Final Reflection

How many of your goals did you achieve or exceed this semester?
I definitely exceeded my goals in this class. At first, I didn't have many goals in this class because I didn't know what to expect nor knew what I was getting into. But as the semester has gone by, I have analyzed the things that I accomplished the past few months dealing with social media. First off, I didn't have a twitter account before this class and now I absolutely love it and am on it every single day. I just love how personable you can be with people on twitter and amazed by the possibility of incredible connections and networks you can make through this site. Also, blogging has helped me open up as a person through the internet. I used to be very shy about how I was portrayed on the internet so I never took any bold moves in social media. I have made those moves recently and feel really good about it.

How will you continue to use and develop your professional social media communication skills after this class?
I will definitely continue to use Twitter and improve on my tweets. Hopefully, in the future, I will be able to get my followers up to the point where I am looked at professionally on twitter. I will also continue to use blogger, at first, I didn't feel comfortable blogging about SMC and found it pointless, but now I see it from a completely different perspective and want to continually grow as a blogger. Also, I will continue to use my delicious account and keep up with the stacks that I have so I will be able to go back and look at different articles/sites that I used in my blogs.

LinkedIn Account and tips resources for beginners

Here is my new LinkedIn account that I made. I am just getting started on it, but you can find out a little bit more about me by checking out my profile bio.

2 "Tips Resources for Beginners

1. Increase your visibility- By adding connections, you increase the likelihood that people will see your profile first when they’re searching for someone to hire or do business with. In addition to appearing at the top of search results, people would much rather work with people who their friends know and trust. 
2. Improve your connectability- Most new users put only their current company in their profile. By doing so, they severely limit their ability to connect with people. You should fill out your profile like it’s an executive bio, so include past companies, education, affiliations, and activities. ( I didn't do this myself at first, so don't get down on yourself if you didn't either)
   
   
   

Dream Internship

I recently used the mashable job search engine to find my dream internship in professional social media communication. I found a great job that's titled consumer marketing manager. The job is in Los Angeles and the job is to serve as an integral part of the consumer marketing team, and have the opportunity to lead and own many initiatives for the group as we grow the brands for all the Break properties, both on the web and across the media landscape " mobile, you tube, connected tvs and beyond.I feel like my SMC/ORCO class has prepared me for integrating social media into business, but I could definitely use more practice in social media beforehand. This SMC/ORCO class got me from knowing nothing about social media to at least knowing what I am talking about when it comes to communication through social media. I hope in the future that I'd be able to handle a managerial job in this field. This field is so interesting in my eyes and I think it would be loads of fun to manage an account dealing with social media.

3 Popular Press Books about SMC that I'd like to read

1. Social Media Marketing for Writers- about how to blog, tweet, and peep your way onto Amazon's best seller's list. 
2. The B2B Social Media Book- about how to become a marketing superstar by generating leads with Blogging, linkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Email, and More.
3. The Social Media Bible- Lists more than 120 companies integral to the social media industry with updated data, products, services, and links. Includes advanced topics like measuring social media return on investment and how to develop and implement the five steps to social media success strategy plan. (I really want to read this one! Seems really interesting)

Group Post

Our group decided to hypothetically develop a one day training seminar to teach our colleagues how to use professional SMC. Click here to check it out!

What I've Learned from SMC

I knew absolutely nothing about social media before I took this Social Media Class. I have learned so much about it, that I have no idea where to start. First off, when it comes to my brand, I try to think more like Apple, not because I love Apple or think that Apple is always right, but because I believe in the way they communicate (not withstanding their absence on social media). You are buying something for yourself when you adhere to brevity: the attention spans of others. Say what needs to be said, and nothing more. Allow the customer to insert themselves into your brand’s story, and you give yourself the best chance of them inserting your brand into their lives. Let the human imagination take over. I definitely have not conquered this by any means, but I try to take apple's principle and insert it into my blog. This might be weird, but this is the way I look at social media.

My professional network has multiplied quite a bit (only had a facebook before this class). I recently started using Twitter (now have exactly 50 followers) and LOVE IT! I also now have a delicious account, about. me page, and obviously a blog as well.

Top Social Media Influencer

Chris Brogan is the number 1 social media influencer according to Forbes.  Chris Brogan is president of Human Business Works, a media and education company. He consults and speaks professionally with Fortune 100 and 500 companies like PepsiCo, General Motors, Microsoft, and more, about the intersection of business, technology and media. He is a New York Times bestselling co-author of Trust Agents, and a featured monthly columnist at Entrepreneur Magazine. Chris’s blog, [chrisbrogan.com], is in the Top 5 of the Advertising Age Power150. He has over 12 years experience in online community, social media, and related technologies. I am currently following him on Twitter and love his tweets! Always a great read and if your not following him, I recommend you do so.

3 Questions I'd Love to Ask Chris Brogan

1. What social networks do you specialize in? Why are these networks right for your business?
2. What is your perception of social media marketing and how will it help in my business goals? How will we measure success?
3. Can you give me an example of a limitation of a social network that you have experienced and overcome or worked around?

Top Ten Sites/Articles for Different Types of Social Media

1. Mashable- The BEST site if you are just starting out on any type of social media site. Especially for Twitter. Really helped me with the lingo on that site.
2. Social Networking 101- A beginner's guide to Facebook, Twitter, Google +, and LinkedIn. Great Article, Check it out!
3. Twitter Guide-  A great guide to how you customize your twitter page.
4. LinkedIn- A great beginner's introduction to LinkedIn. (Still haven't joined this site myself)
5. Blogger- Useful Tips for beginning bloggers
6. Wordpress- A beginner's guide for Wordpress
7. Foursquare-  A beginner's guide for Foursquare
8. Google +- Beginner's guide on Google +
9. Tumblr-  Beginner's guide to Tumblr
10. Skype-  Beginner's guide to Skype

Social Media Concept Essay

The Basic Concept of Social Media
 Twitter. Facebook. Delicious. These are all examples of social media, and I bet as soon as you hear these words, you can add at least another three sites to the list off the top of your head. But what is social media?

Social media is a type of online media that expedites conversation as opposed to traditional media, which delivers content but doesn't allow readers/viewers/listeners to participate in the creation or development of the content.There is a wide variety of social media, ranging from social sharing sites such as YouTube and Flickr through social networks such as LinkedIn and Facebook.

In my opinion, social media has shot to the forefront of people's attention because it's fun. Thanks to social media, it's easy to share your ideas, photos, videos, likes and dislikes, with the world at large - and find out what they think of them. You can find friends, business contacts and become part of a community or a bunch of different communities. Social media gives you what TV never could - a chance to be engaged and engage others.Because of this, social media is of particular interest to businesses. Currently, businesses of all sizes are experimenting with social media marketing, grappling with the question of how to get in on what appears to be an especially viral way to get their message (and their products) out there.

I recently started using more social media sites. I will admit, at first, I was a little hesitant about it and found it pointless, but now that I have used different SMC sites for a few months now, I wonder how i went that long without using Social media effectively. Including the likes of twitter, blogger, delicious, linkedin, and about. me. If you haven't started using social media to your advantage then i suggest that you start immediately!

Presidential Candidates using SMC

Presidential Candidates

1. Mitt Romney-When you go to Mitt Romney’s home page, the first thing you are hit with is a request for your e-mail address so that he can send you updates. This is not a strong initial call to action — nor is it a strong first impression from a man asking you to make him the next president of the United States. That said, once you leave the welcome screen and enter the real site, there is a lot that it does right. The site breaks down its categories well, using the home page as a gateway to internal content. It also does a good job of integrating social media.
2. Newt Gingrich- This Presidential Candidate is the best at getting his message across. The design is the cleanest, and the site makes excellent use of clear and large call-to-action icons. Home pages should be designed to funnel you toward specific actions. The Gingrich site does just that, making it simple to donate, volunteer or get more information.
3. Ron Paul- the case of Ron Paul’s site, the photograph of him atop the home page may not be having the desired effect. Why isn’t he smiling? At least one reader,  found the whole page off-putting: “Ron Paul’s is downright scary. The black & red color scheme and the typeface in the words MONEY BOMB look like the lowest form of junk mail.”
4. Rick Santorum- When I look at Rick Santorum’s site, I suspect he’s done it on the cheap. If you are going to run the country, you should have some idea of how to communicate with people. This site does not feel as if it was built by someone who plans to change America.

Different ways Professionals use SMC tools/apps to develop their brand

3 Ways Professionals use SMC Tools to Develop their Brand Identity

1. Creating a branded online destination- The companies that use social media to create a brand are surrounded with web consumers and it gives them an opportunity to choose how they can interact with the brand.  A small business organization can use blogs, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube for creating brand awareness online. A small business organization can select an appropriate option that will be suitable to create a brand.
2.  Hiring SEO experts to optimize the website with keywords that are frequently used by the searchers- Use search engine optimized keywords while writing content for the website. When the searchers use relevant keywords then the website of the company will be displayed on the web page. You can join relevant online forums or blogs, write posts, publish comments in order to create a brand for your business in the public forum.
3.  Being useful to visitors- If  you develop good rapport with the visitors then it will help to develop brand name and prove to be beneficial for the business in the long run. SMC apps really help with keeping up with your social media sites.
   
   Successful Organization using multiple SMC tools to develop brand successfully
   
   Starbucks has a site that allows users to submit suggestions to be voted on by Starbucks consumers, and the most popular suggestions are highlighted and reviewed. Starbucks then took it a step further and added an “Ideas in Action” blog that gives updates to users on the status of changes suggested.
   By empowering their exceptionally web savvy consumer, Starbucks strengthens their campaign to add a personal touch to coffee.

What is Pinterest?

Pinterest lets you organize and share all the beautiful things you find on the web. People use pinboards to plan their weddings, decorate their homes, and organize their favorite recipes. Best of all, you can browse pinboards created by other people. Browsing pinboards is a fun way to discover new things and get inspiration from people who share your interests.

Business using Pinterest
Scotty's Brewhouse uses pinterest to their advantage by keeping it simple, connecting with their physical presence with their online presence, and my favorite, launching a daily pin theme. Their are so many advantages businesses are missing out on by not using pinterest.

What's the Fascination? 
 Pinterest had an estimated 3.3 million unique visitors in the month of October. While there's no mechanism for potential customers to buy your products directly from the site, consider the marketing potential: Popular images (with links back to the original source) can get repinned on hundreds of other users' boards.

Professional Organizations and the usage of YouTube

Video marketing is one of the faster growing types of social media. While text based apps like Twitter are thriving, people still love to watch videos online and YouTube is still the king of the video world, whether you like it or not. The main reason for this is simply sheer size. The site has millions of videos and hundreds of thousands of users.

According to their fact sheet, about 10 hours of video is uploaded every minute! The power of a video site this big is that you can use it to get your marketing video in front of not dozens, not hundreds, but tens of thousands of potential clients. Of course, it’s a bit of a job to make sure that many people actually see it, but once a video goes viral, its traffic will soar. This is one of the biggest reasons more and more large corporations are turning to the social video site to promote their companies.

2 Examples

1. Volkswagon- Volkswagen has launched a fun new guerilla campaign and they uploaded a few videos to YouTube earlier this month. The campaign includes three parts and asks viewers ‘Are you ready for the fast lane? Take a look!
2. Toyota- The car company has launched a number of video campaigns including the YouTube Small Talk Contest, in which they paired with YouTube to find the cutest kid. Pretty good idea, if you ask me!

The reason I used 2 organizations dealing with cars, is because they have a great model on YouTube that has been very successful. Nearly almost any car organization has a relationship with YouTube.

My Klout Score

My Klout Score was only a 15.18. The Score Analysis claims that I need to engage more with others or be more active to gain influence. To get my Klout score up, I basically need to spend more time on these social media sites (i.e. twitter, facebook, etc.).

Practices that professionals should follow for effective communication on twitter

3 "best practices"

• Planning- Identifying audiences to be reached, developing an overall strategy for materials design as part of the communication plan. 
• Scheduling- Coordination between project events and milestones and the production of materials such as newsletters and informational materials is important. 
• Distribution- Materials are traditionally distributed through the mail and by direct contact at meetings. Other effective techniques include door-to-door distribution and placement in high traffic locations such as the library. 

3 "worst practices"

•  Clogging the Stream- Are you integrating your Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook posts so the exact same message appears on two or more platforms? Are your posts unscheduled or all within a matter of seconds? Those are two big no-no’s.
• Being Self-Centered- if more than 25% of your posts promote your offerings and share content you’ve developed, you’re going to smell like spam. Instead, you should be curating lots of helpful content from other sources and having real conversations.
• Not answering the social phone-  if a member of your community asks a question or posts helpful information, it’s your job to make sure that they get a timely answer or are thanked for contributing. It’s neighborly! (I currently still struggle with this one myself, so don't get down on yourself if you do not do this to the fullest degree)

Twitter Followers: Quantity or Quality?

I have often wondered, who follows businesses on Twitter? Employees? Customers? Other Businesses? Why do people follow them, and what are the benefits of having all of those followers? Many businesses that wish to build a strong presence on Twitter should be asking these questions.

Although there are some benefits to having a large number of followers, companies should focus more on acquiring quality followers. According to Mashable, a program called Schmap can help you analyze your Twitter followers, which can improve optimization of your Twitter account as a social media tool for your business.

Top 5 Favorite Professional "Tweeps"

1. @chrisbrogan- President of Human Business Works. Has a great blog and always has interesting tweets about life as well.
2. @GuyKawasaki- Author of Enchantment. Always has great articles to read about twitter and other social media sites. Great follow!
3. @ev-  Co-founder of Twitter. Tweets about new insights in the field as well insightful articles about social media. Never a bad thing to follow the guy who helped invent the site!
4. @AdamSinger- PMM @GoogleAnalytics and creator of @TheFutureBuzz. One of the best blogs that i have read. Really find interest in this guy's tweets!
5. @juliaroy- freelance consultant and @workhacks cofounder. A great entrepreneur that i like to follow. 

 Just recently, I started using Twitter at the end of January. I have gained a little over 50 followers since that time, but it's more about the quality of followers that i have. I engage with a good half of them and about ten of them on a regular basis.

Twitter 101 for "Newbies" in 140 characters or less

Twitter, is a free service available and essentially is a combination of a micro-blogging tool and a social networking site. Great way to generate more traffic for your blog.

Published Academic Research Articles on SMC

Research Articles

• http://michaelhaenlein.com/Publications/Kaplan,%20Andreas%20-%20Users%20of%20the%20world,%20unite.pdf

This article is about the challenges and opportunities of social media. It talks about the specter of social media, what it is and what it isn't, blogs, social networking sites, virtual social worlds. This scholarly article also gives ten pieces of advice for companies deciding to use social media. It's really a good read and simplifies into simple terms for anyone to understand.

•  http://www.socialware.com/about/news-events/mastering-social-media/ 

This particular scholarly article talks about mastering social media. It explains how to develop a social media strategy and what you want out of social media. The author also talks about a few attributes concerning social media, such as, minding your etiquette and attitude, protecting your online reputation, keeping it compliant, using your time wisely, and nurturing your networks. Check it out!

Developing More Effective Social Media through Engagement

3 Ways to Maximize Your Engagement

1. Conversation-Building: People use social media for a variety of reasons, but it all boils down to the desire to connect. Whether they are searching for answers, wanting to provide answers, or just catching up with friends, it's about conversations that build relationships
2. Feedback:  People have questions--have you got answers? And are you present to give them in a timely manner? This is a way where social media customer service goals reside. 
3. Value-Adding: This is the Golden Rule: give nods, give gifts, solve problems. It's not about you.  This way is the most time consuming as it really takes the first two ways and adds personalization. 

3 Additional Resources for Further Reading

1. http://socialmediatoday.com/chrissyme/472900/3-loyalty-models-develop-maximum-engagement
2.  http://cksyme.org/using-social-media-in-crisis 
3.  http://www.revenews.org/nonprofits-balance-information-with-engagement-through-social-media/

"Engagement" in the social media world

Buzz Words 101- Engagement

The word engagement is being used extensively by social media experts as a way of describing what people should do. According to Professor Gattiker, Social media engagement represents the action of engaging with others using computer-mediated communication tools. Engagement means establishing and sustaining relationships, while developing a level of trust that makes people comfortable enough to do business with you.

3 Best Practices for SMC Engagement and Networking

1. Expand content from solely about your company/brand-broaden your posts to industry news, ask for opinions, and always respond
2. Utilize trending topics when appropriate (Especially for Twitter)
3. Opt out of open-ending questions; instead shoot for "yes-no" type questions

SMC listening skills

What does it mean to listen as a social media professional? 

1. Research. Strategy. Execution-  This mean reading up, doing your homework before you jump right in. This phase is absolutely essential to any person or business looking to see any kind of return from social media, PR professionals included. This means learning about a site, learning about the main demographics that use it as well. 
2. Lurking-  "Lurking" means to read and observe, but not actively contribute in an Internet setting. Many lurkers purposefully do this to avoid poor netiquette, or other mistakes, and would be far more likely to bookmark a useful link than to post a comment or email the author. Many studies have found that more than 90% of Internet users do not actively participate in most of the locales they visit, including blogs and social media sites.

  How can we improve these skills?

1. How to deal with confidence- I find my conversations with people about social media are really about confidence. That happens to be a big issue for anyone who writes or performs in public.
2. Managing multiple channels- Everyone struggle with this. What I’ve noticed in the top ten of social media influencers is a tendency among top bloggers to use guest bloggers to write on their platforms. Take a look at how Liz Strauss has done this around Successful Blog.
3. Building circles and followers-  Social media complies with power laws that show people gravitating disproportionately towards a small number of nodes. Leaders get more followers. One statistic I’ll talk about later on is that people with strong networks follow people with strong networks.