…words

The personal weblog of Stephen P Smith

Archive for January, 2009

Using Social Media without Blogging

January 30th 2009 Posted at General Information
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Anna Farmery has a post on 6 Ways to Use Social Media for Brands without Blogging. Read the whole thing:

I work with clients who want to use social media but don’t want to blog…that’s fine because blogs are just one tool in a whole arsenal of social media tools.

In recessionary times trust becomes a vital differentiator for brands (just ask a bank at the moment!) and with non blogging tools you can help build a position of ‘trusted experts’ as part of your marketing plans. Brands that give, that share, that connect, that take their share of responsibility of helping consumers through the recession will be rewarded through loyalty…..maybe JFK may say

“Ask not what social media can do for you, but what social media (and your brand) can do for your consumers”

I suppose it is like when you receive a charity envelope and you look round your house and realise there are so many things that could be of use to others…if you only give generously….

1. Use slideshare to share information about your industry, about your locality, about learnings within your company.

The Things I do for Money

January 29th 2009 Posted at General Information
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Work? What kind of work? “What can Stephen do for me” you ask.

Well, let me share with you just a few of the things I have learned and applied during my career in business, both large and small:

Learn the Best Productivity Practices

  • Your calendar is a tool, not a prison. I can show you the best practices for how to get the most out of what you put into it. This can even include designing a customized calendar page that fits your specific needs if necessary, or simply how to get the most out of your current system.
  • Your workflow should be just that, a flow. I can help you identify the bottlenecks and determine how you spend your time, then we work together to discover how to best invest your time. I can teach you how to get your work done in less time so that you can a.) do more work, if you want to, or b.) do more living!
  • Your workspace needs to be designed to improve how you work and what you get done, it should not be something that gets in the way of your productivity. I can show you how to organize your workspace, your files, and your supplies in a way that helps you, not hinders you.

Ask me about productivity, and tell me how we can work together on your productivity skills.
Stephen Smith

Take Advantage of Social Media with Personalized Web Consulting

This is what I do:

  • I consult on how to get involved with on- and off-line communities,
  • Use Twitter and Commenting strategies without being a spammer,
  • Increase your online presence to attract and generate more business,
  • Teach you to create and implement a blogging platform for your business and your community,
  • Teach actionable steps that you can use to improve your productivity workflow

Take Advantage of Social Media with Personalized Web Consulting

  • I know how to use Twitter and StumbleUpon to build communities for Social Networking. I can help you learn how to get involved with these communities that can bring more traffic to your website/blog and increase your business.
  • I am an avid user of LinkdIn for professional networking and job-seeking. I can help you learn how to increase your web presence and improve your chances of being noticed.
  • I have built several WordPress blogs on self-hosted platforms. I can do this for you to create your own blog or website for yourself or your business. I can handle the URL registration, hosting set-up, and theme-design through my own extensive network of graphic- and web-designers.

Web hosting solutionsThrough trial and error – as well as under the coaching of some of the best web-designers in the biz, I’ve found that not all blog platforms are created equal. WordPress represents a great platform for managing content, not just blogs – but websites. If you do not have a website yet, check out these services and options.

Why would you use a blogging platform for your website?
  1. It is easy to update,
  2. It is easy to personalize for your business or brand,
  3. Keyword friendliness for Google searching,
  4. You generate your own fresh content.

Ask me about Social Media, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together on your Social Media presence.

“I engaged Stephen Smith as a consultant for Internet marketing and business development consulting and was blown away by the breadth and depth of his expertise. He has a creative and practical angle on the potential of blogs, websites and social networking to generate growth. I appreciate the clarity and customer focus of Stephen’s communications with me – he shares guidance and “how-to” tips just in time with perfect tone and level of detail. Most importantly, Stephen helped me to become self-sufficient in my work rather than trying to foster dependency on him. He is definitely of the “teach a man to fish” school, and when I hire an expert, that is a critical success factor. I will work with Stephen in the future and you will be pleased if you follow suit!” October 13, 2008

Top qualities: Personable , Expert , Creative

Laura Donna
hired Stephen as a Business Consultant in 2008

Learn more at Business Development in Context.

Interview Skill Training

  • Do you need to improve your interview skills in order to land a job? I can teach you how to put your best foot forward, what kinds of questions to expect, and how to determine if this is the job for you in the first place.
  • Do you need to hire someone to fill a position? I can teach you how to ask specific, job- and performance-related questions to find the best person for the position. I can work with you to identify the skills and attitudes that best qualify a candidate for your organization, then turn this information into a performance-based interview template.

Ask me about improving your interviewing skills, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together to prepare for your next interview.

Security Guarantee:
Whether or not we choose to work together the contents of your call will be completely confidential.

Flexible Training Methods

All of these skills are available to you via telephone, e-mail, video-conference or in-person, depending on your specific needs.
Please send me an e-mail, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together to develop your business or your own personal skills.

Free Telephone Consultation

Our first 15-minute telephone consultation is free and we will determine a budget for your project or training at that time.

You can see my old-school resume (last updated October 2007), or you can see the 21st century resume here at LinkedIn. You can also see more of these recommendations there: (read all of the recommendation in text format)

LinkedIn Recommendations for Stephen Smith

Thank you very much for considering my services, I am looking forward to working with you! Click here for a contact form, and tell me a little bit about how we can work together on your future.

The Cluetrain Manifesto: #s 17-19

January 29th 2009 Posted at Uncategorized
1 Comment

I have written a cycle of 3 posts for Alex Hillman’s Cluetrain a Day : dangerouslyawesome.com. All three posts are available at the link, I would love for you to visit and leave a comment!

Thesis #18: Companies that don’t realize their markets are now networked person-to-person, getting smarter as a result and deeply joined in conversation are missing their best opportunity.

Changes and Opportunities

The internet has developed as an agent of change unparalleled in human history. The near-instant communication it provides to people all over the world is a more important change than even the Industrial Revolution. The internet is tearing down walls faster and faster every day:

* Citizen Journalism is reporting news faster and more honestly than the legacy organizations
* Consumer advocacy groups are creating online communities to discuss products and services
* E-mail communications can transmit a single message to millions in moments
* Amateur videographers are creating entertainment that reaches niche markets – or tens of thousands
* People are connecting in like-minded groups to pursue social agendas, commercial concerns, and education.

Social Media Strategy Map

January 28th 2009 Posted at General Information
1 Comment

Beth Kanter provides a fantastic resource for Creating Your Organization’s Social Media Strategy Map. Designed with non-profits in mind, I believe that any organization or company can benefit from this advice and following these guidelines:

Here’s a roadmap and worksheet to do just that! Special thanks to Qui Diaz and Danielle Brigidia for giving this a real world test from the vantage point of a social media strategist in a nonprofit organization. What else might you add or change?

The Social Media Strategy Map and Worksheet

1. Identify Objectives

* What do you want to accomplish with social media?
* Now, restate your objective so it is “SMART” – specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based?
* Describe how your social media objective supports or links to a goal your organization’s communications plan?

Set objectives based on a clear understanding of how social media changes the feedback loop between your organization and stakeholders. The key thing that is different with setting a social media objective is that it is not about reaching a mass audience and blasting your message out, it is more about reaching the influencers, developing relationships, having a conversation, and getting insights. Make your objectives “SMART” (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-Bound)

* Listening and Learning: You’re monitoring what stakeholders are saying about your organization, your issue, or programs and using the information to support your marketing goals. You’re testing different social media tactics and learning what works.
* Build Relationships and Issues Awareness: You’re interacting with key audiences on the social media channel in order to build awareness for your organization’s brand. You’re increasing your visibility in the right areas and trying to stick in the minds of others through active interaction on many different levels.
* Improve Reputation: You want to improve how others think about your organization or issue and are responding directly to feedback through social media channels. You may also want to improve your organization’s reputation as an expert by being consistently involved in discussions on topics or aggregating information that are relevant to your organization.
* Content Generation and Issues Awareness: You encourage stakeholders to create content about your organization or it’s issues and share it with others and encouraging fans to talk about your issues to others (word of mouth).
* Increased Relevant Visitor Traffic and Page Rankings: You’re using social media tactics to drive traffic to your organization’s web site or newsletter sign up or improving search engine results or using social media channels to spread your web site or blog content.
* Taking Action or Fundraising: You’re using social media tactics to spur supporters to action or donate. Remember this objective will take considerable more time and effort to be successful.

What say you?

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