sarah@sarahegeiger.com

Today Maggie and I attended Social Media AZ and saw many familiar faces.  The raw materials, organic conversation and slate of industry professionals created quite the impact on our young minds. I am sure you were all affected in some way or another, it might have been the delicious Quiznos cookies or the unlimited Einstein’s coffee, whatever flighted your fancy is all that matters.

If you were unable to make this event today, here are a few tips and tricks we learned. I for one, learned the most from the “Social Media for Small Business” panel featuring @jaybaer @kinchie @joemanna and moderated by @kathysacks. The panelists covered a variety of topics from what social media tools they find most useful to blogging tips. I value their opinions and realize that a lot of their suggestions are meant for each individual to interpret.

• Trial and error –  take into account what someone else says and apply it to your own knowledge. We should take advantage of social media and the endless possibilities. Try things on your own, find out when your messaging is most effective (8am, noon, 2pm, 9pm?). It is not just what you say, but when you say it!
• There are definitely faux paus of social media (i.e. -not tweeting the same thing 40 times), but who says you cannot bounce back? We are all in this together. Try rewording your message, instead of re-tweeting the same thing,
• Simply put, “You need to care about what your audience thinks, and if you don’t then you’re an “ass”  - Jay Baer
• Utilize tools like Seesmic, HootSuite, Tweetdeck - for multiple accounts. And while your at it, check out  phone apps too, they can make your social media presence known from anywhere!

I could rant for hours about my interpretation of that session, but instead I encourage you to check it out yourself!

I unfortunately missed the entire Jay Baer blogger session after this panel. If you are not already following his blog (which I highly suggest you should) check it out! Also, a complimentary post written about the event by @LindaVandaVrede on ValleyPrBlog today! Remember, know your audience (and hopefully they have a sense of humor).

We had another successful meeting this past Tuesday night, January 12th. We met at Hob Nobs Coffee House for a few hours to go over several topics related to the PR industry. Aly Saxe was our guest speaker and she is owner of Ubiquity PR out of San Francisco and Phoenix. She gave interesting insight on her experiences owning a PR firm and participating in the Phoenix community. Aly also highlighted on how her company uses social media, reaffirming that there are more tools than just Twitter and Facebook.

We are looking for more guest speakers for our February meeting, so if you know of anyone please contact me!

Happy New Year!

I spent a few hours on New Year’s Eve at a local coffee house writing down my personal goals for 2010. Although I do not necessarily believe in setting “resolutions”, I do believe in taking the time to restart. Many people write down the typical resolutions, however weight loss is the least of my worries! Take the time to find the smaller, more attainable goals and go from there. Many people do not reach their goals because they are too large to take on.

I would like to share some of my professional goals below:

• Work on personal branding (via social media) – create a solid description of who I am and my career goals
• Make more connections in Seattle (meet new people with similar passions)
• End my time in AZ on a strong note – keep working hard until we make the big move.
• Invest more time  on my professional goals, less time on working for others.
• Stay positive and stay active in the Phoenix community.

What are some of your goals for the new decade? My advice, start off small and do not expect things to happen over night!

We are in the age of social media, it is sink or swim. A few months ago I found myself debating the purpose of Twitter, I had to jump on the bandwagon or forever get lost in the gap of technology. I chose to create a Twitter, tried a few tweets and then didn’t log back on for a few weeks. This sounds pretty typical of 90% of Twitter users, you know the saying “10% of Twitter users produce 90% of the content”.  I decided to give it another try after seeing other professionals finding usage of the tool.

Nowadays, I am on Twitter everyday, attend “Twitter” events around town and have increased my personal network both online and in person. This tool might suck up some of my time online, however the benefits have been astounding.

One thing I have noticed is how people utilize Twitter to brand themselves. This micro-blogging tool encourages brevity and personality to show. I have seen some good examples and some absolutely terrible examples of how people portray themselves. Perception is reality, right? One thing people need to learn is to keep personal and professional at a balance (we could all benefit from these tips).

After some research around the web from resources like Media Bistro and Mashable, I found some need to know tips to positively brand yourself.

1. Discover your brand and then create it: Your self-impression = How people perceive you
2. Claim YOUR Profiles: create a Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook and any other social media tools. This will promote consistency and increase your SEO.
3. Personal Hub: Make sure you have a blog or personal website to link back to. This will align your brand with other outlets (social media profiles) and will show your expertise overtime if maintained consistently.
4. Consistency is Key: Update your social media profiles on a regular basis - engage your audience, post interesting content, show personality.
5. Build Credibility: It takes time, but if you follow the basic rules of social media and personal branding you will build up your own credibility. This does not happen overnight.

Building your personal brand takes time, actively engaging your local community and following these tips can help. One thing to remember is to be yourself. Surround yourself with the right people and you can learn a ton. Set-up that coffee date with someone interesting, go to that Twitter event, be ACTIVE!

Referenced: Mashable “Personal Branding 101: How to Discover and Create Your Brand” by Dan Schawbel

According to the Council of Public Relations firms, PR is on the rise this year. This leaves more room for growth in 2010. It is more important than ever for our bread and butter of the nation (small businesses) to keep their budgets in tact for marketing and public relations costs. Staying visible to consumers is key to maintaining a strong business.

Using social media is a free option to help your company stay visible. Although not everyone has an account, there are still ways to reach your target audience.

Using tools like Squidoo, Digg, and Twitter  allow many small business owners to promote their brand. Some users claim to be “social media experts”, however the truth is, anyone can utilize social media to promote themselves or business. In my opinion, social media is not rocket science. If you make enough time and effort, you can easily brand yourself!

Do not get me wrong, anyone can sign-up for a Twitter account, however it takes skill and strategy implemented by PR teams to help their clients. Working together, getting to know your client/product can prove to be successful with many of the free social media tools available.

With PR on the rise, it is great news for those of us investing our time building our careers in this field. The future seems bright for us young professionals, keep up the good work!