Damian Rintelmann Helps Companies See The (Digital) Light at Module 09

In our current economic climate, more now than ever, companies need practical advice on how to stay abreast of marketing trends (while avoiding the fads), increase their communication efficiency and maximize their dollar.

It’s for this reason that we’re excited to announce conference presenter Damian Rintelmann’s topic: How To Develop Innovative Digital Strategies With Social Media and Technology

“Many organizations think of the online space like a magic eight ball—they expect to peer into it and be told that Facebook (or Twitter) is right for them. The truth is there aren’t any easy answers. To be effective, social media must be a part of a bigger equation.”

In his presentation, Damian will explore how the best digital executions weave solid strategy with well-executed tactics to achieve measurable results. And why focus on (and knowledge of) your audience, timing, and goals is prerequisite.

In nearly 10 years of working on the Internet and in telecommunications, Damian has worked with numerous memorable brands like General Motors, Proctor & Gamble, Coca-Cola and more. Technology moves at light speed these days, but Damian moves faster. How else could he have scored a hat trick at Joe Louis Arena?

Read more about Damian Rintelmann and all of this year’s conference presenters here.

Module 09 Digital Conference highlights:
Our goal is to help companies respond to new media communication challenges including:

• Why should I care about the digital landscape in 2009 (and beyond)?
• Which technologies are right for my needs?
• How do I manage communication via the digital space?
• How do I measure my return on investment?

Featured sessions will provide practical approaches to meet these challenges by using readily available digital tools:

• How to evaluate and integrate new technologies and trends for your business
• Selecting the right digital channels to broadcast your message
• Your digital mindset: How to create your online presence
• Digital marketing’s global impact

Social Media Symposium: How to responsibly & effectively broadcast your message over the social media channel

• Relationship management via the social media sphere
• Learning to listen: How to hear your customers and join the discussion
• Making social media work for your brand

For more information about the Module 09 Midwest Digital Conference, please visit the conference web site or contact us.

Charlie Wollborg to Moderate the Module 09 Midwest Digital Conference Panel

As we move closer to the conference date on April 10th we are pleased by the continued enthusiasm for our program of presenters and topics. And we can now add one more fantastic name to that group: Charlie Wollborg, who will be lending his voice as panel moderator to this year’s conference lineup.

Charlie opened the doors on Curve Detroit Advertising, Marketing & Design after being thrown out of several well respected ad agencies. As a writer, designer and strategist, he has delivered blue sky ideas and bottom line results for blue chip local and national clients including: Saturn, Mazda, Boyne, Sanders Candy and Blue Cross.

He is a sought after keynote speaker for his lively presentations on branding, marketing and social networking. He helps smart companies stay on top of what’s new, what’s now and what’s next in the world of business.

In keeping with the highly interactive theme of social media, this year’s panel discussion will be conducted in tandem with a moderated online discussion. Real-world and virtual attendees will be invited to participate in the ongoing conversation via Twitter where they can ask questions, engage the Twitterverse (and fellow conference goers) and share their opinions on a wide range of topics. Our online moderators will be monitoring the trends and feeding the most active topics to the live panel moderator to influence the on-stage discussion in real-time. We’re positive the interactive panel discussion format will be sure to educate and delight.

Read about Charlie Wollborg and all of this year’s conference panel, here.

Module 09 Digital Conference highlights:
Our goal is to help companies respond to new media communication challenges including:

• Why should I care about the digital landscape in 2009 (and beyond)?
• Which technologies are right for my needs?
• How do I manage communication via the digital space?
• How do I measure my return on investment?

Featured sessions will provide practical approaches to meet these challenges by using readily available digital tools:

• How to evaluate and integrate new technologies and trends for your business
• Selecting the right digital channels to broadcast your message
• Your digital mindset: How to create your online presence
• Digital marketing’s global impact

Social Media Symposium: How to responsibly & effectively broadcast your message over the social media channel

• Relationship management via the social media sphere
• Learning to listen: How to hear your customers and join the discussion
• Making social media work for your brand

For more information about the Module 09 Midwest Digital Conference, please visit the conference website or contact us.

New Business Registration: Sole Proprietor/Partnerships Vs. LLCs

So…. You’ve gotten past the initial trepidation and you want to go into business for yourself. Outside of all the other things you must consider when starting a business; you must understand HOW you are going to conduct your business. There are many different entities that your state has created that allow you to do business with vastly different consequences. Here are just a few things to consider. Please keep in mind that I reference Michigan law because that is where I practice.

Sole proprietor, partnerships vs. Limited Liability Companies

Some businesses start out as sole proprietorships, partnerships, limited partnerships, etc. A partnership is very simple to form and involves very little formality. The mere act of conducting business for a profit between two or more persons will cause a partnership to arise under Michigan law. With regard to Name Protection, In order to protect the partnership’s name, a Certificate of Co-partnership should be filed in the county where the partnership is located. A partnership can do business under more than one name by filing a Certificate of Persons Conducting Business Under Assumed Name with the county where the partnership is located (aka “dba’s”). The failure to file a Certificate of Co-partnership will not terminate a partnership. An additional benefit to the Certificate of Co-partnership is that it discloses to the public the partners who have authority to bind the partnership. With regard to agreements, a partnership agreement is not required, but it is recommended. The partners should understand what their rights and responsibilities are relative to one another. Without a partnership agreement, the law assumes that all partners share equally and make decisions equally.

All of the aforementioned entities do not afford you any personal protection from liability if things go horribly wrong in your business venture. In some cases, this is not of much concern because many start-ups have very little in terms of assets and neither do the individual owners. However, most people with the courage to start their business usually have assets they want to protect from litigation or court judgments. The important thing to remember in the beginning is whether your customers believe they are doing business with you personally or whether they understand that they are doing business with a company that you happen to own. If they believe that they are doing business with you, and you have done nothing with regard to state filings and your money goes directly into your personal checking; your potential exposure to liability could be immense. This potential liability also applies to you when your partner promises a customer something neither of you can deliver. Personally, I cannot think of a worse situation.

The LLC achieves the advantage of limited liability like a corporation, yet the owner need not observe traditional corporate formalities.

The lesson here is to know that at the very least; your state affords you the opportunity to do business as a Limited Liability Company (LLC). An LLC is created by filing Articles of Organization, which are similar to Articles of Incorporation for a corporation. Attorneys and promoters may sign LLC Articles of Organization so that an LLC can be formed in the same way a corporation can be formed. Initially, a member of an LLC was required to sign Articles of Organization. An LLC can be organized to engage in any lawful purpose permitted for corporations or partnerships, and its duration is perpetual unless otherwise indicated in the Articles. The name is protected when the Articles of Organization are filed. The name must contain the words “limited liability company” or “L.L.C” or “L.C.” (with or without periods). The LLC may adopt one or more assumed names by filing a Certificate of Assumed Name with the Department of Labor & Economic Growth. An LLC should provide for the rights and responsibilities of the members in an Operating Agreement. The lack of an agreement can be disastrous. Without an agreement, each member is entitled to one vote and the profits of the company are split evenly, regardless of what the parties intended. One or more members are allowed. This is a very important advantage for sole proprietors. A sole proprietor can become a single member LLC and will still be taxed as a sole proprietorship. The single member LLC need not be taxed as a corporation. This allows those persons who conduct a business as a sole proprietorship to obtain the benefit of limited liability with little expense or hassle. The LLC achieves the advantage of limited liability like a corporation, yet the owner need not observe traditional corporate formalities. The primary formality is that the owner must keep LLC funds in separate accounts and make certain the business is done in the name of the LLC; otherwise, the benefit of limited liability may be lost.

Under the Check-the-Box regulations by the IRS (absent an election otherwise), a single-member LLC is disregarded as an entity separate from its owners (thus referred to as a “Disregarded Entity;”“DE” herein) A DE is a tax-nothing. It is not taxed; its owner is taxed as if the DE did not exist. The corporation holding the DE functionally holds the LLC the way a corporation holds a wholly owned subsidiary corporation, which protects the corporate owner from the LLC’s liabilities. Single-member LLCs, treated as DEs for tax purposes, are very beneficial since a corporate owner does not need to file separate federal tax returns, yet achieves diversification of risk. The Articles of Organization must state the name of the LLC. The Articles must state the purpose of the LLC or that the LLC may engage in any activity for which an LLC may be formed under Michigan law. The Articles must also state the resident agent and office, the LLC’s maximum duration if it is not perpetual, and an indication of whether the LLC is manager-managed or member-managed.

These are but two options to consider when starting your new business venture. The next time we will navigate the vast differences between LLC’s and Corporations.

Chris Brogan Offers Insights Into Online Business Communication at the Module 09 Midwest Digital Conference

Increasingly, digital media continues to change the way we interact with one another as a seeming limitless procession of options are offered to the business leader each day. Staying on top of the trends while maintaining marketing best practices can, therefore, seem like a daunting task. In the midst of such a challenge to the modern business, we are proud and excited to present Module 09 Midwest Digital Conference attendees with one of new media’s chief voices: Chris Brogan.

Chris Brogan is President of New Marketing Labs, a new media marketing agency, as well as the home of the New Marketing Summit conferences and New Marketing Bootcamp educational events. He helps large and mid-sized businesses understand how to use social media tools like blogging, social networks, community platforms and more to build business value for marketers, sales organizations and internal collaboration in general.

Chris is a ten-year veteran of using social media and technology to build digital relationships for businesses, organizations, and individuals. Chris speaks, blogs, writes articles, and makes media of all kinds at chrisbrogan.com, a blog in the top 20 of the Advertising Age Power150, and in the top 100 on Technorati.

Chris’ presentation at this year’s conference is entitled, “You Shall Know Us By Our Dial tone: Presence in Business Communications.”

There are two possible reasons Barack Obama won the US Presidential election: one is that he had more money and spent it better than his opponent. The other is that he reached out to people via social networks, cell phones, text messaging, Facebook, and all the other places where people spend time that aren’t a traditional landline phone. If you’re cynical, you go for reason 1. If you’re a futurist, you break down reason 2 and figure out how to move forward.

You don’t have time for the future. You have to sell more product. You’ve got things to do. Your inbox is filling up. Your budget is cut. You’re looking for results and it’s not the time to plant a slow-growing forest for future trees. So let’s not go that way.

Join Chris Brogan for a fast-moving discussion on how presence, social software, and the new velocity of online business communications is shaping the way you’ll do business in 2009 and beyond at Module 09 Midwest Digital Conference, April 10, 2009.

Read more about Chris Brogan and all of our presenters at this year’s conference here.

Module 09 Digital Conference highlights:
Our goal is to help companies respond to new media communication challenges including:

• Why should I care about the digital landscape in 2009 (and beyond)?
• Which technologies are right for my needs?
• How do I manage communication via the digital space?
• How do I measure my return on investment?

Featured sessions will provide practical approaches to meet these challenges by using readily available digital tools:

• How to evaluate and integrate new technologies and trends for your business
• Selecting the right digital channels to broadcast your message
• Your digital mindset: How to create your online presence
• Digital marketing’s global impact

Social Media Symposium: How to responsibly & effectively broadcast your message over the social media channel

• Relationship management via the social media sphere
• Learning to listen: How to hear your customers and join the discussion
• Making social media work for your brand

For more information about the Module 09 Midwest Digital Conference, please visit the conference web site or contact us.