The Place to B

The Place to [B]

I found an awesome photography community to share. There is great information on the blog, but if you want the inside scoop you need to apply online to be apart of " the place to B". This is an elite group that charges a monthly fee of $10. I have a friend that says it's worth every penny.

Blog - http://www.thebschoolblog.com/
Enter the online community - The Place to [B]

Picture below from the blog:

Brette-Ashley Schmitt

Facebook or Famine?

Dane Cook, actor and comedian, started out in comedy as a teenager in Boston. History has it that in 2002 he took his savings at the time, a total of $25,000, and put it into a website, a concept that was mocked by fellow comedians. After his site was launched his takeover of social media networks began. Rapidly in 2006 he was pushing half a million friends on myspace. Currently he has over 2.5 million friends at Myspac and over 2 and quarter million following as fans on Facebook. For an idea that was mocked by other comedians and actors in 2002 it has surely achieved its goal of spreading the word and increasing awareness of the comedian.


-Dana

Brands on Twitter

I found this article in Advertising Age this morning about businesses using Twitter: Ad Age Article
I think this ties in well to our discussion last night as to why a business should or shouldn't use different forms of social media. Make sure to check out the link in the article that shows the results of the study.
See you next week,
Mike Tracy

Accelerated Media Distribution Cost US Official Job

Last week, former USDA official Shirley Sherrod was forced to resign from her position due to a video that surfaced via Fox News that depicted here given racist remarks at an NAACP luncheon in March. In the video she was telling an experience in which she was confronted with assisting a white farmer in keeping his farm. The video showed half of her comments as it related that she had to get over her personal biases as it relates race. Unfortunately, it was edited in a manner that it made Ms. Sherrod seem like a racist. As a result of the edited clip, Ms. Sherrod was forced to resign from her post on a Monday and was denounced from the NAACP because of her “disparaging” comments. The White House Administration encouraged her to step down from her position. However, on Tuesday it was realized that the video clip was only part of her speech and her words were taken out of context. Formal apologizes were given by her former superiors as well as the NAACP. By Wednesday, an offer was being made so that she would be able to get her job back. In three days Ms. Sherrod’s world was turned upside down. She went from having a job to being unemployed to being offered her job again. Due to the accelerated pace of the distribution of information through the Internet, hasty decisions were made. Actions such as these can significantly impact the image of an organization and cause them to be viewed negatively in the court of public opinion. What would you do in the same situation? Would you want your job back? Anitra Anderson

Internet & Social Media : Changing our news one leak at a time...

 I must say I have a new found respect for Twitter and all other social media forums after our discussion on the tweet sent out by Iranian Reformist.

It appears Iran isn't the only country taking control of what the world is informed of through the use Internet and Social Media Sites.  A new Internet Site called WikiLeaks posted several top secret documents this week regarding the war between U.S. and the Taliban in Afghanistan.  This morning, YNN called it "The biggest leak in U.S. History."

Mashable even named this site as one of the top innovative websites that will reshape our news..


Check out the leak as well as more info on Wiki Leaks here


If only the Internet was around when that whole "Area 51" thing happened  ;)

-Danielle Gore
MSMK #3

The 6th "P" of Marketing - Participation

Product, price, place, and promotion - the four standard P's of marketing.  Then came the 5th "P" - packaging, and last class Professor Mourey brought up a the 6th "P" - participation.  As I thought about the 6th "P," I began to drift back to our Strategic Brand Management class.  Building brands centers around developing trust and evoking an emotional reaction.  Isn't this exactly what participation does?  It is customer participation such as blog involvement, question and answer boards, and real time customer service that build the foundation of strong brands.  By having trust in a brand, customers tend to also build an emotional connection.  Drawing on the Pampers example we used in class, if a mother to be turns to the Pampers site for information during her pregnancy, then when she goes to purchase diapers for her child, she has already established an emotional connection and trust with the brand - their Web site has been there for her during a stressful and exciting time in her life.  This is exactly why participation is so important - it helps customers identify with a brand, develop loyalty and trust, and ultimately become a repeat purchaser of the brand.



Marcy Pontius
MSMK 3

Job Search Sites

I know we had touched on this in the first class but as I was going through my email, I thought I should post it up here. I am signed up with simplyhired.com and indeed.com (free) , where I get daily emails regarding marketing positions that are posted on the web, these websites search for all the job postings across the web and bring them to you. Even if you are not looking for employment its still a good reference for what is out there and what people are looking for as far as experience. You can obviously refine what you are sent, by the job market you are interested in.

http://www.simplyhired.com/

http://www.indeed.com/

See you all tonight
Megan Burke

Online Communities

Hi Team-- one of the interesting communities that I've discovered is the 365 PROJECT which attempts to have people document a year of their lives through photos. I think this is quite an endevor for one person to maintain. If you think about how sparatically people post photos on Facebook I find it hard to believe that there would be a large enough community to do this effectively to keep this interesting.

Check it out and see for yourselves!

Hayley

Online Communities - There Everywhere

I have learned that I am not exactly confident when it comes to interacting with online communities. Don't get me wrong I am comfortable with facebook and twitter because I learned to use them right from the beginning. But, breaking into the other million communities ... where do you start?

I found a great article in Brandweek that puts things in perspective; 

Opinion: Learning to Speak on the Social Web

BA 

Marketing Lady Gaga-style

I read an interesting blog post today entitled 9 Proven Tips for Creating an Extraordinarily Successful Blog [Lady Gaga Edition]. Although I am not a fan of Lady Gaga (or a Little Monster), I found the steps to be both humorous and appropriate.

Step four particularly caught my attention as I have found myself wondering where blogs will go in the future and how difficult it will be to "be different" in two years' time. I suppose that just like every other emerging medium, although they will become mainstream, the best blogs will find a way to differentiate and will constantly reinvent themselves. After all, who thought pop could be redefined as much as Lady Gaga has managed?

Erin Caldwell
MSMK3

The Age of Reputation

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/tech/2010/07/23/am.internet.culture.interview.cnn

Above is a link to a CNN clip about how the Shirley Sherrod case illustrates "the ability for anyone to ruin someone's life simply by posting something out of context on the Internet." The interviewed author (Andrew Keen) suggests an idea that someone should ultimately be responsible to be the gatekeeper of Internet information, to sort out fact from fiction and support people/companies that fall victim to Internet railroading. In the Sherrod case, the media came to her rescue and preserved her reputation. But in reality, is it practical/plausible/ethical that an assemblage of people actually fills this role? Seems too lofty of a responsibility for mere mortals! And then there’s that pesky First Amendment to deal with.  Al Gore should have seen this coming.

Amy Lancaster
MSMK1

Interesting people

Hello everyone,

It's good to see some of the comments on the class I missed. The slides were helpful but seeing your feedback is better.

As you know I was away at a trade show this past week. Interestingly, I met some employees from a company called Travel Spike. < http://travelspike.com/ >
The two people that I met specialized in using social media to help enhance their clients organic Google ranking. I thought this was real relevant to the assigned reading from the text because it covered how to increase your Google search ranking. So like we discussed in the first class there are actually jobs out there, like these two individuals positions, that require them to sit at a computer all day and do facebook, twitter, and write blogs for their clients. Oddly enough, they told me that they both found their positions on social media sites. So I guess Deb was right on saying that there are great ways to job search using social media.
See you on Tuesday,
Mike Tracy

Article in today's 7/25/2010 on creating an Enhanced Website and its ROI

Here is the second blog and there was article on today's paper-"Enhanced website offers return on investment" - it appears on page 3 on the Business section (7/25/10 issue). This is evident that e-marketing is on the rise by applying the successful strategy to promote your business. This also explains where you need to know where to use the online sites and how to effectively reach at a much lower cost than traditional marketing. I still believe in both print & interactive and will bring that survey to class this week- stay tuned- Bob Green

good resource for non profits from Bob Green

Hello everyone and I am learning this new blogging technique. I have found this interesting benchmark report based on the impact of twitter & facebook usage by the non profits. Check this out:
www.nonprofitsocialnetworksurvey.com Enjoy!

WIll send another blog posting soon

As I read the textbook, I am amazed at how the authors take the reader step-by-step through the jungle (to me, at least) that is social media.  Then, in class, the topics are demonstrated for greater understanding of the concepts.  Everything is coming together in a way that makes inbound marketing painless. 

I read a short, interesting article on Marketing Magazine's web site that talks about the magnitude of Facebook. Here's a quote from the article; the link is below:

"Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg says in a blog post that he could have “never imagined all of the ways people would use Facebook.”

http://www.marketingmag.ca/english/news/media/article.jsp?content=20100723_143656_8620

Josette Battisti, Alum - Class of 2008

Twitter Search

Twitter can be used as a search tool.  Go figure!  And here I was thinking that Twitter's purpose is to communicate all the mundane, play-by-plays of one's uneventful life.  What a fabulous revelation!  Not only is Twitter a tool with similarities to Google, but it can actually be more helpful than Google for real time searches.  This is great for companies that want to know what their customers are saying now.

Recently, Twitter made its people search capabilities even more effective and visible.  It's now easier than ever to search for and follow people and brands.  Read all about it at the link below.

http://mashable.com/2010/07/13/twitter-people-search/

Diane Braselton
MSMK 3

Testing Blog

Is everyone able to post to the blog?

Let us know if you can not...

Megan Burke
megan0304@aol.com

Tweets or Twits?

Wow…. Just wow with a side of wow. I got curious as to whom or what companies had the highest number of followers on twitter. I was a little shocked and even a little disappointed at the ranks. OK, the president is in the top 10, Oprah and Ellen DeGeneres, who are both empire building entities possibly looking to take over the world –I am sure it would be in a good way- But (and this is not meaning to offend, I was just very very surprised) Justin Bieber, Taylor Swift , Ashton Kutcher John Mayer, and Kim Kardashian. With the omission of sex tapes, craziness, and racial scandals, what have these people offered society as a whole? I have not been aware of many worldwide humanitarian events, large scale charities, or development of small countries these tweeters have been involved in. I come back to the idea that twitter is smart..if you follow smart people. Unfortunately I fail to see a large grouping of “Smart” people, in the top 100 Rankings of people with followers on Twitter: twitter rankings Facebook rankings were harder to find but according to wikianswers, Michael Jackson and President Obama have been jockeying for positions, even posthumously… Maybe one day we will realize that spending time on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn is not a way to waste time but a way to constructively use time

-Dana

Lost Blog Post!

Hi All- I'm Dana from msmk3, and was just looking at the blog and realizing I created my blog...and then forgot to post it, thank goodness I saved it :)

One of my largest pet peeves has always been going to a website that has NO information on them, or when the website is considered to be nothing more than a brochure site. Two of my favorite sites that I have recently put a lot of man hours into helping to change from simple (annoying and boring) websites to sites with more information are: CP Ward and

Northeast Technologies, I have to admit that I still am not completely happy with these pages, and am ready to begin changes on the again because, in some cases they have gone from not enough information, to too much info. Again a personal pet peeve, that I would like to be bombarded with information rather than constantly having to search for it.
However, these are volunteer projects, and as we all know the time for those comes and goes, especially during the summer :)

Online Identity

Last week's class was insightful to me in regards to maintaining and building an online identity.  I was unaware of the impact that updating your Linkedin and Twitter accounts played on your online identity.  While I was aware of the impact Facebook, I thought the other two were not as important.  Obviously, I was wrong!!!!

I found an article in Forbes Magazine and it stated that your online identity is what Google says it is. I found that to be a very profound statement.  When a search is done with your name, you must be aware of what is associated with it - pictures, comment, and etc.  The article gave some tips on how to increase visiblity for desired purposes.  As Deborah stated last week, it is important to see what is associated with your name. We must manipulate the subjects and themes of our posts, to improve our brand in target areas.

Forbes-Managing Online Identity

This article and class made me rethink my approach to job searching.... I will be making some changes to my Linkedin account in the coming week.

Finding interesting (helpful) things to post

As discussed in class, the ideas you contribute through your microbloging (your post) should be useful information, or at least interesting enough to you that you would want to share with others. One way I do this (as I learned from Deb), I search through twitter to find a topic I want to learn about, I real time search for it, and go through some posts or articles. If I find one that I enjoy and think it may have useful information for others, I  retweet it....or I post it to my linkedin (crediting the appropriate source of course).  And there you go.... something interesting and useful to contribute...... visibility = opportunity!

(unfortunately I will not be in class tonight, but look forward to next week and reading over the class blog)

Megan Burke

Your LinkedIn Credibility

I always knew Web sties needed to establish their credibility through inbound links, and I knew corporate recruiters used LinkedIn to search for candidates, but until last class, I had never made the connection between Web site credibility and a person's "internet credibility."

Professor Mourey provided us with great tips on how to establish our "internet credibility" - through posting links to relevant industry articles on our LinkedIn accounts and also contributing them to groups if they apply.  So while these tips are helpful and we all know the importance of having a strong positive internet presence, like most things in life, the most difficult part is finding the time to do it.  I thought the text gave a great example of fitting this important activity into our already busy schedules:  when drinking your morning coffee or tea, browse through your RSS feed and LinkedIn connection updates to keep yourself current on what's going on in your industry, and also use this as an opportunity to comment on blog posts and update our LinkedIn profile with a link to or comment about a great article.  We all love solutions that let us multi-task, so now we can get our caffeine fix and improve our "internet credibility" at the same time!

Marcy Pontius
MSMK 3

Correction

Hello again everyone,

I made a mistake yesterday on my post. I forgot to include that it was me, Mike Tracy, writing to say that I wouldn't be in class tomorrow. Unfortunately, I will be hard at work in Fort Lauderdale, FL.

See you next week,

Mike

Please don't text me.....well let me think about that

Hello Everyone, this is the newest father in the MSMK 3 group, Justin Blair also known as Old Man Blair. While Kailynn is laying down taking a nap figure I'd drop a few lines on you guys about last weeks class. I don't about you guys but I was completely blown away by the slide of all of those kids with the laptops in the lecture hall. I believe that really speaks to the shift in communication amongst the younger generations. (Wow, I just sounded really old).

However in class, Professor Mourey opened up with a question that really stumped me. The question about social media being a fad or shift in communication. I thought I knew the answer but the more I think about it, the more I realize that I'm wrong. I have a few friends that always text me and send me emails as compared to calling me. They are constantly updating their status' on facebook and myspace to inform their inner circles as to what's new with them.

Being the seasoned vet that I am (HA) this was all new to me. I was around when facebook was called “The Facebook” and it was only open to college students (HAHA). Some of my relatives refuse to pick up a phone and call but will have a complete conversation via wall posts and SMS. If this is any indication of the future guess I should call Verizon and upgrade to the unlimited text plan. Alright guys I have to run and make bottles.

Until the next time.

“J”

Lots to Learn

Hey all! This is Brette-Ashley (B.A. for short). I really enjoyed the first class and am getting excited for tomorrow.

I have been thinking a lot about blogs this week. Our text mentions that blogs have the tenancy to fail because they oversell their product. I cant agree more! I fall in love with blogs that are authentic. Some of the blogs that I follow;

Food, romance, photography - www.thepioneerwoman.com
A great read - www.mygreenorchard.wordpress.com
Marketing - http://daveibsen.typepad.com/

Being Interactive and adding value is key.

Brette-Ashley Schmitt

Social Media Resource

Hi all~

When I open my email inbox each day, I'm inundated with messages about my job search, marketing tactics, and social media resources. One social media resource I have found to be interesting and valuable is the Social Media Marketing group on LinkedIn. If you're on LinkedIn, check it out.

Also, I've heard great things about the local Social Media Club...but I have yet to attend an event. If anyone is interested in going to the next get-together (Thursday August 12th), let me know and we could go together.

See you tomorrow,
Rachel

New media's evil side

On Sunday, as I was gathering my information by thumbing through the Democrat & Chronicle (how archaic), I noticed an editorial by Suzanne Fields about "alarming observations from scientific laboratories" that our minds are being permanently altered by new media. She refers to a science-tech writer who claims that "the Internet is the most mind-altering conceptualizer for learning since the invention of the alphabet and numbers."

She goes on to state that "A study of 3,500 voters between ages 18 and 24 found that 2008 voters typically looked for sites they expected to agree with, to reinforce opinions. No one was much interested in getting new and contrary information." How is this so different from a person choosing which articles to read in the newspaper?

I then found a longer version of this article (online) in which she comments on another author who stated "The telephone had sex with the computer and spawned the Internet." WHAT? This is too contrary...not reading any more.

Amy Lancaster
MSMK 1

Help! My Company stole my "social" identity and I can't get it back!

I guess I am not the only professional struggling with their company over ownership of their own social media accounts. After our first class, I decided I would do a little research on the topic since everyone seemed to agree that my LinkedIn situation was a bit unethical to say the least.

In fact, many professionals in positions such as sales or recruitment are commonly found in this very situation. One situation (described in the blog below), an employee was ordered to resign his account once he left the company. Could this happen to me?

http://windmillnetworking.com/2009/05/25/my-linkedin-profile-does-my-employer-own-it/

As we learned in class, you use social media to build trust…not take it away; ESPECIALLY internally.

Looking forward to learning more!

Danielle Gore
MSMK #3

recap from 7/13

Hello everyone,


I have been very reluctant to dive into social media other than casual facebook use. Ironically, my hesitation came from not knowing if I can trust the information that's out there on LinkedIn and twitter. Additionally, my company doesn't use anything other than facebook so I really haven't seen the point until now.

I think that the reading and lecture have really broadened my horizons. Clearly I've been behind the times. It's now more apparent than ever that I need to just put the past behind me and start using social media as much as possible. I think this class is going to be a great way for me to ease into everything and answer all my questions along the way.

I will be away for work this Tuesday. Have a great class and I will see you on the 27th.

Enjoyed our first MKT 570 class

Hi All!  I'm Josette, an alum from MSMK #1.  I was reading the text this afternoon and realized that I needed to write a blog.  So here it is:  Just wanted to say I am loving the course so far, and thrilled that everyone in MSMK #3 was so warm and welcoming to the alum from MSMK #1 & 2.  Looking forward to more great classes!

"This won't hurt a bit," the dentist said. "TRUST me."

Trust.  It is the goal of social media.  Thank you Professor Mourey for making this point undeniably clear.  Although I'm sure we all knew that trust is a desired outcome, I for one am glad it was brought to the forefront of the other desired results.  Sometimes with all the marketing goals and elements that need to be considered, it is easy to get distracted and lose focus of what is most important.  Now that my brain is focused on the trust factor, everything else will be filtered through it.  Now I'll actually ask myself if a social media tactic will gain trust, rather than just considering the target market, positioning, etc.

Diane Braselton
MSMK3 Student
Community Relations Coordinator
St. Ann's Community

Marketing Lingo

Hi Everyone-- My name's Hayley, and I'm a Marketing Specialist for Getinge which is a Swedish healthcare and pharmaceutical company.

One of the strongest points that I took away from class on Tuesday was the importance on staying current with marketing lingo. I personally found it interesting that I was familiar with a lot of the aspects that the professor was talking about, but never knew the formal name.

I guess it helps to know what you're talking about is called!

Below is a link I found in a blog that has a list of current social media marketing terms:

http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/6126/The-Ultimate-Glossary-101-Social-Media-Marketing-Terms-Explained.aspx

See you all next week,

Hayley

Using LinkedIn Groups

This is Erin and I'm a marketing coordinator at XO Communications with aspirations to do nonprofit marketing in the near future.

I found the instruction on LinkedIn groups to be the most informational this week. While I am a member of LinkedIn groups, I seldom use them for anything productive. Instead, I delete the digests as they enter my inbox. Using LinkedIn to network with others who share my interests and add value to a network of nonprofit professionals is something I am looking forward to.

Nice meeting everyone this week... looking forward to more!

Starting a Blog

While searching around on Twitter, I saw this video on starting a blog and thought I would share it.
http://powerlinetraining.com/starting-a-blog/

Megan

Introduction

Hello. My name is Rachel Studley and I will also be helping Deb with class.

I'm currently a student at Roberts in the MHA program, but have spent the last 10 years in the advertising/marketing industry as a writer. Not too long ago, Deb was my professor for health care marketing and market research classes. I learned a lot, had fun, and can't wait to see what this class brings!

Feel free to contact me:
rbstudley@aol.com
http://www.linkedin.com/in/rachelstudley

See you Tuesday!

Hello

Hello everyone, my name is Megan Burke and I will be helping Deb with class. Currently I work in marketing at a commercial real estate firm. I'm extremely excited for all the valuable information we will be learning in this class. Deb is very knowledgeable and a great person, we will all learn a great deal from her. Please feel free to get in touch with me if there is anything you need. Below is my email and linkedin account (if your not there, you should be!!) See you all soon!!

Email: mgnburke@yahoo.com

http://www.linkedin.com/in/meganburke0304

Everyone Introduce Themselves

Hi Everyone, you will get to know me better as the class goes on as I'll be the one standing in the front of the room!

I hope you will take a minute to review my 'digital footprint' which includes the following:
http://www.hellinthehallway.net



I post to my blog about once a week and try to help people who are currently looking for work but also people in transition in their lives.
http://www.twitter.com/dmourey



I have been building my twitter network for about 18months - 2years. I have about 1,300 followers. We are going to talk a lot more about the power of twitter and real time search.
http://www.linkedin.com/in/deborahmourey



Linked In is a crucial tool for any professional. I am selective about who I connect with. I have about 400 connections and belong to 40+ groups.


http://www.google.com/profiles/deborah.mourey

Also, if you haven't done a Google search for yourself, you may want to do that. What does your digital footprint look like? When a contact or future employer wants to find out about you, what will they find online?

Here We Go! MSMK Class Blog

Part of learning about and understanding the web 2.0 tool kit and social media is to learn about blogging. And what better way than to dive right in! I expect each of you to post to this blog weekly. I want you to talk about what you're learning, you're insights, surprises, ah-ha's, oh-no's and appreciation for each other's contributions.
Here are a few guidelines;

• Keep it short - 250 words or so. Please do not ramble. Make a point, illustrate it, say what you think about it personally, give a resource or reference if applicable and then stop.
  
• Understand that each person's point of view is valuable. We can respectfully disagree and I encourage you to do so. This is a place to be heard not mocked.
  
• Keep the language simple. Part of writing for a broad audience is using words that everyone understands. I like 50 cents words as much as the next scrabble player but this is not the place for them.
  
• Pick one idea per post. This takes discipline to write clearly and concisely.
  
• Be constructive and positive.
  
• Write about your own experience and thinking.
  I'm sure I'll have other words of wisdom for you. I've been blogging for a couple of years and I've learned a lot. I hope you will too.