You are here: Home / 2009 / Archives for October 2009

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-18

October 18, 2009 By Leave a Comment
  • RT @tweetmeme Social Media Academy Blog: 1,000 Registrations for Social Media Tools Week so far http://retwt.me/Z1y0 I am going. Are you? #
  • Interesting post on social CRM and listening http://icio.us/c4yzuy #
  • RT @tweetmeme Social Media Academy Blog: Social Media Profiles – Tips on Photos and headshots http://retwt.me/11oxE Learn what to do. #
  • #FollowFriday @thrivehere an organization working on making Madison & WI the North American bike capital #
  • #FollowFriday @wk4coffee Barb Daniels does social media, radio and even TV. Someone to watch, follow and meet. Black Diamond consultant #
  • RT @ThriveHere: There's gold in that thar cheese. Crave Bros wins again http://ow.ly/uDt7 Note: eat this with fig jam & water crackers, oooh #
  • RT @ToddBullivant:Go Inbound Mktg RT@BrianMakas:80% of #B2B buyers found vendor rather than vendor finding them (@MarketingSherpa study) #
  • RT @sarahsoczka: Blog post: PR + Social Media Summit Recap #PRSMS http://bit.ly/24M3Ki #
  • RT @redwallphoto: Blog post – Pictures of fall in Wisconsin: http://bit.ly/V71cX #
  • RT @newglarusbeer: RT @djcorrao Dan Carey, brewmaster, all-around rockstar, and god of Wisconsin microbrews" http://pic.gd/8bddcc #
  • RT @Wisconsin_Dells: Get out & enjoy the awesome Fall colors along the River Walk in Wisconsin Dells!… http://bit.ly/14h1ZJ #
  • RT @CathrineFeehely: The Problem With Social Security http://bit.ly/3vRlnP #
  • #FollowFriday @inVision_brand Dan Paulson has keen insight and sales leadership knowledge. Author and all around nice guy to follow. #
  • RT @mashable 5 Ways Social Media is Changing Our Daily Lives http://bit.ly/1dp9cL – Something I agree with #
  • We would all like social media command center with everyone trained on use with guidelines and policy but ready to talk with customers #
  • On Twitter consider -the concept behind Follow Friday is that U recommend peeps you like to follow. Doesn't add cred if you don't. #prsms #
  • #prsms social media is restricted to those with Internet access. Not to many homeless can access this even at the library. #
  • #follow @suespaight understands strategy in straight forward language #smacad #
  • #prsms relevancy trumps frequency is used by @oates86 210K soldiers and 1 social media strategist. #
  • What social media like conference and event programs have you used that might extend before, during and after communities at prof. conf.? #
  • has anyone used conference 2.o by omnipress yet.? #prsms results or thoughts? #
  • #prsms. uses coverit live – not blog more like online townline meetings held, closed communities used #
  • #prsms understanding how the government is incorporating social media. Careful and thoughtful application. #
  • RT @ducttape twitter warning – Getting hit pretty hard today with DMs like "lol this vid is funny" – don't click the link! #
  • #prsms – HARO works – responded to interviewee requests and got radio talk show hosts calling within 5 min of posts #
  • RT @Brittany_D: Don't forget about FTC's blogger regulations when posting new content http://ow.ly/umG4 #PRSMS- Chris brogan is Ok with this #
  • RT @techpr: via @derekgebler Madison WI ranked 20th by CNNMoney (best places to launch small biz), nice mention of @thrivehere! #
  • #prsms Sway speaking from Madison tools for effectively working with tactical social media #
  • You may like to #FollowFriday @rmarkmoore – see Mark's profile on #XeeSM: http://bit.ly/CCMCG makes social media happen #
  • #prsms thoughtful presentation by @suespaight Cut to the chase comments about separating what you have to do first versus. #
  • RT @thepacketrat: @suespaight Social media is a channel, not a strategy. Tactics=tools. Strategy=what we want to accomplish #
  • #prsms #blackdiamonds Sue Spaight says strategy most important – don't get caught up in shiny tools and tactics #
  • RT @rmarkmoore: RT @tweetmeme a great reminder on planning &consistent execution @barbaragiamanco Instant Really Isn’t. http://retwt.me/KNBU #
  • RT @rmarkmoore: RT @tweetmeme Social Media Academy: Help With Choosing and Using Social Media Tools http://retwt.me/TqiH by Des Walsh #
  • RT @getbuttonedup: Women rule! •Women own approximately 9.1 million small businesses in the US #
  • #prsms Southwest suing Radian 6 to monitor social media threads and sentiment #Blackdiamonds #
  • #prsms Advice – dont' wait for crisis to implement these social media tools . #
  • #prsms Southwest Airlines blog gets best blog awards – lets see what Paula has to say to educate us bloggers #
  • #prsms Paula Berg (southwest airlines) getting warthog shirt. Advice fake it till you make it. #
  • #prsms chancellor speaking and intro the key notes. Pentagon rep here including @oates86 who heads the social media & web nationally #
  • #prsms @techpr are you heading down to conference at Whitewater on social media and PR – big crowd over 250 people #
  • http://icio.us/jhugs2 #
  • OK all you b2b bloggers that are getting stuck Chris Brogan provides good ideas http://icio.us/kxj3wy #
  • good strategy for content drivers http://icio.us/jpe2zw #
  • this post from Chris Broganwill help me come up with blog ideas and variations. How about you? http://icio.us/mssfko #

Powered by Twitter Tools

Share
Filed Under: Twitter Tagged With: , ,

Social media profiles | Tips on photos and headshots

October 13, 2009 By 4 Comments

Social Media Profiles – Tips on Photos and Headshots

When was the last time you really looked at the picture you are using on your social media profiles?  Does it give the perception you hope for?

Wendy Soucie 1987

Wendy Soucie 1987

I had been using a photo taken for a press release that was twenty years old.  It was good in its time and I looked younger, but it was in black and white and by others standards, a bit dated. After putting up with digs by friends when I used it for a quarterly community voice column I was writing, I started to think maybe I should redo.  When I started to get very engaged in social media I knew it was time.

Pictures on social media profiles are very important.

1.  It builds on consistency across profiles and messages

2.  People can see exactly what you look like

3.  If you have a common name, you can be better identified

4.   It feels more trustworthy

Are you using an old picture or another type of avatar?

Getting the picture done right is worth a little extra time, attention to detail and in many some cases may be worth having a professional get a series for catching you in various poses and attire.  Amy Lynn Schereck recently presented at the Social Media Breakfast – Madison and talked about copyright, attire, makeup, jewelry, and posing.    I am a firm believer in using a plain, old, real picture of you.  Others feel there is more flexibility in using transformed pictures or cartoons.  Specific tips on what to wear and how to take your own pictures for social media profiles is covered well at Lisa Stewart – Creative Goddess.

Do I use casual or professional photo?

Wendy Running

Wendy Running on the Ice Age Trail - Bill Beers Photo Credit

Early on when I started using social media sites, I tried to keep some strictly personal and others professional.  I tried using a few of my own outdoor pictures as profiles on the personal sites. I thought I should have a different look on different social  media sites.  So I tried a few casual shots for profiles.

It ended up being a mashup of looks across all my sites.  As I started to grow my network, I connected with professional contacts more deeply and they wanted to connect with me on sites they were more active on, such as Facebook, Slideshare and even Youtube. The separation between business and social began to blur.

None of us can afford to be perceived as just business or just social.  If your potential clients only connect with you on Facebook and non of your professional and business interest are evident then they will only think of you from a social perspective.  The same occurs on places like LinkedIn – your connection may only see and experience you as a serious business person only talking about the latest award, closed deal, business related activity.  You need to mix up these spaces with your personality.

I am both social and professional

I found it difficult to only be social / casual on some sites while trying to maintain strict professional comments and business related ideas on others.  I also realized that I not singularly one or the other.  If I am being authentic and showing people who I am, I have a lot of fun in life, take the work I do seriously and with great passion but I try not to take myself too seriously and love to find the humor in what I do. Laughing is not an option in life – it’s a requirement.  So I decided to move to one picture for all my profiles.  The benefit of this was
•    Consistency across profiles
•    People will recognize me (those in my network see me much more often in business attire)
Besides, I can add other pictures to Facebook, Flicker and Picassa to show other sides of what I do.

Quick but Professional

Wendy's quick head shot in a restaurant lobby

Wendy Soucie - Amy Lynn Schereck Photo Credit

The next photo was done quickly, no special lighting, no real time to prepare or think about what I was wearing and perception. I happened to be at the same restaurant for a meeting as my friend Amy Lynn Schereck and she was kind enough to take a current shot, doing an outstanding job in the lobby with window light.

The negatives to this picture were the dark back ground and my dark hair, but I had a blazer on and simple jewelry so it was useful for my immediate needs.

Headshot done right

The most recent update was also done by Amy Lynn Schereck in a studio with controlled lighting, non seasonal attire, simple and limited jewelry and a dark (black) suit coat. It is simple, professional and works across all my profiles and business needs.  This matches the way I dress every day for business so I feel it reflects me.

Wendy Soucie 10-09

Wendy Soucie 10-09 Amy Lynn Schereck Photo Credit

Since LinkedIn doesn’t let you add multiple pictures my network can see the other facets of my life by the various applications and writing I do there.  Examples are my volunteer activities, comments I write, my NetworkedMindshare blog link, and I usually talk about a week end activity to see who else has a smilar interest.

What do you do if you are not a suit and tie person?

If you have jobs, occupations or business that you would never wear a suite for -  don’t.  Amy was nice enough to give me permission to use a few examples of people in other occupations.

A chef and restaurant owner

A chef and restaurant owner

Amy Lynn Schereck Photo Credit

Gary Nski, Photographer with tools of his trade.

Amy Lynn Schereck Photo Credits

Gary Nski - Photographer

Amy Lynn Schereck Photo Credit

Before and After

For someone interested in doing a complete redo with a professional sitting and selected attire, consider Dabney Porte . She has used several pictures on her social media sites that tie in nicely with her facebook and twitter pages.  Dabney lives in Baltimore, but I have met her in person and she is as lively and vivacious as her pictures convey.  She has a sassy but professional concern about her clients and they absolutely love her attitude and the help she provides. I have connected with her on Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.

dabneynew

New Dabney Porte picture

Old Dabney Porte Picture -

Old Dabney Porte Picture -

I think her pictures reflect her style and her personality!

Take a look at your profile pictures.  Do yours do the same?

Share
Filed Under: Linkedin, Social Media, Social Media Breakfast Madison, Social Media Strategy, Tips and Techniques Tagged With: , , , , ,

Twitter Weekly Updates for 2009-10-11

October 11, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Powered by Twitter Tools

Share
Filed Under: Twitter Tagged With: , ,

Thoughts on blogs|Week of October 4, 2009

October 9, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Thoughts on Blogs – some selected participation in the social web following the Social Media Academy’s NCP Model

The Social Path-In regards to a wonderful list of ten ways that social media has improved lives in 2008:

I hope you are working on 2009 best of as well. This is the kind of list I should show people who look at me oddly when I say I work with social media.
I also have been trying to collect a list of social media tools that can make our lives easier. Some I have collected are

Carepages.com – helping those with illness stay connected to those who care;

Conference 2.0 – allows conference attendees to connect with others before, after and ever after communities

www.xeesm.com which is in the early beta as a social relationship management tool.
Can you think of any others for my list?

The Productivity Institute-In regards to goal setting for social media time investment:

Bruce, I can’t agree with you more about setting realistic goals.
Doing some kind of assessment first, that analyzes where and who your customers and potential customers are, helps to define issues and spaces.  With goals and spaces defined, you can select the social media tools that best accommodate your available resources (people, time and budget).
Anything that can help see and track where your contacts are and how often you contact them for an organized effort would be very helpful.  Just this week LinkedIn introduced a new feature for organizing contacts (part of the paid upgrade), so they are introducing features that allow for more management of contacts not just linking.  This all helps.

Kyle Lacy -In regards to a post on tips for using Twitter in business setting:

I found your list to be a great compilation of tips for Twitter with a lot of new ones for me to digest.I am ready for the next round of social media tools that will bring more functionality for social relationship management.  For instance, I was running out of room on cards for social media links, plus for the 35 -55 age group, the font is getting too small.. Rather than just place on my website page, which I did as well, I wanted something that might provide more functionality.  I have used the www.xeesm tool and it has helped.  I plan to attend Social Media Tools Week to learn about others. Right now I can track easily all my comments across the blogs I read and post to.  Pretty good when I want to review where I have been for the week.

Social Wayne -In regards to a post on two services that allow you to put social media links in one place:

It was interesting to learn about the two sites/services you mentioned Dandyid and Card.ly.  Do they also track and find my comments across the blogs and sites one comments and posts on?  Some new functionality for social media tools will be front and center during Social Media Tools Week 11/16-21. Ideally, the best tools would let me track who I contact and how often in any social media space would be the most helpful.  Even better if it tied into a CRM system so that I could see better the inbound marketing efforts versus the traditional marketing and where the largest impact is.

www.xeesm.com seems to be going in the right direction.  They are introducing some new functionality during SM Tools week.  I have found this tool quite useful during the preliminary beta and hope they will offer more functionality that will fit my ideal tool better.

Share
Filed Under: Business Blogging, Linkedin, Social Media, Social Media Strategy, Thoughts on Blogs Tagged With: , , , ,
« Older Posts
Newer Posts »