New Media Notebook

Social Sense

admin — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 18:18:49 +0000

Below is a Social Media presentation I gave to Granite Corporation Managers, station managers and new media managers in New Orleans, February 2011. This was the first presentation I created using Prezi. It was a challenge to think about setting up my presentation in a non-linear fashion. I struggled a bit, but the challenge was worth it. Enjoy!

Take Charge, Take Heat

admin — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:35:54 +0000

Yesterday, my son’s baseball team won their last game of the regular season–against a team that whooped them earlier in the year, too. The victory had the team of 10 and 11-year olds jumping around and high-fiving each other. It seemed like a gratifying moment for everyone.

However, my husband left the field feeling a bit defeated. As the head coach of the little league team, it’s his job to teach fundamental skills, create the roster, schedule practices and try his best to give all the kids–the skilled and unskilled–an overall good experience. Now, I know my husband: he is calm, fair, even-tempered and really focuses on teaching the kids great plays and teamwork. I know this because I’ve been married to him for 12 years and envy his patience–in the classroom, with our kids and other activities he’s involved in. Over the past week, he has had to deal with some criticism about his coaching skills and decisions he’s made in the game. After last night’s game, a parent handed in his son’s jersey and said they won’t be at the tournament because his son didn’t get enough playing time. A few days prior, he and the assistant coach had a difference in opinion which I think caused a rift between them.

This puzzled Jack. He thought he’s been making good decisions and leading the team to many successful games. He thought he had been fair and overall, he’s taken his job seriously; he feels he’s doing his best.

I told him, “Honey, it just plain sucks being a leader and making decisions.” Trust me; I’m one who knows. I’m in my third year of being a school board member and I’ve been a manager for over two years now. I remember feelings of anxiety because I knew some of my positions and ideas weren’t what everyone wanted. I struggled to do my best to make everyone happy until I came to the realization, that I never will. Ever.

Every morning I’ve been listening to MPR on my hour drive to Duluth, and I’ve paid close attention to the recent Minnesota government shutdown. Both sides of the platform have been steadfast in their positon about balancing the budget and both have their own arguments and ideas as to the best way to get the job done. After two weeks of shutdown, businesses are struggling, workers are unemployed and the government is losing tons of revenue. People are out of beer for God’s sake! Yesterday, Mark Dayton announced he was going to compromise. Some people are supportive, and many criticize his decision to ‘give in’ to the other side.

Now, I’ll come right out and say it: balancing the budget on the backs of MN schools to me is just horrible. And I could certainly go off about school finance state policy, but I’ll save that for another time. I have my own ideas about what the government should do, and there are certainly people who will disagree with me. But, guess what? When there’s a huge financial problem, no decision is going to be pretty. And the people in charge of making those decisions must bear the criticisms and disagreements of their peers and constituents. I am not envious of those people, because I know damn well, it’s a lot easier to solve the worlds problems at the local watering hole, than it is to actually get involved and DO something about it. Taking a leadership position means you will most likely lose friends, create enemies, have your name spewed across the media, be attacked on the internet and deal with an increase of stress that is less than healthy.

I’ve heard a lot of people say, “They need to do their jobs.” Yet, the job they are tasked with is so complicated and messy, it’s truly hard to know WHAT TO DO. I’m sure many of them are physically sick as they try to figure it out and they know that people will hate them for whatever decision is made.

People will criticize Mark Dayton, the Republicans, the Democrats, the congress, the president, the mayor and the little league coach. People will claim they have the answer. People will get angry and upset and blame the other guy. People will struggle to understand, “Why can’t they see things my way? I’ve thought about this long and hard, and I know I’m right!” People will disagree and argue until the end of the term, the end of the season and the end of the world.

In the meantime, solutions must emerge and shit has to get done.

Last night, as I was consoling my husband, I told him this: “Jack. You’re a good coach. I’m a good school board member. The reality is, we’ve stepped up to the plate (no pun intended) and whenever we decide to lead, we must simply accept that there are people who will be angry, resentful, upset and critical. It’s just part of the job. So, you either sit from the sidelines and think about “how you would do things” or you ‘DO THINGS.” We do the best we can, and if some people have a problem with that, eh…they can piss off.”

Kudos for Michaels and Where Creativity Happens

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 02:02:45 +0000

I just get so excited when I see good marketing! I know, I’m a geek…

Yesterday I watched a video on YouTube and happened to be only listening to the audio as I multi-tasked in another tab of my browser. What caught my attention was the sudden voice of a jolly, middle-aged woman chatting about holiday decorating, so I toggle back to the screen and begin watching this YouTube advertisment. Her name is Jo Pearson and she’s having a good time making crafts for the holidays explaining just ‘where creativity happens.’ As I glance to the right, I also see a banner ad with Jo and the tag line, “Where Creativity Happens again.” So, I click and arrive at Michaels little microsite, WhereCreativityHappens.com and it’s loaded with ideas for the holidays: crafts, tree ornaments, kid activities and more. All the crafty how-to videos are also available on YouTube.

The campaign goes beyond just watching a video, however. The conversion tracking metrics are in place: View project sheet, Save or print project info, send to a friend, find a Michaels store, etc. The site also tells you where you can join their groups on Facebook or MySpace.

I do have a little criticism, however. The Groups are too controlled. I have attempted to join the ‘Holidays Made Easy’ group on Facebook; it’s a closed group and I must wait for approval, which I think is a turn off. People should be able to join on the spot, in my opinion–they need not be so paranoid.

Search engine results=bad. I searched some basic phrases, ‘holiday decorating ideas’ and ‘kids holiday crafts’ and a few others and no organic (1st or 2nd page) or PPC results for Michaels or WhereCreativityHappens. I think the campaign could certainly have benefited by developing a better search engine strategy and invested in some PPC.

Ta da! Overall, Michaels (or their agency) developed a well thought out, consise and effective internet marketing campaign. Now I’m motivated to make some new holiday decorations with my kids-I know they’ll love it.

3 Simple Ways to Detect and Stop Facebook Spam

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 01:18:55 +0000

I was checking the home page on my Facebook today, and I see a friend of mine recently joined the group, “Stop the usage of dogs as live bait for Sharks.” Immediately, it caught my attention because I was like, “Damn! Some people are just sickos!” I proceed to click on the link to see what the hell is going on.

The Red Flags

As I page down the group, I see 3 links that lead to the same URL, as pointed out below. The URLs obviously have nothing to do with the topic at hand. Secondly, the “Recent News” was something about “working from home. I then checked out the admin people. Yes, their profiles are set to private; however, you can look at their friends: each of them have like 16 friends who, BTW, are scattered around the globe. One of the admin persons had no profile pic-ah…DUH? As I looked a little little deeper, I noticed the group URL was completely unrelated as well and the photo was not a dog on a fish hook! It was a medical response dog!

(Click on the image and then Control plus “+” on your keyboard to see in greater detail)

The problem

You may be thinking, “So? Why should I care?” BECAUSE, as an administrator of a group, a person has the ability to send an email to all group members. This email could easily contain a virus, or three or four that will send your computer into a tizzy. This damage could be totally avoided just by taking a moment to evaluate the applications, groups and pages you become a member of on Facebook. Groups and aps can be fun: I am NOT against them. However, with so much info spewed our ways on a daily basis, it’s easy to just ALLOW without thinking. Be careful! Don’t join a group just because you believe in the headline!

The 2 Ways to Detect Facebook Spam

1. Actually LOOK at the group page

Do a little fishing and if you see weird, unrelated links take a hint. Be hesitant to join groups with outrageous headlines and causes.

2. Click on administrators

If they are not your friends, then click to view their friends. If their posse looks suspicious or people aren’t mostly from the same geographic area it’s most likely a fake profile.

3. Report the bastards!

If you come across a fake profile and spammy group in your investigative process, look for the little “Report” link in the bottom left-hand corner of the page. It’s there on groups and profiles.

Fight Spam!

Educating Small Businesses About Online Marketing

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 01:13:42 +0000

Lately, I’ve been pondering the fact that very few businesses where I live have any idea how to use the Internet to help grow their businesses. It just proves how many people are “ONLINE” but very few users still have actually provided content or managed any communications via the web.

Many small, rural business owners don’t use internet communications in their marketing simply because they truly, DON’T KNOW HOW.

I recently had a conversation with someone who was telling me about a hardware store owner who had a web site and claims that he (or she, I’m not sure) said he never saw anything come of it. He didn’t think it made a difference either way whether he had a web site or not.

Which brings me to my point: IF YOU JUST HAVE A WEB SITE IT WILL NOT MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN YOUR BUSINESS.

Having a web site is like having a sign outside your door. Who cares????

I want to yell outside my door so that all can hear, “IT”S WHAT YOU DO WITH YOUR WEB SITE! YOU NEED A PLAN!”

So continue my conversation about the hardware store. I asked, “Did they use any of their traditional advertising communications to drive traffic to their web site for a PURPOSE?” I gave the example of how Home Depot gives “How To” seminars right in their store. Could they provide a similar service in their store, make a video or blog and put that on their web site?” I think so. Could they have their customers sign up for an email at the store for coupons, discounts, sales or special offers?” I think so. Could they introduce new products and offerings about their store? Could they sell other products their store may not carry on their web site? Um, I think so! I could think of a hundred more reasons….

Now, to any web marketing gurus, this seems very common sense. However, what is missing is that there is a HUGE group of small or medium sized business owners who don’t understand how to use their web site for customer loyalty, engagement, advertising measurement, or sales.

My question is, how can we help teach people about the Internet as an effective marketing tool? I think I have an answer: I was thinking that it would be helpful to offer a seminar through community education or the chambers of commerce to thy and help businesses see advantages of web marketing. I think I could write an article for the local newspaper or business publication giving tips and definitions.Any other suggestions? If you’re a small business, I’d love to hear from you.

Getting Started With Social Media

admin — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 00:21:28 +0000

post content here.

Wack Job Lady Denies Electronic Communication

admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:11:39 +0000

I was pleased to attend the Democratic Election party at the Rainy Lake Saloon in Virginia Tuesday night. I was having a great time mingling with my friends. I wandered over to a friend of mine as she’s having a conversation with a few people.

It’s amazing how one assumes things. I often assume, because I am glued to my computer for at least 1/3 of the day, that so are other people. I assume that most people do email and read blogs and use the internet for research. Well, you know what they say when you assume.

I begin casually talking with a middle-aged woman; a woman who’s a fellow democrat, and I mention how I found out about something today on Facebook. She begins telling me that Facebook isn’t real communication. Now, by this time I probably had about 3 cocktails in me and I’m like, “Holy crap. Is she messing with me? Am I in a dream? Is she FOR REAL.” I respond with, “Well, yes it is real communication. I have been able to keep in touch and share my life with people I rarely see, people I graduated with, relatives that live in Alaska, right?”

WRONG. The woman starts spouting off about how the Internet has ruined everything. That an email is nothing compared to a REAL letter on paper because you can’t smell an email.

Oh, like yeah. Every time I get a bill in the mail, I usually take a big whif of it. OOOh it just smells so good! I can detect the corporate aroma; I can feel the energy radiating off of my electric bill. WTF?

I ask her, “So you’re saying, that if I read an email that has the EXACT WORDS as a letter, it’s not the SAME communication? The words don’t mean the same? The same words don’t mean the same thing. That’s what you’re saying?”

Yes. (Because I can’t smell the email, right?)

“The Internet has ruined libraries…and, when your computer crashes and all the computers crash in the world, then I’ll have paper and you won’t.”

Fire. Has anyone thought of fire? Or trees? What about the trees?

I reply, “Well, my computer doesn’t crash and if it does, then I have access to another one, FREAK.” (Ok, I didn’t call her a freak….to her face.)

I informed her that after earning my degree, I have learned everything about my field via the Internet. She asks, “What field is that?” I answer, “Marketing.” “Oh, figures.”

HOLD ON A MINUTE HERE. I don’t know this nutcase from Adam. I have never spoken to her before. I was just enjoying a drink, celebrating OBAMA’s lead and now I’m being attacked for just saying Facebook.

There is a moment of silence.I just keep looking at her. Waiting for her to exclaim, “KIDDING. Ah, I’m just messing with you.”

Nothing.

I have nothing left. I just start giggling. I take a hard swallow of my drink and continue to laugh and say, “I’m going to leave now. You’re insane. Goodbye.”

My friend shuffles me away and whispers, “I think she’s nuts. Don’t worry about it.”

Uh…YA THINK?

I am fascinated with how people’s minds get like this. Are there some movies on Lifetime that I’ve missed? Am I not a real American? What the hell, seriously.

I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.