Social Savy Employers are checking your Facebook!

So you put on a new suit, got there 15 minutes early, submitted stellar resume and had the perfect answers, so why didn't you get the job? Are you over qualified? Great degree but no experience?  If your prospective employer knows anything about social media, I guarantee they checked you out online and weren't thrilled with what they found.  Perhaps you don't have scandalous photos  posted of yourself but you made disparaging comments about a previous employer or used too much profanity. News flash, it's not just your photos that you have to clean up when job hunting, it's your whole page and online persona.  Your Facebook, Google +, LinkedIn and twitter profiles are not as private as you think.  If the employer has any shared connection they can see way more than you realize.  What do you do?

Before you even send your resume out, clean up your page and let your friends know you don't want to be tagged in any crazy shenanigans.  Un-tag yourself in anything remotely risque or more than pg-13.  In fact, if it's not PG don't post it or tag it. Think of your profile as an extension of your resume and if you wouldn't print it out and hand it to your interviewer don't put it online.  

Next, add your profile URLs to your resume and send a friend or "link" request to the company and interviewer.  This shows your prospective employer your have nothing to hide and that you welcome increased scrutiny.  Note to employers - just like real estate is a buyers market, this is your job market.  There are great candidates looking for you, be picky and do your research.  It would be terrible to find out after hiring someone that they have a zest for binge drinking and drunk posting... the modern version of drunk dialing/texting.

So now perhaps you did get the job, great! You're in so now you can go crazy online... or not. More and more employers expect you to maintain at least a modicum of professionalism online, especially if you tag yourself in anything related to their company.  Facebook allows you to input your employer info, which also means your employer could hold you to a whatever standard they deem appropriate.

Moral of the story, your private profiles probably aren't that private.  Employers are doing their research and an otherwise stellar candidate can be passed over if they're not mindful of their online persona. If you don't think you have an objective view of your profile, ask a friend, or better yet, your mom to take a look and tell you what they see... that's right, your mom.... let that sink in.

Find me on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ncmediadiva; linkedin: http://www.linkedin.com/katiewebb16; google+: https://plus.google.com/106165227254812841004

How Much Does Social Media Cost Your Business

How much does social media cost?  If you're a business owner taking care of social media yourself, it costs you ZERO dollars.  What it does cost is your time.  Plenty of management companies, large and small are willing to charge your exorbitant fees for managing your social media.  It should never cost you $100 an hour for someone to set up your Facebook.  If you are, you either live in Hon Kong where the cost of living is insane or you're being had.  I work for attorneys who bill well over $100 an hour. Even though they're billing at a much higher rate they have overhead including office space, administrative fees, software licencing, etc.  My overhead is my data usage and part time child care.   Managing social media is not rocket science and it shouldn't cost a small fortune.

Every business has to weigh the cost of using in house time vs outsourcing.  If you choose to take care of business in house you have to calculate the cost of time. How much time are you going to devote to social platforms? What else would you do with your time if not social media; i.e. what are you taking time away from to spend on social media? If you factor your time vs cost of out sourcing and your time is better spent with your family or billing clients then you should hire or delegate someone else.  If you're more comfortable handling it yourself or have time to spare then you should do as much as you can yourself.  Spend your time researching the best methods and connecting with your clients/customers. Set up some Google alerts and get to know the people in your online community.  If you choose to delegate you need to make sure you're comfortable with your employees taking company time to work on Facebook, Google+, LinkedIn, etc.  Of course, you should encourage your employees to engage your customers online in a professional manner, and you should allow them to do this on company time.

If you choose to outsource your social media management you need to be aware of a few things: cost, experience, and strategy.  Social media management is not writing code.  Code writing is difficult and mind numbing and those who do it should be paid handsomely. Do you contract someone on a monthly basis or pay them hourly?  That depends on what you're hiring them to do.  Are they devising strategy? Are they posting or tweeting?  If you  just need someone to post your thoughts or comments, you should pay hourly, if they're devising and implementing marketing strategy you may want to consider a monthly contract.  Are they experience in marketing, online media, advertising, and so on?  If you can find someone who has experience working with web developers, advertisers, and social media you've got a good one.  Even if their experience is limited to social media platforms you've at least got someone who knows it better than you, and if you're paying them, they had better. Someone with a marketing background who manages your online presence will only benefit you.  They should be able to devise your online strategy and efficiently implement that same strategy.

Whether you decide to tackle the online community yourself or out source the work, at least you're in the game.  Those businesses who ignore social media do so at their own peril. Your competition is talking to your clients and potential clients and if you're not there to participate you will lose out.

This information should give you an idea of where to start and hopefully it raises lots of questions for you, which I am happy to help you answer.  Leave me a comment or email me katie@ncmediadiva.com.  Thanks for reading

Social Media Is Your Business

So you've heard of Facebook, you've received a request to link on LinkedIn, and you see #s all over the Internet. Even Mimi and Poppi are skyping these days. Why does your business need it's own social media? Because this is where your customers are! And it's FREE! If you're not already on Facebook, LinkedIn, twitter, or Google+ it's not too late. It's prime time to join up. Your customers are out there looking for you and if they can't find you they will find someone else.

More and more people are turning to social media to find all kinds of information, from restaurant specials to attorney profiles to hang gliding groups.

Connected business owners and marketing directors knows that social media can drive traffic to their website and educate the customer which can increase business and it's free!

Every business can afford a Facebook fan page, LinkedIn company profile, Google+, twitter, etc. What no business can afford is to be invisible or absent. It's okay if you don't know where to start. All of these sites have tutorials on creating pages. It's okay if you're short on time or just don't want to mess with it yourself, there are people more than willing to do this for you, for a fee of course. Just make sure you know what you're getting for your money and be clear with your goals and expectations.

Having a Facebook page with nothing on it and no posts in the last two years is almost as bad as not having one at all. The only difference is that at least having a shell of a page gives you a link to your website whereas not having a social media presence at all tells the online community nothing because you don't exist, leaving the door wide open to your competition.

Much to my Politics of Soviet Successor States professor's dismay, social media isn't going anywhere and it is revolutionizing the way we do business.

Excuse Me Doctor, Can I Use Your Wi-Fi?

As I sit in my daughter's doctors' office I wonder, what else would you do while waiting for the doc besides blog about blogging?

I'm at the doctor with little miss for what feels like the tenth time this month and it finally dawns on me to ask if I can use the wi-fi, which I'm sure they have. You see my children go to an office where doctors walk around with their iPads or new lap tops and are simultaneously diagnosing her ear infection, updating her chart and showing you what the infection looks like on the inside thanks to google images.

Why waste your precious data allowance when you can use someone else's for free! As a client, always ask if Wi-fi is available, chances are they'll let you use it and it will give you something to do while you wait for them to work you in.