Looking for a 3D speaker, trainer, motivator or engine? Call 630.207.7530.

Posts tagged: Social Media

Four Frequently Committed Social Media Sins Add Yours

cathedral-stained-glass-barbara-rozgonyi-copyright-brozgophIt’s true confession time.

What social media sin do you love to call out or hate to commit?

Thanks to Scott Kleinberg, Chicago Tribune’s social media specialist, for getting us started with his list of four frequently committed social media sins.

On July 20, I had the pleasure of moderating a discussion about bridging the media gap at BBSummit. One of three panelists, Scott sent this list over to share.

At the event, number four got the most attention. Which one resonates with you?

Four Frequenlty Committed Social Media Sins

1. Blasting 100 tweets that say the exact same thing with only the name of the person switched out. When someone checks your feed and sees this, they assume it’s spam and your message isn’t received.

2. Not being social. Social media cannot be a one-way street. You have to answer questions and contribute to the conversation to be noticed and to stand out among the crowd.

3. Your bio is either not filled out or says nothing about you. I don’t follow anyone without a bio and I think many of us do the same. Don’t let the lack of a few words blow your chance.

4. Being one-sided, not following the rule of thirds:
1/3 of the time, post about you or your brand.
1/3 of the time, post about what you know/love, but use another source.
1/3 of the time, be yourself.

My most frequently committed social media sin is

Reading and not replying. Too often, I scroll through networks, or read blog posts, writing responses in my head all along the way. Before I type them in, I move on to read more updates without ever posting the intended response. For me, it helps to be mindful of the need to be in active participant mode, rather than relaxed spectator mode.

To be in the game, you need to have a sport, teammates and a goal. If you’re on the sidelines, you don’t accomplish much. Since you’re reading this post, I invite you to leave a comment or share the link with your social networks.

How about you - What social media sin do you love to call out or hate to commit?

Image: Cathedral upshot. Copyright 2011 Barbara Rozgonyi from the 2011 Indy Spiritual Collection. All rights reserved.

Memorial Day Weekend Marketing and PR Projects

Happy Memorial Day weekend!

If you’re like me, with three days off, there’s always a smidge of time to squeeze in a project.

Whether it’s baking a batch of decadent brownies with 20 ounces of chocolate, tossing up an arugula and strawberry salad, power washing your patio, taking the family to see Men in Black 3 or buffing up your business, it’s nice to wake up on Tuesday knowing that you’ve accomplished something over the holiday weekend.

What do you have planned?

This year I don’t plan to be quite as productive as the year I completely remade my website in 36 hours. But, I do have a list of small tasks to squeeze in here and there. Who knows? I might even find time to pin some cool stuff up on Pinterest.

Are you looking for ideas for weekend marketing and PR projects?

A few weeks ago, I posted a list of 13 most marketable actions. Feel free to browse it for inspiration and ideas.

Compiling this list was how I entered GKIC Chicagoland’s Sharpest Entrepreneurs “Marketer of the Month” contest. Thanks so much to Steve Sipress for producing the video and to the members for watching my presentation.

I’d kind of forgotten that the video was up on YouTube until I went to the May meeting. When one of my tablemates mentioned that he liked and used one of the ideas, I thought maybe you might find something worth trying out, too.

Need more weekend project marketing and PR ideas?

Brush up with the PR PRIMER. Check out 10 ways to become a subject matter expert on LinkedIn. Test out your small business super hero powers. Read coverage from the Successful Online Business Conference and get ideas on how to develop your purpose and pivot when you need to.

Wishing you a safe, happy and relaxing Memorial Day weekend – with a bit of productivity tossed in!!

Image: Wasabi Arugula from Trader Joe’s with strawberries by Barbara Rozgonyi

What do you plan to accomplish over the weekend?

Social Media for Social Good SMC Chicago 3/21

smcchicago-logoComing up on March 21 from 6:00-8:00 p.m at Catalyst Ranch., Social Media Club Chicago is hosting an event that will be interesting to anyone who wants to know how to grow a community around a cause. Promising to be an inspiring, and informative event, here are the details from Social Media Club Chicago.

The speaker, Jonny Imerman, is the founder of Imerman Angels. While fighting cancer at 26 years old, Jonny had loving support from family and friends, but never met anyone his age who was a cancer survivor.  In 2003, Imerman Angels was founded to connect each cancer fighter to one survivor who is the same age, same gender, and someone who has already beaten that particular type of cancer. If you’re in the Chicago area, register for social media for social good today with Jonny Imerman today.

Social Media For Social Good: Strategies For Nonprofits, For-Profits & Agencies

WHY IS THIS EVENT DIFFERENT?

Are you interested in social media for social good?  Want to hear something different than the “usual” social media advice?  Join us for an interactive evening and a unique presentation!

Social Media Club Chicago presents an evening with Jonny Imerman, founder of Imerman Angels. During this live interview, he’ll answer questions about how he’s successfully integrated social media while also creating a strong offline presence, international awareness and live events of all types and sizes over the last 9 years.  Imerman Angels utilizes everything from Twitter & Facebook to T-shirts and wrist bands.  The big difference: He not only built Imerman Angels fast but it’s been built to last and is still growing – and he’ll share how in an interview with Mark J. Carter.

During the interview Jonny and Carter will talk about:

  1. Creating a results driven social media presence for nonprofits
  2. Creating powerful collaborations: the ups and downs (and do’s and don’ts) of partnering with for-profit companies for social good campaigns
  3. Jonny’s advice for what you and your company or nonprofit can do in today’s business world to utilize social good the RIGHT way for the RIGHT reasons (and get real results)… and what NOT to do when working with charities that actually hurts nonprofits.

WHO SHOULD ATTEND?

  • Nonprofits: Learn something beyond the usual advice “set up a Facebook page and raise some quick money”.  You’ll hear real world, proven strategies that you can take back to your organization and use the next day.
  • For Profit Companies: Learn how “social good” and social media mix into your for profit marketing plans and bridge the gap between “making a difference” and “making a dollar”
  • Agencies: Learn new ideas and ways to integrate social good into your current client projects and how and when to pitch “social media for social good” to gain new clients.

Jonny Imerman: Jonny Imerman is the founder of Imerman Angels. While fighting cancer at 26 years old, Jonny had loving support from family and friends, but never met anyone his age who was a cancer survivor.  In 2003, Imerman Angels was founded to connect each cancer fighter to one survivor who is the same age, same gender, and someone who has already beaten that particular type of cancer.

Mark J. Carter: Founder of ONE80; connecting the worlds of nonprofits and for-profits to create cause marketing campaigns & events for business authors, corporations and community causes.  Past projects range from organizing the first Chicago Twestival and founding Networking For A Cause to running book launches for Tim Sanders (“Saving The World at Work” and “Today We Are Rich”).  Current projects include marketing and sponsorship campaigns for Dreams For Kids (501c3) and working with the Founder of TED Talks on his next game changing conference.

Date: Wednesday, March 21, 2012

Time: 6:00pm- 8:30pm

Location:  Catalyst Ranch

656 W. Randolph Suite 3W

Chicago, IL 60661

Tickets: $10 Advance/$20.00 at the door Price includes: Program, Domino’s Pizza by @Ramon_DeLeon and drinks.

Social Media Club Chicago relies on sponsors to provide quality events for social media professionals monthly. Our sponsors receive exposure to thousands of connectors via email, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Plancast and more! If you are interested in sponsoring a future SMC Chicago event, please contact Jeannie Walters at jeannie@360Connext.com.

 SMC Chicago Board Members

-  Barbara Rozgonyi [@wiredprworks], Founder

-  Jeff Willinger [@jwillie], President, Chicago SMC chapter.

-  Amy Korin [@interactiveamy], Coordinates Volunteers 

-  Tim McDonald [@tamcdonald]Manages Communications

-  Jeannie Walters [@jeanniecw], Oversees Logistics

-  Carolyn Martin [@cm_socialmedia], Online Marketing

Contact:

-  http://smcchicago.org

-  smcchicagonews@gmail.com

-  @smcchicago on twitter

-  @www.facebook.com/SMCChicago

630.207.7530 or 312-970-0846

 SMC Chicago Chapter

Social Media Club’s primary mission is to expand digital media literacy, promote standard technologies, encourage ethical behavior and share best practices. We bring together journalists, publishers, communications professionals, artists, amateur media creators, citizen journalists, teachers, students, tool makers, and other interested collaborators. Essentially the people who create and consume media who have an interest in seeing the ‘media industry’ evolve for everyone’s benefit. We are more than just USERS, we are the reason the tools exist – we are the people who communicate our thoughts and ideas near and far. Join us and let’s shape the future together!

Chamber of Commerce 20 Point Social Media Checklist

chamber-of-commerce-social-mediaThey’re the connectors, the cheerleaders and the calendar operators who keep the character in communities. With a myriad of events, people, places and things represent, for a Chamber of Commerce branding and marketing is a multi-tasking adventure.

Recently, I was asked how CoryWest Media develops our Chamber of Commerce social media marketing strategies. Here’s a 20 point checklist you can use to get started, improve or assess your social media marketing program in action.

Social Media Marketing Strategy 20 Point Checklist for Chambers of Commerce

1. Capture the current conversation online by searching for the name of your community + Chamber of Commerce on Google, Google+. YouTube,  twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

2. Assess your current communications to see what can be repurposed via social media. For example, your email newsletter can be broken up into blog posts, sponsors can be recognized in tweets and events can be promoted via a Facebook page.

3. Clarify communications, public relations, marketing and sales goals. What do you want to achieve: gaining and retaining members, raising awareness, forming partnerships? Stay focused so you can measure results later.

4. Identify target talkers and existing communities on established sites. Where do your people congregate? LinkedIn and Facebook will probably be the front-runners. To tap into these social networks, recruit social media ambassadors that have high visibility and strong connections.

5. Evaluate your online social media position. Where are you on your community’s radar? Can and do people find you from your Chamber blog or site? How do you compare to other organizations?

6. Determine your value. What will you bring to the conversation? How do you fit into your community’s life? Will you be a community events aggregator, problem solver or something else?

7. How will you contribute to the online conversation? Set interactive communication goals for each audience [we will watch for ________, respond to ___________ and inform about ___________]

8. Select keywords and craft key messages, based on the conversation that’s already going on out there. Use your town, Chamber, Chamber of Commerce, special events, etx.

9. Design an interactive communications planner by channel, community, frequency, priorities and responsibility so that time is managed well. Consider hiring an intern to support your social media activites.

10. Ensure that someone will [always, always, always, always, always] be watching and responsive. You can set up this service using HyperAlerts.

11. Automate, without being robotic if possible, across multiple channels. Use Hootsuite to schedule your Chamber’s social networking updates and monitor community conversations.

12. Produce and share engaging content that may include success stories, pictures, videos and survey results.

13. Start a group on LinkedIn that leads into a membership site that gets you closer to prospective members.

14. Be the leader that people want to follow because the Chamber is their source for information about the community.

15. Build relationships with champions, ambassadors and evangelists in businesses, education, government and healthcare.

16. Be where they can find you – consider advertising on key sites or sponsoring events that link social media back the Chamber.

17. Measure results and track stats that help you modify your marketing, sales and communications systems with Google analytics, Facebook and LinkedIn insights, or one of the free social media measurement tools.

18. Re-Align communications accordingly to make sure that your posts are engaging your audience.

19. Shift with your people by liking and commenting on their updates throughout social media.

20. Shepherd and follow them everywhere. You represent the community in real life, why not be the keeper of its keys online?

Over to you . . .

How do you commune with your Chamber of Commerce community?

Searching for a qualified and experienced Chamber of Commerce speaker, consultant or workshop leader? Need ideas? Let’s talk: 630.207.7530.

Photo Credit: Barbara Rozgonyi for thesociallens from the 2011 Glen Ellyn Jazz Fest Collection

 

8 Social Media Marketing Ideas Inspired by “The Artist”

oscars best motion picture "the Artist" 2012Winner of five Academy Awards, including best picture, director and actor, “The Artist” is the first silent film win an Oscar® since 1929.  Check out eight social media marketing ideas inspired by the movie.

1. Actions speak louder than words

“He’s all talk and no action.” Does this sound like anyone you know? This film takes the dialogue away and replaces it with action set to a soundtrack. The friend who first recommended this movie to me, whose first language is not English,  liked it because language skills were not necessary to enjoy the movie. How do you use actions in your business?

2. Listening is overrated

Because there’s no dialogue in a silent movie, you don’t have to listen to follow the story. At a recent social media event, an hour passed with no one mentioning listening. When we got to the questions section, someone noted that the panel hadn’t mentioned listening. Isn’t listening important? Of course, but it’s not the only strategy you need to be successful.

3. Get a dog in on the act

Uggie the dog, who was much more than an adorable canine sidekick in the movie, made it onto the stage and had his own coverage throughout the season. Check out two examples of how to bring dogs into blogs: Why Asking Permission is for the Dogs [featuring a French bulldog] and 7 Things Service Dogs Know About Social Media [featuring a Texas pug].

4. Think local, reach global

Even though this movie was filmed entirely on location in Hollywood, today the Chicago Tribune reported pride sweeps France over wins for “The Artist.” Why? Their people made the movie and Jean Dujardin accepted the first best actor win for a Frenchman. It’s even better when people in two countries can celebrate a win.

5. Make a comeback

George Valentin, the lead character, was a movie star who fell out of favor, but he came back. Set popularity aside and go for visibility with close connections. Social media is not about fandom, it’s about relationships.

6. Take a risk

Harvey Weinstein, the Hollywood executive who brought a black-and-white silent film from France and saw it win five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, described “The Artist” as a million-to-one shot that celebrates risk-taking. How do you know when you’re playing it too safe?

7. Go retro

In a day when 3D is all the rage, who would think a black and white silent movie with a soundtrack would be a top contender? One simple way to go retro is to use filters in instagram.

8. Make people joyful

When people feel good, they like to talk about it. People enjoy sharing happiness and joy. Quotes and pictures bring out emotions. Please share yours in the comment section.

Photo Caption: Oscar®-winning director Michel Hazanavicius, accepts the award for Best Motion Picture of the Year during the live ABC Television Network broadcast of the 84th Annual Academy Awards® from the Hollywood and Highland Center, in Hollywood, CA, Sunday, February 26, 2012.


Let’s talk! Which one of these insights stands out for you?