• About
  • Follow

Media Solutions

~ creative use of marketing & social media to share what you love…

Media Solutions

Category Archives: Social Media Marketing

All things social.

Congratulations to a lovely guy!

02 Thursday Mar 2017

Posted by Lulu.B in Food and drink, Social Media Marketing

≈ 1 Comment

Tags

caramel, chocolate, fun, humour, koalas, love

https://www.linkedin.com/hp/update/6242185670547378176

 

John Kapos, one of the best when it comes to social media in Australia promoting a small business…

Perfection Chocolates!

 

choc johnny.png

Have a look at his site. Don’t be put off by the monaker Chocolate Johnny, this is a very smart marketer. Endorsed by the likes of Social Media Examiner and many more.

Yum, yum, yum…..

caramel-koala

Salted caramel, hot chocolate, little yummy bears with high end chocolate….he does them all.

Can’t wait to try some more!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Skype
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by Lulu.B in Social Media Marketing

≈ Leave a comment

Here’s a simple guide to creating a social media content calendar to help boost your presence. It’s one of the most important elements when working out how to spend your time.

Particularly, if you are a solopreneur and managing your business’s day to day needs and time poor.

But everyone needs a structure for their marketing/PR/social/digital strategy and this is a useful tool for different aspects of your business.

There are many similar articles out there, but this one by Dhariano Lozano (@DhariLo) is one of the best I’ve seen.

Source: How to Create a Social Media Content Calendar

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Skype
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

7 Ways to Get Yourself Camera Ready for Live-Streaming

24 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by Lulu.B in Social Media Marketing

≈ Leave a comment

Contributor Bryan Kramer offers seven tips to help boost your live-stream efforts.

Source: 7 Ways to Get Yourself Camera Ready for Live-Streaming

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Skype
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

How to Rock a Presentation!

06 Friday May 2016

Posted by Lulu.B in Humour, Social Media Marketing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#socialmedia #business #publicspeaking #livevideo #presentation

15 tips on How to Rock a Presentation courtesy Jeff Sieh, Peg Fitzpatrick and Rebekah Radice via Blab 6 May 2016 AEST
Blab May 6 2016
 
1.  Start with a joke or light hearted banter to engage your audience in the first two minutes.  This will capture your audience and calm your nerves.
humour
2. Practise all your material well beforehand. Know your topic and what you are there to share.
3. Rebekah Radice records her presentations on her iPhone and listens to them fully to tweak any alterations that need to be made well in advance. Her presentations are made up to a month ahead and only small changes made closer to the time.
Rebekah-Radice
4. Talk it out loud to yourself in the mirror so that you can see what hand gestures you are making (watch out!)  🙂 or faces you might be pulling…  ‘sometimes I feel like an Italian – nail that hand down’! says Rebekah.
5.Prepare, Prepare, Prepare. Peg Fitzpatrick agrees with Rebekah that is the best way to create a successful presentation.
Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 7.35.31 AM
6. Know your stage.  You will present differently according to the size of your setting.  Your energy has to reach the back of the room, whether that is an auditorium or a small intimate space.
7.Match your energy to the size of the room advises Jeff Sieh.
8.Make sure you know how to use the tech.  Are you bringing your own laptop?  How does the clicker work?  There is more than one variety.  Make sure you are comfortable with your equipment.
Yeti_Larger
9. Even with the best preparation, tech can fail and slides you have created for your presentation might not be available on the day because of technical issues.  Make sure you know your material thoroughly so you can still be comfortable with your ‘story’ if this happens.
10.  Tell a story in your presentation and one that is appropriate for your audience.  If you are re-using material be sure that is tweaked for the people who are listening on that day.
11. People are coming to see YOU. Your slides should be an extension of everything you are talking about.
12. Use text on your slides when you are ‘mentioning a resource or hard facts‘ advises Peg, so people can refer to it if they missed something you just said. Or if you want to emphasise a particular point or piece of information.
13.Wear suitable clothing that makes you feel good. Get your hair done, present yourself well. The better you feel, the better you will come across.
 Winner
Women need to consider where the microphone pack will go as often you have to attach it in front of your audience.  Clothes with a pocket are helpful.  Be ware of wearing a skirt or dress if your audience is below you – watch the length!
14. Re-watch your presentations/live  video like Jeff Sieh does.  He checks out the footage however uncomfortable that might make him feel. This way you can learn what crutches to cut out in future like too many ‘um’s’ and ‘ah’s’ and see where to improve.
Screen Shot 2016-05-06 at 7.41.21 AM
15. ‘Nerves can be good as they give you extra energy’ and Jeff advises taking that negative energy and harnessing it to turn it into a positive.  Peg takes a sip of water if she feels herself talking too fast and everyone suggested taking a breath as a good thing! Breathing is always useful!
TAKE AWAY MUST DO’S
Practise, Preparation and Knowledge of your material. 
Do what it takes to make you ‘feel’ confident.
Check your Tech. 
Turn your nerves into Positive Energy and remember even seasoned Professionals can struggle.  
Fonz apparently threw up before every performance and went on to give a stellar show.
 Fonz
For more information on How to Rock a Presentation visit Jeff Sieh’s site http://manlypinteresttips.com/
ps. if you are a guy and don’t want to get your hair ‘done’ rocking a beard might help 🙂
Beard

 Image

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Skype
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...

Harnessing the chaos

22 Tuesday Dec 2015

Posted by Lulu.B in #video, Social Media, Social Media Marketing

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

#harnessingthechaos, #keepingontopofthings, #socialmedia #learningsocial

Lulu B logo

“If I lasso the moon for Mary, will it make my #social stand still?”

 

It has been a crazy couple of weeks! And the wild horse, that is the internet and it’s offspring ‘social media’ is as tricky for a cowboy or cowgirl to lasso as the moon – but ‘it’s a wonderful life’ to play in.

Cowgirl_1929_100.jpg

And before I get onto a round up of my latest gleanings in this overwhelming  and beautiful world of ‘social’ here is one quick thought from me for 2016.

CISCO predicts that by 2017, 70% of internet traffic will be via video but I think it may get there even quicker.

It makes perfect sense, as there is simply too much information to allow for reading everything you come across in the day.

Images, infographics and video and live streaming get information over quickly and agreeably. Watch this Blab on digital trends with Brian Fanzo and see what I mean.

And you know immediately, I’m writing this around christmas time because of the whacky christmas jumper gif.

Video is just images on fast forward…

 

Light up xmas jumper!

http://www.truffleshuffle.co.uk

Facebook may have challengers with other live-streaming platforms grabbing headlines at the moment, but it’s 360 degree video facility and access to billions of users will make it a mainstream option and perhaps much more quickly than has been anticipated.

I think market forces will drive this.

The next step is video, where you digitally step into real places filmed by real cameras, says a recent Wired.com article.

That’s still some way away, but it’s where Zuckerberg is looking.

“We’re starting to see real video merge with virtual reality and augmented reality,” Zuckerberg said.

Currently, Google Glass  and the like are aimed mainly at the gaming audience. Headsets are expensive.

I don’t game BUT I would love the 3d experience right now please, without it costing me a fortune.

Here is a brilliant initiative helping unlock kids with autism using Google Glass. (www.powerbrain.com) – can you just imagine the possibilities?

 

We build brain science-driven software to transform
wearables like Google Glass™ into neuro-assistive devices for autism.

 

KEEPING IN TOUCH

Many of us travel extensively now. I for one, am an ex-pat living in Australia.

Would I love to be at a christmas lunch with my family via virtual reality in the UK? You bet I would!

 

hot-meal-xmas.jpg

Maybe Santa’s sleigh can magically transport you Louise?

 

A birthday party, a wedding of a much loved friend, that you really couldn’t justify thousands of dollars and weeks off work for?  Of course you would want to be there, or next best, feel as if you were there!

Or maybe, you just want to be there to read a story to your kids if you can’t be home for their bedtime.

I won’t inflict you with a sad photo of a child here, we’ve probably all been there as either a child or a parent.  Okay, just a small one.

Oscar and Bentley - where were you!!

WHERE were you?

 

 

THE FUTURE

I can be heckled anywhere I live in the world 

said ex CEO of Twitter in a Bloomberg Business interview recently when asked about his future.

Maybe, he has a version of Twitter up his sleeve – Twittereality?

A number of people are predicting a new substantial platform is around the corner…

 

3D TECHNOLOGY

Wouldn’t it be great if 3d virtual reality headsets could also have the capability to view, film and send information to 3d printers?

We could video and send our nephews and nieces a copy of their favourite football players signed t-shirt  or a copy of the trophy  at the event we are attending.

golden-trophy-cup-13684181

Even if it is just in miniature, until we can all own multi-functional full size 3d printers!

Or maybe, a copy of a signed programme at a theatrical event.

Or a beautiful piece of sculpture, or jewellery for a birthday or christmas or simply as a ‘I love you’ present, when we are feeling creative.

Or maybe a delicious piece of cake?

Or maybe I am just getting carried away?

Did you know, that right now, there are 3d printers re-creating 2d works of art in 3d, for blind people to touch and experience? 

Amazing!

3d art.jpg

 

 

800 FOLLOWERS

Screen Shot 2015-12-18 at 2.10.00 PM.png

 

Woo hoo! 800 followers.  Thank you!  I know this seems a tiny number for you big hitters out there. But six weeks ago, I had 30 just by default and knew virtually nothing about Twitter.

Now, coming to the platform via Blab, I’m impressed with what I have re-discovered and the uses for Twitter that I hadn’t felt compelled to use before for business.

Particularly, as DM’s (direct messages) can be meaningful now. I kind of hope that Tweets can’t be edited, a change that is under consideration currently…  So, you have to get it right first time, it feels part of the ethos.

 

SHOUT OUT

This post includes a big shout out to a few people who have been incredibly welcoming and kind this week to me.

So this post is to mainly say thank you.

First of all to K.P Kelly.

KP Kelly.jpg

I watched a Blab live streaming event he made about privacy online.  One of his guests was a young student, Savannah Campbell who had been stalked via an app using geo location.  Nothing sinister happened, but it does point out some of the negative possibilities of revealing too much information online.

I asked KP after the broadcast via direct message, what equipment I needed to get started on Blab and how difficult it was to use.

He kindly replied with a nice message, saying a laptop was fine to start with and that the software is very easy to use and to do a Test Blab and perhaps arrange one with Savannah and he would jump in and help out with the technology if needed.

Super nice guy!

Savannah is a great young woman, helping with a fantastic initiative at her Uni for kids with severe illnesses. For details see the link above.

SavVB profile

Savannah

 

A cause very close to my heart, which will have it’s own post early next year is about terminally ill children and their families here in Australia.  I had the privilege to interview some of the volunteers who help at a beautiful ‘home from home’ in Manly, Sydney.  I’ll post my article about Bear Cottage soon, but feel free to look and contribute to this wonderful hospice right now!

Then later in the day, I was watching another Blab by Leslie Samuel who is a senior executive at Social Media Examiner.  All about making video. His guest was You Tube star  Luria Petrucci

Luria Cali Lewis.png

I decided to follow her, and signed up for GeekUniversity.com which will unravel the mystery of video.  It starts on January 16th 2016 and I will be passing on interesting information to you.

She also was incredibly helpful, and offered to have a look at my first offerings and give me some tips and was super encouraging.

Basically, some of her advice was not to expect your first video to go viral!  In fact, like any other social media platform, expect to build your followers or ‘tribe’ slowly.

turtleslow.jpg

Check that your content is in line with your audience’s needs and most of all ‘commit’ to the process.

I think that is one of the hardest parts to realise that to really engage an audience, you have to ‘show-up’ every day.  Post consistently, respond to your group and understand that slow and steady will win the race.

Engage with your audience as much as possible.  K.P.Kelly wrote this helpful article about Twitter but it works across all social platforms.

 

So back to the hot tub analogy in an earlier post. Cup by cup fill the tub and after quite some time it will be full and bubbly!

atlantic-spas-hot-tubs-for-hire

 

I also took part in a couple of Periscopes by a New York photographer, Jeffrey Shaw. Unfortunately, I only joined mid way so didn’t catch all of his pearls of wisdom.  But one that resonated with me was this.

Harness the chaos.  He put it slightly differently, encouraging everyone to embrace chaos and welcome it as a creative force.

It’s true that it does get your mind buzzing trying to read, listen and watch to a huge amount of information but for me personally, the only way, I am going to manage a social media business well, is to step back, become very organised, and self disciplined.

Time for a digital editorial calendar! (as against writing notes on a bit of paper!).

This week I am trying out several approaches and will let you know my findings. There are quite a few new ideas around that look appealing, but I wont prejudge.

When you start out, it seems like an enormous mountain to climb and it is…

Check out some of the respected big players like Hootsuite, and Hubspot and say, half a dozen social media influencers and subscribe to their platforms and read what they have to share, and listen to their podcasts. Watch their Blabs/Periscopes. Read some of their books.

Don’t jump in too quickly, or it really is easy for it all to become a snowblizzard that means you can soon lose all sense of what direction you were orignially heading in!

hootsuite-logo-feature-feature1.jpegHubSpot_logo_high_res_2_.jpg     Web

My particular favourites are (in no particular order) 🙂

Jeff Bullas; Joe Pullizzi, Rebekah Radice, KP Kelly,  Leslie Samuel, Peg Fitzpatrick, Mike Kawula, Scott Monty, Luria Petrucci, Mike Stelzner, Guy Kawasaki, Kim Garst, Brian Fanzo, Ian M Calvert, Rachel Miller and Donna Moritz.

And I discover new inspirational people everyday.

The very first person who inspired me to look at social media about six years ago was Mari Smith. I was on a learning curve with a small business, but everything you said was sound.  If this ever goes anywhere, I’ll be thanking you for your wealth of knowledge and enthusiasm, long before many others jumped onboard.

Many of these people have websites or blogs that round up all the latest in social media, and in the case of Hootsuite and Hubspot, and Social Media Examiner they have a huge amount of information for the complete beginner in their ‘evergreen‘ posts.  They are a great place to start.

Whether you are a complete novice, or want to keep up to date with ongoing trends and best market practises, you can’t go wrong attending one of Social Media Examiner‘s online conferences like SMSS16 for example.

SMEWorldlogo.png

They aren’t overly expensive, especially if you subscribe early.  List the names of all the speakers and follow them. You can re-watch their presentations throughout the year.

In my experience, as I have learned more, I have gained more from them, particularly on topics I knew virtually nothing about.

Go to the MentionMapp app and see who the presenters follow and follow some of them.  Apparently, about one third of the people you follow, will return the favour.

Screen Shot 2015-12-22 at 3.43.21 PM

I love MentionMapp. It is really useful for practical research.

 

I would take your time though, explore the pages, and get to know the online persona a little bit, then follow in an engaging way.

Wildly following hundreds of people at the same time, may result in some chunky numbers, but you need to be able to respond.  People talk about ‘growth hacking‘ (this is a good comprehensive guide by SocialQuant also an excellent source of knowledge).

I have to be honest, and say, I don’t really understand the term or at least why people would want to.  Apart from the obvious ‘vanity metrics’ how can it be useful?

Everything that I have read, that has made sense, is that you can’t take short cuts and end up with meaningful engagement, but I will experiment with a few ‘tips’ and report back.

Time is obviously an issue, especially when you are growing more than one platform concurrently and for a variety of clients.  And some of those clients might want visible growth fast, even if it isn’t ideal.

Brian Fanzo made a comment on a Blab he recently made about people constantly asking him, ‘how do I move my 10,000 Twitter followers to another platform’.

Brian Fanzo

His answer was ‘these are people, not numbers‘ and fake engagement doesn’t work and it is down, to putting in the work. ‘Showing up‘ just as Luria Petrucci said.

Focus on following people in your industry and naturally you will get followers back from the same sphere.  Don’t use automated DM’s to thank them for their follow unless you really are time poor. At least in the beginning with only a few hundred followers, make the time to engage and reply on an individual basis.

Take the time to read their posts and re-tweet one of the most interesting ones, and thank them for the follow at the same time.

Use a tool like ManageFlitter to find out who isn’t following you, or who has ‘unfollowed’ and cut out your dead wood.

The goal is an ‘engaged‘ audience.  It doesn’t matter a hoot, if you have a million followers and only 100 of them are talking with you!

One size does not fit all, so experiment with what works for you.

Tim Fargo said to me via direct message, and I quote. ‘Do what you want.  Honestly. The vast majority of people will be fine with it, and as for the rest.  Who cares.’

Online networking and marketing is very much like real life.

Well how about that!

 

BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES

Another very helpful fellow marketeer called Ian M Calvert recently spent some time on Skype with me talking about potential business ideas.

Ian M Calvert.jpg

I am really keen to explore different avenues but very much in ‘start-up’ mode, but he gave me a lot of food for thought and who knows where it might lead.

I have found so far, it is often the most successful people who give the most of their time, I guess that is what sets them apart.

Ian is based in the UK, and is an ‘influencer’ there.  It is exciting to think of the potential business opportunities that can so easily be global.

I’m very grateful for his help and all the others who have helped smooth this chaos so far.

 

Once Upon a Time

Once Upon a time

Many years ago, when I was working for a food magazine in London, I ran the promotions department.  I wrote sponsored features, advertorials and so on.  Paid for by a client, like Twinings tea for example.  It was my job to come up with ‘stories’ that appeared to be editorial, while subtly promoting the product.

With Twinings, we created several recipes that included their tea, invited readers to come up with their own, and the winner received a weekend at a country house hotel (Lygon Arms) in the Cotswolds, a pretty part of the world with an afternoon at the Polo.

I commissioned an artist to paint images of the hotel.  It was winter time, and the Cotswolds were covered in snow and he created beautiful works of art.

Lygon Arms

It was one of my most successful promotions, Twinings were very happy with the response and the readers had beautiful, useful content to use and one lucky reader, a luxurious weekend away to boot!

At the time, I wondered how I would ever use that particular skill again ever in my life.  And for many years didn’t really, turning to traditional journalism for a living.

And now ‘inbound marketing’ has arrived and brand ‘storytelling’ is popular.  And I am very happy!

If I can help any of your writing requirements, please let me know.

 

And finally…

Although, it is extremely time consuming, learning all these new things, there is a quote that Richard Branson loves, which I will share here.

CWYIgqEUEAESXrp

 

And so far, I am very happy to say, it has also been a LOT OF FUN!

I ‘said’ to Mike Stelzner that I felt I had learned more from the curated Social Media Examiner content and online Summits, than I had in expensive marketing courses in the past.

I hope you have gained some useful information from this blog, or found some great people to follow.

I’m going to post once a week, a round up similar to this, about social media marketing for people starting out and topics that stand out to me or just might be of interest.  So follow me, if you think it could be helpful.

I’ll also be making a few videos, and will be making a TEST Blab this week with one of my daughters on a subject dear to our hearts.

Hannah is a qualified PT instructor and particularly interested in helping kids learn about healthy living and how to incorporate exercise into their lives in a fun way. (She also does some part-time modelling – so thought I would share a pretty photo with you – as a proud mum).

IMG_0118

I’ll schedule an actual Blab once I get Blab savvy 🙂 and I hope to see some of you there!

 

Exciting times!

Image

 

 

Share this:

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Pinterest
  • LinkedIn
  • Print
  • Skype
  • Tumblr
  • Email
  • WhatsApp
  • Pocket
  • Telegram

Like this:

Like Loading...
Newer posts →

It’s a Cats Life

It’s a Cats Life

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

Follow

  • LinkedIn

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 3,799 other subscribers

Follow me on Twitter

My Tweets

RSS Marketing News

  • Keep up with the expansion strategies of your competitors January 26, 2023
    Gaby Zedan
  • Track the events your competitors attend with Feedly January 19, 2023
    Gaby Zedan

Instagram

No Instagram images were found.

Website Powered by WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • Media Solutions
    • Join 35 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • Media Solutions
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...
 

    %d bloggers like this: