Look Forward: Think Mobile
The Growth of Mobile: Stats and figures that will shock you! A quick history and insight into where we should be spending our marketing budgets.
Author: Suse Barnes
Susan Barnes is the president and founder of Susby Internet Solutions. Susan enjoys teaching and strives to have her clients understand how they can use newer technologies to promote their businesses. Susan has been project manager, designer, developer and lead online marketing consultant for various small to medium sized businesses for over eleven years.
Google AdWords Certified
This is a belated announcement, but never-the-less important. We are proud to say that our very own Cariwyl Hebert is a Google AdWords Certified specialist. In order to achieve Google AdWords Certification one must study a series of lessons and then take a rigorous exam. Cariwyl passed the exam with flying colors and is our in-house AdWords specialist. We’re very proud of Cariwyl and very pleased to be able to offer this qualification to our valued clients.
If you are in need of Google AdWords assistance, please give us a call at 415.305.6403. Thank you!
How to Leave a Group on LinkedIn
You’ve joined several groups on LinkedIn and you’re feeling a little overwhelmed with all the email you’re getting from LinkedIn Groups, in addition to your already overflowing inbox.
Have you ever wondered how to leave a group? It’s not totally intuitive right off the bat, so here’s a quick step by step guide:
- When logged into LinkedIn, choose Groups and then Your Groups from the options under Groups.
- Select the group you wish to remove yourself from
- Look for the More… tab at the top of the Groups page
- Click on More… and choose My Settings
- At the bottom right hand side of this page is a “Leave Group” button
- Click on that button to unsubscribe from the group. Note that this will immediately remove you from the group. You may of course join back again right away, but remember that you also may need to be accepted by the group administrator again if there is moderation on the group.
Also note that on the My Settings page you may adjust all the settings for how much email you receive from the group and how often you receive a digest
What are your favorite groups? Would you care to share what you’ve learned and/or experienced by being part of a LinkedIn Group?
Social Media Marketing Certificate Program
I’m very honored to be on the faculty with several highly accomplished people in the new Social Media Marketing Certificate Program that is starting next week at SF State’s College of Extended Learning. I planted the seed for this program two years ago and worked with Linda Popky of Leverage 2 Market and Lauren Vanett of SF State to get it going, so I’m very excited about the launch.
I’m teaching the intro course which is Introduction to Social Media: The Power of Community, followed by George Kao‘s tools class called: Masting Social Media: 3 Essential Tools for the Business Professional in which students will understand how to use these three tools for effective business networking online. This course will greatly benefit small business owners, life and business coaches, independent business and marketing consultants, authors and speakers. George is an excellent business and marketing coach with a track record for empowering people on the best tools and strategies in social media.
Then in March, Avery Horzewski of Ave Consulting will be teaching Engaging Your Community: Creating an Effective Social Media Campaign in which students will learn learn the essential do’s and don’ts for planning and executing effective social media campaigns that keep your community engaged and committed. Avery is also the president of Women in Consulting and Program Advisor for the SF State Social Media Program. She regularly speaks on social media, its impact on business, and implementation best practices and has a very impressive client list.
Our Social Media in the Real World: Successful Applications of Social Media Strategies will be taught by Jennifer Neely Lindsay of The A-List fame on Blogtalkradio in between visits to the middle east for training sessions she has scheduled there. Jennifer’s course will provide a closer look at the strategies and planning used by effective social media practitioners within organizations. Case studies and hands-on projects will reveal which strategies are most effective and why. You’ll learn to think strategically and adjust your plan to changes in the community conversation.
In the summer, we’ll be adding a Mobile Social course about social media marketing on mobile devices taught by Mario Tapia of Mobile Mondays Silicon Valley, as well as a capstone course with Linda Popky of Leverage 2 Market Associates titled Integrating Social Media into the Overall Marketing Strategy.
Our goal is to provide participants with a foundation in the new evolving world of social media tools and strategies that they can immediately apply in the workplace. It is sure to be fun and I’m excited to learn a lot from the students too.
For more information please visit the Social Media Marketing course pages.
Sleep your way to the top (in 4 minutes and 11 seconds)
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been sleeping a lot in 2011 and it feels really good. I hope 2011 is the year of sleeping your way to success, well ahem… literally that is. Sleep is important. Here’s Arianna Huffington’s take on it. (And if she’s not successful I’ll eat my pillow!)
How much sleep is best for you? Do you see benefits to sleeping more or sleeping less? Please share your comments below.
Press On
Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.
— Calvin Coolidge
Recharge
Yesterday I replaced the batteries in my electronic tooth brush with new ones and when I turned the toothbrush on inside my mouth, I nearly swallowed the head of the brush out pure shock. I had no idea how old the previous batteries were and how ineffective they had become since the brush still seemed to work albeit rather unenergeticly.
So what does all of this have to do with marketing, business, life or blogging? Well, as I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling of the super charged brush cleaning my teeth, I had one of those Elizabeth Gilbert moments of inspiration where I suddenly realized the importance of recharging. What does that mean you ask? It means taking time off. It means stopping, relaxing, taking time off to enjoy the real things in life. Too often we get stuck on a treadmill of the daily grind, day in day out working, fighting the clock to get as much done as possible and still feeling like the list never gets any shorter. I wonder if the batteries are just getting tired after working and pushing so hard for so long. Perhaps if we just switch out the batteries in ourselves, we’ll have that boost of energy like new batteries in your favorite electronic device. (I’m sure there are only a few things which are as evident in a tactile form as an electronic toothbrush, but you know what I mean.)
Are you feeling fine, normal, same old – same old? Is it time for you to take time to recharge your batteries?
Take Care of the People
Advice from Dad: “Take care of the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves.” My Dad is English, so in the U.S. this would be “Take care of the cents (also called pennies here) and the dollars will take care of themselves.”
A corollary: Take care of the people and the business will take care of itself
Fun: A Print Ad for Online Marketing Classes
I teach three classes at San Francisco State’s Integrated Marketing Program in the College of Extended Learning. This semester my Maximizing Search Engines class was the subject of a photo shoot. The class was a lot of fun despite the photographer and the ad turned out quite well too. A client called me on Monday morning to say they saw me in the San Francisco Chronicle. A nice surprise. I would have missed it had they not called. The newspaper was very thin, but the ad is sharp and arrogantly I think I look quite good. The students in the inset are all rock stars too. Here’s a photo I took with my iPhone:
I do love teaching. I learn so much from my students and it’s so fun to teach about things that are en vogue today. Don’t get me wrong, I believe search engine marketing and social media are where every company should be putting the majority of their marketing budgets, I just think it’s a bit ironic that the ad is in the newspaper when my classes are all about online marketing. Then again we’re promoting the Integrated Marketing Program and integrated means integrating online and offline, so as they say, “All ink is good ink,” and especially when you’re in print.
Do join us at the information session on May 13th. I’ll be there in person, which is after all the absolute best way to connect socially.
The Social Media Marathon
One of the reasons why social media is different from traditional marketing methods is that is something you have to start and participate in for the long term. It’s not like an ad campaign, where you sprint to get the creative, messaging and production complete before placing the ad on television, radio or in a print publication. Instead it is a marathon where you continuously engage with customers and advocates both about your brand and also by adding value to the community.
When you start a blog it’s for the long haul, in other words, it’s a commitment that you have continue to post great content to your readers for the rest of the blog’s life. It may not be something you pay for with money, but you will certainly be paying for it with sweat equity and/or your staff’s time.
Just like in the marathon, you will hit the wall where you feel you have nothing more interesting to say. That’s when you need to push your hardest and go the extra distance and just get another post out. If you’re struggling to find something to say, talk about someone else. The social media industry mantra is to talk about other people twelve times more than you talk about yourself. Why? Because you’re adding value to your community. Sharing what you like about other people shows your fans and followers more about who you are and it also leaves them feeling like you care about them. And that, my friends is the ultimate goal. Care about your community, because it cares about you.
I recently read Gary Vaynerchuck’s Crush It Vook which I purchased through Vook.com. I highly recommend the new Vook platform (and thanks to the amazing Cariwyl of Salon97.org for turning me on to it). The guy (Gary Vaynerchuck) is dynamic to say the least. He puts the P in Passion and is just an inspiration to watch. The best part about him is that he started from nothing and is now a multi-millionaire with several businesses including WineLibrary.com, WineLibrary.tv and VaynerMedia and he is still humble to boot! You go Gary V, you’re my man and I’m a fan. Thanks for keeping it real, sharing your passion, drive and knowledge. And thanks for caring enough to help anyone who is willing, to simply try.