Depending on time availability, one way I usually take a shot at invites is via a quick tweet to the referenced people or groups, w/ article link. Or firing off an email. I think what you're doing here is important.

Hi Joe, can you explain, I have over 1,200 twitter followers but will say, I am more of an advanced LinkedIn user, with over 5,500 connections (Not the LION type either).

Very straightforward process. For this conversation, primary targets for joining the discussion might be Innovacorp, New Dawn, CB Partnership, StartupCB, ACOA, and the various other groups that we can rhyme off or Google. :) So I would just quickly find their Twitter accounts by Googling. Then fire off a quick tweet asking for their input. I like that method because when they reply (if they do), people that are following their tweets may see it as well and check it out. Note: If you can track down names of their officers (Twitter accounts), cc them as well. Less likely to ignore the tweet if you contact a specific person directly (versus just the brand). But email is just as good an alternative. For those that are not active on Twitter or don't follow it that closely, an email invite is the way to go. I've done this with the Mother Canada criticisms article. Once people are aware of it, and have a direct invitation, many of them will actually join in. Without the invite, they either don't know about it or don't bother dropping in. ;)

I forgot to mention, I'm actually using my own app (socialresponseapp.com) to run a test Twitter campaign promoting the Mother Canada criticism summary article. I think that is generating some hits as well.

Part II: Now let's switch to the mindset of *sales*. For the purposes of this exercise, we'll define "sales" here as: Persuading someone to buy-in to a desired outcome for us, by clearly demonstrating the value in the opportunity for them. Getting them from just thinking about it to doing it. QUESTION: What would be the best way for us to take this highly qualified prospect, and convert them into a customer? Highly qualified prospect = starting a new business, excited about the idea of moving to Cape Breton Convert to a customer = have them decide to move here and start their business In our scenario, there is no reason to believe our German immigrant (who's doing all the convincing) has any particular connection to the business community, or is aware of all the programs. So what is the path of least resistance for getting this person to come to Cape Breton, start a business, and establish roots? Option A: They can do extensive online research themselves, reading media articles that reference programs, jump from website to website, digging through abstraction mission statements, terse program references, and then start making phone calls to get leads from each program administrator? Option B: They find a single web page resource that lists *every* active organization, active program, qualifying criteria, program options, etc? Option C: They enter a form that describes their business and their objectives, and start receiving responses from each of the participating organizations active that have evaluated their business opportunity and believe they can provide assistance? Which of these scenarios is most likely to result in the *sale*, i.e. getting this person so up to speed on available programs that we tip the balance in their decision making in our favor? Which of these most efficiently facilitates the process for (a) the new startup entrepreneur, (b) each organization individually, and (c) the collective Cape Breton economy?

Interesting ideas, Joe. Let me firstly say (shameless plug here) that having a sophisticated and vibrant online community portal like goCapeBreton.com should position us well in the mind of this prospect, being a software developer and all. Startup area, funding, real estate, business services, etc. All the pieces to facilitate a move accessible in one place. Re: Option B - This can certainly be crowd-sourced and perhaps we can create a simple template for these agencies to follow. I think this is relatively easy to accomplish. In fact, we've already got the topic standing by: https://capebreton.lokol.me/business/local-investing/funding-sources RE: Option C - I think this would take more effort - a relational d'base or survey perhaps that matches keywords or check boxes with agencies and sends notices. Not sure who would take this on (unless paid), but once we have the data from B, then perhaps that's half the grunt work done. BTW if businesses want to post their interest re: funding, they can do so here: https://capebreton.lokol.me/business/local-investing/seeking-funding And (in theory), the various agencies could monitor this section and respond.

The types of conversations that are emerging here are certainly demonstrating the potential of this platform. Though it could be argued that we (i.e. early adopters) are all known to each other already for the most part, these and future discussions are here to be read and provoke discussion for anyone interested in these topics in perpetuity. ;) For the project ideas, specifically Option C, given the number of organizations out there, if they saw the value in such a strategy, they could do joint funding. And this is something that those knowing how to access government funding would probably be able to get the province or federal gov to pay for all or most of it. I would think it would be a natural fit with the CBRM. What could be better for economic development (desperately needed) than creating such a asset (entrepreneur) *discovery* and efficient *funding* platform? For my own part (i.e. bias), I'm committed to fully embracing digital marketing for everything. I can't imagine why the mayor wouldn't have created a short youTube video and broadcast it to every social channel they have in advance of the Innovacorp Spark Cape Breton program. That is probably the fastest way to startup seed capital out there. Would love to see the municipality jump into the game and start proactively and meaningfully promoting these programs. #nonpartisan