Social Media Basics | Ja-Naé Duane

Tag Archives: social media basics

Starting a Business Podcast: Ways to Build a Community

October 4, 2010 – 12:44 pm

When I started my own business, one of the challenges I faced was how to effectively use social media to build a community around my brand. And that was before the Facebook-Twitter explosion! Now, with so many social media opportunities, it can seem a daunting task to the small business owner to create and grow a following. This is especially true for freelancers, whose services may appeal to a small níche audience. For my inaugural podcast to kick off my “How to Start Your Business with $100” Book Tour, I discuss “Ways to Build a Community”. Have a listen below, try out my suggestions, then let me know how it goes by leaving a comment. Hope to see you on my tour! Remember to check out my companion blog, The Biz100 Tour, for tour dates and special announcements.

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship | Also tagged entrepreneurs, freelance, freelancer, freelancers, home-based business, how to start a business, how to start a business with $100, Ja-Nae, small business, social media, social media 101 | Comments (1)

Recreating Connecticut through Social Influence

July 13, 2010 – 11:05 pm

Grassroots social influence is absolutely achievable. The small team of individuals who put together Connecticut’s Social Web Week in under 6 weeks will tell you that. Social Web Week (hashtag #swCT) is a week of social media influenced events occurring around the greater New Haven area. For a list of the 30 events in 7 days, click here. What’s great about this event, is that it was pulled together by a group of people who didn’t know one another before its conception. Furthermore, it has received major attention from local government and press (check out @AnnNyberg and @CityEditor). Even Yale had something to say about this: @YLSAA: Social Web Week CT – 2010, a completely grassroots initiative for, with, by the people of CT. #swct #yale @yale – interesting 7/10-7/16″ I was grateful when the #Getitdone team extended an offer for me to come in and help this crew kick off the week long event. They even got me to sing the kick off, as seen in the video below. It is my hope that the participants, local officials, and media will take this opportunity to look at how Connecticut can reinvent itself and grow through social economics. With so [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged Connecticut, social media influence | Comments (1)

Is the CMO Archetype Dead?

June 29, 2010 – 8:00 am

Last week, I had a great conversation with Evan Burfield of Synteractive on marketing and its traditional archetypes. After hanging up the phone, it made me wonder: Is the traditional CMO archetype dead? If so, what has replaced it? In Marketo’s Are You a CMO or a VP of Marketing, Jon Miller goes into the origins of each terms and the differences between a Chief Marketing Officer and a Vice President of Marketing. Here is a breakdown from the article: When I look at this list, one of the key elements missing from the CMO side is execution. It’s all strategy. When I think I of true CMO thought leadership, I think of the people who are writing their own blogs and using social media to stay connected. They execute. They are the people and the brands that I pay attention to. Jeffrey Hayzlett of Kodak and Barry Judge of Best Buy are two prime examples of how the CMO archetype has evolved and become more hands on through the use of social media. Both know the power of personal engagement and how it integrates the building of a brand. Both brands have grown through their thought leadership and social [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged creative marketing, Marketing, social media economy | Comments (3)

What Foursquare and Gowalla Teach Us About Social Media Influence

June 24, 2010 – 1:04 pm

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Should location-based services be taken at face value or should we find a creative strategy and help shape how they’re used? Aaron Strout wrote a great post yesterday entitled, “Are FourSquare and Gowalla Just Shiny Objects?” Now, I am a huge proponent of using social media for social good. This post and its comments made me wonder: What can Foursquare and Gowalla Teach Us About Social Media Influence? Here is some of what Aaron had to say: Loyalty At the end of the day, location-based services like FourSquare and Gowalla are ultimately going to be best at creating long-term loyalty with existing customers. Companies like Tasti D-Lite have started to figured this out by feeding their reward programs through point of purchase experiences which in turn check users into social sites like Twitter and FourSquare. And when a customer checks in, he/she earn points toward free food/drinks. Discovery One of the things I like most about FourSquare from a personal perspective is the discovery element — both in terms of places and people. As someone that is still feeling his way around Austin, TX, I love watching colleagues like Natanya Anderson (big time foodie), Doug Wick and Kathy Warren alert me to good [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged foursquare, gowalla, social media influence | Comments (5)

Building Your Social Media Team: Outsourcing?

June 24, 2010 – 9:33 am

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A few months ago, I wrote a post on social media use and asked the question “Should you outsource it?” Needless to say, the conversation continues to be a hot one. I am of the school of thought that even if you are a small business owner or an entrepreneur, you can outsource small things such as blog writing, video editing, video uploading, and social bookmarking. Here are what some others had to say on Facebook and the previous post about building a social media team and if you should outsource: Sherman Mohr I’m a fan of outsourcing “tasks” not strategies. Once the communication and engagement plan are in place, hiring a contractor to engage, post, escalate responses, and categorize and measure activities is a good way to grow your presence. Directory submission, Youtube and video posts are not strategic in nature and may be outsourced with great effectiveness. Altaf Shaikh Thrash on concepts and ideas internally, create a blueprint and then outsource execution, would be the way I would approach it. The other point I would like to add is that – social media works but takes a lot of time to gather that critical mass so outsourcing is [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged home-based business, social media influence, social media team, starting your business with $100, wahm | Comments (1)

Business Tip: 3 Ways HR MUST Use Social Media

June 18, 2010 – 8:37 am

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I have been so pleased to see more and more Recruiters and HR Professionals using social media to acquire great talent. Even small business owners are having their virtual assistants use it to recruit new candidates. However, most of what I see are companies broadcasting their message out. Though that is useful on some level, here are 3 ways your HR department MUST use social media to save you money: 1. Listen and Observe: If someone is contacting your company to apply for a job, observe how they interact with their “social circles”. Do they share information? What do they value? What is their online personality like? Do they come across as someone who would be a good fit for your company? 2. Run a Virtual Open House: Allow people to get to know the company, its values, and its culture. Invite candidates and the general public to a virtual open house. This could be done once a week or once a month. Run it as a phone conference, on Skype, on your Facebook page, or over Twitter. This will also give people a chance to ask questions that they might have about the company or a specific position. In [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Business Tools, Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged business tip, how to start a business, HR and social media, social media 101, starting a business, talent management strategy | Comments (2)

The Holy Grail: One Secret Coaches & Experts Don’t Tell You

May 25, 2010 – 7:36 am

We are all looking for the secret. That one golden ticket (I love Willy Wonka) that will change our lives forever. Some are looking for financial freedom and to retire early. Some are looking for the key to happiness. While others just want to ask a Social Media guru how to tweet. Am I right? Of course, we believe that there are a few chosen ones who get it. Who MUST have all the answers to Life and Facebook themselves. And people pay thousands of dollars a year in books, CDs, retreats, conferences, healings, mastermind sessions….yes, this list can go on. However, what they don’t tell you is this..this one thing….do you want to know what it is? Are you sure? Well, it’s that: We are all coaches and experts! Each of us has life experience, areas of expertise, loving compassionate hearts that will tell you to get off your pity pot and make a change if you don’t like your life. WE are your own personal Tony Robbins, your Oprahs, your Jack Canfields, your Chris Brogans. We are your Community! Ask questions of your community Look at every situation and ask, “What can I learn from this?” Treat your [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Uncategorized | Also tagged coaches, freelancers, how to start a business, social media tools, starting a business, wahm, work from home | Comments (1)

Leaders, Change Your View

May 13, 2010 – 9:41 am

Whether you are starting a business or are a leader of a successful organization, you will constantly be faced with obstacles. The question then becomes, “How will you overcome them?” Many times that can easy be accomplished by changing your view or perception of the situation. Which is sometimes harder than it sounds. Mike is the CEO of a mid size company and has 200 people answering to him, as well as, watching his every move. Though the company is making millions of dollars, morale is extremely low and employees are constantly on the hunt for new jobs. This situation is not new to Mike. He has seen it evolve over a period of a year and decided to do nothing about it. Finally, when he realized that things were spiraling out of control, he said to his C-Row, “Dammit! We need culture. Someone take care of that, will ya!” Nothing was done. What Mike failed to realize is that as the leader of this company, people were looking to him to lead the charge. It wasn’t until one day when his daughter asked him to play Follow the Leader that the light bulb went off. It took a kids [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Business Tools, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Philosophy, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged creative marketing, entrepreneurs, home-based business, leaders, leadeship, starting a business, wahm, work from home, working from home | Comments (3)

Are You Giving Off Mixed Signals?

May 11, 2010 – 9:06 am

I had coffee with a friend of mine who works from home and outsources a lot of his projects. He was sharing a story of a small business who subcontracts out to him and constantly changes their mind and the scope of each project they work on together. They would like him to be on a monthly retainer, however, he no longer feels comfortable doing so since the business doesn’t seem to know what it wants from each project. It would be one thing if it was just him, but he also has a team he outsources to. Have you heard a similar story? As he was telling me this, I got to thinking: Do we all give off mixed signals at one time or another? –Have you ever told someone to do something for you, but then changed your mind or what the outcome should be? –Have you ever gone out on a date, said you had a lovely time and that you would call the person, but then never did? –Have you ever told your kids not to swear, but then dropped the F bomb? Of course you have! You may not have meant it, but you have [...]

By Ja-Naé | Posted in Entrepreneurship, Innovation, Marketing, Strategy, Uncategorized | Also tagged entrepreneur, freelancer, outsource, wahm, working from home | Comments (3)

FourSquare’s 40 Million Checkins: My Addiction

May 10, 2010 – 11:06 am

I will admit to it. I didn’t start using Foursquare until 2 weeks ago, for two very important reasons: I am competitive and I like my privacy. However, all of that has changed since I started using this geographically based platform. So, when it was announced that Foursquare Exceeds 40 Million Checkins, I couldn’t help but feel that my competitiveness (like many of my cohorts on Foursquare) was the sole reason they reach this goal. I’m joking…sort of. Let me explain. Since joining, the check-in gang, I: Ranked #4 last week within Boston, beating out Tom O’Keefe (@BostonTweet), Doug Haslam (@DougH), and Mr. Andersen (@eric_andersen). Now will intentionally drive to locations where a friend may happen to be the mayor and try to oust him (and then text some smack talk to him after I have completed my mission). Now will get angry when my phone cannot recognize that I am sitting in the Starbucks I am trying to check into, and will end up creating a new one. Just to check in!!!!! What has happened to me? Yes, I know these things seem a little weird and that my behavior may warrant a 12 step program. I get it. [...]