Would You Trust Your Social Media To A College Intern?

If your business spent $104.6million in capital expansions in 2008 and 28 Million alone was spent on software implementations, and expansion, growth, and cash are all favorable in 2009!

Would you trust your Social Media to a College Intern to implement a new media social engagement strategy for the entire company?

The Job Posting:
Implementing a new media social engagement strategy, this will include content management and development, posting and monitoring user-generated activity, user experience optimization, and potential development and management of third-party relationships.

The Topic du jour in Brands is their adoption of Social Media. The conversations are high noisy, speculative and theoretical. Social media expert, like Barbara Segal have the answers. Their strategies have proof, of Why? Because they have worked in fashion, Media, and community. At the heart of branding conversations are questions related to community. It’s interesting to see how brands adopt social media while also trying to balance their exclusive appeal with the social masses. Does social media make a brands too accessible and diminish the brand value and perception of affluence?

No, not if implemented correctly. That’s why retailers such as Gucci and Mercedes Benz are creating their own private networks for their most affluent customers or making niche content sites that focus on limited product selection. They are doing this while also marketing to the masses on Twitter and Facebook.

As brands move marketing efforts online, they need to focus on creating unique, experiences. Whether the medium is their own communities, or Facebook, brands have to engage their audiences, and they have to do so on a consistent basis.

Hiring an Intern? Lets say you worked your whole life for a red Ferrari, and you now have one. It is a dream car, an asset, and part of a luxury image you keep. The Ferrari serves a very important role in your life. Your 19 year old daughter, comes home from college and wants to go someplace she can impress her friends with Daddy's car. She is a Junior in Harvard, you trust her, you love her, and she is usually responsible. Would you give her the keys to your Ferrari?

Social Media is the new Public Relations and technology of today's Brands. A publicly traded company, can NOT afford to take the chance on their interns Facebook saying, "come all my Bit@#es" or twitters saying, "this beer can lid will not pop," at 2am in the morning. When the one who works in a temporary position with an emphasis on on-the-job training rather than employment is inexperienced with a company, net etiquette can quickly damage the corporate reputation . All it takes is one social media blow. Another way of putting it, is could be on the job training of a mega phone to all your customers could be mutiny. Recently, I went to a party where they, "Sacrificed an Intern to the Gods" at a Recording Studio in Santa Monica, CA. Nor I say, it was a rather wild party.

Who You Hire For Social Media, Public Relations, and Internet Marketing M@tters

At Barbara Segal & Associates we have been working on the Internet since 1995. One can claim to be an Internet Expert but make sure you see the proof. For the past year we have worked with a Non Profit where we helped revolutionize them into Web 2.0, Facebook, Twitter, and the New Social Media platform of business on the Internet. Our passion and knowledge of the web, is fueled by a Barbara Segals' visionary talents, design experience, and knowledge of technology. Our consulting business is backed with years of corporate experience.

Do not mistake cost for quality. Hiring web building company's who advertise low costs for building your 2.0 web world often turns out to be the most incredibly costly web sites. They charge higher fee's for any additional web work with small hidden cleaver verbiage in their contracts. You seldom build a relationship with one person and work with many different employee's which often runs up time which equals fees. These low cost firms hold your company hostage with access to all pass codes and platforms. It's a sad thing to meet with new clients and hear their stories of horror with con-men run web businesses.

At Barbara Segal & Associates when meeting new clients we point out that your decision to hire a Internet Marketing Expert involves trust, responsibility, and your Brands reputation. You the client should always control all your passwords by being the administrator to your Domains, Hosting Software, and any Technology involving your company. You then assign others to get into the sites by inviting them to be secondary administrators, where they then set up their own passwords. Thus being Administrator you are in control. After all you are entrusting all pass codes to your company domain website, and all your social media sites as well. Too often CEO and small business owners do not realize the importance of control until it is to late and they are held hostage by these web developer con men. They never had your company business at heart, they had the big money making scheme in place. Time and time again Barbara Segal & Associates meets with people who tell us they owe thousands of dollars to web building companies. One of the biggest scam going in business, is companies being taken for thousands and hundreds of dollar in fees, because they do not understand the technology and the web. Never hire someone to build a website, blog, or Facebook page where you have not checked their references thoroughly. If they have a fabulous portfolio fabulous, next speak with the potential candidates clients. Take the time to contact them and ask questions. Several years ago a General Manager called us in a panic as their IT person was holding their Music Business hostage. He had all the codes, all the power and wanted his employment demands met. Today he is no longer with the company and the Music Company learned a valuable lessen. Be in control and trust who you work with.

• Were they easily assessable
• Did they responded quickly to your needs
• Could be found by phone when needed during emergency situations
• Did they stay consistent with their fees over time
• Were they available throughout the contract for updates
• Was the quality of the work good
• How was their grammar and writing skills
  
• Did they grasp the Industry and come up with use full ideas?
  

With the unemployment rate at a all time high many unemployed people have recently taken to Blogging for Hire. Barbara Segal & Associates has been Blogging For Hire since the beginning of the blogs and has google proof. Our solid reputation, keen knowledge of industries, corporate, and professional topics is backed with over 20 years of experience. The younger generation all know computers, however think through their Net Etiquette before hiring them. Ask to see their: Facebook Twitter Accounts, and Linkedin references. This position is for one of the most important positions you will hire as they may be behind a computer but they represent your brand or company 24/7. Your Facebook page, Blog, and Tweets on Twitter are to represent your Brand, Business, Industry, or Non Profit and should not be mixed with late night Digital Parties pics gone wild.

• Does your candidate speak proper corporate language on the net or are they using abbreviated text slang that is their new vocabulary?
• How much experience have they had?
• Do they have knowledge of corporate procedures?
• Is their reputation a good one in the community.

Your relationship become invaluable, close, trusted, and power full with your Internet Marketing and Public Relations person. You should realize it is like any good relationship, it should last for centuries.

Cool Cats Are Twittering Their Way Into Relationships

Since 2007, Twitter’s has been Barbara Segal and Associates #1 tool in meeting and connecting clients with people online. At Barbara Segal and Associates we also build and nurture online relationships with the individuals and business's who influence us offline. With the help of Facebook, Linkedin, and Myspace we are more informed of networking events. Immediate, impulsive, and time saving twitter works into today business environment. Lower airfares are helping us to fly into cities impulsively to network, meet and attend business meeting. Keeping close personal relationships the old fashion way in the new economy is more important. We believe in "reaching out and touching someone" with old fashion telephone conversations, and all things digital. Our brains are influenced by others daily by shared knowledge, links and answers to our question through social networking. We are influence by links, notes, invites, groups and wall post on Facebook. Barbara Segal, was creatively inspired when reading, 40 Reasons Why Twitter Rawks and she shared it with all her friends and followers. Viral marketing is today's society trend and socially "networking" in person and digitally is the new school of business. One needs to be linkeded to today's virtual future as it is here to stay. And at the end of the day, human connection is more important that ever in today.

40 Reasons Why Twitter Rawks

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