Posts Tagged ‘ Facebook ’

How To Build A Social Media Strategy: 5 Tips For Businesses Getting Started

  1. We’re all experimenting. Even the bloggers and Facebook users who look like they know what they’re doing are just experimenting, so if you feel a little fumbly, remember that use of social media as a marketing tool is in its infancy. Don’t let anybody tell you there’s only one way to use Yelp or Pinterest. They haven’t seen your way yet.
  2. Get a teenager. I assumed my teenage intern would be able to fix my computer, but she surprised me by mentoring me in social media use as well. And it’s no wonder. The kids in their teen years today don’t see social media as a new way of communicating–they see it as the ordinary way of communicating. Your most extraordinary ideas for social media will spring from the mind of your nearest teenager.
  3. Be generous and polite. Participating in social media means participating in a conversation, and even if you’re new to social media, you’ve been practicing conversation since your toddler years. You know the rules: Listen. Attend to the exchange. Respond meaningfully. Use The Golden Rule. Wish more people would comment on your blog? How many blog comments have you posted today?
  4. Match your marketing goals to your social media tactics. What are your marketing goals, and how can social media help you achieve them? Twitter might be great for alerting your followers to a big sale, but you can’t use it to release your 500-word white paper. Match each social media tool you’re using with a goal from your marketing plan, and you’ll feel clearer about why you’re using social media in the first place.
  5. Have fun! Think of social media as a big cocktail party in the sky. The people drawing a crowd are the ones who look like they’re having a good time.

The Sexy Grammarian arouses entrepreneurs and professionals to build their own strategy, brand, social media, and marketing content with private sessions, intimate workshops, custom style guides, and free online lessons and tips, such as this tip about why your company’s name should not end with an s or this advice about how to be a sexy social media writer. And check out these useful tips for business owners from last year’s Small Business Week: How To Get Organized, How To Engage Your Social Media Community, How To Set Goals, and How To Become A Sought-After Speaker.

2012
05/14
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CATEGORY
Secrets
Writer's Tips
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NaNoWriMo Day 3: This Year’s Project & My Strategy

NaNoWriMo 2011, day 3

Today’s personal word-count goal: 9,999

Today’s actual word-count so far: 7,500

Ahead or behind? Behind! 2,499 words to go today!

Years I’m Writing About: 1984-1985, on my Facebook Page you can contribute your own words about these years.

This year I’m writing a memoir, one year at a time, a few years a day. Because I love gory process details from other writers, I’m sharing my strategy for this year’s project.

I made a chart that counts the days of NaNoWriMo—thirty of them officially. But since I plan not to write on weekends, and I plan to finish in time to enjoy Thanksgiving and relax for the rest of the month, I hope to write for only 15 days.
Today is day three, and I should have 9,999 words written. The chart says so. I have only 7,500 now, but I’ll make it up by the end of the day. The chart assigns a couple years to each day, and I’ve got a few notes for each year, stuff like my age and where I lived at the time.
This is quite different from what I did last year, writing with no direction most days. Pigeons—go! It’s also easier than what I suspect most WriMos try to pull off: figuring out an actual storyline. My chart tells me what year of my life I’m writing about today, and I start writing.

For inspiration, I have my short list of easy writing prompts, such as  “I remember . . . ” and “I loved . . .” and “____ influenced me.” I may reference Wikipedia’s historical pages to help me with context. I’m lucky to have an engaged Facebook community posting inspiring comments too.

On day one, Maureen Futtner of  PR for the People  reminded me that, “There was that bicentennial thing!” in 1975. Thanks, Maureen. On day two, my Kindergarten teacher commented that she thought I might have been a fairy in a former life.  Talk about creative fuel! My mother has posted a few dozen photos from my childhood, potent memory ignition.

So far, this year’s strategy works pretty well. I’m reaching my steep word count goals and having fun. I know of at least two WriMos who liked my chart well enough to make something similar for their own projects. I feel a sense of ease and support to write a 50,000-word memoir in less than 30 days. The future’s so bright, I have to prop an umbrella up on my desk to see my computer screen.

Get a piece of the action. There are several ways to participate in NaNoWriMo. Support the do-gooders who run this free event online by making a donation to the Office of Letters and Light on my fundraising page. And visit the The Sexy Grammarian Facebook Page to contribute your own words to my daily word count.

2011
11/03
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CATEGORY
Inspiration
The Sexy G Writes
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Putting the F-U in Fun, a spontaneous Facebook conversation

The following conversation took place on my personal Facebook page between a dear high school chum and me. The grammatical content, while perhaps not as sexy as you’ve come to expect, is still useful and may open your eyes to some misuse of the word fun. And please share this post widely. You will note in the final lines below that my pal is looking to get famous with this little conversation.

Dear Sexy Grammarian, Diva of Diction, Dominatrix of the Semi-colon, etc. [insert salutations here];

Whenever I hear people use the superlative “funnest” in conversation I wince. I was taught that the superlative of the word “fun” was irregular, e.g. “fun, more fun, and the most fun”. However, I have noticed that it has become acceptable to use the word (if we can call it that) “funnest” in conversation. I have always been led to believe that this is grammatical suicide and take a perverted pleasure in correcting people when they use this term. Even my computer agrees funnest is not a word. My partner says I should get over it and just give in to the funnest? What do you think?

Signed Righteous Reader of the Most Fun

Dear RROTMF,

You’re correct that there is no such word as “funnest,” but you’re not exactly walking the straight and narrow path of a traditional grammarian if you’re using “fun” as an adjective at all.

In fact, “fun,” in its formal meaning, is a noun, as in, “It would be fun to see my old pal Benton.”

However, to say that my pal Benton “is a fun guy,” not only sets a listener up to consider that he might be a mushroom, but it employs a relatively new and informal use of the word “fun” as an adjective.

So your favored “superlatives,” “more fun” and “most fun,” are correct as long as you aren’t really using them as superlatives, which are almost  always inflections of adjectives.

“We shall have more fun at our reunion than the class of ’89 did at theirs,” is correct and formal.

“Benton is the most fun mushroom in the dung pit,” is fine, better than, “the funnest mushroom,” but definitely not the queen’s English, which I know you prefer to use.

All this said, a great way to earn a reputation for being less than fun is to take a perverse pleasure in correcting the speech patterns of friends. Speech, after all, is dialogue, and dialogue is informal.

Note the advice of writer Mike Sirota, whom I featured on my blog just a couple of weeks ago. Mike has some great advice for writers tackling dialogue, and one thing he insists is that dialogue ought to sound like it sounds in real life. And that means grammatically incorrect sometimes.

So go ahead and bask in the glory of being correct, RROTMF, but save the red pen for formal, written materials. And when you are uncapping that red pen for the sake of formality, be sure you know the formal rules.

And thanks for the question. I had a lot of fun answering it. Do you mind if I cross post to my blog?

Fondly,

The Sexy Grammarian

Thank you for your wise and sagacious response. It’s a relief to know that I can rest in my battle against “the funnest”. Of course you can post in ur blog, but will that be counted towards my 15 minutes of fame???

Benton, darling, I think it’s only fair to admit that I had to look up “sagacious,” and now I am blushing. You are too kind.

I will post to blog ASAP. I’ve never considered my merits as a “Dear Abby” type column, but why not? Whether to count it as a few of your fifteen minutes will depend entirely on how many hits we get. I will keep you informed.

2010
07/13
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CATEGORY
Grammar Tricks
Secrets
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Maureen Futtner and Associates Offers Uplifting Social Media Tips

Last week, I attended a fantastic workshop at the LGBT Center. Thank you, Ken Stram and the Center’s Economic Development Program for bringing this free event to my community!

And thanks, colleagues Sueann Mark and Dorothy Pang, for suggesting I make my notes available. Here they are.

Maureen’s PR for the People mission is clear–on the MF&A website as well as in her voice when she explains, with bursting enthusiasm, how social media can increase business. In this presentation, she introduced social media platforms I am already using: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and blogging. But I still learned a lot and left with a to-do list that will catapult me from social media casual user to a social media intentional powerhouse. And that’s what I went to learn.

So here are the ten hottest tips I took home from Maureen’s presentation:

  1. Remember that my participation with these tools is my participation in a conversation. What can I contribute? Am I listening?
  2. Create a social media marketing plan. Be strategic. Think before you click.
  3. Start using Google Alerts.
  4. Start using Google Analytics.
  5. Connect my Twitter feed to my LinkedIn page (done!)
  6. Review my biographical information on all platforms. Are my keywords present?
  7. Make tiny vanity links for long URLs such as Facebook and LinkedIn pages.
  8. Aim for 3 to 5 Tweets a day, mostly practical information my followers can use with only a tiny sprinkling of self promotion.
  9. Search Trending Topics, followers, and folks I follow to identify my target audiences on Twitter.
  10. Being social is fun! Keep my participation fun too!

So I’ve got my work cut out for me, but I feel a little more organized and a lot more motivated. Thanks, Maureen!

2009
12/17
POSTED BY
CATEGORY
Inspiration
The Sexy G In Business
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