One Week until the 2011 Social Media Motorsports Summit

The 2011 Social Media Motorsports Summit is a week away and we are excited to have another great lineup of speakers including media and marketing executives from ESPN, SpeedTV, Ford Racing and cutting edge social media companies.

Last year of 40 people attended our event at the Westin Charlotte and were rewarded with a great day of education, networking and fun.

The day consists of 4 panel discussions and a keynote address. This is a conversation which brings the speakers and the audience together through moderated discussion.

The day is topped off by a VIP Reception/Tweetup. Last year driver/tv host Kenny Wallace and environmental activist driver, Leilani Munter were part of the festivities.

We also made announcemeents on our LinktoMotorsports, LinktoCharlotte and other groups that if people are currently unemployed and seeking a job, we will provide a deeply discounted ticket for the event.

For more information, please check our website at www.smmsummit.com

Social Media Trends for 2011

As we approach 2011, we will see new trends for taking advantage of social media to connect, brand and influence. Enormous growth of third party applications have taken advantage of the new commerce infrastructure and community built by facebook.

Companies with simple ideas such as Zynga (games) and Groupon (coupons) have grown up so quickly they have become billion dollar enterprises almost overnight. They help to magnify the value of central place in which facebook has become in our lives. What does that mean for you personally and for your busines venture.

My belief it is a time to pause, think, reevaluate if you currently are in business. If you are in a startup mode, the word which we might "borrow" from wall street is "leverage". How can you leverage the multi-billion dollar facebook infrastructure and new emerging ones which Bill Gates alway s worried may be created in someone's garage.

Let's distill some of the value of Facebook, social networks and communications in 2011to some areas which will be valuable for you to consider.

1) Micro-targeting - Utilizing advertising on Facebook to target very select groups of audience based upon their interests, hometown, college, company, industry, and even who their friends are and what their interests are.

2) Event driven marketing - Events are a great way to continue to build your brand or you company by drivng people to a specific event at a specific time. By running events over time you drive new traffic to your store or business.

3) Mobile marketing - One of the emerging trends is that the mobile devices are now as powerful as laptops were just a few years ago. You will see this continue to the point where the primary device for intial contact is on the "phone/pda" versus the computer.

4) Video content - There is an incredible opportunity to be innovative in this area. Video content can be as simple as talking into your computer and recording your though and ideas to creating a film or television show to bring your ideas across. The trend of digital technology has allowed individuals to create and distribute full length feature films for under $10,000.

5) Personal Branding - The trend continues in which our personal and business lives are blending into a brand. What was once the domain of hollywood stars and trend setting ceo's such as Richard Branson and Donald Trump are the hottest area to distinguish yourself. My personal examples are creating personal/business brands such as MediaMensch and The Accidental Actor.

6) Gaming - On-line gaming is becoming one of the fastest growing areas of where people are spending their time. Games are not just a leisure activity, but a way to connect with the world. Whether it is playing online poker, building a virtual community or scrabble you can meet interesting people from around the world where fromthe start you share a common interest. Whether it is for personal interest or business interest, you can look at ways to reach the gaming community with advertising, product placement including on mobile technology..

7) Videoconferencing/Video Chat - A subtle evolution in video chat (Skype, Googletalk) has taken hold over the past few years and this continues to accelerate. Where the phone was just audio it is now becoming prevalent to have one to one or small group video chats where you can integrate not only audio, but text. One benefit of using these services is that you can do a few things you can not do on a regular call..record the conversation, text and share links while you talk, send a file and archive for future reference. In most cases this technology is free.

8) Privacy - If there is ever a collision course with the evolution of social media it is the concerns over privacy and trust. What was much the domain of your best friends and relatives is now on servers at companies such as Facebook and Google. In fact, it can be argued that the trail of information you have left on these services are so personal that even your closest friends or business associates may not know as much or remember as these services know about you. Such things that seem to be innocent or subtle such as linking your best friends or relatives can now be used by marketers and others to see who you associate with and influence.

9) Net Neutrality - This is a term again which is evolving. The internet which basically has evolved a "free" (and we mean that in many ways) platform is now under fire from corporations and media companies who want to be paid for the bandwidth and infrastructure they support. Driving this trend is that areas such as film and television are using exponentially more bandwidth than e-mails or clickthroughs to websites. This can be looked at again as a threat or opportunity depending on where you sit. As we move into 2011 and toward the 2012 election cycle in the US, areas such as government and corporate control of the internet will become a cenral debate with large lobbying fro all sides.

10) Geo-locating - New forms of products and services are evolving which allow us to be tracked or personally reportin on ehre we are in the world. With either sophisticated GPS based devices or services such as FourSquate where you can tell people what restaurant or hotel you have checked into. This is both a great way to meet up with friends or business associates on a spontaneous basis or to let people know of new places to check out. From a business perspective this is a new and subtle form of word of mouth marketing. Friends can see what venues their friends are frequeting whether it is a new cool restaurant or a resort hotel and places in between.

While all these trends emerge, one thing is a constant and that is "change". My thoughts for you my friends for 2011 are for you to find your passion and prosperity and "unplug" once in a while to see the world in simpler healthier terms. If you want to find ways to move forward, please feel free to contact "The Mensch" for coaching or advising your in your personal branding or business endeavors.


www.mediamensch.com
www.imdb.com/andrewkaplan
Skype: ewarrior
www.facebook.com\mediamensch
www.facebook.com\accidentalactor

MediaMensch announces LinktoCharlotte Live!

We kicked off LinktoCharlotte Live! events with a dinner at the Dilworth Neighborhood Grille on March 31. To be on our mailing list join our new meetup group at www.meetup.com/linktocharlotte

We had a dinner with great conversation and networking. We learned about green technologies from John Dabels, CEO, EV Powersystems who was th first recipient of the Charlotte Business Journal's Green Idea of the Year award, Our discussion turned to Charlotte and the need for the city to become green and really look at issues such as bike lanes and the supporting of business. We also discussed the changes of Charlotte of the years and how much further it needs to go to become a world class city. We were in agreement that one of the things Charlotte needs to do to become a world class city is to create a theatre district.

We look forwrd to seeing you at our next meeting on April 28 (the last Wednesday of each month)

Andrew Kaplan Live - Public Speaking, Radio, and TV

Andrew Kaplan,award winning Toastmaster and public speaker, is speaking to groups around the country regarding social media and branding. Kaplan brings a lively and interesting perspective to his talks which can be customized to your group. Kaplan brings his unique perspective of being an early adopter of social media combined with his backgrond working in traditional media. In 1987, Kaplan started a consulting practice to bring sales and mobile computing technologies to with over 200 companies including 30 Fortune 500 companies. If your organization would like to book, Kaplan as a speaker, please contact us with your dates, name of your group and topic.

Andrew Kaplan Public Speaking Biography


Andrew R. Kaplan is the Managing Partner of MediaMensch Networks, a company focused on building brands and communities using social media and traditional public relations. Over the past two years Kaplan has launched LinktoCharlotte which was one of the first and now one of the fastest growing Charlotte groups on LinkedIn. He also launched LinktoMotorsports which has over 700 executives from around the world and includes an advisory board from Motocross, NASCAR, NHRA and Boat Racing.

In 2007, Kaplan started blogging as a facebook branding expert in his blog Facebook Enthusiast. In 2008, MarketingSherpa.com voted an article featuring Kaplan's discussion of Facebook Branding, as #1 in its "Great Minds" series.

Kaplan recently has been involved with the local film industry as what he calls "an accidental actor". He has worked on 6 films from major motion pictures such as Leatherheads to local independent films. In January 2009, he received a "movie credit" as Social Media Marketing Advisor for the independent film In/Significant Others.

Kaplan is also on the advisory board, providing marketing and branding advice, to EVPowersystems which won the "2008 Green Idea of the Year Award" from the Charlotte Business Journal for the development of electric hybrid trucks and the eco-vehicle.

Kaplan began his career in college at WNBC radio at 30 Rock and worked in the early days at Home Box Office and The Movie Channel. After his career took a turn, he became one of the first trainers and certified consultants for ACT! contact management software. His company ARK Sales Automation Group brought sales and marketing technology to hundreds of companies in the NY/New England Market including Gartner Group, GE Capital, Virgin Atlantic, and Colgate Palmolive. He personally trained over 5,000 sales and marketing executives worldwide. He moved to Charlotte in 1995 to start his family and to build the new market around the banking sector and professional sports.

Kaplan enjoys giving back to the community and working with non-profits and received awards for leadership over the past few years including Toastmasters International NC President of the Year, NC Area Governor of the Year and Dickinson College's Alumni Volunteer of the Year. In Connecticut, he was one of the founding leaders and chairman of Corporate Volunteers In Action, a professional community volunteer group serving the Fairfield County area.

Currently Kaplan coaches business executives and creative professionals who are working on their own brands. He has active clients from countries such as Ireland, Germany, and Italy which found him using social networking. He also has a valuable team of coaches and advisors to help him reach his personal and professional goals as well.

Social Media Motorsports Summit Takes Checkered Flag

For Immediate Release
Contact: Andrew Kaplan
Media Mensch
704.293.2151
ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com

Social Media Motorsports Summit Takes Checkered Flag

Industry Leaders and Influencers Gather to Build Social Media Horsepower for 2010 Season

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (Feb 3, 2010) – Try as you may, you can’t hear a “tweet” over the roar of race cars, but if you embrace social media you’ll quickly see it has more horsepower than 43 cars taking the green flag at Charlotte Motor Speedway. The first Social Media Motorsports Summit concluded at the Charlotte Westin, where motorsports and social media leaders met to discuss trends and share best practices. Now that one of every four Americans gets the news online, a communications authority wonders if one can conduct a successful enterprise without engaging social media.

"When I was at the May NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races at Charlotte Motor Speedway, I saw an opportunity to help brands with social media strategies and programs,” said Andy Kaplan, Chief Idea Officer at MediaMensch. Kaplan also saw demand for the social media motorsports event from MediaMensch’s LinktoMotorsports.com members, a group of over 1,500 motorsports professionals worldwide who embrace social media. Kaplan has spent his career working with corporations to become early adopters of technology and built his brand on being ahead of the technology curve.

Panel topics ranged from creating a social media toolbox and measuring social media ROI to social media and brands and social media trends. A broad spectrum of expertise was represented by speakers including Mark Walsh (GeniusRocket), Craig Coblenz (Facebook), Terry Dry (Fanscape), Ramsey Poston (NASCAR), Leilani Münter (ARCA driver/environmental activist), Joe Tripp (SPEED), Kevin Kennedy (PCG Campbell/Ford Racing), Jeff Gluck (SBNation.com) and Stephanie Agresta (Porter Novelli).

Keynote speaker Walsh put social media in perspective and set the tone of the summit when he discussed the change of marketing from elevator speech to the microscript – a simple one or two-word phrase that captures brand essence and consumer self perception. Think of President Obama’s campaign microscript of “change”. Kennedy, EVP, PCG Campbell / Ford Racing shared, "I really enjoyed the Summit and the exchange of ideas between the panelists and the audience. The discussions covered a broad spectrum of ideas of where Social Media is now and where it is headed in the future, and left everyone who attended richer for the experience."

The power and use of social media was not just conversation, but was also actively practiced as attendees “tweeted” and updated Facebook pages on their laptops throughout the day-long event. Joining in the conversations were representatives from Chevrolet, Toyota, Stewart Haas, Bristol Motor Speedway, Charlotte Motor Speedway, Stewart-Haas Racing, JR Motorsports, Roush Fenway Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. Participants and speakers came from Los Angeles, New York, Washington, DC, Philadelphia, Detroit and Daytona Beach.

“The Social Media Motorsports Summit proved that online community and social networking is having a huge impact on the motorsports industry in general and NASCAR fans in particular. In 2010, social media will grow to be an even bigger part of marketing and exposure for this sport.” said Agresta, who is EVP of Social Media and Digital Strategy at Porter Novelli.

Future Social Media Motorsports events are being planned for New York City and in Charlotte in May to coincide with the NASCAR Hall of Fame opening and the race festivities for the Coca Cola 600. Social Media Motorsports also plans to offer a “virtual summit” to accommodate motorsports professionals worldwide.

Additional information about the Social Media Motorsports Summit, please visit the summit website at www.socialmediamotorsports.com and the Facebook fan page at www.facebook.com/mediamensch. The twitter hashtag for the event is #smmsummit.

Social Media Trends in 2010 - Are you Planning or Reacting?

As we enter 2010, Social Media is spreading faster than any technology we have ever seen. MediaMensch Networks currently putting together a series of Social Media events for the Motorsports Industry www.socialmediamotorsports.com and are planning events for film and entertainment as well.

Last year, many companies did not plan or budget for social media, nor did they set up a social media strategy. Many reacted and experimented to see what worked with results being mixed. Now organizations will find that it is essential to combine social media with their traditional branding strategies to reach their customers, clients and fans. For example, should the CEO or a celebrity twitter? Should public relations "control" the content? What impact does social media have on current marketing practices? Did you feel it is important enough to budget to get your own ROI - ("Return on Influence")?

Our company, MediaMensch Networks is out there reviewing social media strategies and advising on what tactics may work. Our ability to stay current and provide "out of the box" approaches can lead to new solutions and tactics leveraging social media. MediaMensch's Social Media audits and review are a great way to jumpsstart your social media planning and process.

For more information contact, Andrew Kaplan, ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com or call 704-293-2151. www.twitter.com/mediamensch or find the MediaMensch fan page on Facebook.

Social Media Motorsports Summit

Media Mensch and LinktoMotorsports announces the Social Media Motorsports Summit to be held on Thursday, January 28, 2010 at the Westin Charlotte. This event is for executives, drivers, team owners, media and pr professionals who want to learn and participate in a dialogue about social media as the new frontier of reaching your fans to build stronger relationships and your brand.

Registration and information is available at www.socialmediamotorsports.eventbrite.com

Start Up Your Social Media Marketing

Social Media is now the biggest buzz out there. Are you able to understand how to leverage your business and brand. Even if you build a facebook fan page or set up a twitter account, do you have the time and expertise to build the audience.

Here are some of the ways a social media firm can help you.

1) Develop a high level strategic marketing plan to reach your audience and build relationships
2) Guide you and your team to integrate and use complementary tools such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and your blog to execute your social media strategy.
3) Provide on-going support, advice and education about current best practices and changes within social media

MediaMensch works with clients who are looking to invest in their future. Old media such as advertising is not working well anymore. MediaMensch can provide you with a plan and the expertise to bring your social media plans into focus.

You can contact us at ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com with the Subject heading "Start Me Up"

Social Media for Realtors

Two weeks ago, I had the opportunity to present social media concepts at a technology open house for the Charlotte, NC realtors. Over 200 realtors attended this full day program taught by a team of instructors on topics such as twitter, facebook, and tools such as use of video and digital photography.

My morning sessions included a panel on social media and a class on LinkedIn for Realtors. Both sessions had standing room only. The morning panel was of interest as three of our panelists discussed the main social media tools and how we use them. Part of the discuss came down to "style" and "personal preference" on areas such as privacy and how much time in the day should one devote to social media. Other questions centered around the creative ways we use social media to engage in "conversation" My panelists included realtors Lori Bee and it moderated by Lexie Longstreet.

My individual morning session was held in the technology room with standing room only for a LinkedIn class. We discuss the history of LinkedIn including how the early days when I was part of a group of early adopters who would converse regularly with the founders. Some of the discussion included how to set up your profile for key word searches, the power of your "friend's friends. We also discussed the basics such as setting up your "elevator pitch". Showing how LinkedIn is the new resume and how clients may come to you because you worked together or went to school together in the past.

The afternoon session was about branding yourself on Facebook and LinkedIn. We started with the class writing down 3 concepts of how they are personally branded. The discussion moved to integrating of twitter and our blogs. The class explored the differences between LinkedIn and Facebook and how to use them together to make a powerful marketing and referal system. Our discussion also showed how systems like facebook learn about you and your interests, so how you are engaging is how the system will figure out how to attract others to you.

The day wrapped up and we received such positive feedback from the attendees that this was one of the best educations days that the Charlotte Area Realtors had ever offerred.

I want to thank Karyn Lindsey and her team at the Board of Charlotte Realtors for putting on such a successful program. With 9,000 realtors in Charlotte, looks like we have a few thousand more who can benefit from this topic..

For follow up for other realtors, here are some classes and training available:
1) One of One Coaching (single session or quarterly)
2) On site discussion, breakfast or lunch and learn
3) Public speaking at a realtor event
4) Brainstorming sessions for real estate firms - We lead a discussion on how to utilize social media for your firm.
5) Branding yourself with LinkedIn and Facebook. This can be held as an in-house session or you can sponsor this event for your clients.

For more information you can contact: Andrew Kaplan, ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com or at 704-293-2151.

The Flip

At the Coca Cola 600 race ,we had a chance to work with handheld portable HD video camera called The Flip Ultra HD. This camera takes two hours of video and then connects directly to your USB port of your computer to upload video. It is one of the simplest video camera to use.

Video of Jimmy Johnson and Crew Chief Chad Knaus:



We used the camera to capture footage of the race and the press conferences. We also used it as we started a spontaneous marketing campaign for MediaMensch LinktoCharlotte and LinktoMotorsports brands in which people would say "I like LinktoMotorsports" or "I like LinktoCharlotte". We were able to capture Rick Hendrick and NASCAR legend Bobby Allison, plus a few of our LinktoMotorsports members who were in the infield area of the racetrack including one of my founding members.

We also captured video from around the track area and will be editing this for future media. For more information on this camera, you can visit www.theflip.com



If you are looking for a great addition to your social media arsenal. This pocket sized camera is a great addition for around $200 retail.

Bobby Allison - I Like LinktoMotorsports

We caught up with NASCAR legend, Bobby Allison at the Coca Cola 600. He is the Grand Marshall for the race.

We are experimenting with ways in which MediaMensch Networks - LinktoMotorsports brand can use technology to capture the race week.

We are using a camera sent to us from www.theflip.com which is a HD portable video camera. It fits in your pocket and can store up to two hours of video.

Billboard Indie Artist Nicola Recommends Media Mensch

"Andrew Kaplan, founder of MediaMensch Networks, is an absolute whiz at online marketing, promoting and networking in virtually all areas, subjects and realms. He regularly features a host of emerging as well as well-known talents and personalities on his show "Media Mensch". As an independent artist, I was lucky enough to have him randomly stumble across my music online whereupon he subsequently invited me to do an extensive interview and feature on his show. The networking it provided me were invaluable and it yielded many more new fans and hits to my sites and ultimately my music. His spirit of cross-promotion and internet business savvy is like no other." - Nicola - NYC-Billboard Indie Artist - www.myspace.com/nicola

LinktoCharlotte Turns Two Years Old

LinktoCharlotte turns two this month. It has been an interesting journey building a community online. We first started out with a small group that grew to about 70 people in our first month and had our first meeting at the Carolina Panthers executive meeting room with 15 people. We have expanded from there to be on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and NING platforms. Each platform allows us to add or attract a diverse group of members interested in social media and networking.

About 20% of our members are people who are thinking or planning to move to Charlotte or are interested in networking here using virtual tools.

Today, our community is flourishing growing by 50+ members a week on LinkedIn and now on our new NING Site we have reached the 200 member mark. I have found the 200 person mark is a catalyst for larger growth, so we are now ready to begin to reach out to members with live events, online events, a newsletter and other activities.

We are beginning to talk to organizations who believe in this concept and are willing to sponsor or support this endeavor. We can reach 2000+ professionals on LinkedIn, the creative community on Facebook and all the Twitterverse.

In addition, we are working with other cities such as Phoenix, San Diego, and Las Vegas to begin to build those as well in 2009. In addition we have a significant group for LinktoMotorsports on LinkedIn which overlaps with its membership with LinktoCharlotte, so we have great momentum.

If you are interested in helping with publicity, community management, creation and support of our blog, speaking/sponsoring events or helping us find sponsorships. Please contact me at ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com or 704-293-2151.

MediaMensch Client - EVPowersystems Video

MediaMensch Client EVPowersystems has create an electric hybrid plugin for trucks. If you are curious about this, watch this segment. This company will create jobs and convert existing trucks into hybrid vehicles with their innovative plugin.

In April, 2008 EvPowersystems received the Charlotte Business Journals "2008 Green Idea of the Year"
In November 2008 EvPowersystems received $200,000 in funding from the State of South Carolina.
Founder John Dabels was featured in the documentary "Who Killed the Electric Car?"


http://www.cn2.com/video.php?media_id=001082

www.evpowerystems.com

MediaMensch helped EVPowersystems client with marketing, pr and startup strategies including:
1. TV/Print/Film Media Strategy
2 .Social Media Strategy
3. Political/Governmental Strategy

10 Tips for Belonging to an Alumni Group on LinkedIn

Over the past few years, my college alumni department of Dickinson College (Carlisle, PA) has utilized my expertise as a social media and networking expert to build a local club in Charlotte, NC and to begin to bring strategies to connect our alumni via the web using social media such as Facebook and LinkedIn. In 2006, we went through approval with the college to set up an alumni group for LinkedIn (The leading social networks for professionals). The challenge was that at the time was that social media was new including LinkedIn, so that many or our alums where not aware of it or its power to connect. Within the last few months LinkedIn has made changes to its environment including newsfeeds and a searchable directory of groups. These two changes have now made it easy for colleges and universities to create groups on LinkedIn and grow them quickly.

Here are a few tips on how and why creating and/or joining an alumni group on LinkedIn is powerful.

1. Connect with Classmates

2. Connect with Alums in your geographic area

3. Connect with Alums in your industry

4. Collective intelligence of your alums

5. Recruit alums to work on your venture/business

6. Daily Newsfeed allows them to see what you are doing

7. Connect to their netwoks

8. Resource for College Career Center and Recent Grads

9. Public relations as an expert for articles for alumni magazine or other media'

10 Promotes recognition of the college or university

We will be expanding upon these topics in future articles, podcasts and teleclasses. If you are interested in participating please contact ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com ..If you have examples of how LinkedIn or other social networks have helped you we would love to have your success stories.

Part 1: Tips and Tricks for Facebook Groups

Facebook Groups is another area of Facebook which may be a valuable tool for branding yourself and your company. In this article I will talk about how Facebook Groups and how you can use it to attract customers, new friends, and people with similar interests.


What is a Facebook Group?
First of all, a facebook group is an area in Facebook where you can allow people to join who like yor topic. Topics can be around a place you live or want to visit, a college, a politician, your business, a hobby or any other idea you can think about.

How Much Does it Cost?
Setting up a facebook group is free.

How Do I set up my Facebook Group?
Simply click on the word "group" in the left hand bar of your profile and then find the tab or button to "create a new group". You will be asked to create a name for your group, choose a category that your group is in, and an overview of your group. There is also an area for contact information including e-mail address and website. In addition, you may add a photo or image so that your group has a distinctive look or feel on the home page.

What Types of Groups are there?
There are three types of Groups, Open, Closed and Private. An open group means anyone can join, a closed group means that the administrator (You) need to approve members after they apply, and private means that the group is not listed and only those who you will invite will know the group exists.

How Can an Administrator Communicate with Group members?
The group area allows for you to send out an e-mail to its members. This is a powerful feature because you can reach a large group of people by sending out a simple message from the group.

How Can Members Communicate with the Group?
In each group, an area exists to upload photos, post links and to write on the "Wall". These are powerful ways in which users can express themselves and communicate with others. In certain, instances, such as a group where you feel you want 1-way conversation, you can allow or restrict your members from posting. It just depends on the situation. In the case of a group around a politician or actor, they may want to control the photos that are posted.

What are Group Officers?
The best way to think about this will be any organization you belong to. It may need people to take on roles such as the President, VP, Treasurer. You may have a group for a trade show, so the officers might be the Host, Membership Chair, Sponsorship Chair, and Speaker Chair. If you set up a group for your family, it might just be something like Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, etc...For some groups, you can make up silly titles to make it more fun. A title for an entrepreneur might be "Chief Cook and Bottle Washer" or for an actor it might be "2009 Academy Award Winner".

How Do You Find the Groups?
If you are interested in a certain topic, simply type in the words into the Facebook Search box and select search. In the general search a "tabbed" window will appear with profiles, applications and groups containing some or all of those key words. Click on the Group tab and find groups. Also once you join a group, on the right hand side of the group, it will show other groups which members are interested in which may be associated. So if you join a group about your college or interest, other groups around that will also appear that other members have joined.

I realize there are many more tips and tricks around groups and I will be covering more of this in another article. Please feel free to list or post your favorite groups and some of your tips and tricks.

The Engaging Brand - Facebook Podcast

One of the great things about the world of social media and new media is how powerful it is and how individuals who work each day at it can brand themselves as experts in their fields.

In my two years using LinkedIn and Facebook, I have had the pleasure of meeting bloggers, podcasters and authors who freely gave advice to help others learn. Many of us collectively worked together to promote each other's shows and blogs both by linking to them from our own blogs or interviewing an individual in a podcast.

In July 2007, I decided to begin to spend hours a day reading about Facebook and doing what I always seem to do, track down the leaders and innovators who are making this one of the most visited sites on the internet.

With this in mind, I am announcing that tomorrow, The Engaging Brand Podcast will be featuring a segment where I will be discussing facebook. This podcast was recorded "over the pond" with host, Anna Farmery. Anna resides outside of London.

If you want to learn some interesting facts and lessons about Facebook, I encourage you to listen to the podcast.

Here is a bit about Anna.
Anna qualified as a Chartered Accountant with KPMG. She then joined the printing industry as a Financial Controller before being made Managing Director at the ripe old age of 25. She continued in industry with a growing reputation for motivating people, working for FMCG companies.

After 20 years of being a Group HR/Finance Director for major worldwide brands she decided to establish her own company - The Engaging Brand.

Please visit her website and feel free to engage her.

I look forward to hearing from many of you as well. You can reach me at ewarriorbizdev@gmail.com or on Skype as eWarrior.

Starring You! - Do you want to appear on TV as an expert?

Over the last few years, I have spent time reconnecting with others in entertainment and media. One of the people I recently reconnected with was Marta Tracy. The last time Marta and I met in person, she was working in the production department at Home Box Office.

Now Marta has had a tremendous career including being part of a team which launched E! Entertainment television. Marta's passion has been working in the fashion world. She has helped to book guests on shows such as Tyra and Ellen.

In fact, Marta recently worked with a company which was launching a new line of jewelry. She worked with the creator and owner to prepare for a television appearance. Once the appearance on a national talk show happened, the companies sales increased by over 50% within a few months. This is incredibly powerful to an entrepreneur, author, musician, fashion designer or other person with a product or service.

This book is also of interest to bloggers, podcasters, and internet television producers who may want to learn some new tips and tricks.

The trick...if it was so easy everyone would be on a talk show. Marta has co-written a book called Starring You! which gives real world advice given her decades of experience in the field. The book includes excerpts from well known celebrities - The good, the bad and the ugly.

Marta's expertise, credibility and access to other producers gives her the unique ability to help others realize their dreams. Marta's book is worth a look.

On Facebook, we have also put together a "Discussion Group" in which we eventually will be promoting a teleclass.

(Note:If you are not a facebook user yet, then this is another way to promote yourself. You can find more information on this on my other blog called www.facebookenthusiast.com)

Integrating Media into Social Networks

The shift has been happening for a few years with MySpace leading the pack with the integration of media within social networks. Facebook is now gaining momentum with applications which allow members to list magazines, books, and music which they prefer on their profiles.

The music applications iLike even integrates into iTunes and YouTube where members can share music they like and recommend and their friends can listen to it and purchase the music from iTunes.

This is an important trend further adding to the viral natural of the internet and the way music becomes distributed. The question will be how do musicians and music publishng companies continue to keep up with these trends.

Will this trend mean that international music tastes will become more prevalent or will music become more like McDonalds, with heavier influences from larger global music publishing companies.

Does this trend mean that a listener will also personalize their music and music tastes so they receive only that music which matches up with their tastes.

What role with traditional media critics have in influencing recommendations.

If you are an publisher in media, how will you embrace these changes? What roles will you take reach your audience?

We live in interesting times.