Joyce

Happy New Year! There is something about starting a new year that reminds of starting a school year. Both are about beginnings. What social media adventures are you planning to take in 2013? If you have only participated in Facebook, maybe this is the year to try out Twitter. If you have been more professionally oriented and have only been active on LinkedIn, then consider checking out Pinterest. For the longest time (since 2008), the only social media platforms I participated in were Facebook and LinkedIn. Then in 2012 I decided to get active on Twitter, plus I got on [...]

For me, LinkedIn is my “home base” when it comes to social media sites. Tonight I pay tribute to the social media site that offers me so much. I became active on LinkedIn exactly 4 years ago this month, the same month I got active on Facebook. What drew me to LinkedIn, and what still keeps me anchored there, is the opportunity to network professionally with people from all over the world. Here are 5 reasons why LinkedIn works for me: I have been able to learn from a variety of experts through the Groups feature, the Answers feature, and [...]

Who introduced you to the social media platforms you use? Or you did just find them on your own and start using them? For most of the platforms I use, there is typically one person who nudged me onto that platform. It was Barbara Bailey, owner of Visibility Consultants and founder of Business Women For Women, who encouraged me to check out Pinterest. At first, I simply dabbled in Pinterest, popping into it now and then, creating a few boards, pinning a few items, but not really pursuing it strategically. By the time I took the Digital Marketing with Pinterest [...]

This week I have been preparing to give a talk on retirement to one of my Toastmasters clubs. The reason I chose this topic is because my husband and I plan to retire from our full-time jobs one year from this month. There are many aspects to planning for retirement. I find that Richard Bolles and John Nelson cover the key aspects very well in their book What Color is Your Parachute? For Retirement: Planning Now for the Life You Want. The part of the book that was especially meaningful to me was the section the authors called “The Three [...]

That’s the name of the certificate that I just achieved at Colorado Free University. To get it, I had to take at least 11 classes that related to either online marketing or social media. Often they covered both topics, as they are very interrelated. The classes ranged from 2-4 hours in length, and I took a total of 30 hours of classes over a four-month period. I figured out today that if I added in my driving time, that I just invested the equivalent of a 40-hour work week in developing myself professionally. There are many ways that we can [...]

Do you like to wish your Facebook friends “happy birthday”? I do. It is a way of honoring them on their special day. One thing I notice when I go to “events” and see whose birthdays are coming up in the next few days is that some people’s age is listed. Others do not list their age. As a protection for you, I recommend that you do not allow your age to show on Facebook. Some people put a fake birthday as well. However, I think it is OK to list the birthday, as in mine is listed as December [...]

Some of you may already have seen my post last night about the terrific experience I had yesterday as a guest on the weekly radio show hosted by the awesome Deb Krier on Mile Hi Radio. To hear what Deb and I covered in our time together, just go to the archive of the interview. Please be patient through the technical glitch at the start of the interview: http://milehiradio.com/archives/4251274D-D5ED-DCFE-022039D8F1D39A64_20121126.mp3 Each week Deb, a social media advisor, speaker and blogger, interviews someone with expertise in social media in this hour-long program. All the programs are archived, so if you want to [...]

As I scroll through the posts on my Facebook newsfeed this week, it is so heartening to see all the posts, posters and quotes related to being thankful. Along with my family, friends, job, and volunteer connections, I am thankful for all the websites, blogs, and individuals I have found who help me learn more about social media. For me, the top of that list is the Social Media Examiner, my daily source of the most up to date information on what’s happening in the social media world. They publish a daily newsletter including links to their posts as well as relevant [...]

Have you ever wondered if your online marketing efforts, including your social media activity, were staying within the law? I know I have. That’s why I attended the class “Twitter, Blogging and Lawsuits: An Intro to Online Marketing Law” at Colorado Free University. Taught by attorney Elizabeth Lewis, this class was jam-packed with important information for anyone active in cyberspace, especially business owners. Her class covered copyrights, trademarks, domain names, website text, liability issues, and social media sites. Prior to becoming an attorney, Elizabeth worked in the field of information technology and has an MS in Computer Information Technology. In [...]