Digital Media Now November 2011

To ensure the knowledge I teach to businesses and students on marketing, technology and social media is up to date, I take the initiative to keep myself educated. This is crucial with the ever changing landscape of marketing in a digital world so I’m excited to once again be a part of the Online Marketing Summit (OMS) coming up in just a few days Feb 6-9, 2012 at the Hilton San Diego Bay front! I have received dozens on inquiries on “Are you going to be speaking?”. While I’m normally a speaker at conferences I attend, I’ll be at OMS as an attendee, eager to learn from others.  It doesn’t getting any better than learning more about the topics I’m most passionate about on the gorgeous bay! 

Hilton San Diego Bayfront Photo by: Port of San Diego

*EVENT HIGHLIGHTS*

• Online Marketing Summit is the premier educational event for digital marketing, focused primarily on educating marketers across all digital marketing disciplines and emerging best practices including social media, mobile, search engine media, eCommerce and website optimization.
• OMS hosts a keynote line-up of thought leaders. I’m personally looking forward to hearing Mari Smith speak for the first time! Mari and I are social media buddies, but I haven’t had an opportunity to learn from her insights yet so I was excited to learn that she is giving a keynote!

@MariSmith and @MyMelodie

• A first time Expo, featuring over 50 companies, showcasing the leading online marketing tools and solutions
• 1:1 Labs: Unique to the event program are expert labs, which offer a one-on-one consultation with experts in social media tools, web analytics, search, usability, email and more.
• New conference tracks: With 40% more content this year, OMS is featuring six tracks.  Two new tracks include: Mobile Marketing and Content Marketing for Social Engagement

Hi everyone, I’m Stephanie! I’m a student at San Diego State University majoring in Business Marketing, specializing  in Integrated Marketing Communications. I consider myself a huge marketing nerd; everything about marketing intrigues me, especially social media marketing. Whenever I find out a new fact or tip about social media, I get excited and I feel the need to share what I just learned with everyone. My friends and family know that I’m all about social media, so whenever they have an issue with their settings on Facebook, Twitter or Google+, I’m the first person they come to. (So then… would I be considered a social media guru? #SSMES)

I am so grateful and ecstatic that Melodie is willing to take me under her wing and teach me what she knows. I am graduating from SDSU this summer and plan on pursuing my career in digital marketing where I can apply my strong organizational skills, creativeness and experience in marketing. As a full-time student that works part time at a bank and part time as a marketing intern, my life can get very busy. With any free time I may have, I always try to spend it with friends and family. I enjoy talking to people and listening to their stories, it helps me learn a lot about a person. I believe in positive energy and that laughter is the best medicine out there.

My favorite quote is from Henry Ford: “Whether you think you can or can’t, you are right.” When I feel like giving up, I repeat this quote in my head and it gives me the push to get back up and keep going. I also love to read. I’m on the last book of The Hunger Games saga, and it’s really interesting. I definitely recommend everyone to read this series!

You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!

Although blogging is a great marketing tool, it’s not the reason I blog, it just happens to be an amazing benefit. I’ve been blogging for almost 10 years yet I don’t ever think of myself as a blogger. Blogging is really just me writing and since I now do it online, instead of saying “I write”, I say, “I blog”. In college I used to blog daily on Xanga.com. I wrote about my adventures, school, work and things I did and experienced day to day. Before blogging I used to journal. My parents had me journal as a kid to practice writing. I remember keeping a notebook and journaling as far back as kindergarten maybe even pre-school! (Even then I was an early adopter )

Now I write to educate other, share my adventures and inspire both myself and my readers. I started my current website and blog, Marketing Melodie in March of 2008 (I can’t believe it’s been almost 4 years). When I started it, I was working for a large media company doing sales and marketing. I created the site to be a resource for clients and to educate myself. It’s since evolved into the marketing company I run today specializing in digital technology and social media.

Whether it’s for your business (especially if it’s for your business) or personal I highly recommend everyone have a blog. I hear the excuse from so many people “But no one is going to read my blog”. So what if no one reads what you write? Write for YOU, write like no one is reading and don’t be afraid to put your thoughts down in a tangible place. By doing this you’ll receive so many benefits. So I present you with 4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One Reads Your Blog. 

1. SEO- The first reason is just practical so let’s start with that. Even if a single soul doesn’t read your blog, updating your site with fresh, new content (this is especially important if it’s a business blog on your website) will significantly improve your SEO. Search engines pick up on fresh, new content and place a higher value on sites that have been recently updated versus stagnant sites that have been sitting around for months or years. Within each blog post you can create links with keywords directing readers to other areas of your site. I won’t get too technical here, but just know that blogging will improve your SEO.
2. Blogging teaches you- I learn something new every day and much of it is attributed to writing. I find that writing stuff down often teaches me how to be more clear and concise with the thoughts I have racing through my mind. Because I’m able to clarify my thoughts, Ican see things in a different perspective which in turn teaches me more about the very topic I’m blogging about.
3. Blogging is cathartic- Sometimes you just need to get things off your chest. During these times, it can also difficult to say these things out loud. Well blogging is a great way to release any emotions you have stored up.  Not all blogs need to be public. If you write something but don’t yet feel ready to share it, there’s no shame in that. But at least you put it out into the world so it’s no longer just stored inside you. Putting things out there is also a great step in being able to let things go.
4. Reflection- I just read a bunch of blog posts I wrote back in 2008. Wow it’s really amazing to be able to read the YOU from 4 years ago. Reading old posts really allows me to reflect on things I’ve done in the past but also appreciate the present moment. It brings into perspective even more of how everything that’s happened so far has led me to where I am today. I do find it amusing though because reading back on some of the stuff I wrote the thought “Are you kidding me? I actually said that?!” does tend to pop up a lot. Live and learn. Live and learn.

As you can see, writing, blogging, whatever you want to call it has helped me in so many ways. Please feel free to share with me other reason you blog. I leave you with a quote from a famous writer that really inspired me:

 “And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise.  The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt”.  ~Sylvia Plath

I am incredibly grateful for everyone who helped with the video,  watched the video, shared the video and left me comments and tweets about it. Here’s why I’m encouraging everyone to continue sharing this video: Even though the “Shit Says” phenomena can be seen as just another funny internet meme, it’s really demonstrating how powerful Social Media is as a tool to really spread your message. My video is intended to be funny and even a bit annoying but nevertheless, it emphasizes how important it really is to have a voice in the social space.

What I love about the “Shit Says” meme is all the creativity it’s bringing out in people! My Twitter buddy @jennhoffman said it perfectly and I agree with her 100%: “The whole “Sh*t (insert group here) Says” trend is really bringing creativity out in people. Almost all the different incarnations are funny.”

There were so many more lines in the first video I wanted to say! Many got cut and some are just new ideas I had after  making the video. Based on the great response I’ve gotten so, I would love to make a second one! And since we all know Social Media is about engaging your audience, user generated content and building community, I turn to you to help! Please submit your ideas  for “Shit Social Media Experts Say” Part 2. Many of you already tweeted me great ideas so please keep them coming!

Here’s how to submit ideas for Shit Social Media Experts Say (Part 2). It’s simple! Just leave me your comments in this blog post. Or tweet me @MyMelodie using the hashtag #SSMES2! Looking forward to hearing from you and your ideas!

I didn’t want to play a race or gender card but I did want to keep it personal to my community. Alright I’ll stop writing and let you watch the video. Please, please, pretty please share this if you find it funny, compelling or can relate to it in any way.  Leave comments and spread the word! I’m aiming for at least 1 million views and since most people reading this are extremely tech savvy and influential in the space, we should have no problem achieving this goal!

And now for the feature presentation: SHIT SOCIAL MEDIA EXPERTS SAY! (You know, the people who can run your Facebook and Twitter account)

Big thank you to @jennyjenjen for filming and editing the video, @robotfaith @iPodschun @ChrisKirkman for being a part of creating the video and @LoMagna for her ideas on writing the script.

After responding to a few comments and sending out a few emails, within a few hours it was all set! I had my videographer, co-stars for my video and a time and place to film! Talk about making things happen quickly! Throughout all the planning, my good friend @LoMagna who knows me too well (She and I went to high school together and traveled to Hong Kong!) sent me a chat message as soon as she saw my post:

Yep @LoMagna was 100% spot on, even with the title of the video! Hence, why I had to bleep it out in our chat since it’s a secret! As stated in my chat to her, I’m so excited about this video. If you’re a part of my community on Twitter, Facebook or any other Social Network I know you’ll love it too and want to share it with all your friends! I’m doing this entire project just for fun, but I would love to see the power of viral videos work its magic so I’m aiming for at least 1 million views on this video!

Check out my List of 12s for 2012s. It’s # 8 “I’m not a regular YouTuber but I’m currently working on an awesome Social Media related video that will be published soon. My goal is to get at least 1 million views on this video. I know that sounds extreme, especially since my current YouTube videos  have views only in the hundreds. I’ve got a good feeling about this video and in 2012 I’m going to get 1 million views on my social media related YouTube video.“

So now that you’re all wondering what the heck is this video that I keep hyping up?! Any guesses? Surely someone other than @LoMagna can guess what my video is going to be about!

Special thanks to @jennyjenjen, @ipodschun, @robotfaith and @chriskirkman for all being a part of my Secret Social Media Video Project! I seriously can’t wait to show you all what I’ve been working on! We’re doing final edits on the video and it should be up in the next day or so! In the meantime feel free to Subscribe to my YouTube Channel so you can be one of the first to be notified when the video is posted! STAY TUNED!

]]> http://www.marketingmelodie.com/index.php/2012/01/announcing-my-secret-social-media-video-project/feed/ 0 http://www.marketingmelodie.com/index.php/2012/01/ringing-in-the-new-year-with-list-of-12s-for-2012/ http://www.marketingmelodie.com/index.php/2012/01/ringing-in-the-new-year-with-list-of-12s-for-2012/#comments Fri, 06 Jan 2012 21:40:11 +0000 Marketing Melodie http://www.marketingmelodie.com/?p=5153 Happy New Year! 2011 was amazing! And I’m excited for what 2012 has in store. For my first post of 2012 I’m sticking with the “new year” theme!

I love making lists. To-do lists are the most common for me. I make these daily to stay on task with both my personal and professional life. In fact I’ve even added things to my to-do list after I already accomplished them, just so I can check it off. C’mon I know I’m not the only one who’s done this before! Fess up if you have!

Instead of resolutions, I shared with my network that 2012 means making “Lists of 12s”!

I’m working on lists of 12 new restaurants to try, 12 new places to go, 12 marketing goals for my business and first list I made is of course related to tech and social media: 12 tech/web/social media related things I’d like to accomplish in 2012! 

1. Pinterest- We all know about my food porn addiction. I recently joined Pinterest and wow, it’s any food porn addict’s DREAM! I have 2 boards related to food. My Sweet Tooth is filled with gorgeous, mouth-watering sweets. Rather than just look at these images and drool, in 2012 I’m going to actually make at least 2 desserts I’ve pinned on Pinterest. (Give me food and I’ll cook but please note I have virtually zero experience when it comes to baking sweets so this is something new for me!)

Wishing everyone the best of the best in 2012! Thank you to everyone who reads my posts. I’ve really appreciate the comments, tweets, Facebook Likes, Subscribes and emails! It makes me happy to hear from you so please don’t hesitate to reach out at any time!

At the end of 2010 I decided to write Marketing Melodie in 2010: A Year in Review. I have a habit of discrediting many of my accomplishments because I feel like I can always do more. Writing this really allows me to appreciate and be grateful for everything that I have done rather than focus on what I haven’t. Just like I did for 2010 here’s a year in review of 2011 highlighting noteworthy events, clients, blog posts, friends, accomplishments, adventures and amazing opportunities.

*JANUARY*

While marketing is my expertise and passion, I have another passion; YOGA! I’m very grateful for one of my clients this year, La Jolla Yoga Center. Creating marketing campaigns and strategies for a yoga studio I love definitely makes me happy.  I trained their team on using social media to grow their business and helped them get set up on Facebook and Twitter. They’re definitely doing a great job connecting with yogis on social media!

I’ve been practicing yoga for a few years and really wanted to strengthen my practice and take it to the next level. I contemplated getting my yoga teaching certification for a while. It’s a huge time commitment and I was really on the fence. Well I made the decision to go ahead with yoga teacher training and can now say, if you are ever on the fence, DO IT! I am so happy I completed my Yoga Teacher Training and wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. I began my training in January and completed my 200 RYT Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training at the inspirational La Jolla Yoga Center, located right on the beach! I met so many amazing new friends, learned so much about myself and really took my yoga practice to the next level.

*FEBRUARY*

I hosted the 2^nd event in my Digital Media Dinners series. The topic: Social Media Branding. This was a great milestone because it officially turned Digital Media Dinners into a series rather than a one off event.  I taught strategies on how to strengthen people’s brand across various social networks including review sites such as Yelp, group buying sites such as Groupon and location based sites such as Foursquare. I incorporated a variety of sites because marketing and social media is growing beyond just Facebook and Twitter.

*MARCH*

Since I learn and receive so much from my online and social media community, I really want to give back. I did this by hosting Twestival San Diego. This event is hosted all over the nation using social media for social good by connecting communities offline on a single day to highlight a great cause and have a fun event. It’s entirely promoted via social media. Twestival San Diego was hosted at the Keating Hotel and all proceeds benefited the San Diego After School All Stars.

Me and a few other lovely Yogis were featured on KUSI demonstrating Bootcamp for Yogis run by my fellow yoga teacher trainee, Body By Mags. Check out the video below where I get my 5 minutes of fame while I’m smiling through holding a yoga tough pose and demonstrating yoga boot camp moves (Warrior has got nothing on me!).

VIDEO: Yoga Boot Camp Video

I successfully pulled my second April Fool’s Joke on Social Media! Everyone decided to wish me a Happy Birthday on April Fool’s this year!

The first annual Foursquare Day celebration took place in 2010 and I hosted Foursquare Day Hong Kong. This year I was in my home town, San Diego and had the opportunity to host Foursquare Day San Diego for my community at R Gang Eatery. Check in specials, complimentary wine, cocktails, delicious comfort food with an upscale twist, friends, badges and a good time was had! Foursquare Day on 4/16 (Yep that’s 4 squared which equals 16) is officially, my favorite geek Holiday!

Oh not to mention, I met my first Celebrity Chef, Rich Sweeney @ChefRicSweeney from Season 5 of Top Chef who is also the head of R Gang Eatery. You can read all about my addiction to food porn and cooking shows here.

*MAY*

I was interviewed by the San Diego Reader on using LinkedIn for Job Seekers. I shared my insight, advice and was gratefulto have my article published both in their paper and online! You can read the full article here.

Another Geek Holiday takes place in May! Star Wars day on May 4^th! May the Fourth be with you! I celebrated with some fun posts on Social Media!

*JUNE*

I really want to help others with yoga passion so I hosted my first yoga event: Yoga For the Busy Body at Hera Hub! I really want to provide an opportunity for other busy professionals and entrepreneurs to have a chance to experience the benefits of yoga while teaching them poses they can do on their own despite their busy lives. That’s exactly what I accomplished at this event.

*JULY*

I was cast in a Microsoft Commercial!  It was such an amazing experience to work a full day on set as talent! You can read all about how I was casted in the Microsoft Commercial and then watch my commercial when it finally aired below!

VIDEO: Marketing Melodie’s Microsoft Commercial

VIDEO: Digital Media Dinners- How To Build your Social Media Community 

I attended BlogHer for the first time as it was hosted right here in America’s Finest City. I connected with inspirational bloggers from all across the nation. It was great talking to so many people about their passions and seeing  them creatively share it with others through their writing. I had a good time at the conference itself, attending workshops, checking out the booths, the networking events, parties and left with more swag than I knew what to do with!

Oh and I met another Celebrity Chef, Brian Markaley in the Season Final of Top Chef Season 3. He was hosting a BlogHer party!

 *SEPTEMBER* 

Marketing Melodie is growing quickly! I sent out a call for interns and bring Allison Schummer @AllisonSchummer on board to help me!

Allison recently graduated from SDSU and I give her my highest recommendation to anyone who’s hiring as she’s currently on the market for a new job!

San Diegans experience a MAJOR BLACKOUT! But we united and got through it while making new friends! We proved that even during a black out social media still shines!

*OCTOBER*

Fall is in the air (even though it’s always sunny in San Diego) which means time for a new fall wardrobe! I attended one of my favorite tweetups ever, an Epic event at the Nordstrom Rack Plaza Bonita Grand Opening. I’m a very lucky person, I always win things and that night I won a pair of Designer Hudson Jeans.

In 2009 I said to the universe that I want  to meet my favorite author, Keith Ferrazzi. I finally met him 2 years later in San Diego at the Entrepreneur Challenge Fall Kickoff Event at UCSD. He autographed both my books and I learned some awesome networking tips from meeting Keith Ferrazzi.

The Nerds United! I tweeted and connected with amazing new friends  from the Talk Nerdy To Me Lover community by hosting @JenFriel and the #nerdsunite crew in San Diego. We had a fun night at the Tilted Kilt San Diego and a nerdy sleepover!

You can read all about the things that make me a nerd here.

*NOVEMBER*

After completing a successful Digital Media Dinners series, I hosted my first Digital Media Now Seminar- Personal Branding on Social Media at Pangea Bakery Cafe. Attendees learned how to make their personal brand cohesive with their business brand.

I was honored with an opportunity to speak to NATAS- National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences at their Social Media Workshop. Teaching television professionals how to use Social Media in their industry.

Thanks to the luxury car company, Infiniti and Social Media I enjoyed an amazing afternoon at the San Diego Bay Wine and Food Festival. I also met my 3rd celebrity chef this year, Sam The Cooking Guy!

*DECEMBER* 

I hosted my first Digital Media Now Webinar on How To Integrat Social Media Into Your Marketing. It gave me a chance to share my knowledge with people who can’t always be available and in San Diego to attend an in person seminar. While there were challenges to work out with my first webinar, I received great feedback and plan to host additional Digital Media Now Webinars in 2012!

I celebrated my Birthday on my lucky day, December 13^th (It’s clearly not on April 1^st). In the photo below I’m dressed as a Monster, holding a class with an M and Minty Wonderland and Mozart cupcakes. Yep M THEME PARTY!

I began my new venture at National University. I was hired as a Course Developer and Adjunt Professor at National University. My first class starts in January where I’m teaching a marketing class on Interactive Strategies.

Wow a lot has happened in 2012! If you read this entire post or even part of it, THANK YOU!  As I reflect on 2011 I just can’t help but smile and be grateful for everyone and everything in my life right now. I am truly blessed and so excited to ring in 2012!

I previously created and taught a Marketing Communications course at Platt College. I’m currently still a sub there when needed. Now I’ve been graced with another opportunity to teach my passion at National University! I was hired as a Course Developer in November, then hired on board as an Adjunct Professor. Yep, Professor Tao has a nice ring to it.

I’m currently creating a course on interactive strategies that will teach students everything they need to know about creating an interactive campaign. The students will choose a real client/organization to work with! From understanding goal setting and market research for their client to targeting the right audience and learning how to effectively communicate and engage their client’s customers  through social networks and other marketing mediums. I’ll also be giving examples from real live clients I work with.

My class starts in January! This is a part time gig so I’m still open for business full time here at Marketing Melodie. I’m accepting new consulting clients, booking speaking gigs and other opportunities.  I’m so grateful for this new venture and I’m really looking forward to finishing up with the course development, then teaching at National University.

“When the student is ready, the teacher will appear!” (Well looks like students are ready because Professor Tao is here!)

Before I continue a song is in order to accompany this post

Words With Friends- My all-time favorite social game! What better way to connect with friends over an educational game that really makes you use your brain?! At one point I had 10+ games going on simultaneously. I’ve actually taken a break from playing but was recently suckered into playing again so we’ll see how that goes.  I follow Words With Friends on both Facebook and Twitter. I love learning their Word of the Day! I know this sounds extremely nerdy but it’s so fun to learn new, obscure words to add in my vocabulary. After all I have mastered the art of learning something new everyday. So what do you say? Are you ready to play now? 

My two favorite documentaries have a lot of wordplay action. I love documentaries because I feel like I get a behind the scenes peek at a topic or subject I find interesting. The first documentary I love and highly recommend is titled, none other than Wordplay!

I love pun-ny jokes. I’m talking super cheesy, corny, eye roll worthy jokes. You know, the ones you might find on Laffy Taffy wrappers.  They’re wholesome, clean and extremely inspired with wordplay elements. Before I end this post I can’t resist sharing some Laffy Taffy Jokes with you!

• What is smarter than a talking bird?– A spelling bee
• Why don’t oysters give to charity?– Because they’re shellfish.…
• How do you get a peanut to laugh? — you crack it up
• How do billboards talk? — Sign language!
• Why did the bowling pins stop working? — Because they went on Strike.

Alright I’ll spare you the additional groans with the jokes, but I seriously love it! From music to movies to games, wordplay is everywhere and it excites me! Do you know any other pun-ny jokes or have any other recommendations on how I can get more wordplay? If so, please share! Now for some wise words from the Buddha  “Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace”. And before I leave, here’s my all-time favorite, WORDPLAY at its best!

Nothing is impossible. The word itself says I’M POSSIBLE