Keynote Speaker Ted Rubin Emphasizes Creating and Maintaining Personal Relationships
EDISON, NJ – July 17, 2013 – More than 600 Middlesex County business owners, employees and legislators turned out yesterday in Edison to build relationships, showcase their own businesses and to show that the Hispanic business community is a major economic force in Middlesex County.
The 3rd Annual Hispanic Business Expo, sponsored by the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce and Feria De Negocios Hispanos, drew 145 exhibitors representing the nonprofit, health care, retail, finance and hospitality sectors.
“Middlesex County is New Jersey’s economic core and the Hispanic business community here is, in many ways, responsible for that,” said Alex Hollywood, president of the Middlesex County Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Hollywood pointed to the county’s 45-percent increase in the Hispanic population since the 2000 Census, with Latinos comprising 18 percent of the county’s population. “This growing group has significant purchasing power and plays a key role in our region’s economy,” she said.
As the Hispanic community – and particularly its business community – continues to grow, maintaining sustained personal and business relationships is critical, said Luis De La Hoz, Spanish program coordinator at the Intersect Fund, a New Brunswick-based micro-lender to small business entrepreneurs. De La Hoz also chairs the Small Business Council as a member of the Middlesex Chamber’s board of directors.
“You can’t wait for opportunities,” he said. “You have to be out there.”
De La Hoz said the level of demand has determined the Expo’s success.
“I really believe the Hispanic business community needs a venue like this to meet new people and explore new opportunities,” he said.
“In the United States, there are 23 million small businesses that provide 55 percent of all jobs and account for 54 percent of all U.S. sales,” De La Hoz said. “This is important to note because we have mostly small businesses at this Expo and it speaks to our ability to provide terrific opportunities for these small businesses to network and subsequently grow.”
Keynote speaker Ted Rubin, chief social marketing officer of the online marketing firm Collective Bias and a “Forbes Top 20 Social Media Influencer,” talked about leveraging those connections for a “return on relationship” and creating an authentic connection in business.
“Most people don’t participate, but they are listening and the more you engage, the more they will listen,” Rubin said, quickly adding that making lasting business relationships shouldn’t only hinge on a social media campaign.
“Pick up the phone,” he said. “You don’t need an emoticon to express your emotions there.”
Rubin cited several large companies, including JetBlue Airwaves, Adobe Systems, the software company, and Duane Reade, the New York City-based pharmacy chain, that have grown their social media operations without losing a connection with customers.
“Social media drives engagement and engagement drives loyalty,” Rubin said. “But you have to always consider your reputation and not your social media ranking; it’s about loyalty, not celebrity.”
