Brogan's Tips for Social Media for Business

Brogan came up with some very handy tips for using social media for a business.

To begin, he poses the question: "What are you trying to do with social media?"
And to answer him, I would say that I'm trying to do a few things with my small business.

My small business consists of selling this poster I designed

What I want to do with social media for my business:

• Create an online presence.
• Solve customer issues.
• Update customers with new deals / sales.
• Give the company a personality.

So there are a few things I took out of Brogan's list of 50 Considerations for Social Media Use.

# 3. Pick three social networks to join based on where your customers might be. Three might sound like too few, but it probably will be too many.

The first site I joined to give my product some notoriety was www.Goodsie.com, which is an ecommerce storefront that connects me to thousands of other online stores created by small businesses like mine. The next two sites were naturally a Facebook and Twitter account, both of which I display the product and customers can post pictures of their posters. In fact, I have some help in running some of these accounts, which brings me to...

# 5. Get a second (or maybe third) person in the company to build accounts on these places. Nice to have backups, in case you get busy.

Because of the many orders I receive online and in person, I can't be the only one running my design company. I have brought on a few other students to help me with handling orders and shipping. They have also helped me with building a personality on the official Facebook and Twitter accounts.

# 13. Use tagging and metadata to improve your blog's search features. Most newer blog software has this built in. If not, look for plug-ins.

My Goodsie.com account has the ability to add tags to the products that I add. This makes it easier for someone who is looking for "OU" "poster" "art" "frame" "print" and the like. Also, this allows potential customers to see my poster come up in the search results after Googleing my product.

# 18. On social networks, look for ways to contribute, even when they're not directly related to your company or product.

On the Princeton Review Poster Twitter and Facebook accounts, I have found ways to post things in Athens or OU news that attract attention from the student body or alumni. This gets my product exposure without having to advertise it.

# 22. Use notepad or Evernote files to jot down post ideas when you don't have a moment to write. Return frequently.

This, this, this, this, this. I use Evernote no matter where I am. If I'm at my computer, or anywhere else, it's on my phone. When I get an email about a suggestion for my design company, I clip it with Evernote and save those ideas.

These are just a few ways that Brogan says I can do to make my design company more successful.

USE THE FORCE, LUKE!

The TED Talk Tan Le, which demonstrates the newest brainwave monitor technology that fits on your head, absolutely blew me away.

In fact, I caught myself trying to accomplish what the demonstrators were trying to accomplish in the video by using my super concentrated brain power. I think it's a fascinating advancement in technology and it has definitely come a long way from the first brainwave headgear decades ago.

I think that this technology can either hinder or assist our human connection, depending on how it's implemented into our society. If we choose to implement it into communication, we can speak and interact with others more easily. This is a double edged sword though, as actual physical interaction would hinder, possibly leading to a less communicative society. 

This means that society needs to be informed on the importance of social interaction and collaboration, because sooner or later this technology will encourage introverted activity requiring little or no effort. How will this technology bring our civilization down??

TWEETING FROM THE BRAIN!

People will be able to compose tweets in their head and send them up to 200 times a day. This alone will end our world. I mean come on, think about it.

TED Talk on Open Source

We Screened Howard Rheingold's TED Talk Yesterday and...

It was eye-opening, mind-blowing, jaw-dropping and entertaining. You have to admit, Mr. Rheingold is quite the comedian.

In our Social Media Management course, we took a day to discuss the open source movement and the characteristics that make it up, such as collaboration and cooperation.

• Rheingold says cooperation and collaboration are crucial to human existence. He reminds us of our primitive days when families hunted small game for themselves until other families began cooperating to take down larger game. To fast forward, he examines the opportunities we can have with this planet and outer space if collaboration was increased to full potential.
• When we talked about open-source in class, we realized the sacrifices that have to be made to create programs and operating systems for no profit. But we also discussed what great things come about open-source software, such as the benefits of rapid advancements in technology and a larger workforce of programmers.

I have been interested in open-source for a while and use many open-source programs.

• I think that the open-source movement is a step in the right direction. It's difficult to stand for something that could ultimately adhere to ultra socialism, but I believe it is in the world population's best interest to collaborate without the agenda of profit maximization. 
• The odd's of open-sources success are not likely due to our social and political ideology, but we see open-source programs become mainstream applications every year, and some programs that have been around a long time. The success of Linux operating system provides outlets for indie coders to develop better software and lead to advances in computing.
• I think as more people become computer literate in the world, especially developing countries who recognize success of collaboration, we will see far more open-sourcing software and technology.
• I believe in open-source but I can't go completely open-source. You never go full open-source.