I have managed cutting-edge and strategic communication projects, developed high-impact marketing campaigns effectively utilizing multiple social media and traditional media channels, project management plans that heavily utilize collaboration with diverse stakeholders, and increased positive interaction within teams, customers, as well as with critics.
I view communication as more than just writing. Over the years I worked in print, including a stint in a print shop (three-stage-web, AB Dick, and even an antiquated Heidelberg press). I witnessed the shift from “shooting-plates” printing through the emergence of desktop publishing. I bear many memories of Quark’s beauty and its transformative impact. And have been part of the journey as we’ve moved from Quark to InDesign.
Creating and managing newsletters delights me to this day. Memories of bulk mailing and the aggravations of the postal system evolved into navigating email newsletters. I’ve come to deeply value Mailchimp and modern CRM tools.
I see the web as the future of mass media and communications. I have over a decade of blogging experience, both personal and professional. I’ve used the medium to engage with the full range of stakeholders: clients, customers, and critics. Successful at building organic SEO as well as online advertising (pay-per-click, Facebook and Twitter ads, etc) to increase market presence. I know how to maximize email campaigns with various CRM tools and Mailchimp. And I’m familiar with traditional media as well, everything from writing and distributing press releases to creating flyers, brochures, posters, and bulk mail newsletters.
And I’ve deployed websites with HTML, CSS, JavaScript, JQuery, and PHP. I also know tools like FrontPage and WordPress. Wix and Squarespace also reside within my repertoire.
Some of the results I’m proud of:
150% increase in Facebook followers
250% increase in Twitter followers
Increased SEO optimization – achieved page 1 Google Ranking for key search terms
1000% increase in Facebook engagement (“People Talking About This”)
I pride myself on thanking people. I see this as basic. Time and time again, though, I hear how rarely it happens.
Really, one of the most basic elements of community building: acknowledging each other. An element of “namaste”, of seeing each other at a deep level, of valuing each other. Appreciating everyone’s unique gifts and contributions.
So often, in the comms world, we focus on solving some problem. Once the solution gets executed, off to the next thing. All the work teams put into the resolution vanishes into vapor.
Perhaps the easiest action to take, and one that reaps rewards in terms of connection, yet so often forgotten.
Want to stand out as a communicator? Well, remember the “thanks”.
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A current cultural value: speed. Faster, faster…get more done sooner!
So, with that, one of my recent personal observations: I need to slow down. In the grand flurry of work, I find it easy to wrap myself up in the frenetic nature of life and reactively communicate. My most common culprit: email, though other medium catch that, too.
Taking that moment to consider “what am I trying to say?” and “what do I want to happen?”, then evaluating my content against those proves itself valuable again and again.
Also valuable: thinking through medium. Is an email the best tool to get the results I need? Sometimes I end up shifting to a phone call after a few emails where we talk past each other.
Quite often slowing down, getting focused on quality ends up being by far faster. In my experience, I find that true more often than not.
Several years ago Monica Guzman, then with the Seattle PI’s Big Blog, started hosting Big Blog meet ups. I stumbled upon one my posts from one, pinged the folks in the picture, and the discussion shifted to having a re-union.
So, we’ve launched the discussion. Part of the purpose for this post is to have the discussion in a single space, and not fill up our Twitter feeds.
Anyway, please comment below with ideas, suggestions, interests. Also, check back often. I’ll update this as it progresses.
I’ve been a fan of Zoe Keating for years. Besides enjoying her music greatly, I’ve also been very interested in the way she interacts with her fans. She’s used today’s social media landscape exceptionally well to build her brand, and a career as a musician within a very unique niche.
What’s a bit more surprising to me are the tools she doesn’t use. Her YouTube channel is pretty spare, and not recently updated. Considering how much I’ve heard about video being “the” thing, looks like she’s experimented with it and has moved along. Now, if you search for her music there, you’ll find tons of videos, but that’s mostly uploads from fans, interviews and such. Also, her music has been uploaded to Vimeo, but, again, not by her. So, she’s present in the world of video, but not deeply so.
I’m also surprised she doesn’t have any campaigns on Patreon nor on Kickstarter. Now, her music is available on iTunes, Spotify, and many other online services. So she might not feel the need to have these income streams. Other musicians and artists in similar styles and viewpoints use them quite heavily, like Amanda Palmer.
Considering all that, it’s important to look at which of these avenues is the most profitable to her. As the chart below shows (created by the folks at Business Insider), most of her income comes from iTunes, Bandcamp and Amazon.
A look at Zoe Keating’s income sources
* Some thoughts on Fanbridge: I imagine it’s a great tool, and it is competitively priced. But it’s important to point out that Mailchimp is quite a bit cheaper, at least at the start. I also wonder if it interacts with any specialized CRM (Customer Relationship Management) tools. That would certainly bump up the value of Fanbridge. Mailchimp plays well with several CRM tools. Also, some of the serious competitors, like Constant Contact or Salesforce have those tools fully baked in. With that, I’m unaware of Zoe using any CRM tools. Doesn’t mean she doesn’t, just don’t see anything.
Lastly, Ms. Keating speaks some to these point in the video below. Worth your while.
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I managed social media for several companies. My desire had always been organic growth. Most of my efforts are via thoughtful content and local engagement. My strategies do include the use of such tools as Google and Facebook ads, thatsbtgenlimit of paid reach. I never advise the buying of followers.
I’ve known several folks that have done so. Now, ostensibly it looks great. Having thousands of followers looks like it grants you significant authority, makes you look like an influencer. More sophisticated eyes will see through it. When most of your followers are bots, for instance, the validity of your authority becomes suspect.
With that, paid followers don’t provide meaningful engagement. We need to remember the why. Why did you start social media? Probably to gain customers. The likelihood any of those paid followers is going to turn into a client is pretty near zero.
Don’t get wrapped up in the numbers. It’s better to have a few subscribers or followers who are fully engaged with you, than tens of thousands who don’t. Influencing is far more about engagement than about follower counts.
I found this post over at Small Pond Science fascinating. As a fan of science, if not a scientist, and deeply interested in social media’s presence in our society, Terry’s McGlynn’s post is very relevant. Terry calls out an anonymous article over at The Guardian basically dismissing efforts by scientists to engage with their work in the world of Facebook & Twitter.
I, for one, think there’s great value in the public debate. Not everything on social media is fluff. And, if it’s to be taken seriously, we need to encourage more, not less engagement by scholars online.
If you know anything about me, I LOVE the mobile revolution. However, I’m noticing that posting on the small screens increases the rate of small errors. Little autocorrect word substitutions, mainly. Ones small enough, and having enough of the right letters in a similar sequence as the desired word that they go live wrong.
Had such this morning. Posted an update to a Facebook page I manage with “create” in place of “great”. I read the post several times before hitting publish. Ugh!
I take my writing seriously, so even small grammatical errors bother me. So, with that, I have been trying to post more from a computer, something with a monitor. I notice that my erorr rate is much smaller that way. Plus, I feel more focused.
And I need to recognize I’m human and mistakes will happen. But I never intend to like it, and will be satisfied with any mistakes. Ever.
Lately I’ve pondered “connection”. With several hundred Facebook friends, LinkedIn connection, over a thousand Twitter followers….maintaining connection starts to feel easy. Too easy.
I’m noticing that I interact with a smallish group of the same people on those different channels. These are dear friends, but not even close to the larger group of people I want to maintain relationship with. So many good folks that I keep thinking “why don’t we get together more often?” That bothers me.
I signed up for Plaxo ages ago, and I really haven’t done anything to maintain that list. But I get emails reminding me of birthdays and any other events (anniversaries) that I noted in my contact when I synced. These reminders are nice in that they trigger me to reach out. That’s a start.
So, I’m trying to “up my game”. Going to build a list of those contacts to, well, contact. I would like to start sending notecards out, too. That just seems nice.
Any of you feeling this lament? This disconnect from connection. What are you doing about it?
