9. Ingredients for success Think like an entrepreneur A business plan A mission statement Ask for, and get, what you’re worth Walk away sometimes Good practices Good records Good accountant Good legal advice
13. What I’m trying to do Have outlets to promote myself as a thoughtful professional Display my writing, thinking on the blog LinkedIn endorsements LinkedIn discussion groups Twitter postings to promote blog Facebook postings Always looking for the right audiences
14. What I’m trying to do Connect with thought leaders in social media Chris Brogan – e-mail Gini Dietrich Charlotte Shaff’s story Because of what they do, these folks are approachable and responsive Don’t wear out your welcome
15. What I’m trying to do Learn how the media use social media @12SPORTSARIZONA Need a great pass rusher, more depth in secondary, and a fountain of youth for Kurt Warner 5:31 PM Jan 18th via TweetDeckin reply to 12SPORTSARIZONA Direct interaction with reporters, editors - @fayfredricks An insightful blog entry: Valley PR blog
16. What I’m trying to do Learn how my clients might use social media One application to date: an internal blog Another application – social media section in a crisis communications plan for a university Monitor what’s being said about clients – Google alerts, collecta.com Side benefits from social media involvement Learned about plug-ins Learned how to get the technology platform for free Learned enough to overcome IT anxieties
17. Using time wisely The Brogan formula ¼ time listening – “Grow Bigger Ears” ½ time commenting, communicating (Twitter, leaving comments on blogs of interest, etc.) ¼ time creating content It takes me an hour to write a blog, so that would be four hours a day
18. Using time wisely The Dietrich formula One hour a day Get an account at www.socialoomph.com 15 minutes finding, scheduling Tweets about interesting articles, news (alltop.com works) 10 minutes scheduling self-serving Tweets 10 minutes on Tweetdeck finding items to retweet 5 minutes on ping.fm setting up distribution of content to other social networks 10 minutes answering questions on LinkedIn 10 minutes responding on Facebook and Twitter
19. My formula Write three/four blogs a week – 1 hour each Skim Alltop, RSS feeds each day (15 minutes) Use Stumbleupon to schedule tweets to promote my blog entries (< 5 minutes) Visit Twitter via Tweetdeck two-three times a day – spend 10 minutes reading, commenting, retweeting Visit Facebook once a day – comment as needed in 10 minutes Visit LinkedIn groups twice a week for 15 minutes – comment as I can add value About two hours a day in all
20. Benefits of social media for you Only you can decide Need to know what they can do, so you might as well use yourself to learn
Notas del editor
A little about me – a native St. Louisan, grew up in Soulard, two blocks from the brewery, before it was chic.Moved to Phoenix in late 2002, where I was vice president of corporate communications for Phelps Dodge. Not a car dealership … a copper-mining company. Spent most of my career in St. Louis – Globe-Democrat, Southwestern Bell, Fleishman-Hillard, Mallinckrodt
How long have you been on your own? Less than a year? One to two years? Three to five years? More than five years?
The number of self-employed workers has soared in recent years.Trend began after the downturn of the late 1980s.Today, 20 to 23 percent of U.S. workers are operating as consultants, freelancers, free agents, contractors or micropreneurs.There are about 25 million small businesses in the U.S., and nearly 80 percent of those businesses are one-person shops.About 2,100 solo PR 10 percent of PRSA members
If you think this is a temporary gig between jobs, it won’t go well. If you’re serious about it, this is your job now.Time, investment, thought … lots of thoughtOn the other hand, don’t think it to death. Have a good business plan, then, go and start doing.Know who you are, what you have to offer. You may be a specialist, and if so, go for it! I’m a generalist – writing, editing, media training, media relations, financial communications. Be a lifetime learner … social media can help you do that
Every piece of business I’ve had has come from a network, and almost all of it has come from St. Louis.I worked here from 1975 to 2002, so I have lots of contacts here. They have been invaluable to me in pointing business in my direction.If you’re hoping to hear that I make money from my Web site and my blog, it’s not the case. But I still have found value in doing both, which I’ll explain later.
And of course, your own stapler if at all possible!I’m fortunate in this regard. Our kids are gone, and the house we bought already had a bedroom converted to an office, with a built in desk, bookshelves, cabinets and file drawers.
You need a regular place to work that you control, or at least where you can concentrate. If you don’t have one, look for alternatives.
Put together by Brian Solis.Mind-boggling array of social media toolsSo how do you choose?
This is what I landed on – a blog, a Twitter account, Linked In, and Facebook
Didn’t want to be out of touch.Didn’t want to be the guy who says, “I don’t care what everyone is eating for lunch.” I don’t need Twitter.Wanted to know how these things work so I can talk intelligently about them with clients.