When Phil Hollows and I met for the first time over a cup of coffee in June of last year, little did we know that it would be just one of many conversations about social media that we’d be having on a regular basis.

The difference between that initial meeting between us and every other since is that many others who share an interest in Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogs and the like have joined us for what we call the Sudbury Social Tweetup.

At our most recent Tweetup last Thursday night at Bistro 20 in Sudbury, I had the opportunity to speak to the group about “Twitter for Business in Five Easy Steps,” including…

1. Find and Be Found
2. Use a Good Dashboard like TweetDeck
3. Engage Your Constituents on Twitter
4. Maintain an Active, Interesting Twitter Stream
5. Measure Your Performance

What follows are the slides I used for my presentation. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments. And if you’re ever in the neighborhood on the last Thursday evening of the month, please don’t hesitate to join us for the Sudbury Social Tweetup.

To follow Bob’s #SudburySocial list on Twitter, click here.

Related Reading

Talking about Social Media in Sudbury, Massachusetts by Bob Cargill

Ten Tips for Hosting a Successful Tweetup by Bob Cargill

When I was asked to host a Tweetup at the New England Direct Marketing Association’s annual holiday party last month at Tavern in the Square in Porter Square (Cambridge, MA), I knew right away who I wanted to have on the program.

Victoria Smith

For entertainment, I turned to Victoria Smith, a very talented singer and songwriter, who put on a fabulous show for us.

As for the educational piece, I asked my friend and former colleague, Jeff Esposito, to permit me to interview him about his experience with social media as a public relations manager at Vistaprint. Jeff is one the most prolific people I know in social media, having tweeted over 48,500 times to date, not to mention all the blog posts he writes and videos he records. Seriously, Jeff’s knowledge in this space, not to mention his energy, is off the charts.

Sitting at a small round table at the front of the crowded restaurant, surrounded by a rapt audience of NEDMA members and guests, Jeff and I had an awesome discussion that night about how he uses Twitter, Facebook and the like to help Vistaprint enhance its brand, provide customer service and sell merchandise. The interview went over so well that I thought it would be great to feature some of his thoughts on social media here on my blog. So I asked Jeff if he would be kind enough to answer some of my questions in writing, and he graciously said yes. What follows is our written “transcript”…

Bob: Please tell us a little about Vistaprint.
Jeff: Vistaprint is an online provider of marketing materials for micro businesses and the home.

Bob: How does Vistaprint typically communicate with and market to its customers?
Jeff: Like many companies involved with NEDMA, Vistaprint is a direct marketer that leverages a number of marketing channels. These include everything from catalogs and direct mail to search engine ads and TV campaigns.

Jeff Esposito

Bob: When and how did Vistaprint get started with social media?
Jeff: We started out in social media in 2008 around the time of Stephen Baker and Heather Green’s cover story in BusinessWeek entitled “Beyond Blogs.” After reading the article, the PR team was tasked with figuring out Twitter. We listened for six months or so to get a sense of how the network operated. When we first started tweeting, we were told that we were doing it wrong, so we asked the community what they wanted from us. With that feedback, we altered our strategy and then applied that to other networks as they emerged (including Facebook, which at the time was not open to non-students).

Bob: What is a typical day like for you there?
Jeff: Every day is different. Our team engages with customers from 9-5 on Facebook and Twitter. We also take a look at how the company is being mentioned across social media sites in comparison to our competition.

Bob: How do you measure the success of your social media initiatives?
Jeff: We look at a number of different areas for success in our social media program including direct revenue from social media, conversation share, equated net promoter score and SIM score.

Bob: What have been some of your biggest challenges and successes?
Jeff: One of the biggest challenge to any company working in social media is finding the time. You will never have as many resources as you would like for this ever-evolving channel so it is a matter of working within resources. It is also important to evaluate opportunities on new networks and if they are something that your company should embrace right away.

Bob: Does Vistaprint have a social media policy and, if so, what does it include?
Jeff: Our policy contains what our employees are and are not allowed to do within social media. This mostly focuses on speaking or acting on behalf of the company.

Bob:What is your favorite and/or most successful social media channel?
Jeff: It is hard to decide and is like choosing between your children as a favorite. On one hand, Twitter is great for getting quick-hit updates and conversations which are very valuable. Facebook on the other hand is great for building up a community and longer-lasting relationships with customers. The network also offers really good metrics to see if your efforts are paying off.

Bob: What do you feel are some of the biggest benefits of using social media?
Jeff: The biggest is in building relationships. Social media is also a very good at seeing unfiltered commentary on your company from your customers.

Bob: Can you name some other companies that are using social media well?
Jeff: Locally, Boloco is company doing some pretty innovative things via social media. On a more global scale, I always keep tabs on what Dell, Ford and Major League Baseball are doing. Recently I have been keeping a close eye on the NFL teams in the playoffs that are doing some pretty cool contests for their fans.

Bob: Who has had an influence on you in the field of social media?
Jeff: The list could go on and on, but the five I always look at are Julien Smith, Geoff Livingston, Olivier Blanchard, Jason Falls and Laura Fitton.

Bob: What advice would you give to others who are trying to learn social media or install a social media program at their place of employment?
Jeff: The biggest thing is to go in with a clear plan and goals. Pick what you are going to measure and stick to it. Without a plan or measures, you are setting yourself up for failure.

Thanks, Jeff. And thanks to those of you who took the time to read my “interview” of Jeff. If you have any questions about social media for him, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment here on my blog or feel free to contact him directly via Twitter, Facebook or his blog. I’ve listed his, along with Victoria’s, contact information below.

Jeff Esposito’s Contact Information
Twitter
Facebook
Blog

Victoria Smith’s Contact Information

Twitter
Facebook
Website

This post was initially published on BostInnovation on September 14, 2011. To read the original post there, click here.

There’s a palpable camaraderie among most people who use social media, a strong sense that we’re all in this together and out for the same things — new friendships, opportunities and experiences.

Unfailingly, we jump onto Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and our own blogs to listen and learn, chat and connect, educate and entertain, inform and inspire, publicize and promote.

Sure, you see a fair share of debate and dissent in social media. It’s not always sunshine and roses. But more often than not, you see a rousing demonstration of mutual respect and quid pro quo, the golden rule being put into practice.

That’s what I like about social media. More often than not, you can count on the crowd for inspiration and support. Like a big group hug, it’s reassuring, to say the least.

And that’s what I like about a Tweetup, too, where you’re surrounded by a small sea of kindred spirits, many of whom you’ve exchanged tweets with but have never met before in person.

If you haven’t been to one yet, a Tweetup is similar to any other networking event except that it’s promoted heavily via Twitter and the majority of those in attendance are social media zealots.

Many Tweetups have an agenda, of course — featuring guest speakers, entertainment, food, beverages, giveaways and more — but some are simply social gatherings of like-minded folks. What takes place there is left to the hosts’ discretion. They set the tone. They makes the rules.

The focus of the two Sudbury Social Tweetup events I co-hosted (with Phil Hollows, CEO of Feedblitz and author of “List Building for Bloggers“) at Bistro 20 in Sudbury this summer was mainly getting to know one another and talking about how each of us in the room uses social media. It felt good to see that there were so many others in the Sudbury area who share the same unbridled passion for these relatively new online communications platforms and principles. It was definitely a lot of fun.

Here’s what I’ve learned so far as co-host of the Sudbury Social Tweetup…

Ten Tips for Hosting a Tweetup

1. Choose the right date and location. Getting a critical mass of people to attend a Tweetup is more than half the battle, so you want to make it as convenient as possible for them to be there. Think of a cool hang-out, a place that’s easy to get to and popular with everyone. And take a good look at the calendar to make sure there are no major conflicts – holidays, competing events, etc. – with the date of your event.

2. Come up with a good hashtag. Because you’ll be relying so heavily on Twitter for promotion of your event, having a hashtag – a keyword or term, preceded by the # sign, used for search and categorization on Twitter – that stands out is important. Phil and I turned the name of our Tweetup into the hashtag, #SudburySocial, which we’ve encouraged others to include in their tweets about it.

3. Invite plenty of people. Once you know when and where your Tweetup is going to be held, and you’ve decided on a hashtag, you can start the invitation process. Obviously, there are a variety of ways to reach out to potential attendees en masse (email blasts, blog posts, etc.), but consider approaching some people individually, especially those who you know very well or whose presence is critical to the success of the event.

4. Leverage mainstream media. To help get the word out about the Sudbury Social Tweetup, I wrote a simple press release and submitted it to the Sudbury Town Crier and Sudbury Patch, both of which ran with it. This helped us reach folks who were interested in learning more about social media, but who might still rely on mainstream, more traditional media for their news and information.

5. Ask your friends for assistance. You’d be surprised how many people are glad to be asked to join your team of volunteers. Acting as your own brand ambassadors, your friends and colleagues can help you spread the word about the event, track down sponsors, book entertainment and so much more.

6. Use an online registration service such as Eventbrite. I’ve used Eventbrite, a free event registration service, to manage registrations for the two Sudbury Social Tweetups we’ve had so far, and I can’t tell you how impressed I’ve been with it. It’s incredibly easy to use. But at the same time, it’s also quite sophisticated, offering a multitude of ways to create and promote a fabulous event

7. Don’t forget Boston TweetUp. Run by Joselin Mane, Boston TweetUp not only keeps a handy calendar of Tweetups and other similar networking events, it helps promote these business-related get-togethers via Boston TweetUp TV and plenty of timely, pleasantly surprising tweets.

8. Bring name tags and felt-tip pens. You may know everyone there, but many people will be meeting others in attendance for the first time. As your guests arrive, kindly ask them to write their name and Twitter handle – legibly – on the name tags you’ve provided, which will make it much easier for them to approach complete strangers and introduce themselves with confidence.

9. Make sure to mingle. Whether your hosting the event or not, it’s important to make the rounds, to chat it up with as many people as possible. It’s not just about being polite. It’s about taking full advantage of the many great networking opportunities that may exist in the room.

10. Share what you know about social media. Besides having a good time and making new friends, pretty much everyone who attends a Tweetup is interested in learning more about social media. Invite a guest speaker. Or go out of your way to share your own knowledge about the subject, either through a formal presentation to the group or simply in impromptu, one-on-one conversations.

Did I miss anything? What has been your experience with Tweetups? Have you ever attended one? Have you ever hosted one? What do you think are the ingredients of some of the most successful Tweetups? Please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts by leaving a comment about this post below.

Additional Resources and Information Regarding Tweetups

HOW TO: Organize a Successful Tweetup (Mashable)
Boston Tweetup shares tips on how to host a successful Tweetup (Eventbrite Blog)
Bridging Offline/Online: Tweetups (Beth’s Blog)
Planning a Tweetup (TwiTip)
Twitter Tip Tuesday: Host a Tweetup (Sprout Social Insights)
How to Organize a Successful Tweetup (Social Media Today)
How to Throw a Great Tweet-Up (Social Media Explorer)

This post was initially published on BostInnovation on July 28, 2011. To read the original post there, click here.

Today – thanks to social media, smartphones and other new digital communications platforms and tools – what the savviest of consumers are asking of their favorite brands is almost as much as they’d expect from their best friends and family. They want your time, support and undivided attention – and they want it at their convenience. It’s not just due to modern technology, though. It’s a bold, new sense of entitlement that’s been enthusiastically adopted by those on the receiving end of your messages.

In this era in which the corporation has ceded control – albeit reluctantly – to the customer, businesses can’t afford to be seen as out of touch, behind the times or just plain unavailable. How do marketing professionals who are both behind the scenes and on the front lines of the brands they represent adapt to, if not embrace, such a monumental paradigm shift?

Here’s one thought. Study the communications styles and strategies of some of the most popular television news reporters in Boston, men and women who seem to always be on the cutting-edge when it comes to connecting with a demanding audience. Here are four lessons you can learn from these folks and act on immediately across all of your marketing channels.

1. Have a flair for the dramatic. Like WHDH 7NEWS reporters Dan Hausle, Ryan Schulteis and Susan Tran and their colleagues do, tell a good story whenever you have the opportunity. Unlike them, however, you don’t have to be covering a bad accident, a huge fire or a serious crime to capture people’s attention. In and of itself, your product or service should be news-worthy enough. Whatever you’re pitching, wherever you’re pitching it, use emotional, descriptive language to get your points across effectively and make your brand stand out in a competitive marketplace.

2. Don’t miss a beat. Take advantage of the fact that breaking news is so hard to ignore. Nonprofit organizations have always done this especially well, either asking for text donations or sending telegram-like direct mail fundraising packages that impart a sense of urgency as soon as possible after natural disasters. But current events don’t have to be related to your business in order for you to share them with your constituency and benefit from the exposure. Leveraging social media, any organization can act like a broadcaster and provide live, real-time news updates that will help call attention to your brand.

3. Put a smiling face on your brand. Long gone are the days when the public will hang on every word said about your company. Even if what you have to offer is the best thing since sliced bread, it just isn’t that simple anymore. There are too many reasons to tune you out. If people aren’t too busy to listen to you, they’re either skeptical or easily distracted – and yes, quick to exercise their many options. That’s why you need to put personality into your promotion and a smiling face on your brand. It’s even good to laugh it up once in while. Watch Gene Lavanchy, Kim Carrigan, Elizabeth Hopkins, Doug VB Goudie, and Cindy Fitzgibbon on the FOX 25 Morning News. They don’t take themselves too seriously. Yet they’re talented, charismatic and extraordinarily good at their craft, perfect role models, if you ask me, for anyone who’s trying to win over an audience.

4. Engage with your audience. For the same reason television news reporters interview bystanders on the scene of a big story, ask viewers to share photos (see the WBZ-TV Weather Watchers, for a good example) and talk to their fans on Twitter, marketers should be mingling with their own constituents. Ask your customers and prospects to post product reviews, eyewitness reports and other forms of consumer-generated media online. It behooves you to receive such direct, honest perspectives from those whose attention you covet. But there’s another, perhaps even more important, reason to interact with the public. Commerce has gone social. People are talking about you (online and off), whether you like it or not. So it pays to inject yourself into those conversations and – ideally – win more friends in the process.

I’ve created a lot of lists on Twitter, including one for copywriters, another one for New England social media professionals and even one that I call All Star Bloggers. But out of all of these lists, the one that’s been on my mind lately is the list which includes the people and companies (38 and counting) I’ve found on Twitter from my hometown of Sudbury, Massachusetts.

You see, while I really only know personally a handful of these Sudbury-affiliated account-holders, my goal when I created this list was to get to know as many of them as possible. So little by little, I’ve retweeted them and reached out to them, thinking that you never know what might come of this small community within, well, a small community. But it wasn’t until I recently sat down for a cup of coffee with fellow Sudbury resident, Phil Hollows, that an idea I had been bandying about for a while with my neighbors and friends in town actually took root.

I knew Phil from Twitter, but this was actually the first time we had met in person. After chatting for a few minutes about our respective professional backgrounds and families, we quickly agreed to put on a Tweetup in Sudbury, which we hope will bring together business people in town who are interested in discussing — and learning more about – social media.  

What follows is the official “announcement” of this Tweetup (which I can’t tell you how excited I am to be co-hosting)…

You’re Invited to the Sudbury Social Tweetup on Thursday, July 21

Two Sudbury residents, Bob Cargill and Phil Hollows, will be hosting a free Tweetup called “Sudbury Social” on Thursday, July 21, at Bistro 20 at 120 Boston Post Road in Sudbury from 6-8 P.M.

The purpose of this networking event is to bring together business people, marketers and professionals who live or work in the Sudbury area who want to meet others from the community and learn more about such social media communications tools as Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and blogs. 

“Both Phil and I thought a Tweetup – which gives people who may have already met one another online, the chance to meet face-to-face, in person – would be a fun way to introduce those in the community who are interested in social media to one another,” says Cargill, a copywriter, creative director and social media consultant.

“We’re looking forward to getting to know others in town who have the same passion for social media as we do,” says Hollows, the CEO of Feedblitz and author of “List Building for Bloggers.”

To register to attend the Sudbury Social Tweetup, go to http://sudburysocial.eventbrite.com. For more information on the event, please contact either Bob Cargill at Cargill123@gmail.com or Phil Hollows at phil@feedblitz.com. If you decide to write about the event online, the hosts ask you to use the hashtag, #SudburySocial.

For about seven years in the 1990s, I was self-employed, doing my thing as a freelance copywriter and creative director for my own small business, Cargill Creative. It was the time of my career, a period of exhilaration and entrepreneurship I’ll never forget. As challenging as it was to have to fend for myself, it felt good to know that almost everything I achieved was dependent on my own abilities and actions, not necessarily on any outside factors.

I was working on a high wire without a safety net and I liked it.  

As I wrote here on this blog back on June 1, 2004, about this experience…

Cargill Creative was a “virtual” agency with unlimited potential but resources that were only so deep. Schooled as a creative, I recast myself out of necessity as an account executive, a traffic manager, a salesman and an accountant, too. Occasionally I had enough money in the coffers to employ an additional writer, but for the better part of this gig it was just me, myself and I, the accidental principal who wore all the hats, the chief, cook and bottle washer. The hours were long, the responsibilities were endless, but the upside of being my own boss was the autonomy and freedom, and my professional inhibitions ran wild. It’s no coincidence that during this stretch of new found glory I explored options that might otherwise not have been available to me, throwing myself into three organizations — Toastmasters, The New England Direct Marketing Association and The MetroWest Leadership Academy — that, collectively, would have a long-term impact on not just my career, but also my growth as an individual. Call it ambition. Call it survival. Call it biting off more than I could chew (well, almost). But clearly I was refusing to be intimidated by any unfounded fears of failure, knowing full well that much of what I was doing I was doing either then or never.

I wrote the following list of “The 10 Qualities of the Professional Freelancer” back in 1995, when I was in the thick of it as Cargill Creative, but I think it’s timeless and relevant enough to republish here on my blog in 2011.

While I’m not a full-time freelancer today, I still handle an occasional freelance project on the side and I still believe strongly that any copywriter (or designer), self-employed or not, who has these qualities has the best chance to succeed.

The 10 Qualities of the Professional Freelancer

Here are 10 good qualities a freelance copywriter or graphic designer needs to succeed as a professional. If you are a freelancer, have fantasized about such an existence, or simply hire these sole practitioners, the following list is for you.

1. Fastidious. A freelancer has to be excessively critical of his or her own work and take great care to do everything right, because there is no one else to blame but yourself if something goes wrong.

2. Resourceful. A freelancer must be able to deal skillfully with new problems and unique challenges, because each job is going to be different and each client expects you to be — or, at least, to become — an expert in their field.

3. Enthusiastic. A freelancer should approach his or her craft with spirit and intensity; that way, you will enjoy your work days and the bane of your existence, deadlines, won’t be so intimidating.

4. Experienced. A freelancer should possess a body of work and a history in the business for two reasons: 1) You need to show prospects what you have done in order for them to become clients and; 2) You need to know the rules before you can break the rules.

5. Lionhearted. A freelancer needs to be extremely courageous in order to succeed. To run your own business takes guts. You are out there on your own. You have to be willing to take risks. And able to take the heat when the pressure is applied.

6. Artistic. A freelancer must express his or her creativity. You have to be able to look at things differently, do things differently, and dare to be different yourself. As Pablo Picasso once said, “Some painters transform the sun into a yellow spot, while others transform a yellow spot into the sun.”

7. Nocturnal. A freelancer should be prepared to work long hours, often well into the night, in order to complete his or her assignments on time. There are moments during the day — meetings, phone calls, etc. — when it becomes obvious that the only block of uninterrupted time you are going to come by is when the day is over.

8. Congenial. A freelancer needs to know how to win friends and influence people. Be agreeable and positive in nature and disposition. Clients will like doing business with you and networking will come easy.

9. Educated. A freelancer must know a lot about a lot of things in order to work successfully with a variety of clients. Read voraciously — books, magazines, newspapers, the Internet, you name it. Attend seminars. Ask questions of your mentors and peers. And never close your mind.

10. Rebellious. A freelancer needs to question the norm in order to find a better way of doing things. You are a hired gun. Someone who has stepped out of line and been called on to run with the ball. Don’t be a troublemaker. But don’t be a conformist, either.

Of course, there are countless qualities that the freelancer — any freelancer — should possess, too many to mention in one blog post alone. So what do you think? What qualities do you feel are essential to the success of the professional freelancer in 2011? Please share your thoughts by leaving a comment below. And thanks, as always.

If you haven’t joined the AMA Boston Connect Community yet, you’re missing out on a great opportunity. Created on the Ning platform by Myles Bristowe, AMA Boston Past President and CMO at CommCreative, this popular online network recently celebrated the fact that over 2,000 marketers – including yours truly – have now established a presence there.

Indeed, to commemorate this milestone, a bunch of us pulled ourselves away from our desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones for a couple hours of good, old-fashioned socializing recently at the Connect Community Tweetup held at Performable, a marketing automation and analytics company in Cambridge.  

I was happy to catch up with a few good friends in the business, including Jamie Bradley and Lew Sabbag, as well as to meet a handful of people for the first time, including Keith Spiro and Christina Inge.

And then there’s Jessica von Goeler. Talk about taking initiative. In the spirit of the event, Jessica was kind enough to introduce herself by email before the festivities had even begun (having gotten my contact information via Eventbrite), telling me she would like to have the opportunity to meet me there and hear about what I do for a living.

Needless to say, I was flattered that she was interested in connecting with me, so I couldn’t help but keep an eye out for her as I was doing what I could to make my way around the room that evening. So I just want to thank Jessica, first for breaking the ice with her introductory email, and second, for agreeing to be interviewed here on my blog.

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing Jessica von Goeler, networker extraordinaire and, well, I’ll let her tell the  rest of the story…

Bob: Please tell us about yourself, Jessica, including a few details about your professional experience and accomplishments as well as something not related to your livelihood.

Jessica: My professional career started as an engineer aboard a tug boat in the Gulf of Mexico shortly after graduating from the Massachusetts Maritime Academy with a Bachelor of Science in Marine Engineering. After a couple of years of this type of work, on and off shore, I pursued my MBA from Worcester Polytechnic Institute while working in the family retail business in Harvard Square. Along the way, I found my passion for helping others and began a new career in the non-profit industry where I’m most known for managing financial literacy programs. My other non-profit achievements include community organizing for the pivotal smoke-free regulations in Salem, MA, increasing philanthropic giving by more than 20% to nonprofit organizations, and earning a Community Service Award from the Salvation Army Cambridge, MA Corp. While I continue to volunteer in my community, I have recently transferred my experience in essentially managing corporate social responsibility programs, special events, and cause marketing campaigns into a public relations role at a marketing consulting company.

I’m a third-generation Rotarian. My grandfather brought me to my first meeting and the experience is one of my fondest memories of him. I’m proud to have been awarded a Paul Harris Fellow by my Rotary Club in recognition of my accomplishments while Club President (2008-09). For five years, I served as the Club’s Speaker Chair and just changed roles this year to become the Public Relations Chair.

I’m an avid sailor with over 35 years on the water.  I raced J24’s out of Beverly and Marblehead Massachusetts for almost 15 of those years and participated in many Marblehead Race Weeks and Jubilee Yacht Club’s Travis Roy and Around the Rocks Regattas.  I’m looking forward to a relaxing season on my J24, Black Magic.
 
Bob: Why did you join the AMA Boston Connect community?

Jessica: The AMA Boston Connect community seemed like a good opportunity to increase my knowledge of social media in ways that would benefit my contributions to corporate social responsibility and public relations initiatives.

Bob: What prompted you to attend the AMA Boston Connect Community Tweetup?

Jessica: I think a blend of in-person and social media interactions can build strengthen relationships.

Bob: What’s your experience with social media so far?

Jessica: For my first several years using social media, I just maintained a LinkedIn profile and added contacts. The last few months, I’ve been participating in conversations to advance my knowledge and career. I landed my recent PR position through a group discussion. About a year and a half ago, I joined Facebook, because a college friend told me it was “mad fun.” I have lots of fun sharing pictures, catching up with friends, and making plans. I also maintain a private YouTube account for sharing family videos.  

I was first awed by the power of social media when I helped a Rotary Exchange Student my Club sponsored when she got stranded in the Atlanta Airport on her way home. I recently started a Facebook group, MBTA: A Child in a Stroller is a Safe Child, and it gained 100 members in the first day. Motivated by the social impact I have experienced so far with Facebook, I signed up for Twitter and had been browsing tweets until speaking with you and Keith. I’m now Tweeting.

Bob: What social media platform are you most active on and why?

Jessica: Hands down, LinkedIn. I use LinkedIn to promote myself as a professional, find mutually beneficial connections, and advance my knowledge as a professional and volunteer.

Bob: What role do you think social media will play in your career in the future?

Jessica: Social media will give people I’m working with an opportunity to easily learn more about me and vice versa. I plan on continuing to build mutually beneficial relationships through social media sites. I think it would be fun to incorporate it into cause marketing and fund-raising initiatives.

Bob: Could you write a tweet (140 characters or less) that would be the equivalent to your “elevator speech” and share it with us?

Jessica: I’m a leader in high profile community affair initiatives and known for my work empowering people to reduce debt and increase savings.

Bob: And, finally, what are your three biggest questions about social media?

Jessica: Where do people find the time to participate in social media? Why does it seem so many social media guru’s have a day job loosely, if at all, connected to social media? And what’s being done to address further disparities being created by social media for people without online access?

If you have any answers to Jessica’s three questions above, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. Or, of course, feel free to get in touch with her directly. You can find her on both LinkedIn and Twitter via the links below.

Jessica von Goeler

To view Jessica’s LinkedIn profile, click here.
To follow Jessica on Twitter, click here.
To join the AMA Boston Connect Community, click here.