Tag: Social media

An inside look at my morning routine and the tools I use to bring e1evation.com together…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFHGIoLhyQQ

In case you missed it, I’ve covered Google Reader in depth here, Feedly here, Gist here, and Shareaholic here…

btw, I’m aware this not my best video yet, but I’m learning to use Camtasia which is a powerful, but complex tool. Maybe I should read the manual?!

Reblog this post [with Zemanta]
3

Please forgive me, but it’s not my title! The content is that good…

You can read the transcript if you click ‘continue reading’… Continue reading “What the hell is social media?” →

0
Image representing Netflix as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase

All the topics that interest US in the past 24 hours…

 

0

Dr. D

I recently had the honor of meeting the new president of Marian University, Dr. Steven DiSalvo. The words on the Marian Website cannot do justice to the man I met…

“Dr. Steven DiSalvo currently serves the Marian University community as President. Bringing to Marian a wealth of experience in higher education and philanthropic fundraising leadership, Dr. DiSalvo has a strong foundation in student affairs, student retention, academic programming and institutional development.  DiSalvo earned three degrees, including his Ph.D., from Fordham University in New York, and currently serves as the Board Chair for Fordham’s Center for American Catholic Studies.  Administrative experience at other Catholic universities and not-for-profit organizations, including the Joe Torre Safe at Home Foundation, have suited DiSalvo well to lead the university in living our Mission and Core Values.” via marianuniversity.edu

It’s a shame the world can’t get to know him in the way I did! Our mutual friend Paul Osterholm (who originally had the vision to connect us in the first place) brokered a meeting in Dr. DiSalvo’s office. We spent the first hour talking about life and experiences only to learn that we were twins separated at birth — in fact, we even lived a few blocks away from one another in Flushing, NY in 1983! That, however, was not what inspired me — it was that Dr. DiSalvo is a man with his feet planted firmly on the ground of a sound experience in business with organizations like IBM and the Joe Torre ‘Safe at Home’ foundation and at the same time, he is reaching for the academic stars at a new and improved Marian University with the lessons he learned at Fordham University. Marian is now blessed with a dynamic, gifted leader who, imho [in my humble opinion], could really take Marian to the next level if he makes the right moves now to rebuild the Marian University brand while building on its strengths…

As expected, Dr. DiSalvo faces many challenges in his new role. Here are a few that seem obvious to me…

  • Marian has a relatively weak brand compared to other colleges and universities in the region
  • It has a reputation as a ‘suitcase college’ — the campus is empty on weekends
  • The community — parents and students alike — are disenfranchised
  • The website is a brochure and the university may not be using the website and social networks optimally

I’m sure there are others, but as a Marian parent these are the ones that jump out at me. Fortunately, there seem to be an abundance of “good, fast, and cheap” answers in the form of ‘thought leadership’ marketing and social media that could help Dr. DiSalvo put out these fires and focus on other areas.

I’m going to share with the good doctor one of my all time favorite New Yorker cartoons and I trust he’ll appreciate the source considering his New York roots…

Since I first saw this cartoon over 17 years ago, I have taken it to mean that the internet has the potential to be the great equalizer and pound for pound, it may be the best place for Dr. DiSalvo to create a solid image of the ‘new’ Marian for the lowest overall cost…

Strategy

If it were my job to meet his challenges out on the internet, here are some of the things I’d consider strategically:

Leverage association resources and learn all I could from what other comparable universities are doing.

Closer to home, I’d ask myself the question “What would St. Norbert do?” SNC has recently won a couple awards for effective use of social media. What are they doing right? Evaluate and emulate…

Marian has several different ‘customers’. Pre-students, students and post-students. They need to deliver messages to the media these customers use that helps Marian sell to prospective students, helps current students stick with Marian, and helps alumni stay with the school, emotionally and financially. ‘Sell, stick and stay‘ should resonate in everything Marian does online and in social media…

Marian could do a much better job connecting parents and students to the school. Our trips to Fond du Lac were usually disappointing; events competing with basketball games, bookstore closed, etc. What a difference it would have made if the school broadcast our son’s basketball games live via Ustream or Qik. Free, but priceless in terms of connecting parents to the school. What would happen if the school actually showcased their student athletes as well?

Furthermore? Many non-profits are effectively using the internet to fundraise online. What is stopping Marian?

Tactics

If it were my job to fix some of these problems, I’d remember the words of the great philosopher Andre Agassi who said ‘Image is Everything’…

  • I’d redo the website as a content management system [blog] and instruct Dr. D and other great thinkers at the university in the fine art of ‘thought leadership’ marketing.
  • I’d sit him in front of a camera and get him to effectively communicate the same passion that got me fired up to write this post.
  • I’d take that great content and I’d connect it to Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other social networks.
  • I’d put my star professors and their great content online and expand the borders of Marian beyond Wisconsin to the rest of the world.
  • I’d build real and virtual community around the Marian mission, vision and values using best of the “good, fast, and cheap” tools the internet offers.

Will Dr. DiSalvo succeed? Time will tell, but I’m betting he will and I think I’d like to help. My only regret, however, is that my son, basketball standout Colin Lohenry, only has one semester left…

0
Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase
Time to revisit LinkedIn? The time might be right to reconsider its importance in your social media strategy…

So you heard that a company called LinkedIn just went public, and want to find out just what the hype is all about and how you can use it? TNW is here to get you up and running on LinkedIn before this very day is over.

LinkedIn is a social network, research tool, and job platform for professionals, although the site’s draw has been bringing in a more diverse group of users in recent months, including many still in university.

The site was founded in late 2002, launched in early 2003, and now claims more than 100 million members to its name in over 200 countries. In short, for the educated working person, LinkedIn is a website in which having a profile is quickly becoming mandatory.

More to the point, as use of the site has grown, and as the willingness of its users to upload increasing amounts of personal information has risen, a person’s profile on LinkedIn is slowly morphing into a living resume of their work that is, for the most part, generally accessible.

Let’s hop into the fun, but before we get you into the site we need to talk about how you are going to use LinkedIn.

via thenextweb.com

LinkedIn is the oldest, and in many ways, the least popular of the ‘Holy Trinity’ of social media [Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn]. You can follow the ‘via’ link above to start rocking LinkedIn if you’ve been left behind…

Related articles
1
Image representing Research In Motion as depic...
Image via CrunchBase

Here’s what’s been fascinating me for the last 24 hours…

 

0
Social Media Landscape
Image by fredcavazza via Flickr
Consider this…

Every job requires a variety of skills to be successful, and social media marketer or communicator or specialist at a B2B company is no different. But when you start to list out the skills and realize the level of competency required for this postion, it becomes daunting to find individuals with all of them. If you were looking to make a social media hire, which may be a quaint thought in a few years, you must determine what skills hold the highest priority for your organization. This may be difficult to determine if your B2B company is looking for the person to start the company’s social media programs.

And if you are looking for a social media postion, while you cannot excel at all of these, you must excel at several of them and possess a high level of proficiency at most of them. So let’s take a look at the major skills, which I have presented in the form of positions or job titles.

via socialmediab2b.com

Follow the ‘via’ link to go to the source where you can find all the skills you need…

Related articles
0

If I only had one tool to use for blogging, it wouldn’t be WordPress and it wouldn’t be Blogger [although both are great tools that I use every day] it would be Posterous. I’m currently scripting my own screencast on the subject of Posterous, but in the meantime, here are a couple of other good Posterous videos to whet your appetite…

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7oluAciipZU

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxeFOD5lZ4k

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6iYxbcGqNo

0
Image representing Opinionaided as depicted in...
Image via CrunchBase

Here’s what’s been fascinating me for the last 24 hours…

 

Related articles
0
Image representing Seth Godin as depicted in C...
Image via CrunchBase

What a great quote on the possibilities of social media…

How dare you squander even one more day not taking advantage of the greatest shifts of our generation? How dare you settle for less when the world has made it so easy for you to be remarkable?

via great-quotes.com
Related articles
2
Media_httpmediafocusc_liolz
via socialmediagraphics.posterous.com

1
Media_httpbloghubspot_xwfta
via blog.hubspot.com

0
via google.com

Comment below or ‘connect’ above to discuss how this applies to you and your organization…

0
Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase
I found a great post on the Duct Tape Marketing site that was very timely for me…

To help website owners take full advantage of the most important online marketing opportunities, here are 3 things small businesses can do to attract and engage new customers.

Content Publishing & Marketing – Consumers are interacting with multiple content sources before purchase and businesses that provide useful information beyond product features and benefits can attract more traffic and referrals.

Tips, articles, videos and experts interviews provide customers with the information they need to buy and refer to others. Useful content optimized with keywords also attracts more search engine traffic and links.

Social Media & Networking – 90% of marketers say that social media is important for their business according to the 2011 Social Media Marketing Report. Word of mouth, referrals and buzz on social networks can increase awareness, build trust and influence sales.

Social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube offer useful platforms for small businesses to be helpful and share information with networks far beyond their customer base.

Local & Mobile – By 2014, mobile Internet will take over desktop Internet according to Microsoft Tag Lab. Small business websites can increase page views by offering a mobile friendly version of their website. They can also increase visibility on local search by making sure they’ve claimed their listings on Google Places and Bing Business Listings.

via ducttapemarketing.com

I just spoke last night to a group of independent home inspectors about these very issues. Some didn’t even have a site. Those that did had ‘brochureware’. The problem, I explained to them, is how will someone know you’re an expert if they can’t google you? That’s now this next generation of buyers will make there decisions…

The answer is as easy as using a free WordPress site as your business blog and adding Google Apps for corporate email. Next, link the rss feed from your blog to your Facebook page, Twitter account, LinkedIn account and your MailChimp newsletter. Then all you need to do is use Google Reader to ‘listen to the internet’ and make the information you need come to you. Out of that listening will come a lot of great ideas for you to create or curate on your website. This is the ‘lather, rinse, repeat’ cycle of ‘thought leadership’ marketing. I call it the ‘e1evation workflow’.

Anyone who can send an email can use these tools to get known by Google and the best news is every single one is free and completely cross platform right down to the smartphone level. Comment or ‘connect’ so we can talk about how this applies to your organization…

0
Image representing Facebook as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase

If you’re a business owner and you’ve heard the recent news about Facebook’s attention-grabbing new feature for location-sharing and checkins, you’re probably itching to find out what Facebook Places can do for your business and how it can help you reach out to would-be customers and loyal regulars in your community.

While Facebook isn’t ready to announce any special brand-platform relationships or tie-ins just yet, one Facebook ad exec told us that the company does have plans to integrate Places with its larger marketing offerings for SMBs. The best thing a business owner can do to prepare for those offerings is get familiar with the ins and outs of Facebook and location marketing now.

Here are a few pointers for how SMBs can use Facebook Places and other marketing tools starting today.

via mashable.com

You can follow the ‘via’ link above to go to the source and read the rest of the article if you’d like to dig a little deeper…

0
Image representing Bill Gates as depicted in C...
Image via CrunchBase
0
Image representing LinkedIn as depicted in Cru...
Image via CrunchBase

First Impressions

First, your headline matters. It’s what people see when they accept your invite, and it’s probably the fastest first impression one receives. If you work for a company, put that name in the headline. When I don’t see a company name, I wonder if you’re solo.

Your Summary

Here’s where I think the most work can be done. When I look at my profile, I think it’s a bit long, but otherwise, I’ve done the following:

  • Lead with what I do most.
  • Lead with the type of business I want to do.
  • Move into the reasons why you’d do business with me.
  • Move from there into all the nuances of what I do.

In every case within the summary, your plan should be to write from the mindset of the prospective employer (or client), such that when they read it, they think, “I need to hire this person.”

Tip: refresh your summary every two weeks.

via chrisbrogan.com

Thanks, Chris, for posting this. My LinkedIn profile is the ‘red headed step child’ of my social media empire! If you’re like me, you can follow the ‘via’ link above to spiff up your profile…

Related articles
1
Image representing Google as depicted in Crunc...
Image via CrunchBase
0
Image representing Blogger as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase
  1. Blogging = Critical Thinking. If everything else went away (the readers, the comments, the community, the feedback), Blogging was (and still is) an amazing place to think about an issue or news item and work through it. I liken myself as a Media Hacker. A Blog is a great place for anyone to be a Hacker of whatever it is that they love. If you don’t believe me, then just watch this: Blogging Still Matters… Now More Than Ever.
  2. Blogging = Ideation. In using your Blog as a platform for your critical thinking, you will quickly start uncovering new and interesting business models and ideas for how you can push your industry forward or how it can/should be thinking differently. Writing a Blog, reading the comments and feedbacking into them is the ultimate Petri dish for ideation and innovation.
  3. Blogging = Tinkering. The ideas and critical thinking are not always one hundred percent final. Blogging allows you to tinker with ideas. To work at them (like a complex mathematical formula). Slowly, over time, you start realizing how wrong you were, how visionary you were and how much further you still have to go.
  4. Blogging = Relationships. It’s not about sitting in the dark recesses of your basement as you tinker away with words and thoughts. It’s about using this platform to connect. It’s about real interactions with real human beings. Some of my best friends are people that I would not have otherwise met were it not for Six Pixels of Separation (the Blog, not the concept). If you Blog, step out into the physical world. Meet other Bloggers. Share, learn and collaborate with them.
  5. Blogging = Business. Make no mistake about it. This Blog started out as a means for Twist Image to tell the world how we think differently about Media, Marketing, Advertising and Communications. Over the years, this has attracted many world-class clients, speaking engagements, a book offer and many other amazing and interesting business opportunities. So, while this is not a place where Twist Image shills its wares, it is a place that is directly tied to our overall business objectives/strategy. It consistently delivers a very solid ROI to our bottom line (take that, you Social Media measurement naysayers!).
  6. Blogging = Sharing. As each day passes, I like Charlene Li‘s latest book, Open Leadership, more and more (her first book, Groundswell rocks as well). Many people think that Social Media is all about the conversation and engaging in the conversation. I believe what makes any media “social” is the ability to share it. To help you to open up. Not only can you share the concepts by telling your peers and friend about a Blog, but everybody shares in the insights as well (whether you work for my company or not). It has changed/evolved our corporate culture. A Blog makes you think more about how you can share your content, your thoughts and why others may want to work/connect to you.
  7. Blogging = Exhaust Valve. A great Blog is great because the Blogger actually cares and loves to create content. If it’s forced, if it’s your “job,” then the passion rarely comes through. The biggest lesson I have learned in my seven years of Blogging is that this Blog is my exhaust valve. After working a full day with clients and their many challenges, this Blog is my playground. It’s the place where I can let off some textual steam. Make your Blog your exhaust valve. Caution: be careful that you’re not Blogging simply to blow off angry steam. The steam and exhaust I am talking about is the pent up energy of passion that I have from doing what I love to do.

What does Blogging equal for you?

via twistimage.com

This is a longer quote than I usually grab, but only because Mitch Joel’s introspection on the 7th anniversary of his blog launch are so good…

Related articles by Zemanta
0

I’m proud to have been chosen again to speak at the second “How to be a social media rockstar” event hosted by the Green Bay Chamber of Commerce. I’ll be speaking on the topic of ‘the signs point to social media’.

Since the beginning of business, people have used signs as a means of communication commercial value. They are still an effective tool, especially when combined with social media. I will be talking about effective B2B and B2C communication through the use of commercial signs linked to social media tools, including QR codes as a means of linking traditional and new media…

You can sign up for the event using the information below. I hope to see you there…

0
Google Reader Logo
Image by Casual Chin via Flickr
‘Thought leadership’ marketing takes time! Here’s one man’s perspective on taking that time to ‘make media’ as he says…

This is a chicken or the egg causality dilemma for me: as I create more media, my media consumption has changed or my media consumption has changed, hence I’m able to create more media. I really don’t know which came first but what I can tell you is that I definitely watch much less TV, read more than I ever have in my life, and listen to industry specific podcasts.I rarely watch TV anymore and when I do it is usually a sporting event, a movie, or Anthony Bourdain’s No Reservations. I just don’t find sitting mindlessly in front on the TV exciting anymore. Rather than watch TV, I take time with my family or read. Speaking of reading, I read all the time. Whether it’s a book, a blog, or the newspaper, not only do I find enjoyment in reading – I also find blog topics and ideas.

Finally, I have become a fan of podcasts. In my never ending quest to find time to exercise, which I still don’t do often enough anymore, I’ve started to walk and listen to podcasts at the same time. I feel like I’m killing two birds with one stone. There are many great podcasts out there but two I would recommend are John Jantsch’s Duct Tape Marketing and Copyblogger’s Internet Marketing for Smart People Radio.

via schneiderb.com

Brendan Schneider has put together a thoughtful post on ‘making media’ [you can follow the ‘via’ link to read the whole post] in which he talks about ‘Getting Things Done’, staying away from the ‘idiot box’ [as my father was so fond of saying’], and creating a SMS — a social media system — for managing his social media outposts. I have a lot of similar needs and biases as Brendan and my social media system is called the ‘e1evation workflow‘ — kind of a ‘lather, rinse, repeat’ cycle for ‘thought leadership’ marketing [my way of saying ‘make media’]. Comment or ‘connect’ above so we can talk about a ‘practical, tactical’ approach to social media how this applies to you and your organization…

2

Start a Blog at WordPress.com.

Up ↑