March 2012 - Social Media as a Collaborative Community Builder
For Joe Mazza, 34-year-old principal of the Knapp School, an elementary school in Lansdale, PA near Philadelphia, a family tragedy serendipitously launched an interest in social media as a tool to build collaborative school-community engagement. On January 18, 2011 a huge gas line explosion in Philadelphia took the life of Mr. Mazza’s 19-year-old brother-in-law, Mark Keeley, a gas company employee. A self-described “tech geek,” Mr. Mazza, a University of Pennsylvania doctoral candidate, and his family launched a Facebook page, backed by a Twitter campaign, to persuade his late brother-in-law’s favorite band, Mumford & Sons, to play a concert in Philadelphia in his brother-in-law’s honor. Before tragedy struck, Mr. Mr. Joe Mazza, M.Ed., Speaks Joe Mazza developed his affinity for cutting edge technology in the early days of universal personal computer use. He advises his community partners to “find your passions and utilize them to do good.” Mr. Suddenly Last Summer Mr. Kids and Twitter
Everyone Should Hire 'Social Media Experts'
I caught a post this week from Peter Shankman entitled "I Will Never Hire a Social Media Expert and Neither Should You." It's not the first of its kind, nor was it the best argued, but it struck a nerve and has made a number of waves around the web. Needless to say, as someone who employs multiple team members with a great deal of social media expertise, I strongly disagree with the substance and sentiment of the piece. Here's Peter's argument in his own words: No business in the world should want a “Social Media Expert” on their team. Being an expert in Social Media is like being an expert at taking the bread out of the refrigerator. The full piece makes a passionate case, but an entirely false one. As with my arguments against Mr. Let's start by exploring the popularity of social media experts in comparison to another job role Mr. As you can see, there's a dramatic rise in interest and demand for social media folks. The primary point Mr. I beg to differ. I don't see how Mr. Mr.
mary_madden: Parents (of minors) are mo...
Is Pinterest The Next Great Place To Get Links & Social Mentions?
Even if you’re one of the few people who say they love link building, it’s still the most tedious aspect to being an SEO. It seems like new sites pop up weekly, if not daily, as “yet another great way to get links.” While the creative part of you may be motivated from a new, untapped resource, the overworked part of you is likely deflated. Pinterest is a virtual pinboard where you can tag and organize images from across the Internet into category-specific groups. On a personal level, the value of Pinterest is easy to see: I’m always surfing to find new recipes to test, new looks to try or new music to listen to. But naturally, the next logical stop in my train of thought of what’s the value these “pins” have on SEO. Since August, Pinterest has seen more than 100% growth in both traffic and unique page views. To be effective for SEO, it makes the most sense for products that appeal to women as they make up the largest demographic. Getting Your Content Pinned Pin It Product Listings
pewinternet: Fast facts on social netwo...
How To Create Better Facebook Ads
Alright, I’m sick of this. Nearly every time that I log in to Facebook I see another poorly-produced, ineffectually-targeted Facebook ad. Behind that ad? Some poor schmuck who’s spent way too much time and money, and has wasted both of them. For that solution, I turned to some of the best in the business. Why Do You Care? Good ads cost less – Yes, really. Aim First, Fire Fast Facebook has a setting that allows you to show ads only to people who are friends of your existing fans. According to Jeff Widman, Co-Founder of PageLever, “If you’re trying to get fans, target ads at friends of fans.” As this writing in Search Marketing Insider shows, it’s critical to get those first few influencers. Design Is Important I can’t tell you the number of ads that I’ve overlooked because they simply didn’t grab the eye. The folks over at Wildfire bring about one very important point – make it pretty. But looking good, of course, isn’t enough. Test, Re-test and Keep Testing Need a Fan?
