Entrepreneur one to follow on Twitter

Forbes magazine named Brookside resident Shelly DeMotte Kramer one of the Top 30 Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter.

Kramer, who owns V3 Integrated Marketing, a full-service marketing firm headquartered in Kansas City, Mo., conducts business throughout the world.

“(It has been) pretty amazing,” she said. “I’ve been very fortunate.”

The Forbes recognition is not Kramer’s first industry accolade.

Kramer was named No. 12 in the list of the World’s Top Tweeters in December, as one of the Top 10 Twitter Influencers by voting peers in November, and ranked 194th out of 5.8 million users last week.

“Part of what I do for a living is help people with new media,” she said. “I’m really well-versed in Twitter. I understand the new field.”

Kramer said it has been critical for the well-being of her business to work in new media. She said the world has shifted. Consumers no longer gather their news and information from print, television and radio.

“Consumers are no longer interested in being broadcasted to,” she said. “They want to have a voice.”

Kramer said social networks like Twitter help consumers find instant information and solve their problems.

She recently worked on an event using a new management program. Frustrated with the program, she “tweeted” a complaint. Her BlackBerry lit up with solutions from all over the world just before the company’s president responded and offered her his cell phone number.

“Do you think I was impressed?” she asked. “Now I can tell you a happy story. The president fixed it. That’s cool.”

Kramer said instead of traditional research with resources like Consumer Report, consumers can use social networks to find instant answers.

She tweeted for help when her new Mac laptop died. A friend in Barcelona, Spain, tweeted Kramer a solution and Kramer was able to re-boot the computer.

“It’s an instant help desk,” Kramer said. “It’s from all over the world, every minute, every day.”

Kramer said 80 percent of businesses hire from the networking site LinkedIn.

“Why would you go anywhere else?” she said. “It’s for free. It’s a huge information source.”

Kramer said she paid attention to new social media sooner, when other professionals in the industry did not.

She said small businesses adapt faster than larger agencies with more bureaucracy and small agencies can make a bigger impact.

“That’s what I’ve done,” she said.

Kramer cautions that although social networks remain critical to the integrated marketing strategy, using Twitter is not right for everyone.

“Know what medium is right in your business,” she said.

Angela Hurt of Veracity Solutions in Leawood said Kramer, a self-taught expert in social media, uses another skill that sets her apart.

“Not only is she knowledgeable about this stuff, she’s a people person,” Hurt said. “She has this ability to make connections with people you wouldn’t expect.”

Dr. Michelle Robin, a wellness chiropractor at Your Wellness Connection in Shawnee, has known Kramer for 15 years. She said Kramer’s strategies are brilliant in several ways.

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