SubscribeEducating My Way to Success (On the Bay! @OMSummit #OMS12)
Having a drive to continue learning is so important for staying at the forefront of technology! By now you guys all probably know how important continued education is to me. I’m constantly educating myself and even make a point to learn something new every day! I learn by teaching others in classrooms, online classes, hosting seminars and webinars.
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
Remember promo code: MM25 for 25% off any conference pass!
A Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Pinning is Winning on Pinterest)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to introduce you all to Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny! She’s the newest member of my team here at Marketing Melodie. She’s an ambitious Business Marketing Student at SDSU, is filled with positive energy and is even a fellow marketing nerd! I’ll let Stephanie take it from here with her introduction. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
By now, most of us have heard about Pinterest, the new social media network. Pinterest is a virtual pin board that allows you to pin, repin, like and comment on pictures and videos that your friends or others upload on the site. I know this doesn’t sound very fun, but trust me, it gets addicting. When you go on the website, you are bound to find pictures or videos of things that interest you. Consequently, you are then tempted to pin it to your board so that you may save it for later or just share with your friends. The content that you pin will always lead back to the source it came from, whether it is a blog, a retail site, etc.
But wait, there’s more. As a company, having a Pinterest account may be a good investment, think about it.
1. You’ll get discovered.
People go on Pinterest to find things, whether it’s a new book to read, a new recipe to bake or inspiration for the room they want to redesign. Content gets shared very quickly on Pinterest and that’s a great thing.
2. You keep your customers updated.
Like Twitter, Pinners are able to choose who they want to follow. As you keep your board updated with new pins, your followers are able to stay up to date and can repin the things they love.
3. You let your consumers know the different sides of you.
With the option of having multiple boards, you’re able to show your followers what your personality is like. You can make a boards with content that represent you. One board can have quotes and sayings, another board with your favorite products and a different board with pictures of things that stand for the lifestyle you represent. Yoplait Yogurt is a great example of one of the companies on Pinterest:
Remember: Pinning is winning! 
You can connect with Stephanie on Twitter, Google+ and check out her blog, Marketing Nerd!
A Word with the Marketing Nerd @stef_funny (Welcome Aboard to Marketing Melodie)
<Editor’s Note> I’m very excited to introduce you all to Stephanie Trinh aka @stef_funny! She’s the newest member of my team here at Marketing Melodie. She’s an ambitious Business Marketing Student at SDSU, is filled with positive energy and is even a fellow marketing nerd! I’ll let Stephanie take it from here with her introduction. HIT IT STEPHANIE! </Editor’s Note>
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!
4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One Reads Your Blog
Today’s blog post is about blogging, but before I begin I’d like to acknowledge that yesterday was a monumental day for internet users. The stop SOPA and PIPA campaigns were even more prominent than ever with sites such as Wikipedia, Reddit and Cragislist all blacking for 24 hours to make a statement on what the internet may look like if certain laws are passed. As someone who’s an Entrepreneur and Marketer in the digital space, the internet is essential for my business to thrive. I use the internet to connect with people, share information and provide resources. Today’s post on “4 Reasons to Blog Even if No One Reads Your Blog” might not even be possible if SOPA or PIPA pass. So even if you did want to read my blog (which of course you all do anyway) you may not be able to! Oh and I’m pretty sure my video Shit Social Media Experts Say would definitely not fly under these new laws.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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
Submit Your Ideas for Shit Social Media Experts Say- Part 2 #SSMES2
First off, if you haven’t seen Shit Social Media Expert Say, take 2 minutes to check it out! Let me know your thoughts, give me a thumbs up if you like it and please share it with your friends! In fact, Click to Tweet!
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!
Marketing Melodie Presents: Shit Social Media Experts Say!
I told you guys I had a Secret Social Media Video Project I was working on. Well… the secret it out! I couldn’t help myself with this video. While watching the popular video “Shit Girls Say” and all the spin offs (By the way my favorite spin off is “Shit Yogis Say” since yoga is my other passion), I got a great idea to create a video related to my love for marketing, tech and social media!
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.
