Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!

Earlier this week a friend and fellow classmate shared a page for her grandmothers jewelry business, Paparazzi by Pat.  As someone who loves both jewelry and independent women, liking the page was a no-brainer.  Being a new Facebook page, Pat was promoting her page with a contest; for every 25 likes she received, she would choose one of her fans to receive a free piece of jewelry and I just so happened to be the days lucky winner!  Y'all...I'm not kidding when I say I'm fairly certain this is the first thing I've ever won. I consider myself a pretty lucky gal when it comes to my personal life so I just like to imagine the universe is balancing everything out by not letting me win any contests...ever.  Needless to say, I was pumped.  I chose this fabulous bracelet as my prize and received it in the mail today.  Seriously, it's fabulous.  And it'll look great for spring!

My Prize!

Running a contest on social media is a great way to get new followers and/or engage your current fans.  After all, who doesn't love free stuff?!  You can do something as simple as Pat did and draw a name or you can get more indepth and require likes, shares, and comments to be entered for a chance to win.  The possibilities are truly endless.  Your prize doesn't have to be elaborate or expensive either.  If you have a business that sells goods, you can offer a gift card or a free item from your store.  Even something as simple as giving away a $10 Starbucks gift card could do wonders for your page.  Like I said, who doesn't like free stuff?  Especially when the effort to enter is minimal (liking the page, sharing the page, ect).  Determine what you want to accomplish with your contest, choose a prize, decide how long you'll run the contest, inform your fans and you're on your way!  Just remember to always follow the rules set forth by the social media outlet you choose.

Care for a little insight?

Social networks like Facebook and Twitter are great tools for any business.  Not only do they offer a means of free advertising, but it can also provide your customers with a sense of community which builds brand loyalty.  But how can you make sure you're getting the most out of your accounts?  This is where analytics come in to play.

If you have a business page for your Facebook account, you have access to Insights which provide you with almost any information you could wish to have about those who like your page and are interacting with you.  Once you decide to delve into your insights you're likely going to feel a bit overwhelmed with all of the information it can provide you with.  The most important information, however, can be accessed fairly easily.

The first thing you'll see when you access the insights page will look something like this:

This page shows your total likes, friends of fans, people talking about this and your weekly total reach.  Though you can't see it in the photo, you can also see all of the posts you've made during the month and the individual statistics for those posts.  

The total likes number is the actual number of people who like your page while the friends of fans number represents the number of people connected to your fans--this is important as this is the number of people you could potentially reach through your fans.  For instance, if you ask your fans to share your page with their friends, this is the number of people who could possibly see your page.  

The people talking about this number is the number of people who have interacted with your page; either by liking a status, commenting on your wall/status or shared something you posted.  When someone is talking about you, your page is likely showing up in their friends' news feed; again, free promotion of your company and your page.  

The last number you see is your weekly total reach, or the number of people who have seen any content related to your posts.  As you can see from the example above, they had a reach of almost 4,000 people, but only have 125 page likes, which means that most of their reach came from others interacting with their page or if they had some kind of ad, that would also contribute to this number.  From the graph, you can see which posts had the most interaction by scrolling your mouse over the points on the graph.  

This is only the beginning of the information you can find on your page.  Insights can also provide you with extensive demographic information so that you might know your audience better.  Your online audience may vary extensively or it may be very specific, but knowing this information can help you better determine what kind of content to post for more interaction.  If you're not already familiar with the basics of these insights, consider taking a few hours to look through them.  Once you get past the intimidation factor it's fairly easy to navigate and will certainly help you understand your audience better.  

Kentucky Kicks Ass

Duh, of course Kentucky Kicks Ass!  It's the birthplace of Abe Lincoln, Johnny Depp, George Clooney and myself (yes, I get to include myself here because where else other than my own blog will that ever happen?). I know this, and hopefully you know this, but the guys at Kentucky for Kentucky are trying to get this message out to the world, or at least to the rest of America.  

If you've somehow been living without the internet and don't know who these guys are, I highly recommend you watch this video--it pretty much sums everything up.

If you do, however, know about this movement, you'll understand my excitement when I say I got to hear them speak at U of L tonight.  Not only have they started a campaign that has gained national recognition without anyone asking them to, but they did it solely through social media and free advertising.  

The project started just over a year and a half ago with a Facebook page and good intentions: to re-brand Kentucky.  Let's face it y'all, Kentucky gets a bad wrap.  If I hear "KFC!" or "you're wearin' shoes?!" come out of one more persons mouth when I visit another state, I'm going to do some ass-kicking of my own.  

Anyway, needless to say, the Facebook page grew to more than 1,000 likes and inspired these guys to create a Kickstart campaign to raise funds for a Superbowl commercial about Kentucky.  Unfortunately, the Kickstart campaign didn't quiet raise the $3 million needed for the commercial, but it did stir up some interest from the media and well, you know the rest.  Today, Kentucky for Kentucky is working harder than ever to promote the Bluegrass State and increase our tourism.  After all, who wouldn't want to visit a state that has more bourbon barrels than people?  That sounds pretty kick ass to me!


This is a great example of what social media can do, especially with a good message and a little hard work. I'm excited to see where this campaign goes and hope that the rest of the commonwealth will embrace it the way their supporters have.  If you're not already, make sure to "like" their Facebook page and follow them on Twitter--they've always got some kick ass things to say! 

Infographics

Infographics, by definition, are a visual representation of information or data.  Infographics are a fantastic way to relay large amounts of information in a way that is quickly read. From cars to statistics, there is no limit to the topic of your infographic.  Whether you are creating an infographic yourself, or hiring someone to do it for you, the most important thing to remember is to choose a good topic with information that people want to read about.  This doesn't necessarily mean the information has to be life changing, but it should be interesting and entertaining at the least.

I, personally, am a visual person; especially when it comes to numbers.  Any time numbers can be presented to me visually, i'm much more likely to retain the information.  An infographic can transform something you never thought you understood into something you can finally grasp.  Figuring out the best way to use them for your benefit is the first step.

Recently I found that some folks were turning their resumes into an infographic.  It made total sense to me once I heard it and I was excited to turn my resume into something exciting rather than just another piece of paper in a stack.  I really wasn't sure where to start, but after a quick Google search of "infographic resume builder", I found the website vizualize.me.  From this website, I was able to connect with my LinkedIn account and have it build an infographic for me.  It pulled the information from my profile and I just edited as needed.  Though I still want to try creating my own from "scratch", I was very pleased with my results.  You can check out my infographic resume here:  vizualize.me/jessb57.  What do you think?

Laissez le bon temps rouler!

Let the good times roll!

Happy Mardi Gras, y'all!  For those of you who know me, you know that New Orleans is my absolute favorite place in the entire world (granted, I've only been out of the US once...to Mexico..does that even count?).  My husband and I went there for our honeymoon almost 5 years ago and we've been back pretty much every year since...we even moved to Bay St. Louis, MS for a short stint because we thought it was so close that we'd basically be in the Big Easy.  We were wrong.  Dead wrong.  But we did get to spend a lot of time in NOLA while we were there and it was an experience I'm glad I had.

After My First Parade

Contrary to popular belief, Mardi Gras isn't all beads and debauchery, though that is a huge part of it.  The official Mardi Gras season begins on the feast of the Epiphany and goes through Fat Tuesday, the day before ash Wednesday.  Historically, Fat Tuesday refers to the last night of eating richer, fatty foods before the fasting of Lenten begins.

In 2010 I was fortunate enough to experience Mardi Gras in all of its glory.  It was nothing like I expected and exactly what I expected all at the same time.  The parades are all day, every day and don't actually occur on Bourbon Street.  They appear all over town and are presented by different Krewe's (a krewe is basically a club).  Believe it or not, you don't have to bare any skin to get beads--they literally shower you with them as the different floats and performers pass by.  The photo above was taken after only one parade. By the time Fat Tuesday rolled around, I had bags and bags of beads, doubloons and other miscellaneous items from the parades.  I even caught a "coconut" (it wasn't a real coconut--they're not allowedto throw those anymore.  For obvious reasons.) from the Zulu Krewe parade.

A Float going down Canal St.

Mardi Gras was a wonderful experience and definitely something I want to do again, but to experience the true New Orleans you have to visit it when the streets aren't crowded with hundreds of thousands of people. Tour the St. Louis Cathedral, stroll through Jackson Square, eat a beignet from Cafe du Monde, grab a beer and listen to some live jazz on Frenchmen St. and of course finish the night off with a Hurricane and/or Hand Grenade on Bourbon St.  There's never a dull moment in the Crescent City.

"Be who you are and say what you feel...

because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind" - Dr. Seuss

Ahh, if only these words were true in every situation.  Unfortunately, when it comes to being yourself online it's sometimes better to show a little restraint.  Your online presence is likely the first impression you'll have on many people, especially when it comes to prospective employers, and you'll want to present yourself in the best light possible.

I clearly remember the day I signed up for MySpace, the first social network I was ever a part of.  It was great.  We got to rank our friends in order, post surveys about ourselves revealing sometimes the most intimate details of our lives and upload all of the embarrassing pictures we wanted.  The best part though, was never thinking twice about any of it.  There was no fear of losing your job over something you posted, worrying about someone tagging you in an unflattering photo or wondering if someone else was using your likeness to catfish.  Ignorance was bliss.

Today, however, the blinders have been removed and most of us have seen first hand how posting something online can have negative effects both personally and professionally.  Managing your online reputation is almost as important as the resume you send in.  After all, once they have your name they're just a Google search away from finding out all the stuff (good and bad) that isn't on that piece of paper.

Who you are online should reflect who you are in "real life"; keeping in mind that not everyone who sees your online self will know you on a personal level.  Keep it real, keep it clean and don't ever post anything you wouldn't want your grandma to see.

A blog about blogs...how original.

Blogging, for some reason, has always terrified me.  Perhaps it's because I'm a very opinionated person who realizes that once you put something into the blogosphere it can (and will) haunt you forever.  I also know, however, that I have a somewhat (ha.) sarcastic sense of humor that is hard to translate into words.  All of that aside, I've come to realize that in my profession, or at least the one I hope to enter into, a blog is a necessity.

Blogging is a great tool.  It allows you to create a persona for yourself and/or your company.  It can provide an inside look into just about anything you can imagine and it can present you with opportunities you may have never gotten before.  On the flip side, it can also mean your demise if not handled correctly. Remember, everyone is "googleable"  and once your name is attached to something (like a blog) it's hard to undo it.

Business and personal blogs will vary in content, but the goal is usually the same.  Here are some helpful tips on business blogging and personal blogging.  Do you have a blog?  If so, I'd love to check it out--leave the url in the comments section!