It's the end of the world as we know it...

.....and I feel prepared!!

I was super stoked to get into this class.  I knew it was what I needed.  I had just recently been asked to be the Social Media Account Manager for a start-up called TaskRiot.  Sure, I said.  I know my way around social media.  I spend a lot of time on Facebook.  I can manage Twitter.  I LOVE Pinterest.  Then I was scrolling through classes and saw one offered called Social Media for Business.  REALLY?!  PERFECT.  I waited with baited breath to get in.  And then I did!!

This has been one of my favorite classes.  It's been one that I have learned so much from.  Probably more than most of my other classes.  I had a hard time keeping up this semester thanks to life with 2 small children but I will be continually coming back to the lessons.  Every lecture has been printed out and saved in a folder for me to reference as I attempt to really become a social media account manager.

TaskRiot has struggled this semester, as any start-up does in its inaugural year.  I've had to back off on it due to finances so I haven't been able to really explore it the way that I want to.  Thanks to this class however, I have seen an increase in Facebook activity and have learned how to use Facebook to its full potential for a business.  Prior to this class, I had no idea about insights or how to use them.  I had no idea how to schedule posts or figure out when the best time to post and what to post.  

This class gave me websites to manage all my social media accounts from one place.  It has given me tools to reach out and bring in more Twitter followers.  It's helped me understand the algorithms used to really utilize SEO.  And there's still so much more....the books!!

The text books for this class were the most useful textbooks I've ever had for a class.  I was floored at the cost when I ordered my books this year.  These books will continue to be useful, however.  I still reference them and I can see myself doing so more and more.

Over the course of the semester, I've become much more efficient at the use of my time with social media.  I'm no longer overwhelmed when I log into my accounts.  I know where to start and how to make my time worth the effort.  I always knew the value of social media - I worked in entertainment market research for years.  I know how quickly the tide can be turned one way or the other.  This class made me feel capable of reaching out and taking control of that tide.

I have to thank the professors for their time.  It's invaluable.  I had a few issues in the beginning of the semester getting Facebook to work for me and met resistance from my boss but both professors were right there, willing to help and ready with suggestions.  This is the only class where I have felt like the professors actually gave a damn about their students.  Most online classes feel like the professors simply check in once each week to post new assignments and then leave it to the students to figure things out on their own.  Not this class.

I have to thank the students for their time.  It seems like this is one of the most helpful groups I've ever worked with.  Seeing more than one person reach out to answer a question?  Amazing.  Maybe it's because this is a social media class which forces us to be social, I don't know.  

So from the bottom of my heart - thank you.

Happy holidays.  :) 

TaskRiot

Unaware that I have been receiving comments on my grades, I missed that there was a request for an explanation of TaskRiot.

Taken straight from the website -

Ask anyone and they’d be able to tell you at least one task, chore, or to-do list item they’d love to have someone else tackle for them.

TaskRiot understands that in today’s world, we have more commitments than time available. Could you imagine what your life would be like if it wasn’t bogged down with all the things that you have to get done?

That’s where we come in. Simply put, TaskRiot does the things you don’t want or have the time to do. We take your “to-do” list, turn it on its head, and free your day up to do the things that are important to you.

Based in Denver, CO, TaskRiot is more than just another concierge service. We are focused on providing simple and affordable solutions to life’s most time-sucking problems. Looking for home-based services? We have you covered. Business services? No problem. Event planning?We do that as well.

So there ya go....you name it, we do it.  We have backgrounds all over the place but the place where I came in was courtesy of the market research company where I worked for several years.  When I got the call for a Social Media Account Manager, I jumped at the chance. 

So what is it that I do?  I manage all the social media accounts - my goal is to drum up business for TaskRiot.  The more people I send, the higher the chance of me gaining a percentage of a kickback.  Hey, $20 is $20, am I right?

That's me in a nutshell....bummer I didn't catch the comments earlier.  :(

Holy Social Media, Batman!

Is the semester really wrapping up?  It's been too fast!  Argh!

We've learned a lot this semester - Google, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube....I mean, wow.

For TaskRiot, we're going to continue slowly.  Facebook as often as possible.  Facebook is definitely our largest focus.  It has a huge reach and that's important.  TaskRiot can do just about anything from just about anywhere so reaching the most amount of people possible is the best way for us to grow our business.

Facebook is in my top three platforms to work with.  It ties with Tumblr and Pinterest.  These three platforms give us a ton of options.  I hope to eventually use them daily for TaskRiot.

On a less frequent basis, I'll use Twitter and YouTube; Twitter far more frequently than YouTube.  I like both platforms and the freedom they offer but managing that many social media outlets is exhausting!  Especially for no more than I am scheduled to work right now.

Love the class - so glad I could get in!!

Facebook Analytics

Can I just state, briefly of course, how much I LOVE Facebook Analytics?  So helpful and just right there!  I love it almost as much as I love my new Chromebook!  Ahh!

So, let's talk analytics.

On the first page of FB Insights, we see an overview:
Page Likes, Post Reach, Engagement
The good news?  We're up here at TaskRiot!

Tab Two is Likes
One thing I really don't like about FB Insights is the color scheme.  Having trouble viewing them, unfortunately.

We're up!  More likes!

Considering the fact that TaskRiot has been VERY quiet lately, we're actually doing good.  We've had new likes coming in, organic likes coming in, etc.  The next step for us is going to be creating a paid ad to see if we can drum up some traffic.

Tab Three is Reach
Up Up Up!!

Here, again, we're up across the board.  And it's always good news when you haven't been hidden in posts!  I'll take that!

Tab Four is Visits
Here is one of my favorite tabs.  Scrolling down, I've obviously gotten a lot of visits from claudiafaulkdesigns.com, a lot from blackboard and some from google.  Which is super exciting.  We would really like to see more interest in our other tabs, like info, and not just our timeline.  Work in progress, eh?

Tab Five is Posts
This tab is far busier than the other tabs, a lot of information.  This is where things get tricky - learning WHEN to post and WHAT to post.  My numbers for engagement and reach are down on this tab, I think mainly because we haven't been posting much.

Tab Six is People
Lots of good information here about who our fans are, where they are, etc.  I mean, wow.  Currently the majority of our people are English speaking and spread throughout the US.  But we also have people coming in from Germany, Algeria, Egypt, Canada and the UK speaking Spanish, French and Arabic.  How cool is that??  We do need to get engagement up; I'm unable to look at the demographics of engagement because less than 30 people have engaged.

All in all, it's a super cool and useful tool!

Who opened Pandora's box??

I mean, really?!  Google, do you have to be so incredible?

I have a Google analytics account for TaskRiot.  I love it.  You can't go wrong.

There are so so many helpful tools!

The biggest features we use the most are:

1. Real-Time Reporting
2. Audience & Data Reporting
3. Map Overlay
4. Social Reports
5. Traffic Sources
6. Ad Words
7. Wildfire
8. Data Driven Attribution

Let's face it - TaskRiot is a new company and we barely have our feet off the ground.  But the above features allow us to refine our targets and our marketing campaign so that we aren't spending time or money that we don't have on things that are getting us nowhere.

All 8 of the above features allow us to get down and cut any extra material.  We know what works when and for whom is working.  We know where people are coming from and where they end up so we can tailor our posts to bring in more people.  It also allows us to decide if we are hitting our target audience; if we aren't we can figure out quickly and efficiently where to make changes.

Comments (UPATED)

I have commented on

Lori's Social Media Blog

AND

Becky Beamer/CSIT155

AND

CSIT 155 Social Media for Business

AND

Confessions of a Gnome Blogger

Here kitty kitty kitty.....

One of the things I'm working on getting set up for TaskRiot is a subscribe to our newsletter button.  I really think the company could benefit from this and here's why:

1. Generate Sales
1. Send out weekly/monthly/seasonal specials, new services offered
2. Describe what we do - mini features on different Rioters, different tasks
2. Relationship building
1. See above.  Offer discounts, tips and tricks, recommendations, etc
2. Sending welcome emails, birthday specials, make people feel important so they will send traffic to the website/blog/fb/twitter/pinterest etc

For TaskRiot's newsletter, I would likely send it monthly but would likely start out quarterly.  I think with the number of services offered by TaskRiot, a newsletter would be extremely helpful and would really drive traffic and sales.

Let's get visual!

You know you did it too....

Let's get Physical!!

Oh, the 80's....

Those are some crazy visuals...

Some are Good ....


Some are Bad...


I mean...wow....

One thing the above pictures prove is that it is so important to pay attention to what visuals your company is sharing.

For TaskRiot, I think all 4 visual platforms (Tumblr, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram) could work well.  However, we've chosen to focus first on Pinterest and then to move on to Tumblr and YouTube.  Instagram will be the last account we set up.

The first visual platform we're focusing on is Pinterest.  With the crazy amount of pinners out there, Pinterest is a time bomb for us.  If there is a LEGAL task out there, TaskRiot is ready to take it on.  Our customers love that we're knowledgeable in all aspects of life and can write an Excel spreadsheet as quickly and efficiently as we can decorate for a holiday gala.  That's where Pinterest comes in.  Additionally, linking back to our website with the things that we've done will encourage traffic to our blog and hopefully give us a bump in business.

The second visual platform we're focusing on is Tumblr.  We've been doing a lot of blogging and Tumblr is a way to incorporate our blogs and photos in a way that Instagram can't give us.  We've been working on setting up a deal with the website Deal Chicken but they say we need more web presence.  Tumblr is a great way to get that.  Yes, you can go from kittens to porn in 30 seconds BUT there is a lot of useful and beautiful information out there.  We want to be a part of that.

YouTube works for us in the same way that it works for millions of other people.  YouTube will help make TaskRiot personal.  Considering the myriad of things we do, giving TaskRiot a personal element is a must.  Setting up a how-to on laying laminate is not only useful but also lets people know that we are actually out there doing the work.  It also gets people invested in us as people and not just as a company.

Instagram is the last account for us because, while it is a huge platform, it doesn't seem like something that would drive people to chose us.  Perhaps later down the road, when we have more miles behind us, capturing a moment will be important.  We certainly won't be blowing it off now, but it is not our primary focus at this time.

I leave you with this...


Or this...


Totally your choice....

Scheduling FB posts

The three posts I've scheduled are posts that typically get people involved.
I've chosen Monday to post about the Monday Night Football game - Chargers vs. Colts.  I've gotten a lot of hits in the past when I post about entertainment.
That's also why I've chosen to post the video of the Geico Hump Day camel on Wednesday.  People love that.  I'm hoping for a lot of likes on this one.
Friday is a call to action - Hoping to get at least some likes for it being Friday.

Liking FB pages

Been having a few issues with my FB page not allowing me to like businesses as the company I work for (TaskRiot).

Even so - I know that there's something TaskRiot can do for ALL of the businesses my classmates are working on.  TaskRiot exists to make your life easier.  Anything you might need, we can do.

FB is all about quid pro quo.  If I like your page, you might like mine.  From there, you may visit my page or even use some of my services.  That's what makes FB great.  It also gives me access to all of your friends...and their friends...and so on.  The possibilities are endless.

Annnnddd.....now to fight with FB some more.  C'mon give me snake eyes, baby!

Let's talk engagement vs reach....

Post reach - how many people saw your post.
Post engagement - how many people are getting involved via likes, shares, etc. 

It may not seem like there is a big difference between these two categories but truly they are MILES apart.  Are you one of the people who just scrolls down their FB newsfeed, never focusing on anything?  Then fine, you saw my post...it was able to reach you.  What a FB page NEEDS is engagement - people to share and like posts.  This is how you bring in more followers.  More followers = more reach = more engagement = more business = MORE $$.  Let's be honest....90% of people start a business for the Benjamins....

Best way to track these two things?  FB insights.  Wow.  What an amazing set of tools!!  Insights gives you just about every break down on who is seeing your posts that you could possibly want.  It breaks down all your data into these neat little boxes so you can figure out where to cut your losses and where to put your money.  You can see what your best post "type" is....who saw them.  What posts were commented on, which ones were shared, etc.  Insights allows you to really cater to your fans.  Instead of posting things they aren't interested in, you can track the things they care about.  It's like the internet radio station Pandora.  Based on a listener's criteria, Pandora plays what the listener wants to hear.  It keeps people coming back time and again.  Insights works the same way.  If you want to keep your fans, you need to post what they're interested in and now you can, thanks to Insights.

Frequent Flier Miles

As a mom, I'm constantly searching the web.  I'm looking for ideas for things to do with my monsters.  New recipes to tempt tiny tummies.  Books to read.  Sometimes, I'm even searching for information on whether or not something my child did was normal (because seriously?  Is it supposed to look like that?!).  

One website I use almost every day is BabyCenter (www.babycenter.com).  BabyCenter is one of the most amazing resources I found as a new mom.  I created an account, updated a profile, joined some groups and voila!  I was immediately plugged into dozens of moms of all shapes and sizes who were all experiencing things similar to myself.  Additionally, I found my email being flooded with amazing information.  Any nutrition information I need is right there in my email.  Milestones?  BOOM, there ya go.  Even better?  I made some very awesome friends with moms who have children born at the same time as my son (August 2010).  BabyCenter is effective because it's so simple to use.  I will always come back to a website that is easy on the eyes and to navigate.  BabyCenter is both of these things.  The design is clean.  It literally is C.R.A.P.H.T.E.D.  It's one of those websites that makes surfing the web fun.  One big thing that can change would be the background images.  Today, the background is a wavy pattern of circles and plus signs and even plus signs within circles.  When scrolling down, this image can be dizzying.  I suppose that's a personal choice but there are times when I wonder why they chose that particular image.  And honestly?  The home page is too long.  When scrolling down, sometimes it seems like it never ends.  Let's shorten that up, shall we?

Obviously I use Facebook.  Pinterest.  Ya know, the standards for a busy mom constantly on the go.  But one website that I absolutely love?  Amazon.  Good ole www.amazon.com  Did you know that they have a MOMS page??  And you can subscribe to have diapers delivered to your home?  I signed up for the free subscription to have Huggies overnight diapers delivered to my home.  Funny enough, I could never find them at the same WalMart twice.  Having them delivered at the same time every month, for several cents cheaper?  Total win.  Amazon also has a Students account which ROCKS because now you can rent textbooks.  Free 2 day shipping.  LOVE IT.  I do most of my reading on the Kindle app on my Droid so even that is easy.  Amazon Prime?  MADE for work from home folks.  I don't always have time to run out and get materials like paper and pens.  Amazon delivers with free 2 day shipping on a Prime account.  Plus you can stream video and buy music with one click for an insta-party worthy of Instagram.  One of the best things about Amazon is that the website is plain.  The background is white.  I think they could vary that.  Something holiday-esque once in awhile.  It could still be a solid color but how about an orange for Halloween?  Red or Green for Christmas?  Just something a little more fun to look at.  And how about you shorten that home page, too?  Way too many rows of recommendations.  Who actually reads all the way to the bottom?

Not that I'm complaining.  I love these websites.  I spend a lot of miles on these websites.  But ya know, if you're taking suggestions....

Aesthetics, Designs & Branding

In the land of internet plenty, there are certainly some bad apples (haha.  see what I did?) out there.  Two such websites are TecTorch and a RichSoil post on Raising Chickens.  Lets pick them apart, shall we?

TecTorch, oh TecTorch, how you torture me.  You try, you really do.  Listed down the left are your torches.  Oh look!  There's an American Flag picture above it!  And it MOVES!!  Super distracting.    I think the worst offense for TecTorch is the fact that the page reads flat.  It's impossible to tell what is important and what isn't.  In my opinion this website was created by someone with a minimal knowledge of web design.  They knew what they wanted on the page but have no idea how to make a page visibly pleasing.

When it comes to raising chickens, I know my business.  My parents have had chickens for as long as I can remember.  I knew how to feed them and collect eggs before I knew how to write my name.  Well, not really but it certainly feels that way!  Reading the RichSoil post on Raising Chickens, it's pretty clear that whoever wrote this knows their stuff.  What they don't know is how to build a web page that people actually want to read.  This post is much too long.  It requires multiple scrolls to get to the end and no where did I see an option to go back to the top.  The post should have been split into multiple pages.  The amount of information is overwhelming.  Visually, the website fails.  I would not read this.  No C.R.A.P.H.T.E.D action going on here.

Two absolutely fantastic websites are the Apple website and G Force Race Cars.  Shall we look at what they did right?

Apple's website is simply, clean and efficient.  At no point, does the navigator get lost.  Anything you may want to find is right there, easily found.  Apple is all about branding - who isn't familiar with Apple?  They are all about being ahead of the crowd when it comes to a cellphone or computer and they certainly don't shy away from sticking it in your face every where you go.  They certainly abide by the C.R.A.P.H.T.E.D mentality.

Another such website is the one for G Force Race Cars.  This is a website that even my grandma could navigate!  At the top of every page is their logo complete with contact information.  Where I'm from, working with cars is NOT synonymous with being tech savy so having a good ole fashioned number to call and reach someone is of the utmost importance.  Your big four are right there under the logo - Home, Media, News, Contact.  And on the left side, where a reader's eyes naturally stray are a list of categories for parts.  Not content with that level of ease that someone can order their part, oh no, this website continues on, giving the navigator a picture of the part listed.  Talk about your curb side service!  Another well C.R.A.P.H.T.E.D website!

Businesses and their Social Media

1. Rumpke - www.rumpke.com - Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest
2. Southern Ohio Disposal - www.southernohiodisposal.com - Facebook
3. TaskRiot - www.taskriot.net - Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest
4. Snapfish - www.snapfish.com - Facebook, Twitter
5. Etsy - www.etsy.com - Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest

Business Communications - Week Two Assignment

From September 2006 until December 2011, I worked for a company that did market research.  Specifically the company worked in entertainment, mostly movie trailers.  The biggest thing we did was intercept work – we had crews in movie theaters and malls across the nation stopping people who we then tried to fit into our quota.  If they fit in the quota then we would show them trailers for previously unreleased movies, get their opinions on what they liked and didn’t like and then, after companywide quota had been met, we would send that information back to whatever movie studio had booked the work.  They would then recut the movie trailer based on that information and that is what you see on tv and in movie theaters.  Sounds fun, right?  It was an absolute BLAST.  Except when you are trying to communicate. 

In my opinion, there isn’t a person alive who hasn’t had difficulties communicating with a business.  Whether that difficulty is in the mode of communication or in the people doing the communicating, it’s still there.  How many people get irritated when they pick up the phone and speak to someone with a thick accent that they simply cannot understand?  It doesn’t take the support person saying more than “hi” and a lot of people are already irritated and assume they will not be able to understand.  I think in a lot of ways, social media could alleviate those pains. 

Recently, I had an issue with Amazon Textbooks.  I had returned a book but they had no record of it.  Amazon has a nifty chat feature that made resolving the issue so much easier.  With two small children, my (quiet) phone time is limited so using the chat was infinitely better.  When the phone did ring and I spoke to the Amazon support staff member, he had a very thick dialect that was a bit difficult to understand.  We did not have that hurdle when in the chat window.

I’m sure you’ve seen the many viral Facebook posts about who did what at Walmart or Target and the response that they’ve received.  There have been more than one case of some business firing employees over something posted on Facebook.  The most recent thing I saw on Facebook was a group of employees quitting the shoe store Journeys during a back to school sale because of the manager.  I’ve liked the pages of several businesses and communicate through their Facebook page and it really does make it a lot easier.  You know they check their Facebook pages regularly.

 

In my opinion it is the people who make communication positive or negative, not the medium.

Which social media platforms seem geared towards personal use and which ones seem to work better for business?

I have some background with a lot of different social media platforms.  I have an account with twitter, tumblr, pinterest, LinkedIn, Facebook, Good Reads, PulseIt....and those are just the ones I remember that I have.  Playing around on all these, I think they can all be used for personal and business depending on what business you are in.

For example, I know many authors who are independent authors.  These people rely on social media to get word out about their book.  My first instinct is to say something like Good Reads or PulseIt are purely personal.  That's not true when you're an author.  Those reviews, people adding books their shelves, this is the bread and butter for an author.  If you're doing something like working in waste disposal then these platforms don't do you much good.

LinkedIn should be strictly business.  I've noticed that it seems to be a popularity contest, too.  I have been contacted by people I do not know who do not have a connection to me wanting to add me to their contacts.  Why?  I don't know them and they don't know me but here we are.

Twitter started out being personal.  Here again, I know a lot of authors and publicists who launch massive tweet campaigns to get the word out about a new novel or new product.

While I believe that all of these platforms started out for personal use, I believe that they are all being used for business now.  Facebook is the biggest of them and it's my opinion that many of these platforms are simply following Facebook's lead.

Entry 1

Why did I choose this template?

I chose this template because I like it.  It's a complex pattern of lights and colors that reminds me of myself.  It's also a fairly simple template to navigate, which I think is important in a blog.

I adjusted the font on the template because I don't like static fonts.  I like open and artistic, like me.  I also think it goes better with the pattern in the template.