Social Amateur

Tech Joys & Mechanical Failures

Melissa Reyes — Sun, 05 May 2013 18:01:03 +0000

I don’t vacation often, so when my brother and I decided to take a road trip to Tennessee to visit our parents, it seemed like the perfect kid-free escape. I prepped and planned – charged all my devices, set up everything to function smoothly during my absence at work, and had a bunch of work done to my car. All set. The 1,000-mile trip down was perfect. GPS (or “Lady in the box” as my son calls it) guided our way, we cranked tunes from the iPod and Spotify and when we decided to stop at a few landmarks along the way, I was busy snapping pics to post on Facebook, so my mom could follow us along the way and know how close we were. This is east Tennessee, filled with long, winding back roads. But the “lady in the box” knew the way. When we wanted to find someplace other than Cracker Barrel or Shoney’s to eat, I looked it up on my smart phone. When at dinner, my parents wondered if such and such a store was open, a quick google search could provide an answer. When I missed my fiance and kids back home, I got to see their faces and hear their voices via a Google+ video hangout. Ah… Isn’t technology wonderful? Even when email crashed at work, I could still access old emails on my iPad through the gmail account I had everything forwarded to for backup. Even when my car refused to go into gear, I could call roadside assistance, they could text me the tow truck company info. And I could map the mechanic’s location (which, as it turned out, was right across the street from where I broke down. Duh.) and read customer reviews on Yelp! to see if he was a trustworthy mechanic. Even when the trustworthy mechanic couldn’t fix my car, I could track what time another tow truck would arrive to bring my car to the Dodge dealership. And a Vermont car dealer could even offer assistance via Twitter. Even when my smart phone screen died in Gatlinburg, I could still chat with my fiance back home via Facebook on my iPad. Even when my car checked out fine and I drove it from Tennessee back to New York without a problem and then it died again on the NYS Thruway, once again my cell phone was there to call for help and snap pics of my misery. (The screen mysteriously fixed itself. Wish I could say the same for my car.) Even when I realized that I wouldn’t get my car back in time to go to work on Monday, I could research alternatives on my iPad, coordinate schedules via text messages and have my e-tickets in the palm of my hand via the Amtrak app on my phone. And now, here I am…. on the Vermonter from Penn Station to Essex Junction…. finishing this post on my laptop. We live in an amazing time, when mechanical devices and technologies can both complicate and simplify, frustrate and dazzle, be the cause and the solution. It all changes our experiences for the better, and for the worse. This trip would have been very different if I had not had a car with sophisticated sensors and systems, a smartphone with GPS and unlimited data, an iPad with Spotify and Kindle books or a laptop with a webcam and Evernote. And maybe a different kind of trip would have been much preferred. But then again, this train is pretty comfortable, coffee is free in business class and the views are spectacular. It’s fairly relaxing, actually. And isn’t that what vacation is all about?

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Still here… and there… and everywhere…

Melissa Reyes — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:39:56 +0000

Still here… and there… and everywhere…

Just thought I’d drop in to say hi and let you all know that I’m still here. Even though I haven’t been lately. Over the past few months, I’ve been crazy busy. VT Mommies got a new website design and we’ve been busy with 2013 planning and promotions. At my other “real job,” I’ve been migrating our website over to a new WordPress one. The official launch happens early next week, and I couldn’t be more excited – to have the site up, and perhaps to have a moment to write. Or breathe. Remember that “Too Much, Too Fast, Too Thin” things from What NOT To Do As a Blogger in 2013? I’m so there. Still. I have been reading your posts on Twitter & Facebook & Google+, and I’ve recently been trying to get more active on LinkedIn. (If you want to connect with me, you can find me at http://www.linkedin.com/in/socialamateur/). I’m thinking of challenging myself to a spring writing blitz. Three posts a week, per blog. You game?

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What NOT To Do As a Blogger in 2013

Melissa Reyes — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 13:07:59 +0000

What NOT To Do As a Blogger in 2013

I suppose I’m a few days late for a post-year wrap-up, but it’s definitely something that I’ve been thinking a lot about. Perhaps you spent some of your time off thinking about the past year as well… About things you did for your business… Successes and failures…. Things you never got around to doing… Lessons learned and proud moments of accomplishment. Here are just two of the lessons I learned in 2012… And the things I WON’T be doing in the year ahead. Business Before Pleasure In my teens and 20s, I loved to write. I wrote all the time just because. When I started my blogs, I thought writing would be the easy part, and so I really focused on the parts of blog management that I wasn’t quite as comfortable with…. Generating ad revenue, learning about SEO, analyzing web traffic, etc. and by the time I was done with all of the “business” part of it, I had little energy, motivation or inspiration left to write. I miss the urge to write… The pleasure of writing… The part of me that used to feel like I HAD to write. Have you ever gotten so caught up in managing, marketing and analyzing your business that you forgot the reason you wanted to start the business in the first place? In the coming year, we should remember why we do what we do… And why, at one time, we LOVED what we do. Too Much, Too Fast, Too Thin There are seemingly endless opportunities to interact and/or promote oneself online. Each network and group is different, and interesting and perhaps valuable. Each does things a little differently, and the latest and greatest are so much fun to play in! But eventually, you have 150 accounts and are regularly active in only a handful of them. And then, the guilt and stress set in. Sometimes, even with a well planned-out strategy with defined goals, there are unexpected detours along the way. Flashing lights, alluring music, laughs from a crowd and potential promises draw us in. And sometimes, we get so caught up in it all that it’s only when the smoke clears that we realize that we’re dancing alone. No more. In 2013, I’m sticking to the basics… My trusted friends on the networks and platforms that most often lead to real conversations, meaningful connections and learning opportunities. I don’t need to reach everyone… I just need to reach the right ones. And the right ones are right in front of me. What about you? Have you spread yourself a little too thin? Do you ever get the urge to scale down? Or do you like being involved in a wide variety of social networks? If so, how do you keep up with it all? In 2012, I experienced many opportunities, many successes and many lessons learned. And I came out of it with a desire to really focus, prioritize and simplify. It’s so easy to spend hours, days, weeks focusing on the business and technology of what we do. And sometimes, it’s absolutely necessary to to do just that. But this year, I will also try to remember that what I need may be right in front of me, if only I settle down and pay attention.

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Just When You Think You’re Kinda Smart…

Melissa Reyes — Thu, 08 Nov 2012 23:00:29 +0000

Just When You Think You’re Kinda Smart…

As you may know if you follow me on Twitter, this week/weekend I’m attending the National Association of REALTORS Convention in Orlando, Florida. It’s a wonderful event, jam-packed with events, discussions and sessions on, well, just about everything, it seems. Naturally, I tend to stick mainly to the marketing & social media track. First up this year was the Communications Directors Institute, which kicked off with a fantastic morning with Shonali Burke (@shonali), Vice President, Digital Media & Marketing, at MSL Washington DC and author of the blog Waxing Unlyrical. Shonali began her presentation, “Smart PR Measurement for the Digital Age,” by asking audience members how much social media measurement they were currently doing. This is when I felt pretty smart. After all, I use tons of social media measurement tools… I track engagement and influence and inbound marketing paths and click-throughs and yada yada yada. But then Shonali spent the next 2 1/2 hours talking about real measurement – the kind that relates back to well thought-out strategic plans based on SWOT analyses, using tactics deliberately chosen for their efficiency and history of producing successful, quantifiable results. Suddenly, I wasn’t feeling all that smart any more. See, it isn’t that anything that Shonali said was really all that new to me or that she presented some out-of-the-box way of building engagement or measuring campaigns. What she presented was basic marketing strategy – refined for the digital age. It was about defining what you want people to do, driving them down an easy-to-navigate path to get there, providing them with a reason for taking action, measuring what worked, and tweaking as necessary. It is what all of us marketers do. Or is it? How many of us are so caught up in the day-to-day tactics that we “don’t have time” to implement this process that we KNOW works? How many of us dive into social media campaigns thinking we know what our customers want? How many of us, particularly us small-business owners or one-man marketing teams, continually find ourselves mired in the …. (And this where my post saved, and so despite writing the remainder of this article, this is where I start again after my hotel internet connection failed and I was again reminded of the importance of not WRITING blog posts in WordPress and/or not frequently saving the draft. I frustratedly digress…) You get the point. And you understand why we do it. We’re all busy. We’ve all been handed things that “need to go out NOW.” We’ve all got a million things to do and not enough resources to get it all done. But what I took away from Shonali’s presentation is a huge, smack-in-the-face reminder that if I only stopped and stepped out of the go-go-go zone for a little while, it might be an opportunity to do the pre-campaign research and planning that would result in more effective and EFFICIENT execution – and still leave time for measurement. In this crazy digital marketing space in which I spend so much of my time, I, for one, need that reminder and I need it often. And THAT is why Shonali is so smart.

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7 Lessons Learned (or Reinforced) from the First 1,000 Fans

Melissa Reyes — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 22:07:05 +0000

7 Lessons Learned (or Reinforced) from the First 1,000 Fans

We all know how important it is in business to have a loyal fan base. Small businesses count on the fact that about 51% of Facebook users say they are more likely to buy from the brands they follow. When we started our small business, VT Mommies , we knew that Facebook would be the go-to social media platform. Moms are on Facebook, sharing photos, catching up with friends and trying to stay connected in a go-go-go world. We knew a strong Facebook fan base would help build the brand, increase traffic to the website and all of the other things the social media gurus said it would. Here are a few things I learned in the first six months, as we gained our first 1,000 fans on the VT Mommies Facebook Page. 1. It Starts With You If you’re just starting a small business, or your small business is just setting up a Facebook page, your very first fans are probably your friends and family. And that’s ok! Share your page on your profile, encourage people to ‘like’ the page (even if they don’t care about the product) as a way to support your new endeavor. Nobody wants to join a club of one, so having a few likes gets the ball rolling, and makes it more likely others will join in. 2. You’re Talking To Yourself. A Lot. You may only have a few fans in the beginning, but you need to post regularly and you need to be excited about what you’re sharing. My friends & family ‘liked’ my page, but I knew not all of them were really paying attention. Still, I had to post and I needed (for my own sanity & emotional well-being) to pretend that people were listening. Because that’s the only way anyone ever would. 3. Like, Comment, Share, Comment and Comment!! A great way to break the monotony of talking to yourself is to talk to other local businesses and causes. That seems like an obvious statement, but even if you know the “social media is about being social” mantra, it really is so easy to fall into the mindset of “if we build it, they will come.” Well, maybe they will. But you can wait for that to happen (or not happen), or you can get out there and get in front of potential fans. Positive comments on posts from other local businesses and causes that matter to your business really do matter in terms of starting to build your brand. At VT Mommies, we follow a ton of local Vermont businesses and organizations. I enjoy reading the posts, but more than that, I enjoy reading the comments. I like seeing what other people (other Vermont moms, in particular) are talking about. The discussions that happen in the comments sections are often the gateway to getting someone to engage on our page. 4. A Simple, Targeted Ad Can Go a Long Way I was a little skeptical about advertising on Facebook at first. Who looks at those ads over there, anyway? Well, a lot of people. And when they see the name of one of their friends in an ad, they’re even more likely to look, to click, to like. Nearly half of our fans have come from a simple Facebook ad that says ‘Your friend likes VT Mommies.’ And we didn’t have to break the bank to get great results. We’ve gained nearly 500 fans and our ad has a click-through rate of 0.55% – all on an advertising budget of, well, of a small start-up business (which isn’t much). 5. Style is Essential By style, I’m not talking about what you wear (that only matters if you post pics). I’m talking about your tone of voice, your attitude, your online personality, your posting frequency, etc. Early on, we realized that we didn’t always want to sound like a magazine on our Facebook page. Naturally, we would need to promote our articles, events and products some times. But we also wanted to regularly share the truth of what we are about. And so, we made a handful of VT Mommies featured authors administrators on our Facebook page – and gave them the freedom to post (mostly) whatever they wanted. They could rant about their kids, share a resource, ask other mommies a question, whatever. And they would include their name in the post, so fans would know which of the mommies they were talking to. This style works for us because we believe it works for our fans. It’s one way our fans can connect with us on a personal level – an essential element when the topic/product/service is as personal as ours is. 6. There is No “I” This ties into our multi-author approach, but I think it goes beyond that. It starts with you, but to grow, you need advocates. You need people to comment, share, talk about, promote, etc. You need to continually give current and potential fans something worth sharing. You need to find or create content, share it often and encourage fans to share it as well. You need to find people who will champion your cause – and beyond that – people with whom you can share mutually beneficial causes. The moms on VT Mommies ARE VT Mommies. My site is their site – this company is their company. Ok, yes, it’s officially my company, but it doesn’t feel like it. When I talk about VT Mommies, the company, I refer to it as a plural. It’s not a “me,” – it’s a “we.” And it’s a “we” because the company is only as successful as fans are engaged. “We” sometimes refers to our featured authors, sometimes to all of our fans, sometimes to all Vermont moms… but it is always… ALWAYS “we.” On purpose. And the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far? 7. What Works for You Doesn’t (Always) Work for Us This is a lesson I’m reminded of every single day – What [...]

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Are You Blogging Your Passion or Writing Just to Post Something?

Melissa Reyes — Wed, 29 Aug 2012 20:27:27 +0000

Are You Blogging Your Passion or Writing Just to Post Something?

When I started the Social Amateur blog, I thought it could be a resource to other social media newbies. After all, small business owners and contractors were always asking me the same basic questions … So why not put my experiences down where other people count benefit from them or learn something. It didn’t take me long to fall into the instructional mindset – Writing posts about how to do this or that, explaining some term or providing social media marketing tips. My audience was growing and my web stats were looking good. All of that was great. Yet my writing felt like it was lacking context, personality and passion. And then, writing became a chore. “I should probably post SOMETHING… ANYTHING. Ugh.” It wasn’t until I started a local “mommy blog,” (and it began to take off) that it hit me. Success really does lie in doing what you love every single day. It’s not just a cliche. What does it matter how many unique visitors come to my site to read an article I didn’t want to write? I love social media marketing, and I love to write. I love helping people figure out how to do this or that, and learning about what other people are doing online. I love chatting with people from all over the country and the world about all sorts of things – including, but not limited to, social media marketing. I love being part of an industry that is changing all the time, and honestly, I love that feeling of being a bit overwhelmed, because it means that there is so much yet to learn. And so, I think it’s time I take this blog back to basics, and back to me. Maybe that sounds egotistical, and maybe it is. But I’m realizing now that it is perhaps more egotistical for me to say, “This is how you should do this,” than it is to say “I tried this and it worked,” or “I tried this and it was a big huge flop. Now what?” or “So-and-so is doing this and it looks cool – Have you tried it?” or even “Here’s something silly that made me laugh!” I am a social media marketing nut. I love the communities, the people, the conversations. I adore my local social media folks.. (#BTV really is amazing for techies). But they don’t know me. You don’t know me. Maybe, in the coming weeks, months and years, you will. And maybe I’ll get to know you a little better, too. That’s the kind of resource I hope to be.

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10 Things I Learned from Social Media Day

Melissa Reyes — Tue, 03 Jul 2012 02:45:42 +0000

10 Things I Learned from Social Media Day

As you may have heard, Saturday was Social Media Day. In Burlington, we celebrated Thursday evening and all day on Friday. Each year, marketer, web designer and social media wonderwoman Lara Dickson (Deep Dish Creative) gathers a team and coordinates all the local festivities. Burlington Social Media Day (#BTVSMD) rocked again this year, with tweet-ups, classes, an Instagram scavenger hunt and the crowning of local social media royalty. It was a great opportunity to re-connect with local marketers, meet those new to the local social media community and learn from some of the best in the area. Here are 10 things I learned from BTVSMD 2012: (I would have written this earlier, but it took me the weekend to catch up on work/life/other blogs!) 1. When it comes to public voting, surprises happen. Sometimes, campaigning works. And sometimes the best campaign is just being helpful and humble every day. 2. The view at the Community Sailing Center at 8 am on a hot summer day is amazing. 3. Parents should begin talking to kids about their activities online when they are as young as 4 years old. When children are about 8, parents should begin asking them how they feel about the photos and information that is being shared, and whether it is ok to post certain images. (Hmmm….I should probably make sure my son (age 9) know what photos of him I have up on Facebook, and my VT Mommies blog. I guess he’s old enough to begin making decisions about his own online identity.) 4. It is important to think about your social media ecosystem, and to really develop a plan for how all the networks you use work together to support your strategy. 5. Participating in social media is not a strategy, it is a tactic. The strategy is about the mission – the situation. Think bigger than the channels. 6. The turkey bacon on marble rye from Handy’s Lunch is freakin’ amazing. I’m so glad I saw it on Twitter, or I might never have tried it! 7. For non-profits, social media is for sharing the story. Email is for the ask. (What a great, and simple way to direct your messages and tone of voice!) 8. Social media success can only be measured against goals. Engagement matters only if it supports those goals. 9. Live blogging is easy to set up, difficult to do well. It’s challenging to capture what is being said and have time to comment – especially if you’re trying to tweet from multiple accounts at the same time. (I could, however, see its use at speaker events – particularly if you’ve been able to get your hands on the material and formulate some thoughts ahead of time.) 10. Burlington is full of social media marketing talent – brilliant, passionate, enthusiastic people who are happy to connect and share their knowledge with everyone – even us social amateurs. And for that, I am incredibly grateful. Thank you to everyone who attended, helped out, sponsored, taught, organized and shared. And most of all, thank you, Lara.

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#BTVSMD Live Blog

Melissa Reyes — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 11:13:41 +0000

#BTVSMD Live Blog

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