An answer to one of life's biggest questions...

how to get more likes on your Facebook page.

As I begin to get more involved with managing social media accounts, I constantly find myself wondering how businesses grew their Facebook pages from nothing to thousands of fans.  Unless you have copious amounts of money to spend on advertising or you're an already well known brand/company that people intentionally seek out, how do you make people aware of the fact that you even have a Facebook page?  I've tried the obvious stuff (posting regularly, good content, engaging fans, ect) and it hasn't been unsuccessful, but i'm not seeing the numbers I want to see.

Then, just as I was mindlessly scrolling through my tweets the other day, a post appeared to me like manna from heaven.  Twitter user @social_focus tweeted a link to this fbadvance.com blog post on 45 ways to get more likes on Facebook.  Granted, a few of them I've heard of and/or tried, but there were many that I hadn't thought of.  Not only does the post provide great ideas, but it also provides instructions on how to get things like widgets and like boxes for your webpage (for free!).  You're welcome.

Transmedia Storytelling (not to be confused with your average bedtime story)

When we were kids (and by we I mean those born in the late 80's very early 90's), you heard about a new movie or TV show through a TV commercial and not much else.  In today's digital world, however, you are bombarded with new media every day.  Movies, TV shows, video games and many other things are promoted across a number of different platforms.

For example, one of my personal favorites, Dexter, kicked off its fifth season with an ARG (alternate reality gaming).  The ARG began with a hunt on mobile treasure hunt app, SCVNGR and led players to a secret "kill room" at Comic-Con for more clues, which in turn lead to a twitter account for more clues and so on and so forth.  The ARG was highly successful and contributed significantly to Dexter's following on Facebook and Twitter.  This is a wonderful way to not only promote the show, but to create a community for the fans and engage in their every day lives.

Are the days of letting the content speak for itself virtually over?  Is it possible for something to be truly successful without transmedia storytelling?  I'm not sure.  Only time will tell, but I think it's safe to say that it is certainly not something worth overlooking.
















Thanks to digitalbuzzblog for the Dexter info

In case telling everyone where you were wasn't enough...

now you can shoot a video and show them exactly how much fun you're having too!

Twitter introduced a new app today.  It's called Vine and is only available for iPhone and iPad (sorry, not sorry Adroiders). Vine allows users to create short videos that play on a loop (sort of like .gif's, but with sound) and posts them to something similar to your twitter feed.  Instead of just telling someone what you're doing, you can now show them.

I'll admit, I was skeptical at first.  I don't have the patience for videos, my hands are shaky and I get bored easily.  Luckily, Vine videos only last 6 seconds and the way you record is super easy. Like, microwave mac & cheese easy.

I. Love. This. App.  Seriously, I'm already planning out how I'm going to use it on my trip to Chicago in a few weeks...it's going to be revolutionary.  I tried to post one of my own video's, but I couldn't get it to work right so here's a look at the app from the guys over at MobileBurn.  It's available in the app store now..and it's free so there's really no reason to not try it out.  Don't forget to follow me @jecka57!

Just What We Needed...Another Way to Creep on People.

Facebook announced another way to creep on your friends today.  Graph search is a new way to search for just about anything you could hope to find.  Using the information you've already provided them (likes, interests, tagged photos, ect), Facebook can now help you search for things like "Italian restaurants my friends like" or "Photos of me uploaded by *insert friend name here*".  The graph search is currently in beta testing and only a few were given the new feature to test out.

I wasn't one of the lucky chosen ones, but Emily Price over at Mashable was.  Check out how it's working for her here.

Oh, hey. Let's talk about me now.

Hey y'all! I'm Jessica. Twenty-five years old, married to my best friend, mother to three fur-babies (2 dogs & a cat), and a senior at the University of Louisville where I'm studying Communications. I'm starting this blog for a few reasons; mostly because I have to (for my social media class), but also because it's something I know I need to do both personally and professionally.

Me & my husband, Adam.

For my first assignment, I have been asked to introduce myself and talk about my goals. I think I've got the introduction covered (see above), though I'm sure we'll go into more detail in the future (trust me, I love to talk about myself), now lets talk about my goals.

Ultimately, I would like to start my own social media marketing business. Through the internships that I've held and the classes I've taken, I have found that my main area of interest is in social media. As the old saying goes, "choose a job that you love, and you'll never work a day in  our life.", social media is what I love. Working in social media, however, doesn't mean I get to sit on Facebook all day or sort through hundreds of DIY pins on Pinterest (though sometimes I do). It means that I have the opportunity to promote something or someone in a way that has never been done before. I get to introduce people to new things and help build a community that will continue to thrive long after my work is done. Though this profession will be a continuous learning experience, I hope that this class will teach me how to create and successfully execute a social media campaign and give me the information I need to begin a successful career.

My ridiculously cute dogs,
Jackson (left) & Derby (right)

So, like I said, I created this blog because I had to, but it is my intention to grow it beyond something that is simply a class project and make it truly my own.  My own voice, my own opinions, and my own pictures of my ridiculously cute dogs.  Jess Because I Can.