Tag Archives: Plaxo

Oct28

She’s all grown up and sings like an angel:

Posted on October 28, 2010 by Lois Geller

She’s all grown up and sings like an angel:

I first met Bridget Best when she and her twin sister Colleen were about 6 years old. They lived in Toronto and I was working there at the time.

I visited them, and really got a kick out of them, because whatever they thought of seemed to leap out of their mouths. Their parents called them “Twinkles”. Mostly because they were bright and alive and always had something up their collective sleeves.

Now Bridget is an opera singer. Though I’ve never heard her perform, I have spoken to people who have…and they rave about her talent. She’s graduated from Hunter College in New York, with Music as her major and the Manhattan School of Music where she studied Classical Voice.

Last week, I met up with her in NY at the Canadian Consulate and was amazed at how lovely she is, and now she’s looking for work singing. If you know of any opportunities for her, just let me know and thanks for your advice.

So, Bridget needs auditions!

What would I do to get some good ones?

1. I Googled “opera auditions“…and the Metropolitan Opera came up and they said, “mail a photo and your resume“. I’d add a great letter too. Other places for auditions came up too. This is a marketing numbers game, so respond to all those opera companies.

2. I figured she’d have a video on YouTube singing. But i looked there and couldn’t find one.

3. She did a concert and webcast which she should put on YouTube, Facebook and her website. Here’s a link: MSM-NYC

4. Bridget might also volunteer to sing at music schools, fund-raising events, and at private parties. Her lovely Soprano voice is amazing and someone might refer her to just the right opera company.

5. Social Media is always an opportunity to reach out on LinkedIn, Twitter, Plaxo, and a great place to network with many people.

Maybe she might call herself “@BridgetTheSoprano” (on Twitter).

Good Luck my lovely friend!

Twitter: Just fun or does it actually do anything for you?

Posted on August 19, 2010 by Lois Geller

Twitter: Just fun or does it actually do anything for you?

I’ve been Tweeting (@loisgeller) for 2 years and I enjoy it. A lot.

But I never gave Twitter a lot of thought until the other day when my friend, Amy Africa (@amyafrica in Twitter talk), called to chat.

We talk about a lot of things but sooner or later the “How’s business?” question comes up. “Fine,” I told her, “but it could always get better.”

Amy’s an Internet marketing expert and she knows that I have 12,000 or so Twitter followers. She mentioned that having a large-ish Twitter following credentializes you. Amy tends to just mention things and let you make the connection.

I made this connection immediately. Could the time I spend on Twitter ever actually do my business any good? Twitter is big part of what we call Social Media – Facebook, Plaxo, LinkedIn, this blog, etc., all of which I’m involved in to different degrees. Could Social Media do my agency any good?

I should know the answer but I’m not sure I do.

I write about the power of Social Media: relationships, consistency of voice, brand issues, one-to-one communication, frequency, etc. I know how to make a deal, how to close a sale.

Does all this credentializing do any good? Have I been invited to make more speeches this year than last year? Does anyone send me a Tweet asking for marketing help? No and no.

So I asked my Twitter friends if I’m missing anything. Here’s what a few of them said:
@vbpickett: “You should appreciate the great friendships” ( I do!)

@Journeywoman said “absolutely invest in Twitter time …”

@MatthewTNelson:“I have my tweetdeck open all day and I’m constantly scanning for website RFPs. When I see one interesting I reach out and connect.”

Later he tweeted that he had landed two website development contracts via Twitter in the past year.
Wow! Results. Now I have to figure out how to home in and do the same.

If you have any ideas, suggestions, advice you can share, I’d love to hear from you.

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Lois Geller

The New Community Rules: Marketing on the Social Web

by: Tamar Weinberg

Reviewed by Lois Geller

Reading this book reminded me of something and it tugged at the back of memory until it burst through.
Keats!

195 years ago, John Keats wrote a sonnet called On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer. Chapman was George Chapman and his translations of Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad struck Keats as rather splendid:

“… I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;”

That’s how I feel about Tamar Weinberg’s new book about Marketing on the Social Web and if I could write like Keats I’d compose a sonnet to her on the spot, perhaps borrowing those lines :

“… I heard Chapman Weinberg speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his her ken;”

It’s that kind of book, an eye opener, a gentle slap to the back of the head.

Just as Keats had read other translations of Homer, I’d read other books about the Social Web and I am on Twitter, Plaxo, Ecademy, Facebook and LinkedIn and I thought I was doing pretty well with them.

Then that new planet swam into my ken and I realized I’d been a village blacksmith tinkering with a jet engine.

This book is so comprehensive, that I learned about StumbleUpon (still not sure how that works), and delicious.com and RSS feeds, bookmarking and whole new worlds I’d only heard about. The 346 page volume is packed with all kinds of new opportunities, for people like me who love marketing.

Tamar (I don’t know her but I hope to be on a first name basis some day) starts from the start assuming her readers know nothing about the Social Web, and, compared to her, that’s a good bet no matter what readers think they know.

She holds your hand and in tight, readable prose walks you through this Wonderland. She tells you that it is really conversation marketing. She tells you how to do it (or get it done), how to get photos and video on social sites, what language to use (and not use), how to build your reputation and your following, and, most of all and dear to the heart of this direct marketer, how to use social sites to sell.

She tells you who’s already miles ahead of you (and why) and not to worry because you can catch up in no time – if you pay attention to Tamar, my new BFF.

Get this book, read it, read it again, keep it by your side and grow rich in your pajamas, working online at home, having fun and making friends even if you’re the marketing head of a Fortune 500 company.

P.S. I went to a local Barnes & Noble to buy a copy for my client, and they were sold out. That’s another good sign.

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