Most people know that I studied social media in graduate school. But, most don’t know that I also studied how people experience Time. Time with a capital T can actually be broken down into various dimensions. Some of these dimensions are: urgency, precision, scheduling, and pace. We all have 24 hours in a day but how we experience those hours is vastly different, even when our tasks are similar. While I applaud the fact that Google wants to save us a few milliseconds a search, I am not convinced that trying to guess my thoughts is the way to go. Why Predictive Technology is a BAD IDEA Google recently introduced Google Instant. Long gone are the days where you had to WAIT a few seconds for Google to deliver your results. Now, Google will deliver them as you TYPE. That’s right. Before you even finish a thought, Google will provide… read more

When I first started speaking about social media marketing in 2008, I’d survey the group to see how many people used social media sites. The majority of baby boomers in the room would NOT raise their hands. Fast forward to 2010, and there is rarely a soul in the room who isn’t using Facebook or LinkedIn. The PEW Internet Research Center just released a report on how older users are using social media. I wanted to share some of the key statistics here and my thoughts. Social networking use among internet users ages 50 and older nearly doubled—from 22% in April 2009 to 42% in May 2010. During the same period, use among those ages 65 and older grew 100%–from 13% to 26%. By comparison, social networking use among users ages 18-29 grew by 13%—from 76% to 86%. 1 in 10  internet users ages 50 and older now say they… read more

There are events in life that you prepare for: your wedding, the annual Thanksgiving dinner, graduation, the birth of your child. Then, there are events which you almost miss because you drank too much Pepsi and needed a bathroom break. Last night was such an event. When the Alliance of Women in Technology nominated me for the Tech Titan Emerging Company CEO award, I was grateful. I felt honored that they would deem me worthy of their nomination. When I made one of four finalists I was thrilled. I thought “wow! the Judges really wanted to encourage a young entrepreneur.” And, that’s where I stopped. I didn’t dare dream that I would actually WIN the award. My fellow finalists were top notch CEOs and had accomplished more in their careers than most people accomplish in multiple life-times. I was truly excited about the Gala. Mostly about dressing up, going out… read more

By: Shama Content marketing is an essential part of online marketing (and marketing in general) these days. If you have any information that helps educate your prospects and clients, chances are you are already engaging in content marketing. Once you have crafted your message, how do you get it out there? Top 50 Ways to Do Content Marketing As I was brainstorming for a client, I came up with the list below – 1. Webinar 2. Teleseminar 3. Video 4. Blog Post 5. eZine Article 6. Print Article 7. Tweets 8. Facebook Posts 9. Email 10. Printed Book 11. Kindle Book 12. Mobile App 13. IPAD App 14. Website 15. Interviews 16. Guest Post 17. Press Release 18. LinkedIn Answers 19. Facebook Fan Page 20. Calculators 21. Charts 22. Polls 23. Editorials 24. Graders 25. Quizzes 26. Powerpoint 27. Skype 28. Squidoo Lens 29. RSS Feed 30. Facebook Group 31…. read more

By: Shama I often get asked why I don’t write more about LinkedIn and how to use LinkedIn for business purposes. For all those who keep asking – and for the rest of us – here are five ways you can amp up your LinkedIn experience. Five minutes. Five steps. (Take that 30 minute meals! Someone get this girl a show!). Jokes aside – here are my tips. Minute 1 – Add 7 Descriptive Keywords to your Specialties Area. Think not only about your specialties within the industry – but also how people outside the industry may seek you out. For example, airline companies for the longest time bickered over the keyword “low airfares.” Until, someone (probably in the marketing department of course) discovered that people were looking for “cheap airfare.” Also, think globally and locally. Example: Search Engine Optimization but also Dallas SEO. Minute 2 – Add your LinkedIn… read more

Dear Consumer, “Far better is it to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure… than to rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy nor suffer much, because they live in a gray twilight that knows not victory nor defeat.” Theodore Roosevelt. This is one of my favorite quotes – perhaps because I consider myself a constant creator and editor at heart. I was speaking with a reporter from MSNBC today, and we started talking about business ethics. As we explored what it means for businesses to be ethical, it made me think about the flip side of the coin – consumer ethics. We as Consumers Have NEVER Had This Much Power It is 1972 – you are watching a Television ad for a product you know sucks. What do you do? It ranges from nothing to telling your next door neighbor to perhaps yelling… read more

It seems like every day we wake up, Facebook has implemented a new policy or added a new dimension overnight. With almost 500 million users, it is truly turning into the ultimate powerhouse. Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook, has even revealed plans for Facebook to hit 1 billion users by targeting countries where Facebook isn’t yet as infiltrated – countries such as Korea, Russia, and Vietnam. With more users, more features, comes greater opportunity to leverage Facebook for marketing purposes. Here are the top five things you need to know about Facebook marketing. 1) Facebook Fan Page Admin Rule – Previously, if you created a Fan Page using your profile (you have to have a profile to create a page), you were the default Admin – forever. You could add more administrators, but you couldn’t disconnect the page from your profile. Now, it doesn’t matter who creates the page. You… read more

Summer time is here! In Texas this means hot summers, ice-tea, swimming pools, and barbecue. It also means lots of student and graduates are looking for internships. As resumes fill my inbox, and I find myself dispensing advice more often than usual, a blog post on the topic seems fitting. 1) Re-do the Resume – As a student, I never understood it. My resume looked JUST like the template provided by the career center. Big mistake! As an employer, I hate seeing such resumes. Tweak your resume for each position. If you can’t take 30 minutes to do that, then don’t consider applying for that position. You don’t want it badly enough. 2) Beef up your LinkedIn Profile -Before you ask your parents and their friends to forward your resume, think twice. Instead, beef up your LinkedIn profile. Now, give the profile address to your network. Make it easy for… read more

“Super! Danke. Ciao.” – That is my chosen foreign phrase around here. I am in St. Gallen in Switzerland for the Leaders of Tomorrow Symposium. Every year, 200 young leaders are invited to join the symposium to discuss entrepreneurship. This is the 40th year, and I was honored to receive an invitation. Over 46 countries are represented. This is a two day “pre-programme”, then the actual symposium with today’s leaders starts. Today was the 2nd day. Here is a recap of my two days here so far. Day 1 – I landed in Zurich at 8:30 am. That would be about 1:30 AM Dallas time, so I was extremely jet lagged. After quickly refreshing in one of the airport bathrooms, I decided to buy a pre-paid SIM card for an unlocked phone so I could make and accept emergency calls. There are two big carriers in Zurich – Sunrise and Yellow…. read more

I can’t BEGIN to tell you how excited I am. As many of you know, I’ve worked really hard on my first book – The Zen of Social Media Marketing: An Easier Way to Build Credibility, Generate Buzz and Increase Revenue. Well -it is FINALLY here! Amazon has released it and so have bookstores across the country. The BUZZ is building! – I debuted it on Good Morning Texas last week. – FastCompany.com wrote a review of it here: http://bit.ly/fastcompanyshama – I am on the COVER of this month’s Online Strategies Magazine: http://www.onlinestrategiesmag.com/ Now, I need your help because I couldn’t have gotten this far without your support. Here is how you can help: 1) Order your copy if you haven’t already done so. You can grab it online at http://www.ZenofSocialMedia.com or at Amazon: http://amzn.to/zsmmbook 2) Contact your local bookstore and library to make sure they get a copy. 3)… read more