Seek out Real Relationships in Life and Beware of How You Present Yourself to the World in Social Media
Credit: "The Atlantic"
Last week I had the pleasure of speaking to the graduating class at Thomas College, which is where I earned my MBA in 1994.
I told the graduates that the good news is that they may be earning their diplomas but the bad news is that the learning cannot stop.
Technology is changing at such a pace that they need to use their education to continue to learn every day. I’ve encouraged my employees to keep pace with changing technology in communications so we can use the most up-to-date techniques and tactics for our clients.
I also referred to an article in the current edition of “The Atlantic” magazine called “Is Facebook Making us Lonely?” by Stephen Marche that talks about how social media is replacing real relationships between people.
Many people have lots of “friends” in social networks but in all reality they are extremely lonely. This is very sad to me.
I encouraged the grads to know the difference between a Facebook friend and a ‘real’ friend who you know and trust. My mantra has been and will always be that social media should supplement real relationships, not replace them.
Credit: "The Atlantic"
Finally, I encouraged the grads to be mindful of their online profile as they go out and look for a job. I asked them to Google themselves and see what comes up.
I related the story of a grad from another college who wanted to work for NMC a couple years ago and he was sure he was the ideal candidate. But when I pulled up his profile on Facebook, there were photos of him getting drunk and acting in a way that I would consider to be unprofessional.
I said that presenting yourself to the world in this way is not the best route to get a professional position.
Thanks to Bob Moore, the director of advancement at Thomas, for asking me to share my thoughts with this year’s graduates.
I hope that my words had an impact on the students and helped them realize that the way you ‘package’ yourself for a professional career will influence your job search significantly, and that social media should enhance their real relationships (it’s “social” for a reason).
Social Media Boot Camps April 4
In this era of rapid change in the way we communicate both personally and professionally, it is important to learn new skills and techniques every day.
To encourage social media engagement, we are hosting two Social Media Boot Camps on Wednesday, April 4 at the Senator Inn & Spa in Augusta for businesses and organizations looking to increase their social media presence.
There will be two boot camps designed for different levels of expertise.
1.) The beginners’ session from 9:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. is intended for people with a general social media understanding and who are currently using one or more social media networks.
2.) Those attending the advanced session from 1:00 p.m.-4:00 p.m. must have a thorough knowledge of Facebook and have already created an active presence on one or more other social media websites.
Both sessions’ attendees are invited for a complimentary lunch from 12:00 p.m.-1:00 p.m. at the Senator.
Pre-registration is required by Friday, March 23.
To register, visit bootcamp.marshallpr.com/register. Each session is limited to 30 attendees on a first come, first served basis.
In the spirit of capitalizing on social media as a tool to engage and share, I encourage you to use the event’s Twitter hashtag #NMCsmbc to discuss the boot camps before, during, and after April 4.
This Social Media Boot Camp will help keep you on the cutting edge!
Eco-Friendly Swag is a Social Media Success
Happy Monday! Today’s Maven is Jennifer Christensen, “employee number two” at Fun Management Group, a business selling eco-friendly promotional materials in Maine and beyond.
Jennifer has worked at Fun Management Group since 2005. With 20 years of marketing experience, Jennifer is able to craft all of the messaging and blog articles for the company, as well as to make sure Bulletin Bag [.com], Bulletin Bottle [.com], and Funman Promotions websites are the best.
Jennifer is originally from Denver, by way of Los Angeles, and graduated from Colorado State University. She has lived in Maine since 2003 with her husband, their three children, and dog, Tank. When she is not working, Jennifer can be found running, reading, playing soccer, or enjoying the beach.
Wednesday Witty Wisdom: Social Media Boot Camp
Happy Wednesday! Last night, NMC account executive Greg Glynn and I presented a “Social Media Boot Camp” in Carrabassett Valley to a group of diverse businesses. It was an interactive and intimate meeting of people who were both advanced social media users looking to further capitalize on their efforts and social media novices who understood the need to learn more.
Greg and I discussed everything from Facebook business pages and advertising, who to follow on Twitter, advancements in location-based applications, and more. While lots of material was covered, each participant set a goal at the beginning of the workshop that they strove and met throughout the three hour meeting.
Some key takeaways from the boot camp:
- Social media is not a trend– it isn’t going anywhere; it isn’t a question of whether or not to get involved with it but when…and the time is now.
- Be strategic when posting– don’t be thoughtless with your posts; know your audience and work to engage them.
- Set goals– think about what you are looking to accomplish by engaging with social media.
There are lots of social media networks out there for you to join. Take the time to look at your goals and be realistic about your capacity. Pick the networks that are right for you and your business, and do those well.
Greg and I had a great time sharing our expertise about social media and helping fellow business owners learn more. Thank you to the Greater Franklin Development Corporation for organizing the workshop. Stay tuned for information about future boot camps!
Download our presentation by clicking here: Social Media Boot Camp.
Wednesday Witty Wisdom: Your Website Needs to be Your Strongest Marketing Tool
Happy Wednesday! I was talking with a client earlier this week about how his website needed to be his company’s strongest marketing tool. He questioned whether his prospects would even use the web to make a decision on his company. I told them that without a doubt, at some point, a prospective client or someone who influences that client will view your website. If it is amateur looking, or out of date, then your reputation will be damaged needlessly. On the flip side, if you have a website that is professional looking, up to date and full of useful information about your company, then it can help generate sales and improve your reputation.
My friend Todd Parlee of Parlee Stumpf in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, wrote a very good article for his e-newsletter this week about this very subject. He emphasized how using Google Analytics can help you learn so much about your prospective customers that you can’t ignore it. If you don’t know how to decipher Google Analytics, you either need to learn or you need to get some help in understanding what it can teach you.
Wikipedia defines Web analytics as the measurement, collection, analysis and reporting of Internet data for purposes of understanding and optimizing web usage.
Just by seeing how many people are visiting your site, how long they are staying, where they are coming from, and what they are doing once on your site, you can learn a whole lot of good information that can be used to get more visitors and attract more attention to your organization.
If you are interested in Todd’s article from his newsletter “Income Box,” then just email me, and I will be glad to forward it to you!
Maine and New Hampshire Speaking Engagements About Social Media and PR
In November, NMC staff members spoke in Maine and New Hampshire at conferences, meetings and events about best practices in social media marketing and public relations. Greg Glynn and Eric Reynolds gave a speaking engagement for the Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce called ‘Say Hello to Social Media.’
Charlene Williams, NMC’s Vice President and General Manager, spoke about public relations and social media to the Maine Innkeepers Association. When implemented together in a strategic way, public relations and social media are a winning combination for communicating your key messages, reaching your target audiences, and improving your search engine optimization.
Nancy Marshall spoke to the Independent Schools Association of Northern New England about branding, public relations and social media. There’s no better way to tell your story and build your brand than to create a strategic plan that includes your ‘brand manifesto,’ your targeted audiences and the tools that are best to connect your messages with your audiences.
Social media is more relevant than ever because it allows people and organizations to form stronger bonds and brand loyalty with customers in a cost-effective way. Also it helps to create content in various social networks that improves search engine optimization. YouTube is fast becoming the number two search engine after Google, so it’s increasingly important to have videos that are relevant to your topic that are posted on YouTube with links back to your website. Continue reading
Meeting an Internet Mogul, John Chow (Dot Com)
This morning I met an internet mogul…..a guy who is making half a million dollars a year (or more) from his blog…….his name is John Chow and he grew up in a poverty-sticken town in China, then emigrated with his family to Canada, where he lived in a slum in Vancouver.
John Chow had an entrepreneurial gene, however, and he started as a teenager to figure out how to make money. Today he makes money on the internet, actually he makes lots of money on the internet, and he only spends about two hours a day doing it. He is not a blogger, but rather, he is an internet marketer who happens to have a blog. I, on the other hand, have a blog that promotes my PR and marketing business (which offers internet marketing as well as website development.) Subtle difference, but still important. If you look at John Chow’s blog, you will see that it is full of advertisements. He gets paid residuals from the advertisers on his blog based on his traffic. Continue reading
Google Social Search: The Ultimate Online Popularity Contest
How often have you spent time adding contacts on social networks like Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn, all the time wondering if the investment of your precious time would actually lead to something (other than creative procrastination from what you should really be doing at any given moment?) Continue reading
Have you Googled yourself lately?
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, I know this sounds sketchy (as my teenaged sons would say). However it’s really a good idea, believe me.
Every once in a while, I Google my own name. This isn’t driven by vanity, it’s a way for me to keep track of what’s being written about me and my agency on the internet. It’s one of my ongoing business metrics. I also Google terms like Maine Public Relations and Maine Social Media, which are terms where my goal is to come up as high as possible in the organic listings (organic listings are the ones on the left which are the non-paid listings.) Continue reading
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