Contact: Amanda L. Sage

Phone: (614) 388-8918

E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Website: www.gonggongcommunications.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

GONG GONG U OFFERS "SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE REST OF US"

26-Year-Old's Startup Brings Marketing, Web 2.0 to Micro & Small Businesses

March 3, 2010 — Columbus, Ohio — Social media is both loved and feared in the business world, debated heavily for its effectiveness and its rapid rise into the marketing and communication policies of companies around the globe. Small businesses in particular recognize their need to engage in the new media, but often have no idea where to start.

It's that anxiety and discomfort that Amanda Sage, owner of Gong Gong Communications, seeks to calm. "Business owners and professionals are usually overextended just handling the day-to-day operations of their businesses. Throw marketing and social media into the mix, and their heads want to explode. It intimidates people because it's so new and is constantly changing."

Sage witnessed this apprehension almost daily and realized that people just weren't getting the resources and education they needed. From this epiphany, Gong Gong U was born. GGC's first foray into professional development, Gong Gong U will offer webinars and in-person workshops each month, hoping to quell the anxieties of millions of wary technology users.

"There are resources out there already, but too often they're geared towards people who already have a healthy understanding of technology and/or marketing. What we've found is there is an enormous population who don't have the technical savvy to jump in the deep end every time a new network or software is released."

Gong Gong U's webinars and workshops will focus on social media, small business marketing, and common business software. Classes will be offered for all experience levels and will mimic a school setting so that participants can ask questions, elicit feedback, and find resources even after the presentation is over.

Sage, 26, has been teaching various forms of technology since 1998, while she was a high schooler employed by the New Albany-Plain Local School district to work on their computer network. "I trained teachers and students alike, and eventually members of the community. The average age of my student was about 60, and so I learned early on how to approach technology from their point of view, not like a digital native."

She opened GGC in 2009 and soon found a ready market for her particular approach to marketing. Focusing on small businesses with few or no employees, GGC offers practical, customized marketing and creative services to companies who are often under-served by the larger firms . "We don't deal in cookie-cutter plans. We listen to the customer's needs and craft an effective plan that will be both cost and time effective." The first quarter of 2010 is delivering big things for GGC, who is rolling out a new website as well as adding a new employee, Toledo native Matt Connolly.

Gong Gong U will formally launch on March 31, 2010 at the Ohio Union from 4:00-6:00 p.m. There will be a short presentation on "Social Media: Where We Stand, Why We Should Care, and Where do We Begin?" and a networking session after. The public is welcome and may find more information at http://www.gonggongcommunications.com/gonggongu/launch.html.

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For media inquiries and interview requests, please contact Amanda Sage at 614-388-8918 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .