Recently posted by Suzzette Turnbull

Recently, "Woody" was featured on a TGI Fridays commercial promoting an opportunity to win a free burger by becoming a fan of the TGI Fridays Facebook page. If Woody can get 500,000 fans in one month, each fan would get a free burger. "Is this fair and does it make sense?," Keesha O'Galdez of Gourmet Diva  posted to our Facebook page. Since the commercial aired, a lot of conversation has followed about authenticity and the identity of Woody, but I would like to focus on the concept of quantity vs. quality.

I often have this conversation with my clients because I think it is critical to any social media strategy. There is a role and a significance for both quantity and quality in social media regardless of what you are quantifying (i.e. followers, fans, diggs, etc.).

Quantity is important for several reasons. It helps you to generate activity on your page. 90% of users in social media are voyeurs. They enjoy peeking in and watching what you are doing. Do you ever feel like you are talking to yourself? Believe me, they are paying attention. If you are successful and effective in making your content fun and engaging, your voyeurs will begin to participate. Both the quantification of fans and the level of engagement will be appealing to others. Wouldn't you choose the party with more people and activity than the one with a few people in attendance sitting around staring at each other? Well, it's the same concept. Both of these factors will encourage your fan base to tell their friends and network about it which helps your efforts to go viral and spread like wildfire. Look at it as one of the ways to show the value of joining your network.

Quality will help you to increase your customer base. Does quantity translate to quality? Within that quantity, there is definitely a subset of your target market, but how many of your overall fan base really fits into that subset. It depends on how you approached increasing that quantity. If you paid a company to increase your followers, or you focused on recruiting your personal network who recruited their personal network, or you relied on sweepstakes/contests with awesome prizes, you probably have not successfully populated your base with your target market. This will affect your conversion rate. If you have successfully used an email campaign to get your existing customers to join, you must leverage them to get new customers by spreading the word.

Now that you are ready to focus on reaching your target market, you must be more strategic and targeted in your approach. Focus on those in your personal network who fit your target market and who are true supporters of your company. Use targeted Facebook ads to appeal to your target market; only those interested in your products/services will click on your ad. Do contests and sweepstakes that would be of interest to your target market specifically rather than a mass of people. Your prize and contest stipulations should be aligned with your company's products/services which means you may have less overall participants but more of your target market participating, which results in quality.

At the end of the day, quality and quantity work together to make your social media efforts impactful and successful. Don't lose out on either one. However, ensure that your efforts, regardless of which one you focus on, are authentic because you are building your brand.

Tip: Don't expect your social media efforts to take off overnight. Take some time to craft a solid strategy which goes beyond social media, build your foundation, and refine your strategy as necessary. You will see results. Most of all, have fun while doing it.

Need help with your social media efforts and social media strategy? Send us an email: suzzette@solutionsmavens.net. Your location doesn't matter. We are here to help!

Written by Suzzette Turnbull

President/CEO, Valentine Consulting of South Florida, LLC

Follow me: www.twitter.com/suzyturn

Email me: suzzette@solutionsmavens.net

Fan us: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valentine-Consulting-of-South-Florida/96215061265

I continue to be fascinated by the social media craze and the many ways that innovation surrounds it. Businesses are creatively promoting their priorities while others are carving new paths and creating new revenue generating opportunities for themselves. One such example are the companies that are developing new applications and tools to help us all interact more easily and efficiently in the world of social media.

Two such tools are Social Oomph (http://www.socialoomph.com/) and HootSuite (http://hootsuite.com/) created specifically to help you manage your Twitter accounts and communications. I happen to use both tools and would like to share my comparison, so you can determine which best fit your needs. The Valentine Consulting of South Florida mantra is, "Let technology work for you," so let's take a look. Keep in mind that there are more out there, but this is today's focus...

My caveat: There is an overlap in the features both platforms provide, so I will focus on the distinctions, both positive and constructive.

Social Oomph

Auto replys - set up a message that will be automatically sent to those who follow you. This is a great customer service touch and an automated way to manage your network of followers.

Replies Daily Digest - you receive a daily email, usually sent within 12 hours of all your @Replies. Have you ever tried combing through posts to find your @Replies? I absolutely love this feature.

Auto Follow/Unfollow - This platform has a setting that allows you to automatically follow those who follow you and unfollow those who unfollow you.

Vetting - You get to manually approve a new follower

Layout not easy to navigate - This layout is not the most user-friendly or attractive I have seen.

Pricing levels - There is a FREE package and a Professional package. The Professional package includes more comprehensive features but for most, the FREE package has a lot of what you need especially if you are just getting started.

HootSuite

FREE - Right now the entire platform and all its features are FREE to use

User-friendly, easy to navigate, and attractive layout - the dashboard is customizable and makes it easy to organize data and add tabs of information.

Track conversations in twittersphere - This feature allows you to follow and track conversations based on keywords...another great way to make technology work for you.

Easy to find people to follow - You can choose to follow people based on interest, brand, etc., but this feature makes it very easy to keep up and manage.

Groups- You can organize your followers into groups to more easily keep up with tweets (i.e. friends, clients, celebrities, etc.).

Feed your blog to Twitter - This feature allows you to automatically feed your blog to Twitter when it is updated...an easy way to go viral.

Ow.ly Link - This integrated resource allows you to shorten your link on the site for inclusion into your tweet and then it tracks and provides stats on these links. Measure, measure, measure!

No auto reply, auto follow, or auto unfollow - I really hope they plan to add these features because they are the biggest draw for me to use Social Oomph.

Both of these platforms boast many more features but these are the options that stood out to me the most, outlined based on what is most distinctive about each tool. I use both of these tools because the automated features on Social Oomph are priceless to me. Likewise, the customization, tracking, and user-friendly features of HootSuite make my life much easier and streamline the management of my clients' accounts.

I encourage you to take a look at both. If you are so-so when it comes to using technology, start with HootSuite. If you have a high level of comfort navigating technology, include Social Oomph in your toolkit. Let us know your take on these tools and feel free to share your Twitter tricks with us.

Next week, I will review a couple more of the Twitter resources, such as Ping.fm and TweetDeck, so come back and visit us.

Written by Suzzette Turnbull

President/CEO, Valentine Consulting of South Florida, LLC

Follow me: www.twitter.com/suzyturn

Email me: suzzette@solutionsmavens.net

Fan us: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Valentine-Consulting-of-South-Florida/96215061265

I just joined the LIPW group on LinkedIn and it has truly been a gold mine. I connected with Leah Oviedo who introduced me to an awesome resource, Investing in Women (IIW) (http://iiwomen.com/index.htm). IIW is committed to sowing into the lives of women around the globe through education and appreciation. By partnering with other business owners, IIW provides up-to-date information on the world of entrepreneurship and articles from successful business owners. But, it doesn't end there. IIW has a host of other resources that include networking, a women's business directory, and partnership opportunities. IIW also has a micro grant program for women business owners in the United States.

This is the beauty of social media - I have just discovered a great forum for Valentine Consulting of South Florida to participate.

Take a minute to visit their website, check out their blog and sign up for their newsletter. I am excited about this resource and I hope you are too!

Valentine Consulting of South Florida has built a great partnership with knowledgecrush.com, an online think tank dedicated to managing personal and professional transformations. On June 17^th, we will launch our teleclass social media series in the Knowledgecrush Lounge to help organizations and professionals to navigate and maximize the new and dynamic arena of social media. Be a part of our lively discussions!

Join me in the Knowledgecrush Lounge Community to engage with others and receive tips and strategies on social media.

1. Go to www.knowledgecrush.com
2. Click on 'community' in the navigation bar
3. Click on 'join our growing community'
4. Register
5. Important: Choose 'The Lounge'

We will check in with you after the teleclasses to let you know how it went and what we learned. Stay tuned!!! This is going to be an exciting ride!

After much deliberation, evaluation, introspection, kicking and screaming, getting in and out of my own way, Valentine Consulting of South Florida, LLC has been launched. And it is the most beautiful feeling. It's like entering a home you have just bought and relishing in the feeling, "This is my home." Some would say that this is not an ideal time to launch a business. I believe this is the perfect time to start a business and begin building my legacy. I may feel the effects of the economy like so many others, but I SEE opportunity everywhere.

Similar to the process that a small business experiences, it took a journey of self-discovery, introspection, and hard truths to get here. Not to mention my network - I am blessed to have such a wonderful support system of loving, ambitious, smart people who believe in me.  

At Valentine Consulting of South Florida (www.solutionsmavens.net), we are Charting the Course for Small Business Adventures. We are passionate about helping others realize their dreams and achieve their goals. We provide business solutions for small businesses which span a range of services from helping a small business to step out of a rut or simply go to the next level to providing a la carte services which include social media design, implementation and training, program development, and more.

Join us on this adventure as we are charting this course.

Recently, my career advisor from grad school, Terry Del Percio, posted a very interesting article entitled, Portfolio Careers: A Career of Multiple Part-Time Jobs (can be found at www.quintcareers.com/portfolio_careers.html).  Such an interesting descriptor I thought because I immediately thought of a stock portfolio and the advice - diversify, diversify, diversify. The article opens by posing several questions, "Is it the career of the future or a passing fad? Will workers and employers in the U.S. embrace the concept as strongly as in Europe? Is it right for you?"

According to the article, "Portfolio careers are usually built around a collection of skills and interests, though the only consistent theme is one of career self-management. With a portfolio career you no longer have one job, one employer, but multiple jobs and employers within one or more professions." Certainly in these economic times, it would seem that a portfolio career could emerge naturally. Those of us in job seeker mode find that we have to be creative to attain gainful employment which sometimes means leveraging our skills on a consulting or part-time basis. Companies are streamlining their budgets and expenses and are sometimes much more open to paying a flat fee or an agreed upon rate that is not accompanied by the responsibility of providing benefits and other types of insurance required by labor law for each person on staff.

Interestingly, this was all predicted by Charles Handy in the early 1990s, according to Quintessential Careers. He really felt that we would be more in control of our careers by working multiple small jobs as opposed to one big job. I realized that having multiple jobs was attractive to me although I wouldn't classify them as "part-time jobs." Given my concentration of efforts, it also made sense to launch my own business, Valentine Consulting of South Florida, LLC. However, it still seems to me to fall under the same philosophy of the portfolio career.

I personally enjoy working with multiple companies and clients. It increases my knowledge base a great deal and it keeps things much more interesting. It also makes it easier to remain current with many of the advances and developments in the nation. Each client has a somewhat different story and somewhat different need so as I delve into each scenario, I attain new nuggets of information. On the other side of the coin, I have to be proactive about building my brand to continue expanding my network. Most people in that "one big job" don't have to worry about that. I find, however, that the building my brand process yet again helps me to increase my knowledge base and try new things that I can then share with my clients. Is this a fad for me? I doubt it because as I look back on my resume, I realize that I truly enjoyed working for smaller organizations because it gave me the opportunity to wear multiple hats and experience diversity in my assignments. Now I have expanded to experiencing diversity in my clients and projects.

When I look at all that is going on around me, I am motivated even more than ever to redefine myself and come through these times a better person and professional. So as I tool around the internet and talk to friends, I've learned of these webinars that are free and have great content. One such example is ReadyTalk (thanks to a recommendation from my friend and colleague, Christine). They are a webinar vendor and they host weekly webinars on many different topics (http://www.readytalk.com/web-seminar-series/). I encourage everyone to check out their offerings and take advantage.

The last webinar I attended, Innovation and Creation: Part I, was hosted by ?What If!, a consulting company that helps companies unlock growth through innovation. ?What If! focused on "six creative behaviors that will help you unleash creativity and unlock innovation...It's getting people to behave in the right way throughout the process that creates the magic."

Here are some highlights of the discussion:

According to our experts Hal Adler and Lisa Buckley, behaviors are essential to unlocking creativity. It is recommended that companies begin with "greenhousing" -  the development of ideas in an environment that is conducive to brainstorming. To be successful in doing that, employ ?What If!'s concept, SUN.

 Suspend Judgment

Ask questions to Understand

Nurture and grow the idea together

Use "signaling" to enforce where the group is in the development of ideas. Our experts say that the power of signaling (i.e. verbal or physical) puts you in the drivers seat. The verbal tells people how to share an idea. For example, "I have an idea and would like you to build on it" vs. "I have an idea. What do you think?" The latter invites people to judge. The physical sets parameters, so set one area for greenhousing ideas and a separate area for judging so the distinction is clear.

"Freshness" is about lateral thinking. Our experts say you should seek out new experiences and disrupt your routines to ensure your brain doesn't become stale with the same old stuff. For example, read a magazine you don't typically read, something that has nothing to do with your field. Ideas employed in other fields can be replicated in your field. The first law of creativity is the more unique the stimulus in, the more unique the stimulus out.

"Realness" is about making your ideas real. Our experts say you should appeal to all three sensory styles (visual, auditory, kinesthetic). For example, act it out or put it into visual format so that it becomes alive for your audience.

"Momentum"... sorry folks. I think I got distracted on this one. Nothing in my notes but it's self explanatory.

"Bravery" is the last behavior - "not fearing the outcome." Our experts say that the greatest mistake you can make in life is continually fearing making a mistake. Now isn't that powerful! "When you are being truly creative and innovative, it means you are doing something no one else has done and that requires guts."

Note: These are not my original ideas. They are based on notes I took during the webinar which are a combination of Hal and Lisa's experience and lessons they learned from working with a multitude of clients.

This is the time of year when we are all getting excited -- and stressed out -- because the holiday season is here. We are buying gifts, going to holiday parties, making our homes festive, closing out fundraising campaigns...and beginning to think about the new year both personally and professionally. The thought of a new year, a new start exhilarates us. All the undesirable experiences of 2008 can now be put aside and replaced with positive thoughts of 2009. Some of us look forward to it because it is fresh and new and some of us have had a really trying year so we're desperate to start over. It's like when we were kids and we were playing with friends. Maybe we lost a game and we refused to accept it so we said, "Do over, do over." There was that innocence of childhood where the rules didn't bind us. There was nothing that said we couldn't do that over right then and there. And most of the time, we were able to convince our friends to do it over...except for those friends who wanted bragging rights. No luck there...

So naturally, the new year is coming, we want change, so we make our list of New Year's resolutions. It's a tradition and a great one. So why is it that after a couple of months, our resolutions fall to the way side, we can't even find our list, our resolutions slowly but surely become a distant memory. What is the #1 resolution? Going to the gym and getting fit. Year round members are now surprised that they have to wait in line for the treadmill. Who are these people and where did they come from? Until about March, and things return to normal.

After years of doing the same thing, making lists and not following through, I decided to change my strategy. The concept of a list of ways to make my life better was a good practice. I realized, however, that I treated it as a tradition, as a discrete task. So once the list was made, I was done. I had done my good deed to myself for the new year. Mentally, I invested in making the list but not in seeing the list through. So I switched gears. I began making a list of "goals." It may seem like semantics, but it made a difference to me. This is a list that I add to throughout the year as I learn things about myself; I usually update it several times per year. Sometimes I am inspired by someone else and other times I am determined to not make the same mistake twice. Although my list evolves throughout the year, I always begin the new year with a list of goals to work toward.

This form of goal setting is what works for me. Let's regain that innocence of childhood and not wait until the new year is coming to have the attitude of "Do over." Self-reflect throughout the year and make your goals throughout the year. Make it a habit, a way of life. Determine the things you want to "do over" or simply do better or begin doing in your life.

Here are two of my goals for the new year (so you can keep me accountable):

• Deepen relationships with family and friends. How well do you know your aunts and cousins? Yes, you are related, but what do you really know about them personally? What is your closest friend's favorite color? Sounds like a silly question you would ask the boy (or girl) in high school you had a crush on, but do you know the answer?
• Think more outside the box and consider [what seems to be] the impossible or unattainable. Look at the companies and professionals today who are thriving. Look at the technological advancements. Look at our new president-elect. The one thing that all of these examples have in common is the ability to think outside the box and challenge the existing platforms.

Best of luck for the new year! Be encouraged.

I was excited about the opportunity to blog on the Simmons Reconnect site because I now get the chance to reconnect with classmates and connect with the larger Simmons community. My experience at the School of Management both as an employee and a student was amazing and life changing. What I miss most is the mental stimulation and interaction of the staff, students, and faculty which exposed me to so many different perspectives. I always found it interesting that the discussion of one case study could yield a vast array of views and opinions...it made me wonder sometimes, "Did we read the same case?" But always in a good way. Blogging for Simmons will give me a chance to engage with the Simmons community, share my thoughts and continue to learn from you. I also look forward to feeling more connected to Simmons since I am no longer in the Boston area. With all the technological advancements, physical distance no longer means the same thing. Interestingly, I went on a business trip to California this week. As I was looking for something good and juicy to read, I came across a rack of Harvard Business School books. They are small books, quick reads and inexpensive. They feature different topics like "Managing Up" and "Business Communications" but all intended to help you become a better professional...in five minutes...how does that really work? Seriously though, they are very interesting...check them out. I purchased one for a friend from the Lessons Learned Series and of course had to read at least one chapter to validate the quality of the gift...not at all because I was tempted to keep it for myself.  In Straight Talk from the World's Top Business Leaders, Linda Gratton, Professor of Management Practice at the London Business School spoke of the importance of intentionally spending time with people who are different from you. Mix your life with people from different countries, different personalities, different interests, etc., she said. She apparently spent some time at the Royal College of Art and observed how fine artists are taught..quite a contrast to business school I am sure. To make a long story short, she walked away with a new approach that she felt could be applied to her program to make it more innovative and effective. So, in a nutshell, I am looking forward to hearing from all types of people and really tapping into the amazing people of the Simmons College community.