Social Media? That’s your job?

Feb28

This week I was writing a proposal for a prospective client when I was faced with a common problem- people don’t really understand what it is I do, or what they’re paying me for exactly. It’s just evidence of the bigger problem- while I usually have no trouble articulating myself, I often get so inside my head with strategy for clients (and the occasional volunteer project) that I can’t explain what it is they get when they hire me without making it too simple or too in-depth. So I got writing, and for the first time in my professional life, I feel like I can accurately explain how my business helps other businesses like yours.

Brand Awareness

Building “Brand Awareness” is a common problem for many businesses. Sometimes, small business owners get the idea that just having a website or a Facebook page is enough- but anyone who has gone that route knows it just isn’t so. In this day and age, brands, businesses, non-profits- you name it, they need the public to understand that they exist, what they do, and where they can be found. You’ve got to take the small amount of people that know about your project when you begin and leverage them to create further clients and business relationships.

Social Media

Let’s be honest- for some, Social Media is a confusing mess. For many, it’s a giant black hole that can suck away hours in the blink of an eye. Unless Social Media is what you do, you probably have at least 10 things that are more important to get done. With that mind set, many end up with an underutilized online presence that may be costing them clients and customers in the long run. Social Media is also very difficult to see the results of immediately, but much like a plant, pet, or relationship, given time and the proper resources to grow, it can yield large returns.

Loyalty

In this economy, it’s safe to say that most people are looking for cost-effective options to fill their needs and wants, but that’s not the only thing they’re looking for. Many consumers are also seeking products and services that are a good value, that are great quality, that have a philanthropic tie, or that generally just leave them with a great experience. When consumers find this, they not only continue to be repeat patrons, but they often tell their friends about their experience- via word of mouth or (you guessed it) social media.

Brand Ambassadors

It’s one thing to pay for a lot of marketing and advertising- which can easily become really expensive- but it’s quite another to harness the power of your fans to advertise for you. By interacting with your clients and customers via social media channels, you not only give them the most awesome topics to discuss about your brand, but you also empower them to share your message with their friends.

Miss Garden Grove Adventures

Aug5

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately helping the committee that produces the Miss Garden Grove pageant. Garden Grove is a city very close to my hometown of Placentia and has had a Miss Garden Grove pageant since 1954. The nice thing about their pageant is that they get a lot of girls who either have not competed in a pageant ever before, or are long time Miss Garden Grove contestants who try and do better each year. Miss Garden Grove 2011, Leah Cecil, was first runner up in the 2011 Miss California pageant, which was a very big deal for the community. Even better, Leah was able to win another local title this year, Miss Southern California Regional 2012, and she returned to the state pageant and took home the title of Miss California 2012! Leah will now go on to represent California at Miss America in January 2013.

Miss Placentia and the Miss America Organization

I became involved with the Miss America Organization in 2003 when my city’s local pageant, Miss Placentia, held an informational meeting at my high school. I’d grown up watching the Miss America pageant and always dreamed of what it would be like to win such a special contest, but I’d never realized how much actually goes in to the pageant. Kathi Baldwin, the director of Miss Placentia, explained that every girl that auditioned for Miss Placentia and was selected would earn college scholarship money- something that really appealed to me. The girl that won the pageant would win a $5,000 scholarship and get to compete at Miss California, winning even more money for college. Through competing that year, I learned a lot about myself. I realized that I had what it takes to pursue a college education and learned about public speaking and interviewing for a job. I also met a lot of great people, from the contestants that I competed with to the volunteers that made the pageant happen. Yes, you heard me right, volunteers. The Miss America Organization is a 501(c)3 organization. All of the local and state pageants across the country are put together by people who don’t make a penny- they just want to help foster excellence in young women in their communities and states.

Why Miss Garden Grove?

Miss Garden Grove 2012 Bree Morse, Miss Garden Grove’s Outstanding Teen 2012 Jazmin Avalos, and the 2013 contestants at the Garden Grove Fire Department

You might be asking yourself, “So, if there’s a local pageant in your city, why are you helping with a pageant somewhere else?” Good question! You should know that I love to help all sorts of causes, (not just pageants), and I’m not limited to helping any one in particular. I also help with a few other pageants (hi Team Orange County! I love you!!) and I adore the groups that put on the pageants that I competed in (the Miss Fullerton committee and the Miss Placentia committee are filled with absolutely wonderful people). But two things I always consider are: does this group need my help, and does this group want my help? For me, volunteer work is most fulfilling when I am able to work with groups that want, need, and appreciate my time and talents. When I met Stacy, the director of Miss Garden Grove, and we were able to discuss my background in marketing and social media, I knew that the skills that I could bring to the table would be very valuable for their group. I’m given an opportunity to teach young women how to market themselves, how to project a positive image about themselves, and how to consume media in a healthy manner. It’s something I’m personally passionate about and would love to share with more women (especially though out state and local Miss America programs)!

I can’t wait to see how my talents in Social Media can be used to further the mission of Miss Garden Grove, and hopefully, increase the amount of scholarship money they are able to award their titleholders and contestants annually! Garden Grove has many fantastic young women in their community that can benefit from this program, and I’m excited to see them grow through it.

Australian Adventures— New Years in Sydney

Jul14

Pants and Fancy Shoes Required

New Year’s Eve 2012 in front of the Sydney Harbor Bridge

I could not have taken a trip around the world with more amazing people than Blayne and Kevin. One thing that had me a little frightened before the trip was the thought that I might not get along well enough with the people who were going with me, but I can very happily say that wasn’t the case at all. Kevin had also won a trip for two, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, his friend Corey had to leave the morning after we got there (meaning he was only in Australia for about 20 hours). Crazy, I know, but Blayne and I happily adopted Kevin as though he was our own. It didn’t take long before we were singing the “three best friends” song from The Hangover. Kevin didn’t hate having two ladies on his arm and it was nice to have a guy around, just in case the local guys couldn’t take a hint. I’d say it all worked out rather splendidly, and I came out of the experience with one friendship that was deepened and another one that was newly developed.

New Year’s Eve at the Sydney Opera House’s “Opera Bar”

Our accommodations were spectacular… for the first four days we stayed at the Shangri La Sydney, which was just a block from Circular Quay (pronounced circular KEY) and had the most amazing views of Sydney Harbor. Our room overlooked the Sydney Opera House and was absolutely incredible- quite a sight to wake up to daily! During our first leg in Sydney, we had time to scoot around the city and see all sorts of sights. Three of the MOST important places to visit (if you ever come for a vacation) would be the Sydney Opera House (of course), a climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge (we’ll talk more about that later) and absolutely, most definitely, a nice long stroll around the Sydney Botanical Gardens.

We were privileged enough to spend New Year’s Eve at the Opera Bar NYE party, which was a lot of fun! The way the Opera House is designed is fantastic, and it actually has an open-air bar just below the main walkway that sits right on the harbor. It’s apparently one of the best places to hang out in the summer time and offers some prime views of the New Year’s Eve fireworks that are shot off along the Sydney Harbor. If you ever have the chance to travel somewhere for a vacation around NYE, I’d highly suggest heading to Sydney. Australia is one of the very first places in the world to have the New Year “hit” their time zone, so they pull out all the stops in order to celebrate. (It also doesn’t hurt that this is their Summer vacation from school/holidays from work, and the weather is also fantastic). One of the most fun parts of our entire New Years celebrations were the sunglasses you see me wearing in both of the above pictures. Inspired by Lady Gaga, Blayne decided they were the ultimate in New Years Eve party accessories, so she hand-made a pair for the both of us as a surprise for me and presented me with them just as we were headed down from our hotel to the party. The best thing? Because Corey had left and Kevin had now joined us, Blayne didn’t want him to feel left out so she trekked down to one of the local shops, picked up a pair of men’s sunglasses and stoned them so that Kevin could have a “manly” pair to match ours! The reaction at the party was awesome and I’m so glad we had that fun little touch to add to the night!

Blayne, Kevin and I walked around the Botanical Gardens on New Year’s Day, and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The gardens are very centrally located, just outside of the “Circular Quay” area with portions bordering the Sydney Harbor (which makes for some gorgeous views)! If you plan on taking a visit and checking them out, I suggest allowing a couple of hours and probably starting your day there, as it can get really hot in the afternoon. Additionally, the garden is extremely well manicured and features plants and animals from all over Australia and other regions around the world that experience similar weather. An interesting fact- there was originally a palace situated in the gardens, which was built to house the Sydney International Exhibition in 1879, but it burned down in 1882. The only signs that remain from it are the large gates that are located on the south west side of the gardens adjacent to Macquarie Street.

Love on the Rox— Part 2

Jul10

Raquel, Sunset Blvd. Jesus, and Me- Photo by Gabriel Olsen

When I left off on my last blog post, I had just finished filming my video entering me to win a trip to Sydney from Sydney.com and KROQ. I was feeling pretty good, especially since I got to watch the girl who went before me film hers (suffice it to say she wasn’t very sober and she didn’t make much sense). I knew I had what it took to at least be considered for the trip. As I left the back stairwell, I ran into a guy who is best described as Louis C.K.‘s doppelganger. I didn’t know that guy from Adam, but he said to me, “you’re going to win.” I appreciated the sentiment and told him, “we’ll see” and headed off with Raquel. Turns out, his name was Scott and had previously worked for KROQ and CBS Radio (their parent company)… had I known that when he told me I’d win, maybe I would have taken him more seriously. The rest of the night went by pretty quickly. Sunset Boulevard Jesus decided to head upstairs and join us, and a certain tall man (who will remain nameless) threw up at my feet as I left. The party was one for the history books… or gossip blogs. Either way…

Vote for Jill!

Monday morning I returned to work and my crazy-long commute, and got the privilege of telling my coworkers the stories from the weekend. The best part? Telling them I might be chosen to be in a contest to win a trip to Sydney, of course. A little later that afternoon I found that the KROQ website had been updated and I was, in fact, one of the top five girls chosen for the contest. Along with the five ladies’ videos, there were five videos from guys. Apparently, there were two trips up for grabs, valued at nearly $24,000 each. I knew I had to win this contest, so I immediately hit up my Facebook and let everyone in my network know what was going on and pleaded that they all take the time to vote and share the information with their friends. By the end of the afternoon, I had 95% of the vote, and while I wouldn’t keep that steep of a lead the whole contest, no one was ever able to catch up with me. A week later I got a phone call from Adrian at KROQ informing me I’d won, and that I’d spend New Year’s Eve 2012 in Sydney, Australia.

The Best Part

Most people would be pretty stoked to win a trip like this (and yes, I absolutely was), but I was genuinely surprised when I realized that the best part of the whole process was the amazing people I’d met along the way, and the relationships that developed from that. Lucky for me, Kevin Beane (the winner of the men’s trip) and I ended up getting along swimmingly! It made waiting 10 months to take the trip so much more exciting (and tolerable) by having someone to talk to as I anticipated the trip. Scott, the guy who told me I’d win? We ended up becoming fast friends and have explored some of the best little hole in the wall restaurants in Culver City and downtown Los Angeles. He’s come to my rescue a couple times when I’ve experienced miscellaneous car problems while in LA. Even the photographer from the party, Gabe, has become one of my favorite people to wax philosophical with, and once in a while he attempts to give me cooking lessons. But even more than the new friendships that developed, the amount of trouble my long-time friends were willing to go to in order to send me to Australia just boggles my mind. They all took the time to not only vote for me, but to tell their friends and family to do it too… which really made all the difference.

I don’t know that I can ever show enough gratitude for having won this trip, or all the wonderful experiences that stemmed from it (which have been amazing in and of themselves), but I am more thankful than you’ll ever imagine, and I’ll never forget what people did to support me in the contest.

Love on the Rox— Part 1

Jul6

Once upon a time, I won a trip to Sydney, Australia. Simple as that statement may seem, I can assure you the process of doing so was much more in-depth than that sentence would lead you to believe. I suppose I should start at the beginning…

Most who know me know that I’m the kind of girl who’ll try anything once, and is always up for a new adventure. It’s how I end up with so many off-beat stories to tell, and in this case how I ended up commuting from Placentia to Van Nuys every day for a work opportunity. For those of you that aren’t familiar with Southern California, that’s about 100 miles round trip and approximately three hours spent in rush hour traffic daily through the heart of both Orange County and Los Angeles. I owe a debt of gratitude to that long commute, because one Monday morning in early February 2011, I was stuck in traffic on the 105 freeway and found myself tuned in to 106.7 KROQ— that Monday would end up changing my life forever.

Telling Kevin and Bean my story

For as long as I can remember (probably since high school), I’ve been a fan of Kevin and Bean, the morning show on KROQ. The guys are really funny, and they also play alternative and rock music, so suffice it to say I made them my number one preset on my car stereo. That morning, I heard them asking callers to dial in and share their worst first date stories. I must not have been paying close attention, because I had no idea what I was calling in for, other than to tell a story, but call I did. I regaled Kevin, Bean, their awesome traffic girl (and side kick) Lisa May, and producer “Psycho Mike” (along with their listeners) with my story. During college I went on a first date with a minor league baseball player I met while waiting tables at a bar near campus. Little did I know he was on steroids and he’d soon end up possessive and absolutely crazy, essentially stalking me and making sure to threaten me a little along the way. I told everyone at KROQ about the date and the icky experience that followed, but had them all laughing. The next thing I knew, I’d won two tickets to their annual Valentine’s Day singles party “Love on the Rox,” (presented by the new movie Hall Pass) to be held at On the Rox, the club atop the Roxy in Hollywood. Never one to turn down an adventure, I decided to go.

Love on the Rox

Psycho Mike Catherwood with Raquel and I

Raquel and I plant smooches on “Psycho” Mike Catherwood- Photo by Gabriel Olsen

Since my best friend didn’t want to go with me, (she’s not so into LA) I grabbed my nearest single, fun, female friend Raquel and headed up to Hollywood to check things out. Upon arrival, it became pretty clear that we were going to find people from all walks of life hanging out at the event. We saw guys dressed as the characters from Dumb and Dumber, girls wearing corsets, ladies who had clearly had too much to drink, and just about everyone who’d worked at KROQ in the last decade. Kevin and Bean’s own Miss Double D-Cember Christine (who was just about the nicest and prettiest girl you could hope to meet) even stopped by, and brought her best friend along with her. It made for a really diverse crowd and a lot of fun! Raquel and I ended up chatting with a guy named Kevin Beane (yes, the same name as the hosts of the radio show) and his friend Corey. Kevin told us how he’d been trying to get a chance to meet Kevin and Bean for a few years so that he could tell him that his name really was Kevin Beane, but this was the first time he’d actually had the opportunity to do so. On the Rox is a really small club, usually used for pre or post parties for the bands performing downstairs on the Roxy stage, so just about everyone in attendance ended up chatting with Kevin, Bean, Lisa May, or Psycho Mike at some point throughout the evening (Raquel and I included).

Filming my video

Filming my entry in the Sydney.com/KROQ Australia trip contest

A little later on Raquel noticed people heading in to the back stairwell of the club, and being the inquisitive girl she is she headed over to see what the fuss was all about— and boy am I glad she did! She realized that everyone in attendance was allowed to film a short video explaining why they should win a trip to Sydney, Australia. Immediately, Raquel told me about how much fun she had when she went “down under” for her birthday and insisted that I enter the contest. Since I’d never had a chance to travel to another country, and she had already been to Australia before, I asked her if she’d mind if she didn’t submit a video and I did. Lucky for me, Raquel kindly obliged! What can I say? Raquel’s a pretty girl and she would have been very stiff competition! I stood in line, thinking about what I would say to the camera and how I would make it clear that I should win this trip to Sydney, rather than the other people filming videos. I told them that I’d never been able to travel anywhere really, since it wasn’t something that was in my budget, but how a trip to Australia had always been something I’d wanted to do since my dad had always told me how beautiful it was there. I even told people that I’d share pictures of me in a bikini or take Psycho Mike with me if they voted for me— I wasn’t going to leave any stones unturned. I wanted to win that trip.

Jill Cook

Social Media Strategist | Business Development & Consulting