All posts by Shari Weiss

I have been writing and teaching most of my life -- and have enjoyed both vocations. However, the advent of the Social Media Revolution has turned my life around in the most exciting fashion. Rather than think about retirement, I want to help change the world -- particularly the business world -- into a "kinder," more ethical, transparent, and authentic place to help solve people's problems.
Sharisax Is Out There

Three “F’s” to Achieve Your 2010 Goals

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Since I subscribe to the philosophy of “Intention,” my 2010 Predictions Article will be geared to Setting Some Goals and Making Them Happen. Here are three ways to do just that:

  • Follow a Role Model, who’s also a Friend

  • Find a Buddy — or Seven

  • Figure out Answers to the list of Questions below

1) My friend Sandy is a great role model

2009 Accomplishments:
Lost 39 pounds between Feb 25 and Dec 25. Have maintained within 3 pounds of goal weight for the last 21 days straight.

Decided to try Zumba and loved it!

Decided to try Yoga and loved it!

Provided excellent office support to boss.

2010 Goals:

Increase my arm strength.

Keep my weight under the decade mark.

Let my nails grow enough and be healthy enough that I can treat myself to a manicure.

And continue providing the kind of administrative support that makes going to work fun and productive for the entire staff.

[You go Girl!]

2) Collaborate with Network Connections – both online and off

  • Last night was just one of many examples: I went to a holiday party and met three fellow [gal-fellow] Baby Boomers whom I will be meeting with in the next few weeks to see how we can use our own personal strengths to help one another.

  • That particular holiday party was the result of my membership in one of the three networking groups I have joined this year. No list about Succeeding in Anything is complete without continuous Networking. Here’s a previous article with suggestions on getting the  most out of networking.

3) Here are questions we need to be asking ourselves:

A – What do I want to finish?

B – What do I want to change?

C – What do I want to refine?

D – What do I want to maintain?

E – What do I want to stop doing?

F – What do I want to go back to?

G – What can I throw away?

H – What have I learned in 2009 that will empower me in 2010?

I – What do I NEED to do?

What are your answers? What will 2010 look like for you? What’s your intention?

Because I know the power of conversation, I’m suggesting that readers add their responses to any of the questions above. I’ll be doing just that. And, then, we can all collaborate on each other’s success in 2010 and beyond.

[FURTHER READING: Here are website entrepreneur James Hartje’s answers to the nine questions]

Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter

Use this Checklist for Managing Online Presence

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CHART YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA PROGRESS:

Want to manage your social media sites? Yesterday’s post reviewed Chris Brogan‘s 19 tips: Resolve to Manage your Online Presence.

Today you’ll find a handy spreadsheet to use for weekly check-offs. And there’s space to add other tasks . . .  like writing your blog post 🙂

Now you can Check-off when you Do-It

Click HERE for a JPG of the chart

Blogging, Facebook, Twitter

Resolve to Manage Your Online Presence — Lists only go so far . . .

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“Social Media: Step-by-step”

The End of The Year is made for reflection, clean up, and planning for the future.

Six months ago, social media luminary Chris Brogan published 19 tips to manage your SM online  presence.

And I most likely did what a lot of my friends might have done, i.e. LOOK at the List and THINK “What a great list” and then [most probably] moved on to something else to read.

What were we missing?

A lot!

An Actual Roadmap for DOING & LEARNING Social Media!!

So I thought I’d take a few of our moments here to actually study Chris’s list and chat about each item, i.e., more active reading and more opportunity to “internalize” some of his great advice.

Note: Chris’s 19 tips are in blue. [And he recommends you do them Daily. That, of course, is up to you.]

Twitter

1. Find seven things worth retweeting in your general feed and share.

  • When starting a new regimen, EASY is good. And finding valuable info on the Net to share will make you feel good as well. Of course, if you have really read the information and can add an insight of your own, that will help you as well as your audience.

2. Reply to at least five things with full responses (not just “thanks”).

  • Commenting on other people’s blogs is Not Easy, but it accomplishes so much: e.g., adding to the conversation, recognizing the writer’s hard work, and getting your name out there . . . for just three benefits.

3. Point out a few people that you admire. It shows your mindset, too.

  • Hmm. Have to do a bit of interpretation here. I’m assuming that Chris suggests we use the @name and pat them on the back in a Tweet. That’s very cool, but every day? It might be more realistic to find new person to applaud every day. If you keep praising the same people, that seems a bit spammy.

4. Follow back at least 10 folks. (I use an automated tool, but this is a personal preference. If you want such, I use SocialToo.)

  • Following people back is easy — but deciding WHOM to follow back is another story. I, personally, am not a fan of anything automated and that alone may slow my popularity growth online. Many people do follow you automatically, most often after you Tweet something with a keyword they are following. And, in most cases, I follow them back — but NOT if their last comment was spammy or missing. And I also look at the Avatar. If I feel it is “inappropriate” in any way, I don’t follow back.

5. 10 minutes of just polite two-way chit chat goes far.

  • Every time you or I go onto Twitter with some time specifically devoted to participating, I think this is fun to do. If your closest Twitter friends are not posting at the moment, you can engage in some conversation with anyone who posts something you like. The poster could be someone you are already following — or better yet [and a way to accomplish #4] — do a search for an area of interest and converse with someone who writes something interesting, whom you were not following before.
  • Because I use Tweetdeck and have a steady stream of real-time posts about my key search terms, I can always find new people to chat with.
  • BTW, I just Tweeted @chrisbrogan asking if I could use his photo, and he said ‘Sure” [only 9 more minutes of 2-way chat to go for today]
  • Thought I’d take this opportunity for a shameless plug for my own Twitter Cheat Sheet post: http://sharisax.com/2009/12/03/twitter-basics-workshop-cheat-sheet/

Twitter Button from twitbuttons.com

Facebook

1. Check in on birthdays on the home page. (Want a secret? Send the birthday wish via Twitter or email. Feels even more deliberate.)

  • Honestly, it was fun  back in October to have all the birthday greetings on my Wall. But I imagine Chris is right and that a Tweet or email would have been even more “personal” and warm.

2. Respond to any comments on your wall.

  • Actually this tip sounds like a No-Brainer, unless you have 5000 friends — which I don’t . . .
  • But from what I understand, if we want to use Facebook for Business purposes as well as Personal, then we all will need to connect with many, many people through Facebook. If you are reading this post, please Ask to be my Friend. Chris, you, too. 🙂

3. Post a status message daily, something engaging or interesting.

  • This advice gives me the opportunity to spout my own viewpoint on “Updates”: At this moment in my social media learning curve, my opinion is that updates to Facebook will Not always be appropriate to other platforms. I am really anxious, though, to hear/read other people’s opinions on this.
  • I know there are sites like Ping that make posting to all your sites simultaneously a breeze. I don’t do this [yet], do you?

4. Comment on at least seven people’s status messages or updates.

  • Now this is WORK, but the kind of “social capital” that pays off huge rewards. As a matter of fact, I’m going to stop writing right now to comment on my friends’ updates.

  • This reminds me of a related tip: Do things NOW. If you wait, they are forgotten.

5. Share at least 3 interesting updates that you find.

  • Honestly, this is ONE tip I’d never thought of, but I can see that ANY TIME you share someone else’s thoughts, you make them very, very happy . . . and spread the good words.

6. If you belong to groups or fan pages, leave a new comment or two

  • Again, something New for me. I’ve been joining a few Fan Pages, but I can’t remember even looking at them.
    🙁 Let alone, commenting. This will take some thought; however, that being said, I, too, have a FanPage that would love to see some “love,” i.e., comments: Performance Social Media. [Become a Fan . . . and comment 🙂 ]

LinkedIn

1. Accept any invitations that make sense for you to accept.

  • A “no-brainer” . . . except for deciding what “makes sense” for you. I’ve heard of people who are VERY discriminating in accepting LinkedIn invitations: their practice is to ONLY connect with people whom they know well and would write a recommendation for.
  • My own practice follows the advice of many LinkedIn gurus who suggest that the real power of LinkedIn is in your second and third degree connections, i.e., the people who are connected to your connections.
  • Please feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/shariweisssf

2. Enter any recent business cards to invite them to LinkedIn (if you’re growing your network).

  • Great suggestion and a practice I do subscribe to. Of course, this means you need to keep up your F2F [Face to Face] networking as well as online. My friend and one of my personal social media gurus Dean Guadagni gave a great networking presentation to a networking group I belong to.

3. Drop into Q&A and see if you can volunteer 2-3 answers.

  • EXCELLENT ADVICE! LinkedIn is so much more robust and  powerful than most people know. Personally I’ve been on the “receiving” end of the Q & A function. I’ve met some great new contacts from all over the world — a few whom I’ll be collaborating with on future projects.

4. Provide 1 recommendation every few days for people you can honestly and fully recommend.

  • WOW! Wouldn’t this be sensational! I do see that Chris has modified this practice to “one every few days”: I bet that’s do-able. So much more auathentic when you give the recommendation without having been asked.

5. Add any relevant slide decks to the Slideshare app there, or books to the Amazon bookshelf.

  • Another item for my To-Do List. I know that creating and sharing Slideshows is a fantastic way to build your online authority . . . and I Resolve to do some.

Blogs

1. Visit your blog’s comments section and comment back on at least 5 replies.

  • WordPress makes this easy as I receive email notifications [and not enough comments . . . yet . . . let’s change that. I do promise to reply to EVERYONE who comments on this post! Chris?]

2. If you have a few extra minutes, click through to the blogs of the commenters, and read a post or two and comment back.

  • GREAT IDEA: You comment here and I’ll comment back — Be very happy to.

3. While on those sites, use a tool like StumbleUpon and promote their good work.

  • Absolutely, but I like Digg and Delicious . . .  hint, hint. [Check the end of the post for an easy click through to those sites.]

4. Write the occasional post promoting the good work of a blog in your community.

NEXT POST: Handy Checklist to manage all these tasks

Well “we’re” finished with the planning. Now it’s time for the doing. Please let “us” know what that “Doing” entails.

Guest Post

Every­one was a new­bie at one time when it comes to social media

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Putting together last week’s post “Ten Mistakes Made by Social Media Newbies” was a rewarding experience for me, especially because the article seemed to touch a chord with many of my friends — a lot of whom are resisting the New World of Communication.

Not all of them, though.

Below is a really detailed article comment written by Kimberly Noon, one of my awesome marketing students at SFSU. Her Gen-Y insights added a lot of her own experience to the conversation, and whe agreed to allow me to share her remarks as a Guest Post.

Here’s Kim:

Shari — I love this. I think you’ve nailed every­thing. As a very expe­ri­enced Social-Medialite, I think you’ve explained every­thing so well. A few comments…

Learn­ing the dif­fer­ent avenues of social media CAN be super over­whelm­ing. For new­bies, they should do exactly what you said. Fol­low the 4 steps and focus on one ele­ment at a time. Learn­ing one (twit­ter, face­book, etc.) will help you learn the oth­ers. For exam­ple, Twit­ter and Face­book have many of the same ele­ments and reach the same demo­graphic, hence once you learn one it will be “eas­ier” to learn the other.

Friends connect through Mafia Wars

Love the Mafia Wars ref­er­ence 🙂 My boyfriend works for the com­pany that sup­plies us with those games such as Far­mVille, Mafia Wars, YoVille, etc. The point of those games is to con­nect friends through gam­ing. Back in the day, this used to be done by hav­ing family/friend game nights and play­ing board games. It’s the same con­cept, only nowa­days, peo­ple are on-line the major­ity of their day and have less time to meet face to face. These games give peo­ple the oppor­tu­nity to play games with their friends/family (be con­nected) and still have the same kind of play­ful expe­ri­ence.

Also, if the games are THAT pop­u­lar there is prob­a­bly some­thing attrac­tive about them… and it’s just another way to be con­nected, which is the point any­way.. right?

One of the best ways to learn the tips and tricks of social media is LISTENING to your peers. Watch, lis­ten, explore, and learn.

Every­one was a new­bie at one time when it comes to social media. Most social media mem­bers are for­giv­ing and will offer help and sug­ges­tions. MOST, not all.

Be your­self when it comes to social media

Act­ing like some­one you aren’t is bad and it’s for a whole dif­fer­ent crowd — the cults of peo­ple who use social media as an “escape” from who they really are. The peo­ple who are there to be them­selves and con­nect with peo­ple they REALLY know (not imag­i­nary inter­net friends) see these “cult” peo­ple as creepy and spam-like.

Speak­ing of spam — DON’T spam. This will cause peo­ple to “unfol­low” or “hide” you, which defeats the pur­pose of being con­nected through social media. There are so many peo­ple on my Face­book page that post and repost every ounce of spam they come across. I “hide” these peo­ple from my Face­book page so I never see what they post. You don’t want to be one of these peo­ple 🙂

Lastly, social media out­lets are NOT your diary. Like you said, once you say some­thing, it’s out there and you can’t take it back. If you want to post some­thing, think about it first. If it’s some­thing only your diary should know, write it down there and don’t share it with the Web world.

Kimberly’s had her say; what’s yours?

Blogging, Facebook, LinkedIn

1,734 Uses for Social Media – Look ’em Up in Tamar’s “Text”

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You’ve got to be more than a Social Media Newbie to appreciate the depth and breadth of research that went into compiling the 334-page compendium The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web.

Author Tamar Weinberg is a community manager for Mashable, clearly the best source for Social Media news on the Net —

She knows her stuff AND you will, too, if you get a copy of this book, read it, and follow up by trying our just a small portion of the platforms and strategies described in careful detail . . . just one example:

There are more than ten pages just on social bookmarking sites Delicious and StumbleUpon.

Tamar’s Top Seven Reasons to be on the Web:

  • Establish your expertise.
  • Bring more traffic to your website.
  • Raise search engine rankings.
  • Increase sales.
  • Manage your reputation.
  • Enhance brand awareness.
  • Build relationships.

Here are Nine Strategies for Social Media Marketing Success:

1) Establish goals for your social media marketing campaigns.

2) Create a strategy for executing your social marketing efforts.

3) Communicate effectively with the communities you intend to target.

4) Take charge of the conversation, even if it’s not on your website.

5) Gain exposure from participating among many social channels.

6) Utilize social media to handle a reputation management crisis.

7) Utilize blogs and bloggers to send messages to larger groups of individuals.

8] Leverage existing sites to market your products.

9) Craft content that is currently “hot” within many social media circles.

Some quotes to “get your hands around”:

“You can’t manage something you can’t measure.”

“On the Social Web, conversations happen WITH or WITHOUT you.”

“A Community Manager’s key function is humanizing an organization.”

“Strategy requires teamwork and idea generation.”

“Communities flourish because people are helping people.”

“If you consistently Listen, AND Give Back to your social media community, you will be miles ahead of the competition.”

12 different Online Reputations you should monitor:

  1. Your name
  2. Your company name
  3. Your brand names
  4. Your company executives
  5. Your company’s media spokespeople
  6. Your slogan or marketing message
  7. The competition
  8. Your industry
  9. Your weaknesses
  10. Your business partners
  11. Your clients
  12. Your intellectual property

Personally, I’ve made a list of [a] more than a dozen sites  I’m going to check out in more depth, [b] a half dozen communities I’m going to join, and [c] 10 specific tips I’ve already started to adopt.

PS I really didn’t count, but I’m willing to bet there are MORE THAN 1,734 facts you’ll learn about social media from Tamar’s invaluable text.

For those of you who’ve already read it, let us know how it helped you.

FURTHER INFO FROM TAMAR:

Social Media Strategies

10 Social Media sites to get answers to your questions

Sharisax Is Out There

“Get Laid, Get Paid, and don’t Die” — What People Want

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I debated about using that title — and even asked my Facebook Friends for advice on the riskiness of a “risqué” headline. So we’ll see what happens:

Will I get more traffic?

Will I hear any backlash?

What will I learn from using a “racier” title than I might have?

What will YOU learn from the notes I took at George Kao’s latest free social media webinar?

trump tower

Blueprint for starting your own online business

Is it possible to know with any certainty

— BEFORE you start anything

— if it will work?

George Kao asked this question as he began his December 16 webinar featuring Internet Entrepreneur Clay Collins, who has started a business called Project Mojave to share his “vision for a world where every person can be their own boss and secure a healthy income while offering their greatest gift to the world.”

My Take-Aways

Most marketers do not fully understand how to get the most from market research.

STEP ONE: Your first research should be to carefully describe your Idea Client:

  • Develop a “Customer Avatar” – a picture of that ideal client.
  • When you plan your marketing message, aim it at One Specific Person. The key is talking to one person; you will sound more authentic, and others will want to engage with you as well.

How do you put together this Buyer Profile [as David Meerman Scott has called it]?

  • If you know where your demographic is, then go where they hang out. [i.e. Fish where the fish are.]
  • Then ask them questions:
  1. What is your biggest fear?
  2. If you could ask anyone a question, WHAT would the question be and WHOM would you ask?
  3. What product would you buy from me if I was the only one who could make it?
  4. How much would you pay for it?

“At the end of the day, people buy on emotion: they ‘Justify‘ as they buy what they want”

said Clay Collins, who suggested you then double the sum that they said they’d pay.

STEP TWO: Design your business around Problems, Needs, or Questions

  • If you can Answer a Question, you begin a relationship
  • If you can Fulfill a Need, you definitely get someone’s interest
  • If you Solve a Problem, you’ve got yourself a customer.

If you want to know where to find those problems, look to these areas:

  1. Relationships and sex
  2. Health
  3. Careers, jobs, making money

Clay:

“It’s all about Getting Laid, Getting Paid, and Not Dying.”

STEP THREE: Know the customer’s “Primary Driver”

  • Most people are driven by one thing.
  • Find out what it is: Ask them what they want and why. Then ask them the same question again . . . and again.
  • Then Speak [i.e., your message] to their actual, real experience in a way that they can visualize the result.

Howard Blum photo - click for website*** So here are those original questions:

Will I get more traffic?

Will I hear any backlash?

What will I learn from using a “racier” title than I might have?

. . . AND THE MOST IMPORTANT . . .

What did YOU learn from the notes I took at George Kao’s latest free social media webinar?

Featured

10 Mistakes Made by Social Media Newbies

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Take the bull by the hornsA few weeks ago, I participated in a social media webinar that unfortunately went “over the heads” of most of the other attendees. So I invited many of them to contact me for answers to some of their basic questions.

Bob asked me:

“What do Newbies typically do wrong?”

Putting on my Thinking Cap, I came up with a Top Ten list.

  • If you have not yet DIVED IN, then you can possibly avoid some of these errors.
  • If you’ve “only just begun,” maybe you’ll get a better understanding of why you’re not yet Getting It.
  • If you’re more experienced, please comment and add your own thoughts on how to help Newbies make their way more successfully down Social Media Revolutionary Road.

Top Ten challenges for newcomers to social media:

1. Trying to do too much too soon:

My suggestion to “students” — no matter what their age or discipline — is to understand that the learning process follows these four-steps: CONFUSION → SILENCE → FOCUS → EFFORT: In brief, anyone learning something new is going to be Confused, so accept it and Silence the associated fears, so that you can Focus on ONE THING [e.g., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn] at a time and put in the effort to learn it and use it.

My brother Chuck was quite overwhelmed by the whole social media landscape, but he was intrigued enough to get started. He took my advice, focused solely on LinkedIn and has built up quite a presence in a very short time.

2. Being close-minded and judgmental before you really know what’s what:

I’ll never forget last January when a friend told me she was spending 3 hours a day on Facebook, and I actually told her she was “wasting her life”

— OOOPS.

When I first was introduced to Twitter, I thought that’s “stupid”

— OOOPS.

Now some of my friends invite me to play Mafia Wars . . . hmmmm, what do I say until I know what the game is really all about?

Actually some people I respect actually play Mafia Wars, which means that some of my community members are “there,” which in turn means I need to know what it’s all about.

3. Not listening enough at first to understand the workings and sentiments of a community:

If you are reading any articles on Getting Started with social media, you are bound to see the advice on Listening as a Vital First Step. Some refer to Listening as “Conversation Mining.” But, as we all know, “Listening” is more than mere “Hearing”; not only do many people read over this suggestion, but they may never have developed good listening skills.

For a bit more insight into the importance of Listening, check out my two previous articles;

Listening is the first rule to business success

When communication adds up to a big fat zero

4. Not jumping in and getting going:

Listening is critical, but if you don’t get started, you have nothing to listen to. Learning social media is all about experimenting and taking risks. One webinar coach suggested that we “Ask for forgiveness, rather than permission.” A colleague somewhat skeptical of social media evangelists isn’t a proponent of this advice.

I’m somewhere in between, but you do have to get in there and try things out. Most social media community members are very supportive of Newbies. If some are not, well they are definitely in the minority. Just say you are sorry and move on.

5. Expecting IMMEDIATE Results:

This is particularly troublesome to me because it shows that the social media neophyte doesn’t understand that Relationship-Building is a process that takes time, patience, persistence, and passion.

6. Hiding:

Best Practice on social media is all about being Real, Authentic, Genuine, and Transparent. The first thing Newbies need to understand is that they need to be themselves if they are to find real success on social media platforms. This begins with a recognizable photo and not a default avatar. It continues with completing full profiles on any site they will be fully engaging on.

Stick around for #10 for the rest of this answer.

7. No time management or consistency:

My experience with beginners to social media — and any of the skill-building courses I’ve taught — is that with no practice of what they’ve learned, those early lessons are soon lost. Same goes for further down the road: You MUST make time to be successful. Yes, practice does make perfect [or close to, anyway].

And once you begin a blog, a Twitter account, a Facebook presence, etc., you need to post on a regular basis or you may lose the community members you have been able to gather.

8. Snake oil salesman:

Do not SPAM. Do not sell, sell, sell. Your intention may be to use social media to market your products and services, but Social Media Marketing is a different animal, and that animal is not a snake. It is all about building relationships, so that people in your communities will come to know you and trust you and then come to you for whatever it is you have to offer.

In her great new social media book The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web, Tamar Weinberg quotes new media marketer Chris Heurer:

“If you are trying to sell something to the community, and that is your reason for being there, it will be obvious to those people and you will never be as successful as you can be.

If you are participating because you really want to contribute to the community, because you really want to share what you know, because you really want to be of service to the community and its members, you will sell to the right people BECAUSE of your sincerity and honesty.”

9. Negativity:

I advocate positive participation wherever and whenever you can on the Internet. Think twice or thrice before tearing into people on the Web. Once those words are out there, you cannot take them back — ever.

This is a good spot to put in a good word for good etiquette, so I direct you to my article “Do we need an Emily Post for Social Media?“

FINAL PIECE OF ADVICE . . . and I’m going to make this one a DO, not a Do NOT:

10. Goal of your online presence:

Position yourself as the GO-TO Source for information in your area of expertise.

Therefore, everything you post on the Internet, in whatever platform or tool you choose, should reinforce you as a Thought Leader and Influencer.

Throw your Hat in the Ring:

Just don’t stay on the fringes.

Join the conversation . . . and add your questions and comments.

Guest Post

ABC’S of PR: One Student’s Wide Angle View

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Magan JenkinsI met Magan online last week when she wrote this fabulous blog post on PROpenMic, a social network for PR students, faculty and professionals. I loved her creative approach to the practice and wanted to share it with my audience.

Magan is a senior at University of Georgia. As a PR major, she is in love with all things New Media and is working for a special certificate in that area of study. Her favorite color is lime green and her favorite foods are salads and French Fries [of course lots of salad so she can eat the fries, I imagine 🙂 ]

ABC’s of PR

by Magan Jenkin

Since I am a senior this year I thought it would be fun to go back to the basics and remind myself of my ABC’s, only this time within the world of PR.

A- Audience, Always make sure any all plans, press kits, news releases, etc are aimed at your target audiences.

B-Business etiquette, the best way to learn is to OBSERVE- Guest speaker Joan Collins

C-Create social networking accounts i.e. Twitter, Facebook, PROpenmic, Blogging, etc.

D- Develop plans and strategies that will be most effective

E-Elements of a Crisis- Surprise, Lack of information, Loss of control, Outside scrutiny, Time pressure

F-Focus Groups, a great way to gather information on your audience

G- Google yourself to make sure your Web presence is a positive one.

H- Hear, Keep your eyes and ears open for any internship opportunities that may present themselves.

I- Interview a working PR practitioner, an assignment I was able to do in in my 5920 class. I learned so much from Melissa Libby from Melissa Libby and Associates

J-Join PRSSA, UGA’S Public Relations Student Society of America

K- Key Message, always make sure your key message is clear and directed to their right audience

L- Look for AP mistakes in any print material you are sending out

M- MBO, Management by Objectives, process of agreeing upon objectives within an organization so that management and employees agree to the objectives and understand what they are in the organization.

N-Networking, an important skill to develop to help build strong relationships.

O-Opinions, get to know the opinions of your target audience and the local media. By investing time with the media the more likely they are to run your releases.

P- Press kits, puts forth key information about its business or product in a convenient, cohesive marketing package with the goal of attracting further attention.

Q- Questionnaires are a great way to conduct research on your target audiences.

R-Relationships with Journalists- very imporant to develop and maintain healthy relationships with journalists

S- Southwest Airlines, a truly unique airline who has mastered Public Relations

T- TQM, Total Quality Management, business management strategy aimed at embedding awareness of quality

U-University of Georgia’s Grady College, Public Relations is the hardest major to get into. Remember how all your hard work and be proud of your accomplishments.

V- Vs, Public Relations Vs. Journalism, an on going battle between the two majors, and jobs. Either way both professions need one another and its a good idea to develop healthy relationships.

W- Willingness, always have the willingness to participate and be effective.

X- X-Factor, when applying for internships or jobs show your potential boss that you are of value and will bring something different to the table

Y-You can do anything. Stay positive and be confident in all your work.

Z- Catch some zzz’s, sleep is very important in any profession it provides a practitioner with energy!

Sharisax Is Out There

“Be social to learn social” – College profs learn Social Media 101

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Now that social media is more popular than porn on the Internet, it’s time for everyone to jump on the bandwagon — and that definitely includes our university teachers.

That’s why Wiley Publishers invited noted social media expert Erik Qualman to guest lecture a webinar attended by 22 profs and lecturers the first day of December.

Welcome to the Social Media Revolution

Erik’s Socialnomics slideshow seen on YouTube by more than 1 million viewers:

Below is a listing of 15 soundbites I “live-tweeted” during the hour lecture:

1 – Socialnomics is defined as the exponential return for individuals, derived from social media.

2 – “Wasting time” on the Internet can actually make people more productive. Erik gave an example of checking email and Facebook on a SmartPhone while standing in checkout lines.

3 – Most people can spend less time finding information online than offline.

4 – The key to social media success is Doing rather than Deliberating.

5 – Social media spans time and space, allowing much greater opportunities for connection.

6 – The Pope uses many forms of social media, including Wikis.

7 – Google’s new WAVE is going to be the 21st century email.

8 – Winners in this new world: (1) Consumers get best products and services; (2) Best companies will reap best Word of Mouth.

9 – Social bookmarking site is a great way to do research AND see what is resonating with the public.

10 – Four steps to use social media: (a) Listen; (b) React; (c) Interact; (d) Softsell.

11 – Students can use blogs, wikis, and forums to bounce ideas off one another.

12 – When using/experimenting on the Web, ask for Forgiveness rather than Permission.

13 – We no longer search for news; it finds us. Soon products and services will find us.

14 – People can look at their updates and take a real assessment of their lives.

15 – How to get the most from Social Media: “Be social to learn social.”

For added reading, check out my article commenting on Erik’s 15 Social Media Maxims

and check out Top Ten Mistakes Made by Social Media Newbies

Featured, Twitter

Twitter Basics – Workshop “cheat sheet”

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Today ten new Tweeple will be fluttering around the Twittersphere — at least that’s my hope.

In the next few days, you’ll read about some of the things they learned, but a few people left without their “cheat sheet,” so I’m posting it below . . . as well as the earlier Twitter 101 lessons from my blog.

Twitter Cheat sheet

Twitter 101 – Lesson One: Twitter does Not have to be Stupid

Twitter 101 – Lesson Two: Whom to Follow

Twitter 101 – Lesson Three: Tweetdeck makes Twitter life easier

Twitter 101 – Lesson Four: What to Tweet

What to Tweet part two

Decorate your Twitter background

What to Tweet? Mix Personal with Business

So now you can Tweet – What comes next?

TWO FINAL THINGS:

(1) Any questions? Please ask in comment section.

(2) Any more key suggestions for the “cheat sheet”?

Twitter

Counting the ways I loved “Twitterville”

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What a great read! — Twitterville by Shel Israel

twittervilleThis is likely to be a “Labor of Love” i.e., chatting with you about all the cool things I learned from this very personal, highly researched, inspirational Social Media MUST READ.

A friend just told me that her secret to reading loads of books is to look at  the beginning, the end, and then bits in the middle. But, PLEASE,  if you want to try that method, don’t start with Twitterville:

This is one book with loads of answers — none of which you will want to miss

In Twitterville, you are what you Tweet & 10 other things I’m going to remember:

1.Twitterville is a global communication community where conversations have power; but its environment is “homey” with a small town feel.

2. In good times and bad, companies can get closer to their customers with ease and at low cost. Twitter is a nonstop “feedback loop.”

3. Twitter is a golden moment in massive micromarketing — less mass, more personal . . .  ushering us from the Broadcast Age to the Conversation Era.

4. [From the final chapter, but a key point you shouldn’t miss]: The better our communication tools get, the less likely we will be to use tools of destruction. Countries that do business together don’t go to war against each other; therefore Twitter is likely to be an instrument for peace.

5. When you’re getting started on Twitter, you may want to lurk for a bit: this allows you to listen and watch to get a sense of the mechanics and rhythm of the conversations. Listening on Twitter will make you smarter.

6. If a tree falls in a forest, and it’s not on Twitter, did it make a sound?

7. Lethal generosity: the greatest influence goes to the most generous:

“If you join a community where a competitor exists, or is free to join and you give more to that community than the competitor, the other player is forced either to follow you or to abstain from participating in a place where customers spend time.”

8. Metcalfe’s Law: The power of the computer network grows exponentially as the number of nodes increases.

9. Followers have influence: they are “Feet on the Street.”

10. What Twitter does better than any other tool: Spreading the word with great speed.

Case studies:  Companies large & small have “gotten it”

Zappos: Tony Hsieh discovered he could stay closer with people who mattered to him on Twitter than he had been doing via email, phone or other social media platforms.

Comcast: Frank Eliason made it clear he was on Twitter to solve customer problems.

Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit: Doctors have humanized surgery by “live-tweeting” during operations.

IBM: More than 1,000 IBM employees are now active Tweeters. Management is delighted: Twitter saves time, brings employees and customers  together, and makes the company collectively smarter.

This has been just a “taste”

Shel Israel has chapters on personal branding, journalism, nonprofits, the dark side of Twitter, and the very basic Get Started Steps and Vocabulary.

What are you doing still reading this review? Go out and get the book and then get Tweeting.

FURTHER READING:

Twitter workshop cheat sheet