Do Brands Talk With You on Social Networks?

I can't stand when a brand, no matter what the size, simply posts on a social network and walks away.

I try to explain to my clients how social networking is like a cocktail party.  It's going on 24x7 and you can enter it at any time.  People are always there.   You can't simply walk in to the party and broadcast something about yourself (the brand), turn around and leave the party... and then do it again the next time and the next time and the next time.  Everyone will groan and roll their eyes at you, when you do that.  You'll be THAT person everyone dreads at a party.  They'll ignore you.  This is when brands decide social isn't working them.  

You don't go to a party and just talk about yourself. You have to ask people about themselves first.  Get to know them.  Then you earn the right to say what you do when a party goer asks, "so tell me about yourself".

Here's a great example of a very large brand engaging with a fan.  The beautiful part is, the fan made this unsolicited tweet on their own, better yet, included the brand's Twitter address so they would be easily "heard".   They were.

See how easy this is.  Twitter is  my favorite listening tool ... listen and respond.  It makes being a community manager so much more fun.  Everyone wins.  Everyone. 

Get into the mix daily and dagnabit, be a great guest at the party!

~Alexis Ceule

Social Media Mamapreneur

Jayhawks, Get Ready for Your Close Up

Jayhawk friends, are you ready for your close-up... via Skype?  Rock Chalk!

(an email I got)
I'm a casting associate from Warner Bro's/Telepictures, "Let's Ask America".  We are currently looking for participants with great personalities for our show. We thought the Jayhawk community (both present and alumni) would be a great spot to look since we not only are we looking for fun, outgoing, high-energy, charismatic people for this, we're also looking for people to properly represent different communities and states from across the country. We have a STRONG KU fan base amongst contestants currently involved and we'd love to expand on that. Our last season, we even looked into possibly having specialty episodes where super fans/ fanatics/ and representatives of football teams were present. 

Here's a little about the show (which airs on NBC41):

"Let's Ask America" is currently on its 2nd season. The show allows four contestants to possibly win up to $50,000 dollars without even leaving their homes. People across America have been polled on a collection of fun-subjected topics and if our contestants can guess what America is thinking from their Skype account, they "walk away" with the prize!

Anyone that is interested is welcome to contact me through e-mail (tam.nguyen@letsaskamerica.tv)
Or they can apply through our website at:http://www.letsaskamerica.tv/contestant.shtml
Our webpage is http://www.letsaskamerica.tv
Clips of the show can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/user/letsaskamerica

Feel free to offer my e-mail for any questions and concerns, as well! 

Best,
Tam Nguyen
Associate Casting Producer
Let's Ask America
818-972-8503

The View... Kansas City

Here's my view of Kansas City this morning before I was to partake on a panel discussions about "how not to burnout doing social media".   The Social Media Club of Kansas City is an amazing group.  Great fun. 

It looks like we're not a one horse town, but rather a one car town.  It was early... what can I say.

Alexis

A NEW Facebook Feature You'll Like

While social networking for a client, I saw this nifty new "reply" feature in regards to comments left on a status update for fan pages.  

In this case, it was visible on the Lawrence Public Library but I couldn't find it on any of the other Facebook pages I administer or ones I checked from my personal account. I think it's a good idea for a feature so you can directly respond to a specific comment to a post. It will most certainly help organize the thread visually.  

Have you seen this option yet?

Has Technology and Social Media Given the 2012 High School Seniors the Lowest Reading Scores in 40 Years?

Is technology and social  media adversely affecting our tweens and teens in school or... are they just evolving faster?

A rather jolting report came out yesterday, Sept. 24th, 2012, about how unprepared our 2012 high school graduates are for college.  The Washington Times hammered it home by pointing out "Perhaps even more troubling than the college readiness number are the 2012 READING scores. The average score on the SAT's reading portion fell this year to 496 out of a possible 800, its lowest mark since 1972 and down from last year's 497."  Data: High school students aren’t ready for college - Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/24/high-school-grads-reading-skills-hit-new-low-most-/#ixzz27UIr3Czr 

My knee jerk reaction is to point a finger the huge surge in cell phone use over the last 5 to 7  years and the ebonics it takes to communicate quickly and efficiently through texting.  In fact if we all strtd typin in textanese, it wud come off a lil mor lik dis form of shorthand n not full words. Cud u handle that? F ur a tween or teen, u cud.   As an adult, I still have to read my 14 year old son's texts out loud.  I suppose if I saw these styles of writing every day in communication with everyone, I'd be pretty darn good at it too.

I heard this summer that nationally, high schools aren't assigning novels that exceed 200 pages anymore, because the students can't maintain the attention for that long.  Sad, strange, makes me furrow my brow and I wince at what they are missing.  However... is this us evolving?   Is it simply we are adapting the way we communicate using our environment of rapid fire technology and availability to so many people at once?  Are our attention spans shorter or are we merely wanting as much information as possible?

I think youth adapt embraced changing the way they communicate because they can. They aren't bogged down with mortgages, insurance rates, raising other humans. They are at a glorious age where they don't fully appreciate or understand the power of effective communication... yet. It's the whole frontal lobe still developing and not understanding the power and consequences of their words, the angst of youth, it's all about  me, I want it now type egocentric lifestyle they are submersed in. Ah, the good old days.  Eventually, they'll want to read and re-read a great novel, a love letter that you want to hang on to for the rest of your life, a poem or a speech that will rattle you to your core.   It's just not their job right now. So they can take traditional methods and tweak them as they see fit.  I don't even think they know we are watching.

    

Our society is certainly more visual than we've ever been.   Instagram and Pinterest's lightening speed rise to popularity are a clear testimony to that effect.  Using a photo in a post on Facebook has proven more than likely to yield greater engagement from friends/followers.  This excites the Facebook algorithms and you're rewarded by getting more of your  messages out to a larger portion of your fans/followers. Even as adults, we are so stretched with our availability, multi-tasking and multi-communicating, we don't really have time to read, but we do have time to see an image.  Infographics are a fantastic summary of a study with graphics, all on one page. See the one at the bottom of this page by http://www.commonsensemedia.org/teen-social-media-infographic .  Great information in a short space. Yes... I have time for that.

If you're an adult and you're reading this, what are you doing?  Are you evolving with technology and with the teens to twenty somethings?  Are you sitting back in  your chair with your arms smugly crossed over your chest and smirking because you think it won't affect you?   Are you kicking and screaming with full on resistance to your keyboard?  Where are you and what is your plan to continue to communicate effectively with the world, with generations, as it evolves around us?

For more thoughts, Here's a blog I posted 2 years ago about how typing classes may be replaced by texting classes. Soon a s d f and ; l k j will be M.I.A.  

Oh the Horror of this Confession!

I really enjoy horror movies.  

Another confession:  I laugh when it gets scary.

Recently I hooked up with the Kansas City Horror Club (685 strong!) and they too like horror movies and tend to get a good laugh from them.  The photo above is of  Justin Gardner and Curtis Smith, two longtime members.

I've tried for years to get people to join me at the theatre for some good screaming fun on opening nights or weekends of horror, without much luck.  So imagine my joy in finding this group on Facebook!  We've been communicating through posts on the club page via Facebook, about various horror movies and reviews, and many signed up to see this movie, The Devil Inside, together at this event.  

They are my peeps.

I got cool swag for showing up too. 

I got this cool poster for The Devil Inside, an awesome hat and a horror book!

The book came from a librarian who is an fanatic in the horror genre.  She brought 6 books as giveaways.  Cool.   One guy is totally into 70's and 80's slasher films. Another just got done editing a movie before he came to the theatre.  Another works for movie giant, AMC Theaters and helps pull these viewings together. There was a husband and wife team who had already seen The Devil Inside, but wanted to hang out with the group on this day too.  That's a nice testimony to the club.

I met in person and had a nice conversation with about a dozen people, before the show even started.  The nice thing was, I knew many of them before we met, because of Facebook and the interactions and familiarity on there.   

You've gotta love the power of social networking.

That's Not What I Was Looking For...

I went to Family Tree Nursery in Overland Park, Kansas yesterday, on a mission to find a small Rosemary sprig I could turn in to a topiary.  I know it takes patience and a lot of painstaking attention for it not only to live, but to get to the shape I want... a sphere.  LOL!  OK, so maybe not so painstaking.  Right away, as I pulled up in my Jeep, smack dab in the front of the facility are several topiaries. Not your average topiaries either. Different shapes, sizes and definitely not what I was looking for... but oh so much BETTER!

For instance, this cute baby elephant topiary is just about true to size. WOW!

This topiary bush looks like coral from way down deep in the ocean, which is a gazillion miles from good ol' Overland Park. It makes me want this even more!

Who doesn't want a llama?  Now you can have one that won't spit at you.

These stars are in two sizes... I couldn't help but think what fun all of these topiaries would be to have in the garden or on the patio with children around the house and neighborhood.

This isn't a topiary, but I like spheres. I couldn't resist the blue hydrangeas and the water feature.  Clearly from the pom pom shaped flowers and this cobalt blue fountain, I was in Nirvana.

I always love checking out the Koi fish pond at Family Tree, even when my kids aren't with me.  It has been moved to a different spot this year.  It now has a little waterfall feature and floating plants. However the fish are my favorite part.  They are HUGE in koi terms and act a bit like dogs.  Very friendly, want attention and you can even touch the fish.   Better yet, you can feed them!

To top  my visit off... I ran into local celeb and world reknown golf icon, Tom Watson.  "Hello Mr. Watson".  I got that boyish grin and a "What are you getting?" in return.  We talked topiaries for a couple of minutes. He had a lot of plants.  Now that I see he's a gardner, I adore him even more!

Social media note... Family Tree Nursery needs to be blogging daily.  You'll see from their so called current blog, they have a pitiful three entries between March 26th and Dec. 29th.   Really? Really.  They will never lack for content to photograph or blog about. Evah!  Plus, if they had a presence on Twitter, it would have reminded me it's that time of year to get my yard in shape and my garden prepared.  I think I'll have to pay them another visit.   : )

Will Books Become a Blickensderfer #5?

This is my Blickensderfer #5 typewriter. It was made in 1891.  Cool eh?  I got it off eBay about 15 years ago because I knew typewriters weren't going to be made anymore. Computers were readily available by then. I worked at Gateway Computers through the 90's and knew everything was thrown into warp speed technologically the minute I stepped into training.  I've looked at typewriters with a little bit of longing since then.  I liked the click click clack sound of them and I enjoyed seeing my father type up invoices in his rapid hunt n peck style.  And who didn't enjoy a whiff of white out every now and then?

Now however, it was recently announced that for the first time in history, digital books have outsold paperbooks.  Wow and aaawww.   Kim, a dear artist friend of mine, has been listening to books on tape for over two decades now. Even then I thought... "what if we all listented to books on tape?" There'd be no need for paper bound books.   So now, as the new flexible e-reader is on deck, the new Tablet is about to roll out and Kindle is already in the marketplace for e-book everwhere.   So really, besides nostalgia and books being sexy, why have a hardbound paper book?  Are they going to be bought to sit on shelves as decoration... like my Blickensderfer #5? 

Here's a great article from PC World about the Consumer Elecontronic Show called  5 BIG TECH TRENDS.    If you're not into technology and how it affects us each day... it might be a hard subject to wrap your head around.  However, the article is an easy read and maybe it will spark a little interest you didn't realize you had.  If you're there already... ENJOY!

What's next, do you think?  I saw a new game called MINDFLEX by Mattel that allows the user to move a ping pong ball through a hoop... in the air... using your mind.   OMG!   Again, this is by Mattel, the kids toy manufacturer!  I know!  However, it looks strangley like a Harry Potter game also produced by Mattel 5 years earlier.  5 Years earlier???   Where have I been?   I have an 11 and 7 year old.  We love Harry Potter. How did we miss this product?  Granted, I played with firecrackers as a kid and I turned out alright, but this might have set my course in life in a different direction. 

Go read a book... in whatever manner your heart or pocketbook desires!  I'm currently reading Malcolm Gladwell's What the Dog Saw (new $27.99 or on Kindle $7.49 see a trend?) and I am always open for suggestions.  Bring 'em on!

Measuring You on Twitter ... It's Easy!

I attended a really great workshop today called "Extreme Social Media". It was hosted and conducted by Giovanni Gallucci. http://www.gallucci.net/ His Twitter name @giovanni He is a "thought leader in social media and online buzz marketing." He didn't look as nearly as Italian as his name would imply. LOL!

He was very charming, witty, smarter than sh*t and an excellent story teller. He knows all the in's and out's of how to make a business or brand succeed on the web. It was mind numbing and exciting at the same time. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to spend the day with him.

We hit on several tools within the social networks to help you measure your success (or failure) to increase your presence on the web and increase your web ecosystem. Here are a few:

http://www.twhirl.com/ for to manage your open tools for several accounts

http://www.tweetdeck/ to tie into Facebook and any other social networks you're on, at the same time! One update and the all update. Cool.

http://www.brightkite.com/ for uploading phone pics.

http://www.huitter.com/ for mutuality and so you can automatically unfollow anyone who is not following you on twitter, with the click of a button. Brilliant. Because you really do want to follow everyone who is following you... even steven. It sends the right message.

http://www.tweetstats.com/ You can gather your twitter stats here! How many tweets per hour, per month, get a timeline and reply statistics and so much more. Great for a work from home business to help you measure your progress and hitting of your goals or if you have someone else doing your tweets on behalf of your company. This is how you check what they are doing and when.

http://www.twitalyzer.com/ This is another tool for measuring on Twitter, your Influence, Signal, Generosity, Velocity and Clout. It's interesting.

http://www.twitterholic.com/ Show the 100 top Twitterers. Right now, Ashton Kutcher is number 1, with the most followers. Then CNN, The Ellen Degeneres Show... you get the idea. You can also type in their name and get a graph of their trend.

http://www.tweetgrid.com/ allows you to SEARCH multiple search words on several screens at the same time! Any business would love this... looking at REAL TIME tweets about key words they are searching for. You can even send a message to a tweeter as you see the message and not have to get out of the screen. Brilliant.

Giovanni focused on search engine optimization as well as blogging so the most people can see it. I'll post more about that shortly. I'm trying out the other sites tonight so I can post more soon. Stay tuned!

Happy Twittering and searching for cool ways to measure your awesomeness! LOL!

For some fun... go to http://www.faceinhole.com/ and put your face on the cover of a magazine like this one! Hilarious fun!

Ready... Here We Go!

Today marks my first blog ... about how I am transitioning from the suburban mother of two, PTA President, serial volunteer... into a crazed social media enthusiast! And maybe I'll make a buck or two. Why is this happening now? How did this happen? As my 10 year old son explained, "It all started with Club Penguin." www.clubpenguin.com


He's right. I was fascinated that his little penguin character (JFC108 if you see us trolling around on your server) was "real time" communicating with other Penguins, even from Australia, the UK, Canada... So I spent some time on Club Penguin, playing games and earning coins for his penguin to furnish his igloo, while my son was at school. I loved the social aspect of it... I made some friends who I later found were parents too! LOL! We'd visit... at 10pm, once the kids were asleep and play eachother in Find Four for hours. lol... pathetic really, but it was sincerely fun. Since then, I graduated to MySpace, Facebook, Twitter (@AlexisCeule), Tumblr, etc... I adore these social networks for the very same reasons... the people, connecting and reconnecting and the technology is changing daily! It's a very exciting time to not only have a business, but really, to be ALIVE! We're very fortunate... very.

I am gearing up for another summer on the board of the Round Hill Bath & Tennis Club. I originally began listing out all of the duties I have taken on... but it looked really self absorbed and good grief, the list didn't stop. Remember... I'm a VOLUNTEER member on the Board. (party of my serial volunteer habit) Granted, most items I found were self inflicted, but when I believe in something, I stand behind it 100% and give it just as much. The Round Hill Bath & Tennis Club is nostalgic and a fabulous place for a family in the summer time. It's an old dairy barn that closed in the 1950's. The owner of the dairy farm, sold the property to a developer in the early 1960's. The developer wisely kept the barn and it became the hub of the community. Since then, 5 tennis courts have been built and a lovely pool and deck to enjoy the club in the warmer months. It's a lovely place, rich in tradition and loaded with memory making opportunities.

Getting the remainder of the Round Hill Board to use social media to update its members and attract new one's, is currently a struggle. (Good ol' boy syndrome) Getting them on facebook has been shot down... so my efforts to bring this little club into the year 2000 are going to be challenging. As most any objective outsider already knows... the times are always changing. Change with it or get bulldozed. The club's web site is www.roundhillbathandtennisclub.com Check it out at your leisure.

I'll keep you posted as to my new endeavor... a campaign of sorts, to begin social networking for favorite local companies that apparently have very little presence on the web at this time. I want to "represent" them on several social networks and give their brand name a boost in the outerspere of this new and exciting marketing and public relations builder.

I'm gathering data and enjoying blogs from social media Czars (they wouldn't call themselves that). So as this builds and progresses, I'll pass on what I've learned... to you.

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at, will change."

Alexis