started a Facebook page, but have done little with it so far.

Recommendations -

CHFA Social Media Seminar: Followup Questions and Answers

One of the most valuable parts of presenting to an audience on the topic of Social Media is the Q&A. I like to stop for questions at key times to make sure my audience is following – and to tap the collective curiosity (and wisdom) in the room.

If one person asks a question, I assume many more are wondering the same thing.

I got some great questions at my recent talk for health food store retailers at the CHFA expo west convention and tradeshow.

I’m going to recap some of that Q&A here, and I invite you to continue the conversation in the comments section below.

Q: Do I need to use all three? (Twitter, Facebook, Blog)

CHFA Expo West: Highlights from the Trade Show Floor (Part 1)

The CHFA Expo West 2010 show is over, and I thought I’d recap a few highlights with you.

Prairie Naturals (Full-disclosure: client) received a record breaking FOUR awards at Saturday evening’s annual CHFA awards. Congratulations to the Prairie Naturals team, to the other suppliers who were nominated, and to the retailer nominees and winners.

Prairie Naturals have gone from “zero to sixty” on Twitter and Facebook in just a few months and have enjoyed some big wins. I’m proud of them .

Interestingly, the winner of this year’s Retailer award – Community Natural Foods -is also using Twitter and Facebook to deepen their customer experience.

Of course all of the industry’s big NHP players are present at the annual CHFA Expo events, but what I want to focus on today are some of the up-and-comers that caught my eye with their innovative products and/or remarkable branding.

How To Use Twitter For the CHFA Expo West Show: #chfaexpowest

Going to the CHFA Expo West show?

Using Twitter to connect with your customers and B2B colleagues?

Want people to find you at the show?

Then you’ll want to include the hashtag #chfaexpowest in all your tweets that relate to the show… before, during and after the show. Using a hashtag in your tweets makes it easy for show attendees to find show-related tweets and to follow show-related conversations. You’ll be able to simply do a twitter search for “#chfaexpowest” and see a current list of all tweets that include the hashtag.

It’s a simple and powerful way to cut through the noise on twitter and connect with the people at the show.

Twitter Your Way to Success: CHFA ExpoWest 2010 Seminar with Justice Marshall

(NOTE: Only CHFA members can attend CHFA Expo West events.)

From the seminar description…

Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, Blogging… Social media is rapidly changing the way customer and B2B relationships are developed and managed. How can YOU use these tools to build brand loyalty, synergize strategic partnerships and ultimately improve your bottom line?

Whichever online medium or strategic approach you choose, there are four crucial principles to observe. This seminar is for social media “newbies” who want to get started right, and for intermediate users who want better results. You’ll come away with a roadmap and concrete examples of how to use these four key principles to participate successfully in the social media arena.

See you there!