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SMALL CAP CEO’s … DID YOU KNOW?

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 5:16 PM on Wednesday, November 29th, 2023

40% of GenZ investors are NOT searching on Google

Rather, they are starting their searches on #tiktok and #instagram

If you want to attract younger investors to your story today – and quite frankly forever – you have to start engaging them on their platforms, which means:

* Amazing Graphics (Images, Videos, GIFs)

* Great Captions (Title & Description)

* Trending Music / Sounds (Gotta Entertain Them)

Hope this helps

If you don’t have anything less than an amazing social media strategy to tell your story, don’t hesitate to reach out to me to discuss our cashless and 100% compliant online program

> https://lnkd.in/dkQcTCey

#smallcap #smallcapstocks #marketing #digitalamarketing #investorrelations

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VIDEO: 10 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Your iPhone

Posted by AGORACOM at 4:39 AM on Tuesday, August 19th, 2014

Small Cap CEO Lesson – What Is The Ideal Time To Post Investor Relations Messages To Social Media?

Posted by AGORACOM at 9:26 PM on Thursday, May 15th, 2014

For the sake of putting an end to this ridiculous debate (the only exception being material press releases that should always be issued no later than 8:30 AM EST), I give all Small Cap CEO’s and IRO’s the following answer to the above noted question …

Just post great information that your shareholders and prospective shareholders will find valuable. The rest will take care of itself!

Infographic courtesy of Aaron Wood

AGORACOM Warned You – Facebook IR Will Fail You…Proof Is Now In

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:45 AM on Friday, April 11th, 2014

Good morning to our small-cap CEO’s and IRO’s, as well as all our new additions.  Every 2-4 weeks for the last 7 years, we’ve provide small-cap companies with “small-cap intelligence” – information that helps you make better decisions.

For those of you who are new to the list, we were very pleased to announce the following earlier this year:

AGORACOM Hits 37 Million Page Views, 4.4 Million Visits In 2013

AGORACOM Small-Cap Videos Break 500,000 Views, Dominate Search Engine Results

On March 17, 2011, AGORACOM made the following presentation at the Vancouver IR Conference to a packed house of CEO’s and IRO’s.  Yes, we can draw a good crowd wherever we present but this one was standing room only due to the subject of our presentation:

Why Facebook Investor Relations Will Fail You (click on link to watch the presentation)

In our presentation, we outlined several reasons for our warning that were summarized as follows:

But relying on Facebook as your primary online investor relations destination is a recipe for disaster.  Contrary to what Social Media IR Experts (aka “Pretenders”) will tell you, Facebook IR will fail you.

Today, after an overwhelming number of failed attempts by small-cap companies we unfortunately have the final nail in the coffin for both small and large cap companies via the following article from one of the leading online experts:

In short, Facebook has pulled a bait and switch on every brand / company that has worked hard over the last several years to build and communicate with their own fans/followers/investors via Facebook Fan Pages.  Specifically, Facebook now decides what messages your followers see when you post to your own Facebook page.

The result is that a very small percentage of your investors will now see the messages you post and expect them to see … UNLESS YOU PAY FACEBOOK A FEE

That’s not a typo.  It’s 100% true.  Despite all the effort companies may have put in to build their audience, Facebook is now going to limit your reach and make you pay to get full reach.  The result has driven and is going to drive away companies from Facebook:

 

Tech billionaire and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban says he is fed up with Facebook and will take his business elsewhere. He’s sick of getting hit with huge fees to send messages to his team’s fans and followers.

Two weeks ago Cuban tweeted out a screen grab of an offer he’d received from Facebook. The social network wanted to charge him $3,000

There it is folks.  Nothing comes for free and nothing is worse than a bait and switch.  There are some other strong reasons why we predicted Facebook IR will fail you in our presentation but this is the nail in the coffin.

CONTACT US TO DISCUSS YOUR ONLINE IR NEEDS AND OUR POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

I thank-you for reading and trust you found this information to be helpful.  If you’re ready to step into real and sustainable online investor relations for 2014 and beyond, please contact me below.

** INQUIRE ABOUT OUR CASHLESS PROGRAM FOR QUALIFIED COMPANIES

Small-Cap Companies Listed On The OTCQB / TSX Venture / Canadian Securities Exchange Qualify For Our Hugely Popular Shares For Services Program.  Get All The Firepower Of AGORACOM Without Paying $1 In Cash.

Best Regards,

George Tsiolis, LL.B

Founder & President

AGORACOM Investor Relations

So You Think You Can Handle Small Cap Online Investor Relations On Your Own?

Posted by AGORACOM at 2:30 PM on Saturday, April 27th, 2013

If you thought small cap social media investor relations was all about opening a Twitter and Facebook account, think again and let me know how you are going to handle all of these tools … or just give us a call.

BREAKING: SEC Says “YES” To Social Media. AGORACOM Online IR Platform For Investor Relations & Disclosure

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:09 AM on Wednesday, April 3rd, 2013

This is simply big – and long overdue –  news out of the SEC last night.  In 2008, the SEC allowed companies to use their websites to conduct investor relations and make disclosure.  As of today, companies can now use social media sites to conduct investor relations, including the release of material news, data and information.

WHY IS THIS SO IMPORTANT FOR US SMALL CAP COMPANIES?

1.  Freedom To Communicate And Create Real Conversations With Investors – Until yesterday, small-cap CEO’s couldn’t say a thing about their businesses without consulting lawyers, their board and anybody else in the compliance process.  This made it extremely difficult – actually impossible – for small-cap companies to release any new information via anything but a press release, especially those small but important tidbits of information that didn’t warrant the expense of a press release.

For example, this specific decision arose from an incident that occurred last summer when NetFlix CEO, Reed Hastings, posted to Facebook that NetFlix had exceeded 1 billion hours in a month for the first time.  It was an important milestone that Hastings wanted investors to know about – but not necessarily something that warranted a press release or SEC filing.

The SEC took exception and opened an investigation in whether or not this violated selective disclosure rules.

However, as a result of this decision, the SEC now agrees that release of such information via social media sites is sufficient.  The only requirement is that all companies must make it clear to investors that they plan to use a particular social media site (i.e. AGORACOM).

In the case of AGORACOM, all clients issue press releases announcing the launch of their online IR community.  Until yesterday, those IR communities were used to post press releases and then answer questions from shareholders. NOW, small-cap executives can make a major leap forward by actually posting helpful information and data to help investors better understand their company and progress.

For example, a small-cap executive at a trade show can now go back to their hotel room and post an overview of the day including the number of visitors to their booth, product feedback, etc. Moreover, small cap companies can now provide regular updates on previously announced or brand new initiatives.  The possibilities are endless.  The most important thing is such disclosure can now lead to real conversations with investors that extend well beyond big material news.

This is critical for small-cap companies that typically don’t have or can’t afford a plethora of press releases and want to fill the information gaps with shareholders.

2.  Significant Savings – In the sentence above, I touched on the fact that most small-cap companies simply can’t afford a plethora of press releases.  As such, they are forced to release only the biggest, most important news, which significantly limited their frequency of communication with investors.  The only option was to issue more press releases and spend more $$.  With this new SEC decision, this is no longer an issue.

Moreover, small cap companies were often forced to issue “kitchen sink” press releases because they would piggyback smaller tidbits of information and updates with material press releases.  I don’t have to tell you how that causes expenses to skyrocket when you are being charged by the word.

3.  Size Doesn’t Matter – It doesn’t matter if your online shareholder audience is 200,000 or 200.  As long as you’ve clearly told investors where to look for your information, you’re good to go.

4.  Social Media vs Your Website – Investors simply don’t have time to navigate to every website of companies they’re either invested in, or interested in.  They overwhelmingly prefer financial communities such as AGORACOM, or even non-financial communities such as Twitter where all information is available under one roof.   Thanks to this decision, small-cap companies can now meet investors where they exist, rather than forcing them to visit stand alone websites that rarely change with the exception of new press releases.

CONCLUSION

This is a great day for small-cap companies and investors that want to truly engage in meaningful discussions without having to worry about disclosure rules and expenses.  To be clear, you are still going to issue important, material press releases by press release.

However, much like the NetFlix example above, it is all those valuable morsels and tidbits of information that can now finally be set free to open the lines of communications with current and prospective investors.

“Great day” is actually an understatement.  It is more accurate to say this day is monumental, even epic for small-cap investor relations.

To discuss this post and your next investor relations steps, contact me right now.

Regards,

George Tsiolis, Founder

AGOARCOM

AGORACOM Investor Relations Hits 3.8 Million Visits, 34 Million Page Views Q1-Q3

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 9:17 AM on Thursday, October 4th, 2012

We are very pleased to announce that AGORACOM continues to hit significant traffic milestones in the small-cap space, with more than 33,990,000 (million) page views and 3,840,000 visits to AGORACOM in the first 3 quarters of 2012.  These traffic figures are especially valuable given the significant issues surrounding small-cap stocks from May – August.

SMALL CAP RECOVERY SHOWS BLISTERING TRAFFIC AS INVESTORS RETURN

To this end, since the rebound in small-cap stocks after Labor Day,  AGORACOM has recorded 4,000,000 (million) page views and 432,000 visits, which would equate into a blistering ~ 50,000,000 (million) page views and 5,000,000 (million) visits on an annualized basis.

AGORACOM continues to rank us amongst the top 0.3% of all websites on the planet.

As always, here is the official Google Analytics snapshot for the period

WHY IS AGORACOM YOUR SMALL CAP INVESTOR RELATIONS SOLUTION?

1.  Serious & Engaged Small-Cap Investors

Each small-cap investor reads an average of 8.85 pages on every visit and stays on the site for 8:01 per visit … these small-cap investors are engaged in serious research.  Give them a chance to discover you.

2.  Bigger, Cheaper, Way Better

We’re not afraid to say it.  Our programs are cheaper than traditional investor relations … but far more effective because we use technology to get you in front of a proven, massive audience.  You save money, while directly reaching your target market of investors within 24 hours of starting your program.

3.  Shares For Services – Work With AGORACOM, Keep All Your Cash

AGORACOM recently announced our “Cashless” IR program in which qualified companies trading on the TSX Venture / TSX or quoted on OTCQB / OTCQX or higher can pay for their entire AGORACOM program via Shares For Services.  You get all of our marketing power AND keep your valuable cash for operations.

Win-Win

CONTACT US TO DISCUSS YOUR ONLINE IR NEEDS AND OUR POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

I thank-you for reading and trust you found this information to be helpful.  If you’re ready to step into real and sustainable online investor relations for 2012 and beyond, please contact us via this form and we will get back to you within 2 hours!

Best Regards,

George Tsiolis, LL.B

Founder & President

AGORACOM Investor Relations

Start Your QE3 Program With AGORACOM ASAP

Posted by AGORACOM-JC at 4:53 PM on Monday, September 10th, 2012

AGORACOM Audience Passes 24 Million Page Views, 2.7 Million Visits In 1St Half 2012

HOW IS YOUR COMPANY GOING TO RIDE THE GLOBAL QE WAVE?

Europe has officially announced an unlimited bond purchasing program and QE3 is imminent.  Small-cap stocks have been revitalized with all small-cap indexes up sharply over the past month …. but this is only the beginning.

We believe this is the beginning of yet another massive long-term surge for small-cap stocks.  Here is what the last surge looked like after the announcement of QE2

In July, we announced that AGORACOM hit significant traffic milestones in the small-cap space, with more than 24,000,000 (million) page views and 2,700,000 visits for the 1st half of the year.  The next 6 months will be even stronger as small-cap investors re-enter the market in search of cheap, oversold small-cap stocks.

WHY IS AGORACOM YOUR SOLUTION?

1.  Serious Small-Cap Investors

In addition to the traffic numbers above, each small-cap investor reads an average of 8.9 pages on every visit and stays on the site for 8:06 per visit … these small-cap investors are engaged in serious research.

2.  Faster, Cheaper, Way Better

Our programs are cheaper than traditional investor relations … while directly reaching your target market of investors within 24 hours of starting your program.

3.  Cashless 144 Program – Work With Us, Keep Your Cash

AGORACOM recently announced the launch of our “Cashless 144” IR program in which companies quoted on OTCQB, OTCQX or higher can pay for their entire AGORACOM Online Investor Relations program via 144 restricted shares.  Companies must have a minimum 2-year operating history.

This program is extremely valuable for companies that want to execute a complete online investor relations and social media program without impacting their valuable cash reserves.  Key information as follows:

COST AND TERM

Rule 144 stock:                         $85,000. No out of pocket cost to you. We become your investor

Term:                                       12 months.  We don’t believe in short-term promotions

Program:                                   Our entire program. Every tool. Nothing has been left o

4.  A Specific Solution For Chinese Small-Cap Companies

CHINA 2.0 BEGINS WITH STRONG ONLINE INVESTOR RELATIONS

Chinese companies are under a sustained online attack via both major media sources (CNBC, Bloomberg, etc.) and short selling “analysts”.  Much of this has been unfair BUT we only have ourselves to blame given the fact Chinese companies have outright failed to bridge the information gap between operations and investors on opposite sides of the world.

This has resulted in a lack of transparency, leading to disastrous results. Press releases, filings and occasional conferences are not sufficient for building relationships with current and prospective investors to combat the information gap exploited by short-selling opportunists.

The time has come to look at new solutions. The time has come to build “China 2.0” through a smart and global reaching online investor relations and communications with investors.

CONTACT US TO DISCUSS YOUR ONLINE IR NEEDS AND OUR POTENTIAL SOLUTIONS

I thank-you for reading and trust you found this information to be helpful.  If you’re ready to step into real and sustainable online investor relations for 2012 and beyond, please contact me below.

Best Regards,

George Tsiolis, LL.B

Founder & President

AGORACOM Investor Relations

416-496-0496 / 866-234-9934

 

Small-Cap CEO Lesson: You Are Not Berkshire Hathaway, So Write Better Headlines For Your Press Releases

Posted by AGORACOM at 10:25 AM on Tuesday, September 4th, 2012

I came across this press release today:

————

Canadian Overseas Petroleum Reports Second Quarter Results

CALGARY, Aug. 10, 2012 /CNW/ – Canadian Overseas Petroleum Limited (“COPL” or the “Company”) (XOP: TSX-V) announces its second quarter results for the three months and six months ended June 30, 2012. The Interim Financial Statements and Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the second quarter can be viewed on the company’s website at www.canoverseas.com or on SEDAR at www.sedar.com under the COPL listing.

————-

That was the entire press release, with the usual About and Contact information below it.  Here are my comments:

1.  I understand the trend towards notice and access press releases, which basically entails companies advising they have issued a press release and letting you know where you can read it.  It has numerous advantages, especially the cost of having to distribute a long quarterly report.  Companies across the entire cap-range are using this new technique to cut down costs, including the richest man on the planet.

(Side Note – What Is A Notice And Access Press Release? – Notice and Access press releases give companies the option to stop sending full-text news releases and instead use paid PR wires to advise investors that new information is available on companies’ websites and provide direct links to the information.) Via IR Web Report

2.  Canadian Overseas Petroleum, or any small cap for that matter, is not Berkshire Hathaway.   If you want new investors to read your press releases, you absolutely have to get more descriptive in your headline.  Tease us with some figures related to revenues, income, production, growth … anything to make investors want to pick your press release out of the pile and actually click through for more.

3.  We now live in a social, interconnected world where your actual and prospective investors can “Like”, “Tweet”, “Retweet” and post compelling news with just one click.  Give them a reason to get you and your news viral.  I guarantee you that “Reports Second Quarter Results” doesn’t work for anybody with a market cap under $100 Million.

Press releases are an important component of investor relations for any small-cap company … make them count.

Regards,

George

Like this Small-Cap CEO Lesson?  View all of my Small-Cap CEO Lessons here.

 

 

Small-Cap CEO Lesson: The 8 Best Investor Relations Practices During Market Turmoil

Posted by AGORACOM at 7:55 AM on Thursday, May 17th, 2012

Much of my time this week has been spent flagging calls from small-cap CEO’s asking what they should be doing about Investor Relations in this market.  Given the fact I can’t get on the phone with all of you, I’ve listed 8 effective things you should be doing right now to take control of your investor relations during this market turmoil.

GETTING INTO THE RIGHT MINDSET

Before even starting on my 8 best practices below, you are going to need to get into the right mindset.  Specifically, it is important to understand that during this kind of market environment, investor relations is not just about increasing your share price.  Every company is getting hit, so to think you can buck that trend isn’t realistic.

Rather, your goals in this environment are:

  • Short Term – To mitigate, even stop any further losses to your market capitalization.
  • Longer Term – To take advantage of competitors with weak or non-existent strategies and attract new investors.

Both goals are heavily dependent on choosing the right philosophy.  Specifically:

(+)  If you listen to me and get proactive, a properly executed strategy will yield great short and long-term results.

(-)   If, as some small cap CEO’s have told me, you choose to run for cover and fail to communicate,  you are creating a guaranteed recipe for disaster.

THE 8 BEST INVESTOR RELATIONS PRACTICES DURING THIS MARKET TURMOIL

With all this in mind, here is the AGORACOM recipe for success during periods of market turmoil.

1]  Silence Is Death - Have you ever had a friend or family member owe you money but suddenly become hard to get a hold of? How did you feel? Do not make your shareholders feel this way or they’ll write you off as a bad debt and wash their hands clean of you. This is no time to duck for cover if you believe in your business, your plan, your management team and your board.

2]  Provide Long-Term Vision – Investors are worried by these short-term market gyrations.  It is your job to get shareholders to look beyond this gyration and remind them that you are building a long-term business that will survive and thrive far beyond 2012.

3]  Accentuate Your Strengths – Provide shareholders with a press released corporate update that discusses the strength of your product / services / project / technology.  Be sure to also address the long-term viability and strength of your industry.  Remind investors that there will always be demand for your products and you are one of the companies that will be benefiting from it.

4]  State Of The Union – Support your corporate update with a multi-media “state of the union”.  Specifically, tape an audio or video address for your shareholders that conveys confidence.  If your text based corporate update in step 2 provides the facts that assure investors, your multi-media address will provide your shareholders with confidence they are in the right hands.  No matter what the context, people need to hear from their leaders.  Think Winston Churchill in WW II, or George Bush after 9/11.

5]  You’re Not Bullet Proof – Be honest about any negative impacts to your operations.  Shareholders don’t expect you to be bullet-proof, so openly telling them about the 1 or 2 items in your business that have been impacted demonstrates an honest and realistic management team.

6]  Differentiate Yourself From The Pack - Though you should never specifically name a competitor, do to tell investors about any significant general problems with your competitors, some of whom will not make it through this period due to poor planning or business models. Differentiate yourself from the pack.

7]  Business As Usual - Do not hold back communications as part of a “market timing” strategy.  Yes, be careful not to issue press releases on a specific morning where futures are showing significant weakness due to a macro event – but it is otherwise business as usual, so get on with your business and continue issuing press releases.

8]  Capitalize On New Blood - Never, ever stop looking for new investors.  You are in a position to benefit from the following two ways:

First, we all know that a significant portion of small-cap and micro-cap stocks are unfortunately built upon unviable business models.  That is the nature of the business.  Shareholders in those companies will see the writing on the wall, take their tax losses and start looking for high-quality alternatives that can help them get back above water over the next 12-24 months. Be that alternative!

Second, investors that were smart enough to raise cash earlier in the year will be looking to come back into the markets over the next few months.  They will be looking for good companies with good management teams executing a plan that will succeed over the next 2-3 years. Be there when they come knocking!

CONCLUSION

If you need any more proof about the validity of this plan, I ask you to once again follow the AGORACOM experience.  Despite the fact markets are going through tough times, we have managed to maintain a status quo and actually grow while other investor relations firms suffer.

Why? We practice what we preach:

A]  We openly communicate with and help our customers as much as ever during this turmoil.  We don’t go silent.

B]  We continue marketing ourselves via search engines, our blog and newsletters to attract new customers.

If you follow our plan, never lose site of the fact that you currently have great shareholders and remember there are millions of other shareholders looking for companies like yours, you will succeed in mitigating short-term losses while maximizing long-term success.

Regards,
George

Did You Find This Article Helpful?  What To Do Next …

1]  Read George’s Small-Cap CEO Lessons For Free Powerful Advice On Great Investor Relations

2]  Contact AGORACOM To Discuss Your Online Investor Relations Needs and Solutions