Listen Now

At our last West Maui Social Media Users Group (MauiSMUG) we started to touch a topic that many small businesses face the challenge of answering, will social media work for me? When Blen, owner of Maui Grocery Service, spoke up to say it has been extremely helpful for his business, we knew we had to have him on the podcast to share about how he has been using social media. In this podcast you'll hear how Blen was introduced to online marketing, blogging, Twitter, Facebook and email campaigns. This small owner is ahead of the game!

We sit down with Pomai Weigert and Koa Chang from the Alii Kula Lavender Farm to talk story about the success of the farm and how they helped usher in an era of the Hawaii Agritourism industry.  Listen to the back story of how it all got started by Lani Medina Weigert and Alii Chang who combined 30 years of experience in the visitor industry and grass roots marketing. Listen as we talk farming, marketing, social media, and the future of Hawaii Agritourism.

As you may recall we interviewed Gwen and Karen of Wahine Media not too long ago.  It was an amazing hour of social media talk story where we got to pick their brains about their go to platforms and tools for social media management.  Gwen and Karen turned us on to Sprout Social so when we started tweeting about the podcast it caught Sprout Social's eye and they joined in on the conversation so we asked them to come on the show and tell us all about Sprout Social.  One reason we really like this interface is because it has a lot of features, functions, analytics (for us stats junkies) and the reasonable monthly plans for small businesses that makes this a big plus. In this half hour you'll learn what makes Sprout so special in a market place full of available tools. We hope you learn and enjoy the show!

A couple weeks ago we had the chance to talk shop with David Raatz, aka @Raatz.  A long timer to the social aspect of the web, it was interesting hearing about how Hawaii government is moving into social media.  Listen as we bounce around about social media thoughts and insights. Enjoy the show!

In this segment we have coffee break with Sara Tekula, co-producer of TEDxMaui and founder of Plant a Wish.  Since some may have never heard of TED or TEDxMaui we meet Sara for coffee to get to the essence of the event.  Sara gives us an overview into the event and into a few of the speakers. This all day event will inform and inspire just about anyone. TEDxMaui will be on Sunday, January 22nd, 2012 at the Maui Arts & Cultural Center. Plant a Wish is truly a unique and inspiring story all in itself! Listen as Sara explains the inspiration behind Plant a Wish. Her husband Joe came up with the idea for a 50 state tree planting tour which they embarked on complete with documentary.We hope you enjoy the show!

In part two in our lunch with Marilyn of Country Farm Tours we talk about Pinterest, Google+, and of course more Twitter.Marilyn let's us in on a few of her strategies and some more goals she has for 2012. We hope you laugh along with us as we explore the ins and outs of social media.

We were able to have lunch with Marilyn from Maui Country Farm Tours at one of our favorite lunch spots, Star Noodle in Lahaina.  In this two part series, we get to know Marilyn in real life as we talk story about her journey through social media that began in 2009.In the first segment we talk about Marilyn's first blog, The Artful Hawaiigirl, which focuses on her passion for Maui and making everyday a work of art.  Posting 365 days a year across several blogs Marilyn really likes Posterous.  We also learn more about Maui Country Farm Tours and Maui Farmers.We talk about her fascination with Pinterest and how she currently interacts in this relatively new community. We also talk about Twitter, Instagram, her 2012 social media plan, and e-newsletters.We hope you enjoy the show!

We had coffee yesterday at Honolulu Coffee Company in The Shops at Wailea with Richard Tubman who works in Social Media for Levi Stauss.  Here on Maui for a visit home, Richard took some time out to talk story with us.  We're not going to say too much here, you'll have to listen to this one! Don't skip over this short but extremely insightful conversation. Richard was born and raised on Maui and moved to Southern California where he attended the University of Southern California and majored in film and creative writing.  He started crafting web copy for hire and developed copy for search engine optimization (SEO) and became a freelancer for a few different SEO Agencies in the Orange County Area.  Working his way into Brand Management for Social, Richard was asked to join the Levi Strauss Social Team where he current works.  Richard has great advice for taking your brand from the analog space to the digital space and making it social. We talk about creating your brands voice, brand management, ecommerce and ways to create foot traffic into your business.  Enjoy the Show!

We were able to have a private pupus session at David Paul's Island Grill with Elena Rego of FoodPractice.com.  Elena has been blogging since 2007 and is an excellent photographer for two books being released in 2012. Listen to us talk sotry about food porn, Slow Food Maui, Blogging, Google+ and the exciting things coming up for Elena in 2012. Hope you enjoy the show!

We go to up Makawao to talk story over breakfast at Market Fresh Bistro with Amanda of GlutenFreeMaui.com.  This was the first time we've meet Amanda in real life (IRL) and we could hardly believe how much information she has on Celiac disease and ham radio (Amateur radio).  Besides being a certified ham radio user, Amanda shows people that being gluten-free is not the end of the world through her Wordpress blog, Twitter, and Instagram. In this 40 minute breakfast we learn about celiac disease and living gluten free.  We talked about what she uses to manage her RSS feeds, how she's grown to be a fan of instagram, and her great security observations leading to her dislike of Foursquare.  We heard about her real life story with Maui Tacos and the power of bloggers. We hope you laugh with us and enjoy the show!

In this show we sit down and have breakfast with Tania of MauiShopGirl.com.  We, learned a lot from this self-proclaimed "Newbie" about how she got started blogging.  Listen to her real life experience with Decor8Blog.com blogging class called Blogging Your Way and her excellent tips for getting started on Twitter. Hope you enjoy the show!

In this episode @JillzBeanz and @LifeinParadise sit down and talk story with our dear friend and mentor @PeterLiu47.  Peter has been a huge resource for Maui and an inspiration for us.  Because of his extensive knowledge in Social Media and strategy we hope to have him on the show regularly. Here's your introduction to our island expert. Hope you enjoy the show!

In the second part we go deeper into blogging, Social Media, and what coming up for TheOhamaMama.com in 2012. We hope you enjoy the show!

In this coffee talk story Maui style, @JillzBeanz, @LifeinParadise, and @TheOhanaMama sit down @HonuaKai's Aina Gormet Cafe and talk going after your dreams, Maui, Tag-aTowel, blogging, social media, and what's up next for The Ohana Mama in 2012. We hope you laugh along with us as we talk Social Media Maui Style!

In this impromptitude lunch meet up, @JillzBeanz catches up with the Accidental Consultant @erikblair, @DrPriceDC, with a surprise appearance by @DJSMOOK.  We talk story about the recently discovered #HootUp launched in Spain and Japan and we discuss hosting a #HootUp on Maui and to include all Hawaii HootSuite fans. Dr. Doug Price gives us insight into his fascinating specialty in German New Medicine and his transition into Social Media.Surprise visit by @DJSMOOK leads us into discussion about Wordpress. We hope you enjoy the show and get social!

@JillzBeanz and @LifeinParadise, reunite after short winter breaks. We catch up in IRL and talk story about our travels and some of our latest Social Media finds.Skimming the surface of the Social Media Marketing Report from April 2011 found on SocialMediaExaminer.com, swapping stories about #FSMaui, #SMmanners, #PinChat and the upcoming #MauiSMUG Twitter Chats.We hope you laugh along with us and get social Maui!

In this show we (@jillzbeanz & @lifeinparadise) sit down and talk story with @erikblair, a well-known Maui blogger and Social Media user on Maui.  Learn about Foursquare, Twitter and the new upcoming Facebook format. Listen to Erik's opinion about the future of social media marketing on the islands. Enjoy!

We went to San Francisco and met with the Revinate team.  We liked their dashboard so much much we knew we had to bring you a short overview from their Vice President of Marketing and Client Services, Michelle Whol. In the next 5 minutes you'll hear about what Revinate does for hoteliers & restaurantiers and how their software platform can assist with driving sales and loyalty.

In this show we talk story with Dania Katz, a well known Social Media user on Maui. Dania shares about how she uses Social Media for her business as well as personal use. Learn why your business should be using Social Media through her real life experiences. We hope you enjoy the show!