Archive for July 2010
workshop: what’s the big deal? saturday, august 28, 10am
what’s the big deal? why is everyone so consumed with facebook and twitter? are your friends, colleagues and children using social media? have people told you you need it for your business?
in “what’s the big deal?” i will introduce you to popular social media sites and show you what people are discovering and why they are online. you be the judge as to whether or not you want to integrate social media into your business practice and budget.
in this one hour workshop, i provide:
- an overview of popular social media sites
- networking opportunities via the social web
- turning friends and followers into customers and clients
who: this workshop is for business owners, professionals responsible for communication and marketing at a mid-sized firms, thought and opinion leaders interested in building a brand located in the triangle (raleigh, durham, chapel hill).
when: saturday, august 28, 2010
cost: $30 per person.
how to register: fill out this form
where: durham technical community college, White building, Room #24
campus map
about leah d. gordon
leah d. gordon has worked diligently in public relations and communication roles since 2003. as a student of her craft, she develops, implements and supports communication and pr strategies.
she has formed and maintained relationships between organizations and their communities – both interpersonally and via the web. through these relationships, organizations have learned they have much to learn from their audiences.
as a graduate of the university of oregon’s school of journalism with a concentration in public relations, leah is the public information officer for an international public health project at the university of north carolina at chapel hill and consults small and mid-sized businesses and firms on integrating social media into their public relations, marketing and communication plans.
5 steps to start your blog before you start
start before you start? does that even make sense? these steps are necessary to integrate into business planning prior to diving head first into blogging. this post was prompted by a recent conversation i had with a close friend, soon to launch an online fashion boutique, asked me, “i’m going to blog… what do i blog about and where do i start?”
someone advised her to blog about her business ideas and “journey” prior to her launch! my mind screamed “NOOOOO!!! don’t give away your business and trade secrets!” instead of saying that, i gently said, “why don’t you establish your reputation, expertise and a following first?” ultimately, my friend would like to turn readers into customers. i advised her to simply become part of the thriving, online fashion community. listen to them, engage with them, tell them who you are.
since blogging is part of her communication strategy, i gave her these 5 steps to simply get started before the real blogging starts.
- create a persona of your reader. who are you writing to? what are their likes and dislikes, what do they do for fun? why would they read your blog? see Anthropologie’s example of a demographic profile
- brainstorm topics you would cover in your blog. what are your interests? why are you blogging? what about this topic interests you?
- do blogger’s homework. read some blogging basics and don’t overwhelm yourself.
- as you research your topic, keep track of your resources. do it easy and freely via http://del.icio.us. this account will help you delve into social bookmarking. don’t worry about the details just yet just open an account and begin adding your links and references. create descriptive tags for your links that are specific to the content.
- establish times you will blog and commit to it. once a week? twice a month? a realistic timeline will offer your readers constant, fresh content they will appreciate.
at the end of the phone conversation, my friend called said i was a genius. i’d like to think so, but it’s just information and knowledge i have by observing great bloggers combined with my background in public relations.
until next time!
