Tag Archives: Facebook

Tagged, Not it: My Brief (and Creepy) Encounter with a “Social Discovery” Site

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Call me naive, but when I read about a social networking site called Tagged that is blowing it up with their user engagement, I had to learn more.  I admit, I had never heard of the “social discovery” site, where as the Founder/CEO recently described it,  people go “to make new social relationships.” If you’re wondering how that’s any different from say, Facebook, his answer is this: “Facebook is the place where you maintain your current 150…Tagged will be the place where you refresh that 150.”

As of Sunday night, a quick Google search for Tagged only brought up the site itself, a Wikipedia page, this Mashable article, and the company’s social media. Maybe that’s because the buzz is just beginning for this company,  but with over 300 million members  (according to Tagged.com), it seems there are a few missing pieces to this picture. Am I wrong to think that 300 million members is a whole lotta people for a social networking site to score when it has received little to no coverage since launching in 2004?

It may have been at that point that I decided to jump right in and set up an account. Continue reading →

6 Pages You’ll Want to Dogear in “The New Relationship Marketing”

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Here goes my first book review. I’m starting off with Mari Smith’s latest book: The New Relationship Marketing, which is an awesome read on personal branding and social media.

I first picked up a copy a couple of weeks ago at my local library (because I still go to the library), but about half way through, overwhelmed by the urge to start underlining sections and dogearing pages, I returned it, ordered my own on Amazon, and have kept it in reaching distance of my desktop pretty much ever since.

Although Mari’s social media focus is slightly different from mine, and maybe different from yours, (she isn’t one for daily blogging, for instance, but she can be found on Twitter and Facebook everyday, where she has amassed a following of thousands and thousands of people), her book has plenty of useful tips for anyone looking to expand their online presence. Continue reading →

Facebook Lands 900 Million and the Rise of the Smartphone

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In case you missed it: While Facebook ad sales may be down, Facebook use is on the rise like crazy. In fact, the social networking site has just eclipsed 900 million users. And there’s still room to grow. Wowzers, right?

While the fact that the number of Facebook users is now roughly equal to the population of Africa is amazing, here’s what really caught my attention in Mark Raby’s article today: “Facebook said that a whopping 488 million users are logging in on a daily basis from a mobile device. It has pioneered social communications in the mobile world.”

Let me repeat that: a single social networking site has singlehandedly pioneered social communication in the mobile world. And now that we know that everybody will soon have a smartphone (Say goodbye, digital divide! Nevermind this minor production glitch…) that makes browsing those sites that much easier to do, it’s easy to understand why new social media platforms have begun to catch like wildfire, especially those that are simple in design and have high visual appeal (hello, Pinterest!) Continue reading →

Wednesday Updates, Headshot Tips and More…

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Good news on all fronts. While a few projects have kept me a little too busy to blog this week, I do have a couple exciting updates to share:

  • Update #1: Discovered that highly recommended photographer/college student was not ignoring my emails after all, overwhelmed (as I had imagined) by my enthusiasm. She simply hadn’t seen them. Confirmed this week that I had the wrong email address for her all along. I have since resent all of my ideas to her and have received an encouraging and equally enthusiastic response back. Photo shoot booked for next week!

(In honor of my ongoing quest for headshots, check out some great headshot-taking tips that I stumbled across here. One of my favs: the darker your suit, the more powerful you appear! And another: No matter what, make sure you don’t wear too much purple!) Continue reading →

The Pros are going Pro-Bono

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Last week, while lunching with a PR friend of mine and dreaming up, as we like to do, future possibilities to work together, he was struck by a brilliant idea. “Why don’t we pick up a pro bono client together?” He asked. The idea of using my PR skills for public service immediately tugged at my heartstrings, and the thought of finally getting to work with my very talented friend made me beyond excited.

Non-profits in need of free work would be far less critical of our not-yet-existent company website, Twitter handles or snazzy business cards, we reasoned. Also, as Jim Senior points out in this PRSA article from 2007, pro-bono PR work reaps tons of benefits. Continue reading →

Holy Headshots!

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This is my first blog post and it is dedicated to an increasingly vital, albeit perhaps unexpected, personal branding tool: The headshot.

First of all, is it just me or does it seem like everybody’s now getting them done? In the past couple of years, I have seen them on resumés (I admit, “who does this guy think he is??” may have been my first reaction) and on the Facebook profiles of friends not even remotely connected to the entertainment industry (when did candid shots become so passé?) Sure, headshots may have always been important to PR, but for various reasons I have never felt compelled to get on that train. Until now.

Let me jump in now and clarify that I’m going extremely low-budget for this first run. I have decided this is the best route for me, since I want to see what I’m in for before I make a big investment, and this first investment will be made entirely out-of-pocket.

So, while I still think quality headshots are a worthwhile investment for any PR pro, (for an “executive” headshot, expect to pay $350-$450) I’ll be shelling out 50 bucks next week to get mine done by a college student who came highly recommended. I’ve already emailed her several samples of headshots that I came across and liked, thoughts on backgrounds, lighting, and detailed questions about this $50 package I’ve purchased. She has yet to respond to any of my emails. A bumpy start, but I’m not sweating it. Continue reading →