Ask a Media Expert!
Learn the tips and tricks of the trade with our media experts! Experts will give advice on how to utilize social media to further your impact, how to tell your story and more...
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183 days ago
HamZa Kkhan
good evening to all ,
i am studying in mechanical engineering and i have many ideas to became a entrepreneur but my favourite question or idea is that i think to do a power generate and supply and also act as a home appliances but the main important think is that i want this work with very small volume as well as WIRELESS any of expert can help me !
Sonia Bianchi
Thats great HamZa, you should check out http://www.changemakers.com to learn about more comeptitions focused on technology!
179 days ago
197 days ago
Our Local Markets
Thank you for such great advice! I have started a Pinterest account. Check it out here: https://pinterest.com/localmarkets/
I have also started to upgrade my Facebook page. I signed up with Hootsuite…I am slowly figuring it out.
Everything is connect up to our new website (which is still under construction): http://www.ourlocalmarkets.com/
I am havin fun! Thank you again.
Sonia Bianchi
Thats great! I can’t wait to follow!
193 days ago
199 days ago
Sonia Bianchi
Great discussion so far! Thank you Bianca. Just wondering, do you have any tips or tricks you’d like to share with our finalists for using social media to mobilize voters?
Bianca Bartz
Sonia — I think it’s amazing to create compelling social media content for your audience to keep them engaged, inspired and educated, but I also think there is a great advantage to influencer outreach. You can start by curating a list of 5 people to send personalized emails to, then ask them if they can put your message out to their networks. The key here is NOT to mass message everyone; select a small group, and make sure your message is sincere. And always ask how you can help them in return.
198 days ago
Sonia Bianchi
Thats totally makes sense Bianca, thank you for your advice!
198 days ago
207 days ago
April Dutheil
What is the best use of social media strategies to announce the launch of a project or new initiative?
Bianca Bartz
Take a look at the link I just sent Melissa below — does that help at all?
207 days ago
207 days ago
Melissa Durand
I am curious what and how you would suggest posting on social media, for an innovation that you have not yet launched. We have seen that we can get active in the communities that are relevant to Dream Networks cause, however I am a little hesitant to get people going on our Social Networking idea, without having actually launched the site yet. Any tips for breaking in when you have not yet launched your product?
Bianca Bartz
Hi Melissa! There’s a great article on using social media before you launch here: http://ow.ly/eKr1v — hopefully this answers some of your questions!
207 days ago
207 days ago
April Dutheil
What is the best social media tool to facilitate interactions between your customers? ie. How can customer-customer interaction be be facilitated, not just project to customer?
Bianca Bartz
April, are you trying to create dialogue among a community? What type of conversations do you want your customers to be having with each other?
207 days ago
Nabeel Shakeel Ahmed
There is no one ‘best’ social media tool, but what you can do is identify where your community is (ie LinkedIn, Twitter, FB or G+?) and then consider customer-customer interaction.
202 days ago
208 days ago
Our Local Markets
I find it difficult to tell our story. We’re on Twitter and Facebook. We also have a weekly newpaper blog and a separate blog for other things.
I am a little worried about Twitter because access has been compromised a couple of times and I have received a couple of responses from people that wanted to know what I was doing. Ha ha one response was from an editor of a local mainstream newspaper. As far as story telling, I was using Twitter for small announcements like “we started to build our new website!”
I started a Facebook page but am not really sure the best way to set it up. Some people post some not-so-good things on Facebook. What is the best way to manage the site?
The newspaper blog is neat. I don’t have much control over it. The website takes news links that were posted on Twitter during the week and forms them into an oldstyle newspaper format that is easy to read. Anyone can subscribe to it.
The other blog that I have is for our story. I haven’t done much with it yet. What is the best perspective to take?
Accprding to Stats Canada, over 84% of British Columbians have daily access to the internet. If we do things well we could reach many many people.
Bianca Bartz
Whenever you’re using social media, ask yourself if you’re creating value for your fans through interesting, engaging content. Ask yourself if those are the type of updates your friends would like to see in their Facebook or Twitter feeds. I would recommend making 20-30% of your social content about your own story and announcements, and the other 70-80% on topics that jive with your audience’s broader interests. That could be anything from “change the world” quotes and inspirational images, to questions that ask people what motivates them to contribute to social change.
208 days ago
Our Local Markets
Thank you for your excellent response Bianca. It makes perfect sense. The things that interest me will probably (hopefully) interest my audience. I will put together a portfolio of things that I find interesting then see what response I get from my Twitter and Facebook friends. I like good quotes they often give me a lift or food for thought. I also like reports about health. I will try to measure the response.
208 days ago
Sonia Bianchi
Great tip to keep in mind Bianca thank you! Later this week we’ll be featuring a piece by Bianca on some excellent ways to use Pintrest to further your message!
207 days ago
Bianca Bartz
Those sound like amazing ideas! Try a few different approaches, and watch closely to see how your fans respond. If you’re comfortable sharing links to your social media profiles, I can take a look and give you more detailed tips.
207 days ago
Our Local Markets
Here’s the FB page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Our-Local-Markets/471429672881846?ref=ts&fref=ts and here’s the Twitter account: http://twitter.com/OurLocalMarkets Here’s the blog: http://ourlocalmarkets.blogspot.ca/ I don’t know about Pinterest. Ha hat here’s lots I don’t know.
207 days ago
Our Local Markets
We have a website now too but it needs some cosmetic changes — less colour and no stripes. We are aiming for something simple and clean. Here it is: http://ourlocalmarkets.com/
207 days ago
Jessica Hannon
Good questions that I think are very relevant for BC Ideas entrants. And helpful responses, Bianca – thank you both! I found this blog post – http://www.commscorner.com/2012/10/how-to-avoid-social-media-one-hit.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+theCOMMScorner+%28COMMS+corner+%29#.UIb-VWk-tLc – helpful for the “Dos and Don’ts” list – the idea of ‘Sustainable Social Media’ is relevant here, in seeing if you’re creating value for your fans/followers.
207 days ago
Jessica Hannon
I find that social media can be frustrating if it feels like someone is posting for the sake of it, or going for numbers rather than true engagement. “Sustainable Social Media” focuses on building a relationship with your followers, so that you become a valued source of information, updates, and content.
207 days ago
Our Local Markets
I think that my audience would appreciate local news. Maybe I should write reports about local people or local food or what people are doing to create a sustainable community? I could capture local views with my camera as well.
207 days ago
Bianca Bartz
Jessica, those are some great resources! Thanks for sharing those.
206 days ago
Bianca Bartz
Regarding Our Local Markets, did you know all your responses on this forum are being pushed to your Twitter feed? I think your Twitter posts could use some refining. Always come back to the question: am I creating value for my followers? I think the custom paper.li you created for your brand is great, but I would use that as a resource to find specific story ideas to Tweet instead. Read each day’s issue, then pick your top stories and post them on their own. To prevent update-overload I suggest using Hootsuite.com so that you can schedule your posts on both Facebook and Twitter. Finally, I think the local people/food/sustainability angle is perfect! Video could be neat too, but not imperative at this point. I’d start with sharing news and links via FB and Twitter.
206 days ago
Our Local Markets
Thank you Bianca. I will follow through with all of your suggestions. I have never heard of Hootsuite. I think the best way to approach this is to put this thread on my list of favourites then work through everything. Thank you so kindly. I sure appreciate your expertise and offer to review my social media profiles.
206 days ago
Bianca Bartz
My pleasure!
204 days ago
209 days ago
Sonia Bianchi
Welcome Innovators! This week we’re discussing ‘How to Engage with the Media’. Our experts are here to help you learn the ins and outs of social media, how to tell your story and so much more. Cannot wait to read all your queries!