About Harrison Painter

Harrison Painter is the Director of Business Development at BLASTmedia. He has been a major force in creating successful “traditional meets digital media” campaigns for companies, celebrities, & professional athletes from New York to Los Angeles.

February 3, 2012 By Harrison Painter Leave a Comment

Facebook IPO: What is the Future of Social Media?

I think we will look back at the Facebook IPO as the day the infant period of the social media era ended.

The social space is officially big business, and with that comes a harder push for monetization and regulation. Where will all of this take us, what is the future of social media?

Nobody can really make that prediction. Did you honestly think back in 2006 that adult professionals would be talking about how tweeting, liking and pinning might be able to increase revenue for a company?

To have a little fun and spark some conversation, I wanted to share this video with you. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Digital News and Conversation

February 1, 2012 By Harrison Painter Leave a Comment

What is the Cost of a Bad Hire? (Infographic)

Smart Money

Check out this great infographic covering the cost of a bad hire, and tips on how to avoid making this huge financial mistake.

41% of companies said that a bad hire cost them at least $25K!
25% of companies said that a bad hire cost them at least $50k!

The good news is that this is somewhat preventable. While the hiring practice may never be perfect, there are ways to increase your odds of finding that right fit. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Development, Infographics, Team Building

January 25, 2012 By Harrison Painter 3 Comments

How to Increase Sales by Embracing the Word “NO”

Need a Hug The life of a salesperson is filled with rejection. You hear the word “No” over and over, and sometimes it can really take a toll. It can be difficult to increase sales while you are being beaten down emotionally. I want to help you, I want to take that pain away right now!

Top producers always seem to be so positive, how is that even possible? Let me share a secret with you.

Like it or not, we are all salespeople.

Looking for a job or working hard at a promotion?
Trying to get into that perfect college?
Want your marketing budget increased?
Are you raising money for a non-profit?
Asking your spouse if you can play golf this weekend?

If you have done any of these things above, you were selling! As a matter of fact, you are probably trying to persuade someone every single day in some form or fashion. That’s selling!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Business Development, Sales

January 18, 2012 By Harrison Painter Leave a Comment

Content Blocked By SOPA/PIPA

Nothing to see here, move along.

Content Blocked by SOPA and PIPA

What is going on? Check out Google’s infographic here.

Filed Under: Digital News and Conversation

January 16, 2012 By Harrison Painter 2 Comments

Six Ways to Make People Like You

Like Coffee with Harrison

I was thinking a lot today about how people act at networking events. Let me rephrase that. I was thinking a lot today about how poorly people act at networking events.

Business is not built on the products/services you sell, it is built on the relationships you make.

Let’s face it, humans are naturally selfish. We love to talk about ourselves, and the rise of social media has really magnified the “all about me” mentality. This is simply not a winning formula when trying to network and connect with new people. Take note, it does not matter if you are meeting in person, or via Twitter, the rules are the same.

The good news is that you can turn this weakness into a huge asset simply by feeding into what we already know about human behavior.

A huge reason why I am successful today is my “less about me and more about you” mentality. I honestly don’t care if someone thinks I am important or influential. What I care about is if I can make you feel special, like the only person that matters to me at that moment.

This brings me to the age old formula presented by Dale Carnegie in the legendary book “How to Win Friends and Influence People”. If you are not familiar with this book, I highly recommend you pick it up today. It was written in 1937, and in my opinion, there has not been a better text on this topic published since.

Six Ways to Make People Like You

Become genuinely interested in other people
Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language
Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
Talk in terms of the other person’s interests
Make the other person feel important, and do it sincerely
SMILE!

This is the magic formula for those serious about building your business, making customers happy and having productive employees. Keep in mind, you can not fake this, it has to be sincere. I know we live in a high pace and ever changing landscape, but the one constant that does not change is our need to be heard.

Take the time, listen more, and build those authentic relationships. I can guarantee you will see a massive return on the time you invest.

LOVE IT!

Harrison Painter

Filed Under: Business Development, Networking

January 15, 2012 By Harrison Painter Leave a Comment

Business Development Podcast Coming in February!

The new Coffee with Harrison Podcast is launching in February and I could not be more excited to get back on the air and connect with each and every one of you!

This is going to be a professional, informative and fun program covering all things business development! The show is being designed to help you understand how to leverage digital media, generate more leads for your business, and connect you with some amazing people. I will be interviewing corporate industry leaders, entrepreneurs, best selling authors and more!

Coffee with Harrison will be delivering a double shot of massive value to help you brew that maximum social performance needed to succeed in 2012 and beyond!

Launch date is February 21, 2012……Stay tuned!

Coffee with Harrison Podcast

Filed Under: Podcast

January 3, 2012 By Harrison Painter 1 Comment

The Real Reasons Behind New Years Resolutions! (InfoGraphic)

So you made some new years resolutions………again.

It’s a fresh start, a new beginning, some might even say epic! However, let’s take a look at some of the real reasons that might be swaying your decisions to do without.

New Years Resolutions 2012 Infographic Image: Simon Swatman

Okay, okay! I know this was not very motivational, but you must admit, it was funny.

LOVE IT!

Harrison Painter

Filed Under: Archive, Infographics

December 28, 2011 By Harrison Painter 5 Comments

Growth of QR Codes (Infographic)

I wanted to take a moment and share this fantastic infographic on the growth of QR Codes with you.

These are the two most interesting statistics to me:

QR Codes Scanned Mostly by Women (64%)
Only 22% of Fortune 50 Companies Using QR Codes

Seems a bit of a disconnect between the two numbers to me, but then again, the larger the company the slower the implementation.

There has been a lot of debate over the last few months as to the use of QR Codes, and honestly, I am torn on the subject. I would love to get your opinions on what you think the future holds, and what the evolution of the QR Code might look like.

Rise of the QR Codes Featured

Rise of the QR Code

Inforgraphic created by queaar.

Filed Under: Archive, Infographics

December 27, 2011 By Harrison Painter 5 Comments

Social Media Focal Point #2: Consistent Content

This is the second part of my 7 Social Media Focal Points to Evaluate Now series. Today we will be talking about why it is important to create consistent content for your blog.

The number one issue I see in the space is companies that have a static blog. Yes, this was more than acceptable only a few years ago, but simply having an informational page is not good enough anymore.

I know you might think the website looks cool with all the flash animation, but after the first visit or two, it becomes annoying. The name of the game today is in getting people to not only visit the website, but to come back, and often! It just takes more to build your brand and generate leads on the web today.

The blog is the foundation of everything else that you do in the social media space. This is where you ultimately want to lead your friends, fans and followers too. So it is crucial that your digital presence be dynamic, alive and constantly feeding your web visitors with value. Keep in mind that the content does not always need to be groundbreaking, but it does need to reflect your corporate culture and business philosophy.

What does consistent content do for your blog?

Gives the visitors a reason to come back!
Allows customers and prospects a chance to engage and share your content!
Increases your search engine optimization (SEO) so that people can find you!
Builds trust and credibility!
Generates more leads!

Don’t let the maintenance of a blog intimidate you, as the workload is not as great as it may seem. You can always hire a company to help you create and manage content, or spread the writing to a few people in-house and create a simple editorial calendar for you and your employees.

Let me give you an example:

Monday: Company news
Tuesday: Industry opinion column
Wednesday: Lists (Top 7 reasons you should be on the cloud)
Thursday: Interview with customer or industry peer
Friday: Make this a fun day, something to show your corporate culture. (Employee spotlight, office party, charity event, photos)

Creating an editorial calender will make the content workload much easier, and allow for your company to create that consistent content so needed in the current digital climate.

Something I will be talking a lot about in 2012 is the use of video content, but I will leave that one for another day. The important thing right now is to create good habits, and then we can start looking at more creative ways to generate that content.

We often hear that social media has given the customer a voice, but it has also given the company a voice too. We can touch our target markets better, and faster, than ever before.

Hope this helps to clarify a few things for you, and that it make your blogging experience more enjoyable.

If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave me a note in the comment section below!

LOVE IT!

Filed Under: Archive, Blogging, Business Development, Social Media