Who is Stephen Smith

Stephen Smith is a customer-service oriented professional with over 14 years of experience in hospitality management leading sales and service (that's a fancy way of saying that he used to manage restaurants and hotel banquet departments!). Coming from that dynamic environment, Stephen brings high-touch experience to the internet with hands-on coaching and education.

Believing that it is more important to teach someone how to fish than to simply give them a fish, you can expect him to teach you how to cast your line into the waters of media properties, and why they are to be cast that way.

Most entrepreneurs and small-business people know a great deal about their chosen field and have a passion for what it is that they do in their business. However, unless that passion includes researching things like:

* Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics,
* Internet-specific writing styles,
* Website architecture,
* Social Media Marketing and Engagement strategies

-then it is quite likely that they will continue to struggle in the old ways of advertising and marketing. Advertising that gets increasingly expensive, less effective and decreases as newspaper and TV exposure decline. Your customers are moving their attention to the internet, how will they find you there? That is the conundrum that Stephen will teach you how to solve.

Social Media Marketing may sound really complicated and technical, but it only means one thing: you get to talk to other people about things that you are both excited about. Oh, and once you all get to know each other, maybe do some business.You know the details of your business, whether that is flowers, fishing, or mortgage banking. You talk about these things with your customers when they see you at work, with your friends and neighbors when you see them in the neighborhood, with your colleagues in the business world when you get together for Chamber and Rotary events. Sure, you talk about local news and current events too, right? No one wants to talk about business all the time.

You talk about the things that are important to you and about things that are important to your friends.Now imagine taking these conversations online, put them on your website so that when strangers come by they can see what you and your friends are talking about. They can ask questions. They can get involved too. Then they will stop being strangers and start to become members of your community, your circle of friends.

"All things being equal, people want to do business with their friends." ~Jeffrey Gitomer

Stephen Smith stopped having a "job" in September of 2008. He has been writing for online news sites and blogs for more than two years, establishing Productivity in Context as one of the top-rated Productivity blogs in the world. Along the way he learned what it takes to turn a simple website into a trusted resource, a publishing vehicle, an advertising tool, and part of a route to financial independence. He now creates websites and internet marketing programs for start-ups, small- and mid-sized-businesses and coaches them on how to engage their audience via the tools of Social Media.

Stephen refers to himself as a "Social Media Evangelist" as there is no such thing as a "Social Media Expert". The concepts and ideas of Social Media are just too new. An innovation may lie just around the corner that can blow up everything that we know. Until then, you need to know what is available to you - to your business NOW - and how to use it to reach out to your customers. Stephen will teach you how to do this without spamming them and without acting like the classic, smarmy "used car salesman" (he's been one of those too).

Location: Lake Winnipesaukee, NH, USA

Contact: stephen[at]stephenpsmith[dot]com

- Connect with me at LinkedIn.

- Follow me on Twitter.

Blog:

Productivity in Context is my primary platform for writing articles on Productivity and workflow practices. Business Development in Context is the newest resource, featuring emerging trends in new media and the future of work. I have created some organizational products available for download in the shop, printed materials at Lulu.com, and an Amazon store for recommended reading materials.

Education:

Illinois Institute of Technology, Mechanical Engineering program, 1987-90

Affiliations:

Member of the D*I*Y*Planner community 

Member of the Getting Things Done Network

Specialties:

Productivity research and innovation, organization tool design and development, new media investigations, collaborative new product development, word-of-mouth marketing, virtual workspaces, pattern recognition, blogging

Work Experience

View my current resume (PDF) here. 

In Context MultiMedia


In Context MultiMedia is your home base for these outstanding programs and media resources:

• Productivity in Context - Basic practices and simple methods for improving your workflow and home life.


• Training in Context - Self-study courses on Search Engine Optimization. Learn how to create conversations in the new online marketplace. Your customers want to talk to you, are you ready to listen? Are you ready to talk back?

Put Stephen Smith to work for you
Work? What kind of work? "What can Stephen do for me" you ask.

Well, let me share with you just a few of the things I have learned and applied during my career in business, both large and small.
By the way, our first 15-minute telephone consultation is free - request a consultation!
Learn the Best Productivity Practices

• Your calendar is a tool, not a prison. I can show you the best practices for how to get the most out of what you put into it. This can even include designing a customized calendar page that fits your specific needs if necessary, or simply how to get the most out of your current system.


• Your workflow should be just that, a flow. I can help you identify the bottlenecks and determine how you spend your time, then we work together to discover how to best invest your time. I can teach you how to get your work done in less time so that you can a.) do more work, if you want to, or b.) do more living!


• Your workspace needs to be designed to improve how you work and what you get done, it should not be something that gets in the way of your productivity. Is your workspace holding you back? I can show you how to organize your workspace, your files, and your supplies in a way that helps you, not hinders you.

Ask me about productivity, and tell me how we can work together on your productivity skills.

Take Advantage of Social Media with Personalized Web Consulting

• Are you using Twitter and StumbleUpon to build your personal network and communities for Social Networking? I can help you learn how to get involved with these communities that can bring more traffic to your website/blog and increase your business.


• Are you using all of the features of LinkedIn for professional networking and job-seeking? I can help you learn how to increase your web presence and improve your chances of being noticed.


• Would you like to have a blog or website but don't know where to start? Or do you have a website and need some help in keeping it updated and modern? I can do this for you or teach you how to create your own blog or website for yourself or your business. I can handle the URL registration, hosting set-up, and theme-design through my own extensive network of graphic- and web-designers.

Through trial and error - as well as under the coaching of some of the best web-designers in the biz, I've found that not all blog platforms are created equal. WordPress represents a great platform for managing content, not just blogs - but websites.
Why would you use a blogging platform for your website?

1. It is easy to update,


2. It is easy to personalize for your business or brand,


3. Keyword friendliness for Google searching,


4. You generate your own fresh content.

Ask me about Social Media, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together on your Social Media presence.


Interview Skill Training

• Do you need to improve your interview skills in order to land a job? I can teach you how to put your best foot forward, what kinds of questions to expect, and how to determine if this is the job for you in the first place.


• Do you need to hire someone to fill a position? I can teach you how to ask specific, job- and performance-related questions to find the best person for the position. I can work with you to identify the skills and attitudes that best qualify a candidate for your organization, then turn this information into a performance-based interview template.

Ask me about improving your interviewing skills, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together to prepare for your next interview.
Security Guarantee:
Whether or not we choose to work together the contents of your call will be completely confidential.
Flexible Training Methods
All of these skills are available to you via telephone, e-mail, video-conference or in-person, depending on your specific needs.
Please send me an e-mail, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together to develop your business or your own personal skills.
Free Telephone Consultation
Our first 15-minute telephone consultation is free and we will determine a budget for your project or training at that time.

You can see my old-school resume (last updated October 2007), or you can see the 21st century resume here at LinkedIn. You can also see more of these recommendations there: (read all of the recommendation in text format)

Thank you very much for considering my services, I am looking forward to working with you! Click here for a contact form, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together on your future.