The Ethan Awards

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Nominated Author: Conrad Hall
ISBN 10: 1-60037-742-6
ISBN 13: 978-1-60037-742-6
Publisher: Morgan James Publishing
Publishing Date: July 20, 2010

The Entrepreneurial Idea:

Conrad is the only social media expert who actually shows you what to do. He actually helps businesses and non-profits achieve their marketing goals.

Please describe the creative and entrepreneurial achievements of the Ethan Award nominee:

Conrad has written and published 5 business titles on marketing and product creation in just 19 months. In copywriting, he has written for Early to Rise, Ontario General Contractor’s Association, Dr. Al Sears, Working Moms Only and American Writers and Artists.

As a social media expert, Conrad is the only one willing to even say Facebook is bad for business. He puts real power behind his assertion by making a clear business case for why Facebook is not the magic wand so many other “cow patty gurus” claim it is.

He is working with Rotary to develop an Online Marketing University for Rotarians, and is developing a one-day social media workshop as a fundraiser for Rotary’s End Polio Now campaign. He has also developed the G.L.A.D. Social Media System to walk everyone through the steps of being sure your current marketing is working, finding your online niche, and then using social media to grow your business.

Conrad has partnered with Matrix Media in Chicago to launch Social Media – Cheap and Easy. It’s an online radio show that shows business owners how to use their marketing and social media to increase sales and profits. He is also working with Meetup.com to implement their new Meetups Everywhere with ShelterBox USA, End Polio Now and Court Appointed Special Advocates.

What skills has the nominee used to obtain these results? Please focus your entry around particularly novel or unique approaches, spectacular innovations, and creative insights:

Conrad brings 21 years of relationship marketing into the social media marketing arena. He spent 21 years in residential renovations – working with clients who had had a contractor in their home who did a bad job.

When he retired from construction and started writing, he also started learning about social media. When he read the books and articles other people were writing, he noticed it was a lot like the things contractors tell their customers. It was more confusing than it needed to be, and actually made social media harder to use.

So Conrad decided to use his years of explaining renovations, and making things clear to clients, to make social media clear. He has succeeded with Friends, Followers and Customer Evangelists.

He has a uniquely conversational style of writing that gets you nodding your head and answering questions as you read. This is the only business reference book I know that gets you laughing, nodding and talking while you read.

Conrad’s just as effective in person, too. One president from a Rotary club said Conrad is the one of only 3 speakers who was able to go over the allotted presentation time and the members stayed to listen.

His presentations are dynamic and packed with information. Conrad’s even planning to launch a social media super hero.

What does the nominee have in store for the next 5 years? How will it shape the nominee’s industry, the world of business or our culture at large? Please focus this answer around the nominee’s vision for the future and his/her specific plans for achieving these goals:

Over the next 5 years, Conrad is working with Rotary to develop an online marketing university to help Rotarians around the world grow their businesses. He’s also working at the District level to show clubs how to use a new website system, and incorporate social media in their marketing.

As part of that process, he’s developing a one day workshop (4 – 90 minute sessions) to walk through the G.L.A.D. Social Media System, how to set up a blogsite, get up and running with Meetup, and how to combine social media with traditional marketing. The workshop is going to serve a triple purpose of helping business owners, growing Rotary membership, and raising funds for End Polio Now.

The objective is to raise $200 million in 2 years for the End Polio Now project, and help Rotarians achieve their objective of having each member find one new member.

He’s also working in local communities with CASA (Court Appointed Special Advocates). It’s a non-profit organization that watches over the interests of abused children in our neighborhoods. The office in Will County has fallen on hard times, and Conrad is using social media to rebuild the program and expand it to serve both Will and Grundy counties.

While the global work of ending polio goes on, the local, state and federal levels of CASA work o protect the most vulnerable children in our communities. Conrad is using social media to get the messages out, empower business owners to make a difference, and draw people back to volunteering.

To encourage entrepreneurship and community service in teens, Conrad is also the Rotary Advisor for his local Interact Club. With the teachers and his fellow Rotarians, they are working to show teenagers the value of being a strong, ethical business leader who serves the community faithfully.

It’s time to vote! Voting is easier than ever:

1. Click the golden “vote” button to the above right to cast your vote.
2. Leave a short comment below to compel others to vote for your favorite.
3. Remind all your friends to vote as well!

Max of 1 vote per day per author on up to 4 authors.

To nominate your own work or another favorite author, click the “nominate” banner to the right, and simply follow the instructions to cast your vote before voting ends!