PHOTOS
- </a></strong>This week's <a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/tag/social-media-connection/" target="_blank"><strong>Social Media Connection</strong></a>, <a href="http://www.feliciajoyonline.com/#/about-felicia-joy/4534495608" target="_blank"><strong>Felicia Joy</strong></a>, is a nationally recognized author, entrepreneur and business expert in Atlanta. The host of the Ms. CEO Show, a talk radio show for women entrepreneurs, she is passionate about entrepreneurship as a tool for the creation of jobs, economic value and positive social change. In her own words, she shares how she uses social media to meet her goals.<strong> </strong>
- </a>Wordpress </strong>(<a href="http://www.feliciajoy.biz" target="_blank"><strong>www.feliciajoy.biz</strong></a>): I am an entrepreneur but my education and background are in communications so blogging is a natural fit for me. I don't get to do it as often as I would like but I maintain an active website/blog on Wordpress. I like the immediate feedback you can get from comments. I also like the analytics. When people take the time to comment–or you see a particular article spike in views and get tweeted–then you know you've tapped an area of greater interest. Since I generate revenues from writing, this immediate feedback from my blog gives me clues as to which pay-per-download documents or books I should write next.
- </a>Twitter</strong> (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/feliciajoy" target="_blank"><strong>www.twitter.com/feliciajoy</strong></a>): By far, I spend most of my social media time on Twitter. I absolutely love Twitter. The people I follow are my digital army of business and social informants. On the social side, depending on who you follow, Twitter is like a global happy hour where people are talking about all kinds of stuff and providing links that help you learn more. On the business side, it's an on-demand library and fortune teller that provides you with information on what happened already, what's happening now and what's likely to happen in the future. I check it from my BlackBerry and am always sure to respond to @ and direct messages (where someone is specifically speaking to me); and I read tweets and linked pages for the 20 or 30 minutes that I allot per session.
- </a><strong>Twitter</strong> (<a href="http://www.twitter.com/msceo" target="_blank"><strong>www.twitter.com/msceo</strong></a>): If a topic is really compelling or relates to something I am already working on I e-mail the tweet to myself for further review later. In my Gmail account I have set up a filter so that whenever I send those e-mails to myself they all compile in the same folder. It doesn't junk up my Inbox and I can easily find all of them later. I like tweeting best from my laptop when I can use <a href="http://www.tweetdeck.com/" target="_blank"><strong>TweetDeck</strong></a>; it's a better utility than the app I use on my BlackBerry but they both work great. I generally stay "on topic" on my Twitter accounts because I know that's why people are following but I will also include tweets and links related to personal interests every now and then. Sidebar: I have decided (only in my head so far) that I am going to become a triathlete. I started following a few "triathlon" related Tweet streams, but without much success so far. I wish more people would take the time to understand and use Twitter. We'd all be smarter and better.
- </a>Facebook</strong> (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/msceo" target="_blank"><strong>www.facebook.com/msceo</strong></a>) + (<a href="http://www.facebook.com/feliciajoy2theworld" target="_blank"><strong>www.facebook.com/feliciajoy2theworld</strong></a>): I have a personal Facebook account but I use it more for business. My company, Ms. CEO Incorporated, uses our Facebook "Fan" Page (now a "Like" page) to show photos and video of our behind-the-scenes work. We also use it to post questions for feedback. Our Facebook page will be getting a makeover during the next couple months and in 2011 we're going to post to Facebook a lot more and launch interactive contests and forums on it as well. We really saw the potential power of both Facebook and Twitter when we merged our online world with our face-to-face interactions during an event we held in June 2010, called "Shop, Show & Tell – A Shopping Expo with a Twist". This is an expo we created to help small business owners boost sales during the typically lagging summer months and to help consumers find great products at affordable prices.
- </a>BlogTalk Radio</strong>: Having an online radio show has proven to be both rewarding and fun for me. I have created two shows: <em>The Ms. CEO Radio Show</em> (<a href="http://www.blogtalkradio.com/themsceoshow" target="_blank"><strong>www.blogtalkradio.com/themsceoshow</strong></a>), which coincides with Ms. CEO Incorporated and has really helped us gain visibility and communicate with thousands of women entrepreneurs across America about the Ms. CEO brand. It has resulted in real dollars flowing into our business in the form of merchandise sales and paid speaking engagements. The show, which began live, is now on-demand and through <a href="http://https://www.google.com/accounts/ServiceLogin?service=feedburner&continue=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedburner.google.com%2Ffb%2Fa%2Fmyfeeds" target="_blank"><strong>Feedburner</strong></a> – a social media utility – we created an RSS feed and submitted it so that people can also find The Ms. CEO Radio Show on iTunes. The second show is a new one called <em>Real Business Radio</em>, geared toward start-up and emerging entrepreneurs. It will begin airing this fall after we wrap up a deal, which we are currently negotiating, with a major financial company that is sponsoring the show. My other company, Joy Group International, is also now producing shows on BlogTalk Radio for entrepreneurs who are willing to pay in order to get a quick start with their show, stand out, and have a professional, branded program that people listen to consistently. The uninitiated can have a tough time getting traction and getting noticed among the many thousands of shows now available on BlogTalk Radio.
- </a>Blip</strong> (<a href="http://msceo.blip.tv" target="_blank"><strong>http://msceo.blip.tv</strong></a>) – YouTube is by far the most popular video social media tool on the Internet but I prefer, and we use, <a href="http://blip.tv/" target="_blank"><strong>blip.tv</strong></a> to distribute our videos. Blip quality is higher and it has the capability to syndicate your content through YouTube and other social media video sites across the web. It's just my personal favorite for video. Ms. CEO TV covers women entrepreneurs and their businesses and through <strong><a href="http://blip.tv/" target="_blank">blip.tv</a> </strong>we share this coverage.
- </a>WhoHub</strong> (<a href="http://www.whohub.com/feliciajoy" target="_blank"><strong>www.whohub.com/feliciajoy</strong></a>) I like listening to, watching or reading a really great interview because you can tell far more about a person through a series of well thought out questions than you can by just asking the typical who-are-you-and-what-does-you- business-do type questions. WhoHub is cool because you can read interviews with all kinds of interesting people as well as complete and promote your own. It's a great place to find good people to follow on Twitter or from whom you can glean wisdom and insight. Not a whole lot of people have read my WhoHub interview yet because I haven't actively promoted it but some have and I have attracted a few additional Twitter followers as a result.
- </a>LinkedIn</strong> (<a href="http://www.linkedin.com/in/feliciajoybiz" target="_blank"><strong>www.linkedin.com/in/feliciajoybiz</strong></a>): LinkedIn has been said to be the business-to-business social media platform or the one best suited for entrepreneurs and business people to connect. I have profiles on LinkedIn but haven't spent enough time with it to make a fair assessment. If you enjoy LinkedIn and use it frequently, send me an invite (info@feliciajoy.biz) and maybe we can connect. <strong>Slideshare</strong> (<a href="http://www.slideshare.net/msceonetwork" target="_blank"><strong>www.slideshare.net/msceonetwork</strong></a>, not pictured): I have viewed several slideshows put together by other people on SlideShare but I have not begun using it just yet. As Ms. CEO Incorporated moves further into the skills-based education space with short online training we'll be making use of this social media tool.
- </a>MySpace</strong> (<a href="http://www.myspace.com/feliciajoy2theworld" target="_blank"><strong>www.myspace.com/feliciajoy2theworld</strong></a>): A few years ago (when my hair was black) I used MySpace to remain in touch with college friends and to promote a music group I was managing at the time, as well as other business projects. I haven't logged in for years and never look at my page but it's still there. My college days quickly became fond memories as the rat race reality set in. And MySpace morphed into a space that seemed most appropriate for young teens and music or arts promotion so as I moved out of those arenas I left it behind.
- </a></strong><strong>More info to help you use social media to achieve your business goals:</strong> <li><strong><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/2010/12/14/3-simple-ways-to-shine-on-social-media/">3 Simple Ways to Shine On Social Media</a> <li><strong><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/2010/12/17/the-5-social-media-sites-you-need-to-be-on/">The Only 5 Social Media Sites You Need</a> <li><strong><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/2010/10/15/whats-your-social-media-strategy/">What's Your Social Media Strategy?</a> <li><strong><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/2010/09/16/social-media-insider-3-social-network-management-tools/">3 Social Media Network Management Tools</a> <li><strong><a href="http://www.blackenterprise.com/2010/04/09/social-media-the-new-currency/">Social Media: The New Currency</a>
Thank-you for such an informed article. Wow…I can not only use some of the sites given, I can also help my entreprenuer daughter as well. To a productive future.
Great interview, I enjoyed hearing about the clever and creative ways that Ms. Joy uses social media to promote her ideas, brand awareness and communication.