Women are social beings made for relationships! And with social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, women are in a unique position. Whether its for your job, your cause, your church or your family, join us for an inspiring lunch event discussing the critical position women are in and how social media tools can give us influence we cannot ignore.

WHAT A Luncheon for Women Only

WHEN April 29 @ 12:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.

WHERE Hilton Garden Inn, Lynchburg

SPEAKERS Internet Marketing specialist Jennifer Bailey (formerly Mills) of Marketing-Helper.com, and Cheryl Smith, business coach at CultureSmithConsulting.com.

LUNCH The cost of lunch is $18

Register Here >

Download your ticket here >

I was asked to speak on “The Etiquette of Social Media” for a group of realtors at John Stewart Walker tomorrow morning.

After agreeing I couldn’t help but laugh. Etiquette…?

Social media is an experiment. There are no rules… the sky is the limit. (Via @appomattox_news)

So instead of etiquette lets talk about what social media is and how you can use it to your advantage. 

1. Social Media is a way for people to DO IT THEMSELVES. 

Ahh! This is scary. If people can do it themselves… then why do they need us?

Social media is bringing people away from looking to the experts (CEOs of companies) and moving towards groups of people coming together regardless of title to share ideas, information, perspectives and to drive positive change. (via @joegerstandt).

But wait a second… this actually presents us with an opportunity. If people are listening to other people… then its our perfect chance to step in and show people why they need us. 

2. Social Media is a Result of Companies Not Listening

We have two ears and one mouth, we need to use them proportionately. Social media is a result of the company not listening to the customer. via @joshjq

People are talking. If you hurt your own reputation… people are talking. If you create positive feedback… people are still talking. 

3. Social media takes 6 degrees of separation and gives us closer access to people we are further away from

Social media is a way for us to expand our relationships. It brings networking and collaboration to a whole new level.

Thank you @chrisbrogan for the “20 Blog Topics to Get You Unstuck.”

I am constantly getting questions such as, “But if I had a blog, what would I write about?” and “Who would care?” The answer is simple:

Just write about things that would draw your target market to want to visit your website. If you sell hard wood floors, what do your customers need to know about choosing a wood… or cleaning them? 

Now, to divert you back to the post topic: Ways to Convince the Boss to Try Twitter:

1. Use Twitter

Use twitter for your company, I mean. Find your boss a new customer, or make a much needed connection! Once I was in a meeting with a client who had never used twitter… but wanted some training. During the meeting they said “I need a video editor.” So while sitting there, I used twitter to get him 5 or 6 leads. 

2. Stack articles about twitter’s effectiveness on their desk.

Here are a few stats to help you get started: 

A survey by Coleman-Parkes Research indicates that companies who currently use social media reported improved feedback, improved customer satisfaction, customer support, increased sales and improved public perception of the company. Need more stats? There are 1 trillion unique URLs in Google’s index, 2 billion Google searches per day, 70 million youtube videos as of March 2008, and over 1 billion tweets to date. 

3. Send them to the twitter yellow pages

Find people in your area or any category at twellow. Its better than a real phone book where you can make cold calls or do mailings… because twitter people want you to follow them! 

4. Talk about your twitter success

Talk about how easy it is and the connections and people you have met through twitter. Haven’t met people? Then you are doing it all wrong!!

5. Your suggestions welcome

Please leave your story of how you got a friend, coworker or your boss to try twitter!

1. An Infinite Puzzle Piece

It is hard to put together because the pieces are always changing… molding themselves into what they are becoming. If that sounds like a circular statement… it is. 

There are no rules in social media. It is an experiment… The sky is the limit.  via @Appomattox_News

2. An Organism

It is alive. I once asked a group of colleagues what social media would look like In Real Life. Infinite blocks of cubicles… sometimes the cube people pop up and say something. Or a billion people on a river at one time… you never step in the same river twice, right?

A couple months ago people were still using URLs to link to websites. Now they are linked to twitter tweeple. If I leave this article here, on my blog, it will stay here. But if I turn it loose in social media… I can no longer control it. It becomes a living thing. 

3. Tools for community

For sharing and discussing information on the web. 

A method of allowing groups of people to come together regardless of title to share ideas, information, perspectives and to drive positive change. via @JoeGerstandt

Activities that integrate technology, telecommunications and social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, videos and audio. Social media are distinct from industrial media, such as newspapers, television, and film. While social media are relatively cheap tools that enable anyone (even private individuals) to publish or access information, industrial media generally require significant financial capital to publish information via Wikipedia. 

4. Another form of marketing

A method of gaining publicity through online communities and networks.

5. A revolution in human culture. 

It is fundamentally shifting every element of human society: business, media, government, the arts, education, religion, family life… It’s almost as if the social web has enabled an era where trust is the core value and everything outside of trust (via our relationships online and off) is irrelevant. Is it about friendships? Yes. Is it more than that? Infinitely yes. via @socialmediariver @wiselywoven 

There is a lot of talk about our social responsibility to social media tools like Facebook and Twitter. 

…what do you mean, “Social responsibility?” Don’t I only have a responsibility to MY organization, MY cause, and MY paycheck? 

And even I never really got past the fiscal goals of social media (costs less, increases sales), until I talked to @joegerstandt and @appomattox_news over the weekend at the Social Media Seminar. 

“The way we approach leadership is shifting and that part of the future and part of the crossroads we are at now is that we are shifting away from relying on the “experts” at the top of the organizational charts and relying more on groups of people coming together regardless of title to share ideas, information, perspectives and to drive positive change.” (via @joegerstand on the Social Media River)

Imagine if you could double your donor base in a year? Imagine how many people you could reach with your cause message if you had 1,000 twitter followers… who all had 1,000 followers. Imagine if you could rally all of those people and their friends around your cause and your message to drive that positive change you have been working so hard for? 

GuideStar gives us some more practical reasons, here.

 

 

Social Media Seminar 2009

Above, Joe Gerstandt @joegerstandt speaks about leadership and social media. 

Earlier I spoke about social media tools and how to use them. Here are some tools you can use:

Slides and YouTube videos from today’s workshop

Be Social on the Web in 5 hours/week: checklist

Other Notes and Resources from Today’s Workshop

If you aren’t a web designer, know nothing about HTML, or just haven’t been using WordPress very long… then it may not be a good idea for you to use a custom WordPress theme. Unless you follow some simple rules:

1. Hire an expert. Ok… I am not trying to promote myself here. But seriously, if you are going to use custom themes, plugins, bells & whistles… but don’t know how to maneuver WordPress CMS… then don’t touch it. Ask an expert to do it. Many experts will let you hire them on retainer so they can this “stuff” for you when you need it.

I get calls all the time… “Help! I broke my site!” 

A lot of you don’t have time to learn to fix it. So hire someone who can do it in a flash. 

2. Learn to use WordPress CMS. CMS means content management system. And really, its easy. You can never be prepared for every emergency that might happen – but if you know the basics, you can save a lot of money on retaining that expert. This means knowing some simple HTML, too. And knowing how to maneuver an FTP program like Dreamweaver or just SmartFTP. 

3. Check your site after every edit. EVERY. EDIT. If you make some changes to the image on your post… save it, then check it before doing any other edits. If you make some edits to a sidebar widget, check it every time you update. If you mess with the plugins, check it after each plugin update.

Some things to watch out for:

• Some plugins don’t work together and can break your site. 
• Some custom themes require a lot of FTP file editing.
• If you change from one theme to another – check all of your pages, some of the code might change. 
• Some themes have special “featured” articles on the homepage that use TimThumb and you will need to learn to use custom fields.

LinkedIn is just like any other marketing tool – you have to have a goal and a strategy to get there. LinkedIn can be used to make new business connections and potential leads, to apply for job positions and to build business relationships in your target geography. 

What is LinkedIn? An online resume. Instead of meeting someone and convincing them of reading your resume/portfolio – LinkedIn works opposite. People look at your accomplishments before even meeting you. 

No matter what your goal – the basic process of using LinkedIn is the same. 

1. Create a strong profile. Make sure you fill in all the fields. Then, start making connections with people you already know. The more connections you have, the more credible you look. Also make sure to have at LEAST 2 strong references from people you trust. 

2. Set a goal for your LinkedIn. What do you want to accomplish from using it? What types of people would you like to make connections with and what do you want from those connections? Maybe you need to make 5 new sales in the next 30 days from small business owners. Make that your goal! 

3. Target specific companies or people. Once you set your goal you should know who you need to target. Check out your connections’ connections! See who your 2nd and 3rd degree connections are and request an introduction. 

Stay tuned for more information on LinkedIn… or join our conference call this Friday @ 2:30 EST

How to Make LinkedIn Work for You

We all have a story. We have visions, and goals, and passions. As women, we traditionally have used word of mouth and networks of friends to communicate and have influence. 

Social Media Phenomenon + Women = Influence that we cannot ignore!

Whether is for your job, your cause, your church or your family… social media can give us influence. 
—
Expressions Laboratories director Jennifer Mills is hosting a functional and inspiring lunch event discussing the critical position that women are in and how social media tools can be used to have influence. 

Jennifer Mills educates small businesses and organizations on effectively using social media to cut marketing costs and increase sales. After helping nonprofits and churches learn to use public relations to reach mass audiences, Jennifer founded Expressions Laboratories, a web development company specializing in helping businesses and organizations reach their brick and mortar goals. Jennifer’s company has brought new strategy and online publicity to hundreds of organizations nationally. 

Jennifer’s passion is in creating solutions where they need improvement. So as technology has redefined the way organizations perform outreach and achieve their goals, Jennifer has redefined the way public relations works for businesses. 

More about Jennifer Mills >

Our Guest Speaker is Cheryl Smith from Culture Smith Consulting! 

Cheryl Smith, IOM, is President of CultureSmith Consulting LLC where she works with businesses and non-profit organizations that concentrate on improving corporate culture. After more than twenty years of experience in nonprofit and corporate settings, Smith has turned her personal interests and experience into what is now her passion – helping people and organizations develop their potential.

Cheryl speaks to audiences about customer service, team building, communication, behavior preferences, networking and life work balance. She also has a thing or two to say about overcoming life’s challenges while maintaining a positive attitude.

Learn More about Cheryl Smith >

Come and learn more about this social media opportunity. To influence the world with our unique sense of relationship. With compassion, care, courage and collaboration. 

When: April 29 @ 12:00-2:00 p.m.
Where: Hilton Garden Inn, Lynchburg VA
Cost: $19 for lunch (Chicken salad or wrap)

REGISTER NOW

Well… ok… not quite. But the point is that Facebook’s Beacon program should scare you… I mean… it definitely scares me. 

What Does Facebook Collect About Me?

They at least know what movies I rent from Blockbuster, what I buy from eBay, what I am planning for my wedding through WeddingChannel and TheKnot, where I am traveling to from Travelocity and Hotwire, and what I am reading from the New York Times! Get a full list of the companies participating in Facebook’s Beacon program >

But does it scare me enough to opt-out of the Beacon program? 

Share your thoughts. Or get on the conference call.