You've Got Mail

So I've been spending some time recently focusing on my own business, work challenges and goals. I definitely need to do more of this but frankly it feels like there are barely enough hours in the day to tend to all my client work, and I always put that first.

As I evaluate the heart of what I like to do and what I do most of, I'm realizing that it's very much the same type of work I was doing for $3.12/hour in college at my part time job and even similar to what I did for free in high school... creating newsletters.

Now at good old Hinsdale Central HS, we called our bi-weekly masterpiece a "newsmagazine" and these days what I do is called email marketing, but labeling aside, the work I enjoy most is creating a blend of news, human interest and interesting information... designed to make the reader pause and ponder.

I attempted just to do just that in my own newsletter this week... here's a link to it. Enjoy!

The Muse

There is a fun blog/website I've been subscribing to recently-- called themuse.com. It offers up all kinds of information about how to find a job, how to keep it, how to impress, be inspired, get that next promotion and stay out of the dog house with the boss or client.

There's a lot of content like this out there-- but I think the themuse.com is one of the best aggregators for it, especially for people just getting started in their careers (and many days, I feel like that's exactly where I'm at right now.)

Check out their post today on how to create a name for yourself-- tips from A-Z. Cute infographic and some pretty solid advice for this ever-changing business hive we're all buzzing around in.

Do you have a Muse? Or at least a go-to person or place that gives you a spark when it comes to your work? Would love to hear about him, her or it...

A Tip for Facebook Creepers

If you’re a Facebook “creeper” (and I know many of you are out there!) be aware that you’re News Feed probably isn’t as interesting as it could be these days. (I remember laughing about this term a few years ago when I heard it for the first time from my nieces -- mothers and aunts are notorious creepers!) 

If you’re a business owner, know that your content may be getting fewer views than it should and could!

The biggest social media network on the planet is continuously changing its algorithms and over the last few months these modifications have definitely prevented some posts from appearing on users’ pages if the user hasn’t liked or commented on what that poster has put up recently. How recently, I’m not exactly sure.

When you look it up on the Facebook’s official site they say “The News Feed algorithm uses several factors to determine top stories, including the number of comments, who posted the story, and what type of post it is (ex: photo, video, status update, etc.).”

I manage a few different Facebook pages for clients and local organizations and encountered this issue myself recently when I realized that the posts I was placing on behalf of my kids’ sports organization, weren’t showing up on my own News Feed!
I couldn’t figure out the problem until I realized I almost never “liked” the posts or commented on them. (I felt like doing so would be like giving myself a virtual high-five or pat on the back). 

Once I went through and “liked” old posts, I’ve noticed that I’m back in the loop and the Club’s posts are appearing on my personal News Feed again.

Obviously if you’re posting for your business, there’s no reason to be modest! Be sure you’re liking your own posts and you’ve requested that your employees do so as well (commenting would be even better!). Every time they do so it helps generate more visibility for your organization.

If you feel you're missing stories you'd like to see or seeing stories in your News Feed that you don't want to see, something else try besides interacting, is to go to News Feed controls and check out your settings.

To adjust the updates you see from your friends in News Feed:
1.      Go to a friend’s Timeline.
2.      In the top right, click Friends.
3.      If you want to see that friend’s stories in News Feed, make sure Show in News Feed is checked. Uncheck it if you don’t want to see their stories.

To choose what types of stories you want to see from that friend, click Settings. From there, you can:

•  Choose to see All Updates, Most Updates or Only Important stories from that friend.
•  Check stories that you want to see, like Life Events, Status Updates or Photos. Uncheck any story that you don’t want to see in News Feed.

If you’re a Facebook “creeper” and you “like it” that way, I get it. But know your creeping could be much more fulfilling if you hit that little “like” button more often.

It's Official!

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Ok-- now I've really gone and done it. I took the plunge and published my own website today. Phew!  

Creating a site really takes a lot of hard work, concentrated time, thought and effort. Of course I knew this intellectually but emotionally I didn't think I'd feel this nervous about "putting out my own shingle." I've been working for myself for about ten months now, but launching the site really makes things "official."

Thank you to everyone who has given ideas for the site and who have supported my professional efforts to date. 

And thank you a million times over to DJ Long for all the long hours you put into njkmarketing.com. So. Very. Appreciated!

Let me know what you think of it when you have a moment... ciao for now!

Congratulations Milestones!

Very excited for my client, Milestones for Kids Success. Their brand new website launched over the weekend and it looks terrific. Professional, approachable, well-organized and chock-full of great information and beautiful photography. Way to go Janet, practice founder and owner and nice work Vision Friendly-- the Naperville agency she hired to re-create the site.

All site content was written and/or edited by yours truly.

Milestones is an outstanding therapy group in Downers Grove with dedicated professionals, an amazing facility and now even more services, including holistic care.

Check out their site and all they have to offer, or pass the information along to a friend.

I'm looking forward to working on more projects with this great client.

Happy Monday!

Mental Mistakes

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I used to regularly work 40-60 hour weeks juggling multiple clients, six conference calls a day, while managing a diverse group of accounts, co-workers and multi-million dollar budgets. To say I worked error-free would be a complete fallacy, but I managed pretty darn well juggling it all and making what I believe to be an average number mistakes along the way. (Some more major than others, like cc’ing the client on a reply that he really shouldn’t have seen…) But my point is I was a busy, busy bee with the ability and opportunity to make MAJOR mistakes all the time, but luckily, this didn’t happen.

Now, my work is quite a bit less demanding. I still have clients who need stellar work done and I certainly have deadlines to meet but my calendar is mainly my own. If I’m lucky I have 3 client calls a week. With this new work life I know I’m in a great place, helping businesses with their writing, marketing and communication needs while still juggling the demands of my family, but I’m also recognizing that I’m in the middle of a weird work phenomenon…

The less busy I am, the more mental mistakes I make.

I wonder why this is? Is it physical? Perhaps I just can’t perform as well because I don’t have a constant stream of adrenaline running through me as I jump to project to fire drill to giving a presentation? Or is it a brain issue? Am I just not as sharp as I used to be because I’m not putting in the same work hours?

I hate making mistakes. Of course I'm not alone, who likes to make them?

When googling phrases like “the less busy I am the more mistakes I make” and “less busy at work, make more errors,” I come up with nothing. Not even another blogger like myself stewing on the topic.

Has anyone else faced this issue before?  I’d be interested to know...

Now it's time for me to get busier!

How I Did It

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One of my favorite online columns is a regular feature on Maria Shriver's website. It's called "How I Did It."

Reading these stories from women business owners, both large and small is very inspirational. A few of the articles have even spurred me to take action (like directly contacting the author to network/discuss business opportunities) and they definitely help me reaffirm my in-progress work philosophy of "do what you love & be sure you like who you're doing it with."

A re-occurring theme that I see again and again is the integration of our work lives and personal lives. Technology has made this inevitable over the last few years (much to some people's dismay) but I've really been doing it for more than ten, with one year-and-a-half break in time when I worked for a very large company.

I'm definitely back in the integration mode now. I have clients who are friends, neighbors and acquaintances. I also have "strictly business" clients, but I strive to get to know them a little on a personal level as we work together on creative communication efforts and I let them get to know me too. It brings so much more respect and texture to a business relationship. 

I've decided very definitively over the last year to only work for and with people I admire and those who have the respect of the key people around them. I know this may seem like a luxury, but it's one I hope I can retain throughout my work life.

In this week's "How I Did It" one of the things Jessica Herrin, Founder & CEO of Stella & Dot says about her management style is this,

"If you don't allow people to live their best life they'll opt out, and you'll lose their talent for good."

I really love this business philosophy. I know firsthand how powerful and effective it can be when it's truly followed by management in today's 24/7 accessible world. People will work hard for you, even during their "personal time," if you give them true flexibility and respect, not just lip service.

If you want to work for yourself, make a job change or gain a different perspective on how to run your business, take a few minutes to read some of the "How I Did It" pieces.

If you follow Maria Shriver on Facebook, they are linked to on a regular basis.

Time for me to get back to more work for clients I really like working for. Yes!

10 Social Media Commandments for Tweens

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I wrote yesterday about my eleven-year-old son joining a social media network, in particular Instagram. I mentioned I'd post family rules I created to set boundaries regarding just how much he shares and who he's sharing it with.

In our house, humor rules. So you'll see I've written our rules with a bit of light-heartedness and have entitled it as "Commandments." I shared them with C. last night and actually got a few chuckles out of him. But he understands these rules are serious.

I fully understand kids and social media can be a dangerous mix. There are cyber-bullies, hurt feelings among friends and of course there's the chance that a child's photos or information could be accessed by unseemly people or unauthorized entities. The website www.sociallyactive.com is a great resource to check out regarding children and internet safety. Their specific article about Instagram is very thorough.

If your child is on Instagram, check their profile. Be sure they haven't listed their last name, phone number or any location information. Also ensure that the button that says "Photos are Private" is listed as "ON" so they have to manually accept new followers and their photos aren't mapped geographically.

That being said, here are the 10 Commandments I put together this week.

K. Household Social Media Commandments for Tweens:

1.) Thou art only allowed to be a member of one social media network. You are not a marketer or journalist; you do not need votes as a “Dancing with the Stars” cast member, nor are you publishing a book anytime soon you must promote. I only have time to monitor one account for you, therefore, that is all ye shall have.
 

2.) I have the name and login for your current social media account and thou shall not change it. The penalty for breaking this rule will be swift and severe.

3.) I shall access and peruse your account from any device of my choosing, any time.

4.) I will delete or un-follow whomever I deem inappropriate. I’ll tell ye about it afterwards, but it shall be done at my discretion.

5.)Thou shall not follow or friend anyone you do not know. This means if you haven’t met them in person, i.e., you couldn't greet each other by name at Dairy Queen; they are not in your network. No friends’ cousins who just seem so very cool. No need for it right now. Learn to be clever and digitally socialize with people ye actually know.

6.) Thou shall present yourself online knowing your mother is monitoring your account, your friends’ mothers are monitoring theirs and with the understanding that what you put out there shall be out there forever. This means your future guidance counselor, babysitting employer or the sweet choir director from church should be able to look at what you post and not think one bit differently about the great kid you are.

7.) Thou shall not swear (excessively) and absolutely not at or against anyone. Friends or followers who do will be un-followed.

8.) No inappropriate photos shall be posted. In all photos of you that are posted you WILL be fully dressed. If you even think you should not post a photo, do not post it. (And if I think ye shouldn't have posted it, it’s gone in one swift click by me.)

9.) No sexual commentary or photos. Enough said. (I just can’t use any old-timey language here-- need to be straight and to the point.)

10.) Thou shall only check thy social media network very few times per day. Life is happening in real time with real people, places and events all around you. Thou shall not get sucked into a social world that is strictly virtual.

Let the Tween Social Media Monitoring Begin!

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It’s hard for me to fathom, but I’ve reached the stage of parenting where I have to monitor my “tween’s” social media account. Social Media monitoring is a pretty new parenting task. It's like the modern version of reading your child’s diary or regularly finding and reading the kooky notes he or she passes back and forth to friends in class. Right around his eleventh birthday, our son asked if he could get an Instagram account.

About Instagram
For those not totally familiar with the site, Instagram is a photo-based social media network that allows members to creatively edit and share their own pictures and other visual content. It’s wildly popular-- it only launched in 2010 now boasts a 100 million user base.Their terms of use include an age requirement of 13 years or older, restrictions against posting violent, nude, partially nude or sexually suggestive photographs plus responsibility for one's account and all activity conducted with it.  

When my son asked if he could have an account, I hedged and said I’d think about it. A few weeks later he basically took over the account I had set up for myself on my phone while we were hanging out in-between his hockey games. This is how he was able to get around the minimum age requirement, which I wasn’t aware of until I started researching for this post.

Why Allow a Tween to Have an Instagram Account?
For the last year, I've used Instagram myself and I've also actually monitored my friend's daughter's account. I think I knew what we were getting in to.

I determined that I didn’t want to stop progress and hinder my son from exploring social media, when obviously it will be a viable force during his teenage years and adulthood. I feel like allowing him to have a well-monitored account now gives me the chance to influence how he virtually behaves and what he posts, i.e. how he presents himself in the future to the forever-after digital world.

I allowed him to start using Instagram after laying down some basic ground rules. Over the last few weeks I’ve had a chance to view what my son and his friends are posting and I have to say that the process has brought up a lot emotions for me.  

The Rollercoaster Ride

• First, I’ve felt frustrated. What a time suck it is scrolling through his account to look at the goofy things these tweens post!
• Second, I’ve felt intrigued and even delighted to see how creative my son and cronies can be with what they choose to post and how they comment.
• This morning I felt a little ill. Most of what his friends are posting include pictures of Spongebob, Chicago Blackhawks tributes, animals playing soccer and close ups of their faces displaying various emotions ranging from elation to fierceness. But a few of the posts have included swear words, gangster-type slang and this morning—one of his friends posted a very pointed, sexual joke in the form of an old-fashioned looking cartoon (compliments of someecards.com).

This led me to a specific discussion with my son about why I had “un-followed” this friend on his behalf and spurred me to write my own ground rules for his social media activity. I think every parent should set social media rules that give them some level of comfort. Of course that means everyone's will be a bit different. 

By setting some boundaries (and by him pushing them) my hope is that my son and I will have on-going discussions about what's happening on social media and in his real social life as he ventures forth into junior high and high school.

I’m flying by the seat of my pants here, but tomorrow I'll post the Tween Social Media Rules I've drafted for my family. I'm sure they'll evolve over the next few months (weeks?) and years but I figured I'd have a go at it. Check back tomorrow and let me know...what have I left out? What should I modify? I'll be very interested in your feedback!

Keep Marching On

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"How to talk to your kids about the Boston Marathon Bombings" is "great content" and one of the main storylines for our national and local news outlets this morning. But for those of us who actually have to face this task, it's a dreadful experience. The reactions of our children can make us feel both relieved and worried.

Every parent has to cope with tragic world and national news in their own way. Some parents shield their children from the events as much as possible, some explain in detail. With the recent shootings in Newtown, CT. and now yesterday's act of terror in Boston, we've proactively talked to our three right away so they hear about it first in our language. When I think about it, our ultimate goal is to somewhat neutralize the story. Not that the events deserve to be neutralized-- innocent children and adults horrifically killed by senseless violence is outrageous and tragic but our children's lives need to go on. We feel they deserve to have their their psyches and nerves protected from becoming too damaged or frayed by terrible, unpredictable violence.

My just-turned eleven year old son takes the news yesterday like a small adult. His face pales, he walks away from me and sits down on the living room couch with tears swimming in his eyes. He drops his head in his hands for a minute. "Why?" he asks. 

My nearly 8 year old twins absorb the information more lightly. Both have goofy and lighthearted personalities right now but they act serious for a few moments when they talk to me about it. "Horrible, just horrible." is all they both seem to want to say right now.

We've had many discussions with our three over the years about the "war on terror." How it's really hard to "find the bad guys." That our law enforcement and government is "doing everything they can" to protect us. We talk about how the "President will make sure justice is served," "how we can't just bomb a whole country if we think the bad guys are there" and how "we can't let them win." We'll keep having those talks and answering their questions as best as we can.

In the end, what I hope they take in at this time is "we can't let them win." It's what we all must try take in. I consider myself an extremely patriotic person but I'll try to stop myself from writing a full-on anthem here. I'll just write a few words to hearten myself and hopefully whomever else might read this. 

We can't let them win. We won't let them win. Evil and violence have existed from the beginning of time but so has good, light and love. Americans are not perfect people but the truly evil among us are the vast minority. We are chock-full of everyday heroes. This world is vast but there are far more peaceful, loving souls than there are terrorists. We must go on and live our lives for today. Because tomorrow is not promised, be as joyful and fearless as possible. Pray that those who's lives have been terribly affected by senseless tragedy can someday, somehow do the same.