Thanks for reading and interacting with me on my blog; your comments and feedback mean a lot to me. I hope you have a happy holiday!

I can’t believe how long it’s been since my last post. I wanted to start this blog to give a fresh perspective on social media, technology, and sociology. I’m not sure I’m accomplishing any of that, but I’m working on being patient with myself as I develop this site and as I develop my blogging voice. It’s been difficult for me because I’m so use to writing on behalf of someone else or on behalf of an organization; it’s hard to suddenly step out of the shadows and share my own thoughts. The truth is, there are lots of reasons I’ve put off writing and lots of questions that pop into my mind when I think of blogging. Here are just a few:

• Does anyone care what I have to say?
• Will people judge my writing?
• Do I have anything valuable to add?

90% of the time I start a blog and stop because of these questions. Over Thanksgiving my Dad gave me a CD filled with songs he wrote. The album is great and I really enjoy it; it seemed like putting it together was a breeze for him. After talking with him about it he shared that when he initially started writing he felt the same ways I do and struggled with the same questions. As he moved forward in the process he began to realize it didn’t matter if anyone like the work; the album was for him. Is it nice if people like his work? Yes, but ultimately he creates because he enjoys creating. I’m starting to look at this blog the same way; this blog is for me and I hope people find some value it in, but if they don’t that’s okay too.

Fellow bloggers, have you experienced similar feelings when writing your posts? If so, how have you moved past those questions of self-doubt?

On Friday a group of social media friends and I went to see The Social Network. As many of you may know, the film is about how Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg came up with the idea of Facebook, how the company was launched, and the drama that occurred as a result of some of his less than ethical business decisions. The story, which is written by West Wing writer Aaron Sorkin,  is based on factual information, but — like any great Hollywood film — there are parts that are fictionalized. As an audience member it’s up to you to discern what is true and what’s not, which is very difficult to do.  Overall, the film was pretty good; as a group we gave the movie about a 7 out of 10. The acting was great and the writing was excellent, but it’s not the best film I’ve ever seen. One thing to note is the musical score, which was done by Trent Reznor. The score is amazing and the way music was used in the film was pretty cool too.

After watching the film, the group I went for a cup of coffee and had a chat about our thoughts on the film. One of the most interesting things we talked about was how creative the idea of Facebook is and how unsurprising it is that a college kid came up with it.  As a 20 something working on my career it dawned on me that most of my really creative ideas and moments of inspiration happened while in college.

After graduating from college and hitting the workforce I found I had to be a “yes” person in order to climb the corporate ladder and achieve career success.  Becoming a “yes” person often meant stifling my creativity.  Looking back at my career I can identify many times when my ideas were dismissed without really being listened to or taken seriously. This makes me wonder: What would’ve happened if Mark Zuckerberg presented the idea of Facebook to his first employer? Would it have been so well received?

So what are you going to do today to make your big idea heard or to make the people around you feel their input is valued?

As many of you know, I recently took a new job with a Search Engine Marketing company called Bizresearch. As part of my hiring process I was required to take the Google Adwords Fundamentals exam and one of the Google advanced exams in order to obtain my Adwords Certification. These exams are challenging and if you are are like me and have limited experience in the SEO/SEM world they are even tougher. Today, I’ll give you my tips for passing the Google Adwords Fundamentals Exam.

How to Pass the Google Adwords Fundamentals Exam:

1. Study, study, study- This may seem obvious, but a lot of people don’t take the exams seriously. If you want to pass you have to study and Google has created a nice learning center with helpful lessons in a variety of formats to help you retain the information. Make sure you go through each lesson thoroughly and you complete all of the exercises. I encourage you to take notes and even create flashcards to help you retain the info. It’s a lot of work, but going the extra mile will allow you to pass the first time. Remember, these exams cost $50 and you only get two chances per month to pass the exam.

2. Know the layout of the Adwords Menus- Many questions on this exam involve knowing where you can find certain information within the Adwords menu. If you don’t have an Adwords account create one and get to know the menus/layout. It’s important to know what reports you can pull in your account and how you would do this, as well as the type of information you can see in each section.

3. Know the difference between account, campaign, and adgroup settings- Make sure you know what settings are stored in each of these areas. For example, where would you adjust your budget or location and language targeting? (Answer: campaign management). To help me remember, I created a organizational chart that lists what each area has control over.

A good portion of the questions revolve around hypothetical situations so it’s important to know how to apply the content you have memorized.  Passing the fundamentals exam can be a challenge; be sure to study hard, take notes, and focus.  Up next, I’ll give my tips for passing the Reporting/Analysis Advanced Exam.

For a few years I’ve been friends with Laura Thieme, president of Columbus-based Bizresearch, a search engine and marketing analytics company. Recently, she informed me she will be presenting a free seminar on tracking social media and how social media can feed SEO and PPC search marketing campaigns. I think this seminar could be very valuable to business owners so I thought I’d pass along the information.

What: Free seminar on social media tracking & analytics

Where: TechColumbus

When: Friday, September 17th at 10AM

Registration is required so make sure you go here to register.

I addition to Laura’s presentation, Mike Eldredge from tekOrange, a web services agency, will begin the seminar by discussing the growing phenomenon of social media as well as analyzing some social media sites and their effectiveness in business.

I hope to see you there!

Recently, I read an article in INC. Magazine about a study that shows people age 50 and up are the fastest growing demographic in social media. It’s pretty cool to see people in all different demographics getting involved in social media, but I think it’s important new users understand the amount of personal information they can potentially post for the world to see. So, I thought I’d put together a few securing tips for those not as familiar with social media.

Anna’s Quick Tips for Securing Your Info on Social Media Sites:

1. Many social media sites use GPS/location settings to tell other users where you’re located. Personally, when I post I don’t like others knowing where I am so I make sure this is disabled in the settings section of my various social media accounts.
2. Once you join a social media site, like Twitter for example, many people you don’t know will begin to follow your updates.  It’s important to check out who these people are. Make sure the people you follow have a bio filled out, a profile picture, and are adding to the conversation not just advertising. If the person(s) in question seem shady, they probably are. Most social media sites allow you to block unwanted people from your account and I recommend using this feature to weed out the spammers.
3. For location-based social media sites like Foursquare, Gowalla, and Facebook don’t post your actual home address unless you are very careful about the people who can access the information. It’s also important to remember when you check into places you are letting everyone know where you are, which can put you in a vulnerable position. If you are away from home and you broadcast the fact you are it’s possible someone could use that information to break into your home.
4. Use strong passwords for any online sites you visit. Make sure the passwords are 8-10 characters with both letters and numbers, as well as upper and lower case letters.
5. Don’t put anything on your social media accounts that you will regret later. Remember, anyone can Google you and what you put out on these accounts stays on record for a long time. Take some time and think before you post; you don’t want to be fired from your job (or worse) for something you’ve said online.

Those are my simple tips to remaining secure online. Follow these tips and you can feel safe while you social network.

A while ago certain parts of Columbus, Ohio felt the aftershock of an earthquake in Canada. It wasn’t just Columbus it was actually several surrounding states. I happen to be on Twitter when the aftershock occurred (I didn’t feel it). I am amazed how fast word spread of the Columbus earthquake; within minutes my Twitter stream lit up with people talking about the Columbus earthquake. The great thing about
social media, and Twitter specifically, is the access to instantaneous news and feedback. In a way we are all journalists now recording our own unique experiences via multiple online platforms. I knew about the earthquake way before my co-workers did and they were shocked I got the information so quickly.

After the Twitter/quake experience I started thinking about how an earthquake is a great metaphor for the social media landscape. For every social media advocate there’s at least one social media hater (if not more). Us advocates have felt the social media earthquake and we see the way it’s changing communication and community. The social media haters don’t feel the earthquake; they see technology as a burden or a means to hear meaningless details about people’s lives.

There is something to be said for taking time to investigate technology and to see how to adapt to it and use it in a meaningful way, but social media isn’t new anymore. It’s time to get on board and get involved in the social media conversation and community. How do you explain to your non-social media friends why social media works for you and how it’s impacting your life?

For those of you just joining in I’m currently giving a gift and journaling about it for 29 days…go here to read the initial post, which explains why.

Gift 1

I gave gift one on the airplane on the way home from a short trip to Arizona.  The lady seated to my right decided to order a gin and tonic for the ride from Phoenix to Chicago.   If you travel on Southwest you may be familiar with their drink tickets; these are tickets you can pre-purchase for alcoholic drinks on the plane. I always seem to have some of these tickets laying around. The lady to my right didn’t have a ticket and was going to have to charge her $4 cocktail to her Visa so I offered her one of our drink tickets and she accepted. She seemed genuinely surprised that I offered the ticket.  She and I exchanged surface conversation the rest of the flight and we traded magazines. Although it wasn’t earth shattering I did learn somethings…

1.  I rarely talk to strangers on planes or anywhere for that matter, but for whatever reason I was offering her the drink ticket before I even realized I was doing it.  It just seemed to be the thing to do.

2.  This woman’s reaction made me want to give more! For example: while waiting in the Chicago airport to fly back to Columbus a woman commented she wished she had a sweater.  I found myself wishing I had one to give her.

All in all day 1 was a great expirence.

Gift 2

Gift 2 didn’t go as well as gift 1…for gift 2 I cleaned the kitchen and packed Hess’s lunch.  Typically I cook and he cleans the kitchen and we’re on our on for our lunches. It may not seem like much, but our fruit was strawberries and they had to be chopped and cleaned so it was a more time consuming than normal.  Hess didn’t really notice the extra effort and I was a little grumpy about this.  This has taught me I need to work on my intentions. If I give a gift I need to give it without wanting or expecting anything in return; afterall, that’s the whole point of this exercise.

I have yet to give gift 3, but will soon.  I’ll keep you posted as I continue to move through the process.

We all know there are a bazillion social media “experts” out there.  I don’t claim to be an expert because I don’t think it’s possible to be an expert in a field that’s constantly changing as technology presses forward.  Many small businesses are being duped into thinking they need to hire an expensive contractor to handle their social media needs, when in fact the solutions may be in their office already.  The trick is changing the company perspective on what or who an expert is.  Here are some of the questions I would ask a so called social media “expert”:

• How do you define social media?
• Can you give me an example of some of the clients you have worked for and the type of work you’ve completed for them?
• How do you establish relationships with bloggers and how do you pitch to them?
• How do you monitor what people are saying about you online?
• How do you measure results?
• Do you have a blog or a website and what’s your strategy for your blog or website?
• How long have you been on twitter ( or insert your fav. social media site or tool) and how are you using it?
• What do you think the future social media trends are?

What are the questions you would ask to determine if someone really knows their stuff in the social media world? If you are a social media “expert” how would you answer these questions?

On Tuesday I had the pleasure of kicking off a six week series on social media with a presentation on Social Media Basics. Here’s the presentation I gave; If you are just starting out in social media, I hope you find it valuable.

Click here to check out additional events in this series.