Week 13 - Post A - Advertising Examples

I chose a few authors to see how they are using their social media platforms to soft sell or a blatant sell.

Candice Kumai - She uses Twitter on a regular basis. She posts many clips of her on TV and others about her books and food and wellness programs. She uses photos, videos, quotes, and every several posts she has a call to action using words such as "Flash Sale". She has a large following so I'm guessing this type of engaging with her fans she is getting sales. I do like the images she uses with a nice photo and just a bit of text. Maybe she read the .PDF's for class this week!

Bob Pacilio - Bob utilizes Facebook. He wrote a book about Moonlight Beach so his photos are of the views. He also takes photos of the bookstores on 101 in Encinitas who carry his book. He is not shy about using a call to action, urgency, and low supply of his books to make the last few sales. Very clever and unashamed about constantly making an offer to his followers. He even asks his tribe to place orders so he can buy another round of books from the publisher.

Jesse Gardner - HeySoul.com. I met Jesse at a neighborhood "marketplace" and learned of her "Soul boxes". She names them such as "Calm" and sources products to create an inspired calm gift box. Her Twitter is outdated but, her Facebook has more activity. She posts images with quotes and wise sayings and has the sale prices for her different boxes underneath. Actually, very smart. I don't feel sold just interested to find out what might be in the latest themed box.

When I am on Facebook, a lot of ads will pop up on the side of the page. Images with only the name of the company at the bottom are intriguing to me. I remember I saw a pair of pumps at Nordstrom's that I liked. Every time since when I would go on FaceBook an ad for those shoes popped up. Kind of creepy. Must admit I eventually bought the shoes. I think major companies do fairly subtle ads like that whereas my speaker/podcast/course creator friends are much pushier. Also, there are a lot of Realtors who blanket FaceBook with a picture of themselves and their listings. That is annoying. I'm a Realtor but, I'm not looking to buy a house. Maybe, they could push it out through the Audience Insights.

With the various advertising available I am probably more so exposed to it through radio, then TV. Online ads are easy to skip over and there is so much reading to be done. If an ad is attractive and not in my face like a simple graphic with a nice looking product and a "suggestion" to buy, I'll pay attention.

Week 12 - Post B: Project Research

I chose BingeNetworks.TV which is a distribution platform for creators to submit their podcast and video content. The site boasts links to over 50 venues such as Roku, Apple TV, Sony, etc... It works best for videos though plenty of podcasts are on the site as well. Even though it is a distribution site and they need content to become more noticeable and attract viewers, the creator of the content still need to market their brand. They also offer monetization of the content. I'm on Reinvention Radio and Beyond 8 Figures as a co-host.

In the early days of MeetUp Groups my mom entrepreneur business was a founding member for MeetUp. Was very popular and I see many MeetUp Groups are still around town in a variety of topics. In my newer venture MeetUp would be a great way to connect with our tribe as face-to-face is about the best organic approach that can grow a business through engagement.
https://www.meetup.com/cities/us/ca/encinitas/writing/

Week 12 - Post 1 - Integrating Online Marketing Tools

Since I have three separate businesses, I utilize a variety of tools that best suits them. I have been the reluctant social media participant but, these assignments have helped me gauge which social media options I feel most comfortable using. A friend of mine teaches a streaming academy and always advises that one figure out "where they want to play and with whom". His version of which social media sites resonate with you and is that where your tribe can be found.

For real estate sales, I use my website and Facebook, though not enough. I use my Mailchimp list to promote real estate and my vacation rental properties. I utilize LinkedIn for my profile of what I do and my background but I don't engage with anyone or write articles. I have a presence on Twitter as well and I'm finding that I like it. I am not originating many posts, just replying or retweeting posts.

With that said, I'm going to take another look at my profile on LinkedIn and choose what I want to be known for. Difficult wearing three hats and standing out. I find people get to know me in one category and then find I have two more that are interesting so there is a crossover. The crossover happens when I'm working with buyers or seller's of property and they google me and see that I have vacation rental properties and vice versa. I have sold homes to my guests which is great! They also see that I've been in media and am an author. So I just realized my website, though fairly static, and my MailChimp database and newsletter are my greatest tools and have kept me going. But, I am still going to integrate a more consistent use of Twitter and LinkedIn moving forward.

Week 11 - Post B - Classmate's Blogs I Commented On

https://csit155-sp19-adrianam.blogspot.com/

https://csit155-sp19apoynter.blogspot.com/2019/04/wk-11-email-marketing.html

https://csit155-sp19-durhamd.blogspot.com/

Week 11: Post A - Newsletter Frequency

When I send a newsletter to my lists, I have decided it is a good idea to let them know who I am and the various ways my business operates. The majority of my list is from my vacation rental inquiries and guests. When I send a newsletter I receive approximately a 50% open rate and I attribute that to the fact they have all either spoken with me or experienced my rental. Also, I sell vacations. I put in the newsletters a bit about the local real estate market, a podcast of mine, and something that is happening in Encinitas that might be interesting to them. So far, with each newsletter, I get a booking and someone responds just to say hi, which I consider a success.

I am on a variety of newsletter lists and I most often see a story that leads to a sale. Once, the majority of their content has been dispensed it seems to be regurgitated with another call to action.
I find that I like to scrub my emails to delete the ones that just want to focus on shallow content and expensive calls to action.

There are newsletters I receive that do offer tips and solid information and if they have a huge list they may slip in advertising that makes their newsletter cumbersome.

Week 10, Post B - Blog Categories

To better organize my blog, I have to ask why would someone possibly stop by and what would they hope to find.

With Go With Your Gut as my main topic I should have the following:
Podcasts
Since that is what I do most often, it makes sense to have informative blog posts with audio, a graphic, and text.
Relevance
Keeping my blog fresh and up-to-date.
Examples/Stories
I believe people love stories, I love to read stories. Teaching my decision-making system is aided by hearing examples of what I mean and that we're all more similar than we are different and we can learn from one another to make the best decisions for ourselves.

Podcast and YouTube Videos
For Catholicism is Cool, I have a new game plan. I'm a Lector at my Parish and for years people have told me to do something online. I'm creating a video series Monday through Saturday with the Daily Mass readings. I'm using YouTube as the first platform and then repurposing to my FaceBook group and my website and since FaceBook owns Instagram I'll link them. To find another group of listeners, I'm stripping the audio and posting it on the Anchor.fm app that was recently purchased by Spotify. I have about 400 listens to content on their now and they offer an advertising model.

I know it takes time to develop an audience and with the four platforms I'm using it will be interesting to see which one gains the most traction.

I've commented on the following classmate blogs:

Realize Your Fit

Francesca Haman

Michelle Jordan

Week 10 - Post A - Human Interest in Blogs

I've written hundreds of blogs and newsletters to my community over the last decade. I'm a relatively private person even though I put myself in the public arena with my radio show and podcasts. So I've struggled with how much to share and where is that invisible line of being vulnerable but, not oversharing. 

I've read a lot of blogs and watched YouTube videos and realized it doesn't take a lot of personal information to have your tribe feel connected to you. Sometimes, they don't want to know too much. 

Today, I saw a snippet of the tribute to Kathi Lee Gifford on the Today Show as they saluted her retirement and, she really put herself out there and was vulnerable throughout her whole career. I admire that. Not, sure I would want to be that transparent.

As a blogger, there is a fine balance to adding a personal note or information to connect with your audience. Perhaps if the story has a take away such as, letting them into a bit of your family life through an incident that you are trying to help them avoid or that you may not have posted for a while because you were taking care of a family member or maybe you went through a bit of a financial struggle and you made it through and have pointers for them. 

Sharing something vulnerable includes emotion. When emotion is involved in a story I write it and step away and reread it later before I post it to see if I feel comfortable with offering so much of my personal life. Some times I scrap it completely but, most often I just need to edit it to convey the message without the 'mess'.

Week 9 - Post B - Advanced Search & Lists

Twitter is becoming one of my more favorite social media websites to utilize. Of course, with social media I tend to lean toward being intimidated but, this time I enjoyed the advanced search engine feature and I used it to find a few accounts for this assignment. Still much to learn and work with.

Since I am a podcaster and Catholic I searched for a combination of people who popped up. I also used 'speaker' as a search word.

When I used 'Catholic', many people showed up then I added podcaster and speaker and that fleshed out my search.

I also love the 'list' function. I created a list way back and had to reteach myself how to do it again. That is a great tool! I'm playing the list feature as I might add in real estate but, thinking that might be too generic so I might still focus on podcasters along with real estate.

Week 9 - Post A - 4 Twitter Reviews

I used the advanced search tool and found a few people I thought to learn from what they are doing, what I could learn from them and incorporate into my posts.

The first one I chose was @SheilaReports. She is a journalist and her site is congruous with the look and feel of a journalist. It has many posts which are of a 'newsy' look and feel and so it is not that warm. The banner in the background is more academic and she is not looking at the camera and she's wearing a more conservative suit. Tastefully done for the purpose of her site and information. There are a lot of posts that seem to come from other sources satisfying visitors for the news. There are frequent posts that probably encourage visitors to stop by often. I would like to add frequency to my posts ideally and retweet other tweets as well as my original content.

Another Twitter account I chose was @JakeMooreMedia. Jake is depicted as a young, faithful guy and his cover photo is a simple, clean photo of himself; personable and kind. Jake employs lots of retweets sprinkled with some of his opinions. His is a welcoming and likable profile and his beliefs seem earnest.

The next one I chose was @CatholicMomCom. This is a pretty comprehensive twitter account. I would like to be as robust as they are with posts and retweets. This comes across as possibly having many people contributing to the content and tweets.