Week 12 A

There are TONS of social media platforms out there and sometimes its best for a business to focus on one, just a few or a lot of diverse social media platforms to market and network for their business.  The trick is making the right decision for yours.

Lucky for me, my business is pretend (a fantasy, if you will *insert lolz here*) and so I have the luxury of experimenting with some different platforms without any real time-cost issues.  Whereas it might be an issue for an actual business owner to be running and managing a blog, twitter, facebook, instagram, youtube, tumblr, linkdin, and google+ account for little return, I can check all of this out without the worry of time-cost.  Wheeeeeeee.  Sail with me on the seas of social media adventure!

Don't you judge me Willy-Wonka-Meme...

So my next thought on social media platforms for my business would be that Linkd in would work well for us.  Well, me.  I like to pretend I have employees or a personal assistant or something (its my pretend business and I'll hire invisible people if I want to.).  As a consultant I think that any networking site would work well for me so Linkd in and Google+ sound like the next best option.  I would next go to something like yelp but I'd want to have a few solid clients first and while I'm doing this as a project that is not going to work.  

 

Week 11 B

I commented on:

Chad: https://chadmullenphotography.blogspot.com/
Mark: https://markbuxtonbusiness.blogspot.com/
Alexa: https://queensofthemusicscene.blogspot.com/

Week 11 A

I am, admittedly, one of those people that loathes email campaigns and newsletters.  I never open them, never read them, send them to the junk folder immediately.  I only ever sign up for them if they offer an incentive for signing up.

The longer I meditate on that thought, though, the more I wonder if that’s actually true. Every now and then an email will come through from a clothing company I’ve signed up for with a header reading “Clearance 75% off!” and I think “oooOOOoooh” and click on it.  I’ve spent money on websites solely because I’ve opened email newsletters… so maybe I’m not as immune as I thought I was.

The business I am “running” for this class provides a service rather than a product, which is a bit challenging for me.  I feel like I understand the idea of selling a product a little more clearly than I understand the idea of selling a service.  And a service like “consulting” is so invisible… Coming up with images for my visual media accounts has been challenging.  So filling out an engaging email newsletter is not something I feel like I’m doing well.  I keep thinking that I could give advice or provide links but I don’t want to offer my services for free?  So where is that line…?

I feel like keeping and maintaining a blog would be the way to go for this business. And having a weekly or bi weekly newsletter on the blog and its updates.  And possibly hosting networking events monthly.  Announcing networking events in the newsletter and possibly having speakers… Just brainstorming here.  For some reason I’ve been really challenged by the business I chose to promote in this class.

Week 10 B

Keeping a blog organized into categories can be helpful for both the author and the audience.  Especially if the blog isn't focused on one particular subject.  OR if the blog updates quite often it can be helpful to organize the blog into months so that readers can look back at posts from certain months or seasons.

My blog is completely unorganized right now.  Maybe that is because its unfocused?  Its for assignments only but if it were for my business I think I'd break it down into categories like: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Other stuff like that.  Topics having to do with specific social media sites.  Or maybe I'd break it down into Content Creation, Videos, etc.  I'm not totally sure. 

Week 10A

Getting a bit personal here...

But honestly how cute is that photo?  That is a photo of myself and my daughter trying in matching dresses because that is outrageously cute.  Agreed?  Agreed.  This blog post is about getting personal in a blog post (how meta is that?) so I figured I'd start off by getting a little personal myself.  But when is it appropriate to get personal in a blog post and when is it not?  What topics, products and audiences lend themselves to a more personal tone or approach?  I'm no expert, but I am a student so I can make some observations as I learn. 

When the topic is something of a personal nature to the author I believe writing in a more personal way connects the audience better.  So if the author is writing about a product for, say, infant care, the author is likely a parent the readers are likely parents or parents-to-be.  This audience likely responds best to personal experience.  If the author is writing about makeup there isn't a ton of need to get deep down and intimate with your personal life. 

I think that a blog should also maintain a style.  If the blog is often writing in a certain voice it should maintain that voice throughout.  Some authors just tend to write the way that they speak therefore giving their blog a more personal feel regardless of the information given. 

That's my take!