Scott Smigler's BlogFounder of Exclusive Concepts and Conversions On Demand

I talk a lot about online community building and the potential for online communities to inspire people to take action OFFLINE, in addition to taking action ONLINE. This past Monday I put my money where my mouth is and I attended my first ever Meetup through MeetUp.com:

The Cambridge SEO Meetup.

Brian Hawkins, master networker and all-around good guy, invited me to take part in the event and present a case study on how we get our clients out of Google’s supplemental index. Mark from MarksGuide.com (a GREAT local blog about networking) posted a review of the event here.

In attendance were very interesting people with varying levels of SEO knowledge. I’ve been to a fair number of SEO events, and I actually learned something from this group. I’ll be back!

There it is, my first national television experience – with JJ Ramberg on MSNBC’s Your Business! The show just aired (7:30 this fine Sunday morning).

It was a great experience. I usually don’t get nervous, but I have to admit that I was a bit anxious as I stepped into the “elevator” for the elevator pitch. That part was actually filmed first and I was able to get most of the butterflies out of my system. Amanda (from RealTimeShredding) who pitched Jeff and I (my fellow panelist) was incredibly sweet, and I think she did a great job. Elevator pitches like that aren’t easy and she knocked it out of the park. Jeff is a super-smart entrepreneur and VC; and it was a pleasure being on with him.

Are you a small business owner? I’d love to hear from you.

Several weeks ago I was invited back to Bentley to speak to Professor Shuman’s class (he teaches a great course on entrepreneurialism). Professor Shuman asked me to share my story with the students, and I was asked lots of questions about how I managed to build a company from my dorm room, and what it’s like to be a young CEO now that i’ve graduated.

I’ve done this several times over the years and I really enjoy it. Students (especially Bentley students) are not afraid to be blunt, and often what ensues is a very open conversation that includes both the pros and cons of Entrepreneurship.

One of the students who attended just sent me a nice email:

I should have emailed you a week or so ago but it slipped my mind until I came across your business card today. I wanted to thank you for speaking to our entrepreneurial thinking class. Your visit was one of the more informative and interesting presentations we have had over the course of the semester and I just wanted to let you know that it was appreciated.

- Tara

That really made my day.