baile2c-blog

[baile2c-blog]

Implementing Change

Implementing new practices and policies is never an easy task, especially when an organization has the mindset of change being bad. Luckily the organization I chose to work with views change as a good thing, they’re open to fresh new ideas and encourages their employees to offer suggestions.

When it comes to implanting social media into their everyday routine, there are a few challenges they’ll have to overcome. For starters, Blue Medora has a fairly young staff, therefore, they lack experience, when things get tough it will be up to them to take the time to figure out what needs to next to overcome their obstacle. With that being said they are extremely resilient, I have full confidence in their ability to prevail.

Another challenge I foresee is the potential for all of their social efforts to become too timely or overwhelming thus creating the thought that social media is more of a task versus a tool. Everyone within the organization provides significant value to the organization, with that being said they also wear a lot of hats so it will be easy for social media to get put on the back burner thus making it feel like it’s just another task in their daily routine.

As I mentioned above, I have full confidence in the team, I believe they have what it takes to fully implement a successful social media strategy. I have experienced first-hand their ability to power through adversity while coming together as one cohesive unity. I believe they will continue to grow their social media presence thus strengthening their brand and their following.

[baile2c-blog]

Developing Effective Content

Developing effective content is a byproduct of knowing what your customers are interested in, content organization, attention to detail, and basic knowledge of managing various social media networks. It’s important to note that simply knowing your customer's interest is just the beginning, it’s equally important you understand their interest. Having a general understanding allows you to hone in on industry topics and relevant conversations, thus ensuring you’re staying ahead of the curve and your content is fresh.

Industry knowledge isn’t the only thing that matters, it’s also very important to be organized and detailed in the delivery of your content. The most effective content is unique content, it drives the reader to want to keep reading, it brings them back week after week because it’s engaging and interesting much like a story. Creating such content can be very demanding and usually requires the input of others, which is why it is important to post and share the content on with other coworkers on a calendar that is easily accessible and available to help drive collaboration.  

Having a basic understanding of how to navigate various social media platforms is also very important. This becomes useful when it comes time to share content, one must know how to create and share Facebook posts, and how to structure Facebook live conversations. It’s important they have an understanding of Twitter and how to share White Paper & Blogs, and how to retweet, it becomes an elaborate process that requires attention to detail and structure.

The only way to become a social organization is to create a presence that’s filled with brand knowledge, interesting and relevant conversation, attention to detail and customer engagement. When these qualities are paired with an organized polished delivery your organization becomes a powerhouse in the world of social media where prospects turn into customers, and customers turn into brand ambassadors.

https://www.experian.co.uk/business-express/hub/blog/growth/6-benefits-to-an-online-presence/

[baile2c-blog]

Building Online Communities

When building an online social media presence there are a plethora of principles that should be followed, however, the most important principle are those that highlight your business or brand in a positive fashion, therefore it’s important to be true to your brand and clear with your purpose or intent. Whether it’s a potential customer, current customer or someone just doing research important to always maintain a positive presence this will help your organization drive engagements thus growing your online audience. It’s important to understand your audience, both their likes and dislikes that way you can create and share content that matter to them. People visit your social media platform because the like the content you provide when this element is no longer present they’ll get bored and move on.  Lastly, it’s critical to stay present in the conversation when you start a post be sure to stay engaged with your followers, this allows them to feel connected and valued in the conversation.

When its all said and done all businesses share the same common goal and that’s to expand their social media presence and to increase business. After watching the Hootsuite training the principles that stood out and were most relevant to my client were growing prospects to a customer and then customers to brand champions. I believe this component is essential to not only growing your business's social media presence but also all other realms of your business. Brand champions are more likely to retweet your tweets, share your Facebook posts and talk about your product or services in a positive fashion.

[baile2c-blog]

Big Data in Business

Big Data in Business

In today’s business world big data is the equivalent to gold, digital currency, it holds more monetary value than both cash and credit cards. It’s important as consumers to understand where our data is ending up, what is being sold, and to who it is being sold to.

As we learned in the Legal Side of Big Data video, our information is tied to almost everything we do, whether it’s purchasing a new pair of jeans at the Buckle, new headphones at Radio Shack or even a soda at the convenient store, every transaction we make produces relevant data. We as consumers have a responsibility to be cautious of the information we share, businesses however also have a responsibility to protect the data they collect.

When businesses collect big data, they should take the appropriate actions to protect our data, they should be aware potential implications of sharing data with the wrong people, they harm it could cause and the breach of privacy with their customers. We live in a day in age where we know and understand there is nothing we can do to stop big data collection, however businesses can do their part by ensuring data is safe and they are being transparent regarding the data they are sharing.

As a consumer I expect businesses to research the technology they are using to collect the data, is it safe, is it secure, who within the organization has access to the data, is the data encrypted, where is the data stored, these are all key questions I would ask and expect to be answered.

As a consumer, I want to know what kind of information is being collected and who is this information being shared with. Furthermore, once the data is collected who owns the rights to the data, and how does this information impact my right to privacy. Unfortunately, many of these questions are new impossible to answer, however, the first step to change is awareness, and action, by simply taking the time to ask and research we will become more educated and aware of the topic, thus allowing us to be smarter, and more responsible with the data we share and the businesses we visit.

Balancing threats and opportunities presented by the development of big data is a tricky beast, it’s an extremely agile practice that adapts as we the consumer adapts. Though the task may seem impossible there are simple actions businesses can do to ensure our data is safe or at least hard to obtain.

For starters businesses and data, collectors can do their part to ensure the vendors they use are safe and secure. There should be set guidelines or best practices every company should follow, taking into considerations such things like strict encryption gridline, making data hard to hack. Educating all staff members on topics such as data compliance and data security, it is also critical that all computer hardware and software be up to date. Following these simple steps will help balance opportunity and threats presented by the development of big data.

[baile2c-blog]

Junk News & Advanced Algorithms

Junk news has become a permanent fixture for today’s social media experience, it doesn’t matter what internet provider you use, or what search engine you prefer, junk news is still there. Many aspects of my professional career depend on the use of social media, so it’s frustrating when run a google search and advanced algorithms automatically assume they know what I’m looking for.

What frustrates me the most is the fact that once the algorithms runs it then takes that information and sends it to other platforms that you frequently visit. I can’t tell you how many times I look something up on Menards or Nike’s website and then 10-minutes later I see the same information on my Facebook page. Technology has grown to a point where it’s almost out of control, these advanced algorithms have become overwhelmingly invasive and there’s not much we can do about it.

I often wonder what would happen if platforms like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram deviated from being free to a paid service, would social media still have the same impact and would this effect the number of users? Furthermore, what would happen if people chose to pay and opt out of all of the advertisements, I know I would consider it. I swear it seems like every time I log into Facebook or Twitter I see more and more advertisements, and what’s even scarier is they’re usually adds that are of interest to me. So again it goes back to the machine learning and advanced algorithms, they have the ability to create advertisements tailored to my likings before I show interest, and in my opinion that is scary.

Advanced algorithms and pre-calculated advertisement go hand in hand, they have the ability to sway the views and opinions of millions. It’s funny how when one is exposed to advertisements over and over you tend to change what you like based on the adds. I noticed this to be true a few months ago, for the longest time I’ve been a loyal GMC customer, never in a million years would think about buying a Dodge Ram, but just the other day I found myself considering a Ram, and I think this is due to the constant exposure to them on Facebook.

Both individuals and businesses should be informed and educated on the effects of advanced algorithms and mass advertisements, both have the ability rapidly create harmful content that could harm the views and opinions of our children and customers around the world. We must be aware of what we are searching on social media and the sites we are visiting as they all impact the content that is shared.

[baile2c-blog]

Social Media Consultent

Utilizing social media in the 20th century has many advantages as we now live in the digital era. Social media consultants have many responsibilities, wear many hats and are expected to uphold various qualities which set them apart from ordinary social media users.

Like any other career, there are certain qualities and characteristics a social media consultants should consume. Social media reaches millions of individuals every day, therefore it’s extremely important to make sure the content that’s being delivered is easy to read, accurate, and relevant to the industry.

Having industry knowledge is definitely important, but one must also possess the ability to understand and navigate various social media platforms, with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn being the most popular. It’s important to understand the targeted audience for each platform as this has the ability to change the intended messaging, for example, Facebook and Twitter align more towards younger college graduates, whereas LinkedIn is better suited for young professionals that are looking to grow their professional network. All three platforms are extremely useful, it all comes down to understanding the audience you’re speaking to.

Every organization has their list of what they feel are key qualities in which they look for in their social media consultants, if I were hiring a social media consultant, I would want the above qualities as well as someone that has a passion for social media, is empathetic to the customers’ needs and has the ability to think outside the box.

If I were tasked with the responsibility to take on the role of a social media consultant for myself, I would advise myself to really take a look at my audience, I would ensure I understood their wants and their needs as well as what separates me from everyone else. I would make sure I delivered quality content on a regular basis while making sure I’m listening to my audience.  

Leading up to this point I feel as though I have done a good job posting content that is relevant to my target audience,  I make it a point to do market research that way I understand the latest trends and demands of the customers.  In the future, I would like to take more time and focus on utilizing video blogs as some of the social media content being delivered.

[baile2c-blog]

Your Data Is Big Data

Oh, how times have changed, let’s take a step back 15 or 20 years, the days before smartphones, computers,  Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Amazon, and Snapchat, do you remember those days? Back then data privacy meant not sharing your phone number, home address, date of birth, social security number, life seemed pretty simple, right?

Now fast forward back to the present day, I would say that 98% of the population has a smartphone, Twitter, Facebook, Amazon, or some form on an online presence. Every time we access one of these sites were unknowing and unwillingly handing out personal data to thousands of data collection firms around the world. So why my data might you ask? Great question!

Personal data is much like gold, the more data collected on an individual the more it’s worth. There are hundreds of data centers out there filled with millions of pieces of information, all about you. The data is used to track shopping trends, website tracking, favorite foods, personal contact information, and more. All of this information is extracted and built into an algorithm and then sold to millions of retailers, drug companies, online telemarketers, ect…I think you get the picture. The data collected is much like a digital recipe, a snapshot of our every move, every like, every purchase, data privacy is no longer a real concept.

When this data hits the wrong hands, it can be devastating, it poses such risks like identity theft, fraud, and evasion of privacy. We no longer have the ability to control what people know about us, what we like, who we associate with, and where we go.

So how do we limit harm? For starters, it begins with general awareness, being smart about what we share on social media, the websites we visit, the emails we open, and the stores we shop at. Internet business models are designed to track every move we make online, they strive on random click web clicks, therefore surveillance to them means both increased revenue as well as data gathering.

[baile2c-blog]

Social Media Experiment

After tracking and logging my social media usage at the beginning of the week, I was blown away by the results. I knew going into the evaluation the results would be high, however, I never realized I was so dependent upon it. Now, as I’ve mentioned before, I work for a technology start-up, so the use of social media and web-based applications consumes a significant percentage of my day.

Before I tell everyone about the premise of my experiment, I wanted to first run everyone through a few elements of my day. For starters, email is critical, especially in the next two weeks, because it’s the end of our fiscal year. I usually start the day checking my email and then logging into LinkedIn so I can research the prospects that reached out over the night, then I like to check Facebook. I mean everyone in the office is on social media so it’s a quick outlet to get caught up on events from the previous weekend, lastly, I text all of my team members to see how their morning is going, keep in mind everyone is in the same office, and we sit fairly close.

Now for the experiment… Removing email from my schedule wasn’t an option, due to the fact that I have customers and partners needing to connect with me regularly throughout the day, and since I cover multiple territories outside the United States, I need to be available around the clock. Other than email, everything else was fair game. I decided to remove all use of social media, no Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, even text message. I knew to go into the exercise it was going to be rough, and the rest of my team wasn’t going to enjoy it.

So as I entered the office this morning I made it a point to say hello to everyone on my team, and what I mean is I physically walked around and interacted with everyone. For some, it was a simple good morning nod and others it was a full on conversation. I was pleasantly surprised by the willingness of everyone’s response. It was actually nice to engage in conversation with everyone,  I found the morning to be much more pleasant.

Every Friday we have a team meeting, the meeting varies depending on schedules, and usually I’d send a quick text message informing everyone of the location and time, but not today, today was all about personal interaction, so I visited everyone’s desk and personally informed them of the place and time, no text message or email. Friday’s meetings are usually pretty quick, typically everyone finishes up and heads out to lunch. Since I pack a lunch I usually use this time to check Facebook, maybe jump on Twitter and usually always log into LinkedIn, but not today, today I ate lunch with 4 guys from our development team, it forced me to step outside my comfort zone changing my daily routine.

Like all other days, lunch had ended, everyone returned and business carried on like normal, I had made it through half the day without any use of social media. Almost all of my morning tasks are completed by utilizing some kind of technology or social platform, it never dawned on me that I had become complacent and completely unplugged. Today I realized the importance of social engagement, and the power of communication, I had the ability to connect with co-workers from other segments of our business which allowed me to expand my knowledge thus being a better liaison for our customers.

[baile2c-blog]

Social Media Log

Let’s start the blog post by saying, I spend way too much time staring at a computer screen, checking emails, tweeting, Facebooking, and text messaging, you get the picture, too much time is wrapped up in social media and technology.

For the social media log project, I tracked my media/technology usage over a 24 hour period. Now just to be fair, I do work for a technology company, therefore the majority of my day is spent online. With that being said, I’m not saying the results are justified, all I’m saying is most of it the usage is work related.

It comes to no surprise I spend the majority of my time at work utilizing n web-based applications such as SalesForce, ToppOpps, Webex, & Google Suite. I honestly think my job would be impossible without social media or the internet. Another top offender was email, if my calculations are right then I viewed/responded to approximately 137 emails either on my laptop or cell phone, which encompassed about 2.5 hours of my day, let’s face it I cannot escape my email, it’s everywhere I go.

Now I’d be lying if I blamed all of my social media time on work, like most of you I too get trapped in Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Sometimes it’s just a good outlet to escape to, especially when work gets stressful. But fear not, I am not alone, after realizing how much time I spend on social media, I decided to take a quick walk around my office to see if others utilized social media as a quick escape goat, and what do ya know they also use social media as much as I do, heck, I’d say maybe even a little more.

So at the end of the day (24hour period), the cumulative results are in, I monitored usage for 9 separate entities, had 411 logins, and consumed approximately 19 hours and 45 minutes of my time. Wow, I either work too much or need to disconnect, either way, the results were way too high. 

The Results:

24 Hour Social Media Log # of views Average time per day

Facebook                                         26                  1 hour

Twitter                                               8                    30 minutes

LinkedIn                                           16                   2 hours

Snap chat                                         6                  15 minutes

Text Messages                                 89                   2 hours

Email (mobile/Laptop)                      137                 2 hours

Webex                                               6                    4 hours

Google                                              46                   3 hours

Work Applications                           77                     5 hours 

 Total                                                411                   19 hours 45 minutes

[baile2c-blog]

Life Before The Internet

Life before the internet, wow, now that’s hard to imagine. It’s funny how we’ve become so dependent on something that was once a luxury, something that was only available on your home desktop computer and you had to fight your siblings over the use of the phone line because that’s how you connected to the world wide web.

Let’s take a step back in time, can you recall some of the things you would do to pass time? I do! Life before the internet for me was all about being creative, going outside, mountain biking with friends, just being available in the moment. Life before the internet forced me to go to the library, read magazines, and yes even talk to my peers.

I think Emma Rathbones article was on point right from the get-go, she does a great job describing the possibilities of one’s creative side whether it be reading a book on a park bench, or making some kind of arts and craft. Life before the internet was all about being impulsive, out of know where you decided you wanted to do something, so you did. I definitely remember those hot summer days where I’d mosey around the house, looking for things to do, I can’t tell you how many times the boredom forced me to go outside and experience the world around me. Life before the internet was simple, there were fewer worries about child predators, and cyberbullying, life was just easier.

Now, let’s come back to current day, when was the last time you truly lived life to the fullest, life without dictation from the internet, when was the last time you came up with your own ideas or had to physically go to the library to research a question or problem? It’s kind of scary when you take a step back and realize how internet dependent we have become. I mean almost everything we do is web-based, their either an app or website that dictates our every move. It’s almost physically impossible to become a successful member of society without the use of the internet.

So I challenge you, how long can you go without the use of the internet? No computer, no cell phone, no video games, just you and the world around you. Life before the internet, could you survive?

[baile2c-blog]

Sherry Terkles Ted Talk- “Where Has Technology Taken Us?”

Where has Technology taken us? Sherry Terkles’s Ted talk discusses many relevant challenges regarding the use of social media and the effects it has had on our culture. Sadly enough, she’s spot on, we’ve become so disconnected from society that we truly forgot how to engage in face to face conversation.

Are the good ole day’s gone? The days of meeting outside by the large pine tree, in old man Wilsons field, the meeting grounds for an epic game of capture the flag or hide and go seek? Do such games even exist anymore. I remember those days like it was yesterday, I had a core group of friends that came together every Tuesday & Friday to engage in a battle royal of capture the flag, a time where the only thing that mattered was finding that flag and not getting caught. It was a gathering of friends, face to face interaction, conversations took place in person, there was no cell phone, no tablets, you were forced to interact in the moment.

Oh, how times have changed. Just the other day I was over at my nephew's house, my sister in law has 2 boys, 8 and 12, it was a decent day so I throughout the idea  of rallying up some neighbor kids and playing a friendly game of capture the flag, you would have thought I was speaking another language. It was shot down quicker than you could blink, instead, they decided they needed to engage in an all-consuming game of Fortnight. Fortnite? Really, Fortnite, I was baffled, they’d rather sit inside, excluded from the outside world, battling complete strangers, over being outside, having fun, building memories that will last a lifetime.

So yeah, I agree with Sherry, we need to re-engineer our use of social media, we need to challenge today's practices while being more active in the world, we need real conversations with real people.

Are you letting social media and technology dictate the story of your life?  

[baile2c-blog]

A little about Me

Hello and welcome to my blog! I want to start off by saying Happy Friday. Here’s a little information about me, my name is Chris Bailey, I live in Rockford, Michigan and I’m finishing up my Senior year at CMU. 

I’m a pretty laid back guy that enjoys the outdoors. I’m not one to just sit around and do nothing, during the summer months I spend a lot of time up north at my cottage, I can usually be found on a boat, wakeboarding, or just simply cruising around the lake. If I’m not on the lake there’s a high likelihood you might find me on a golf course, now don’t let me fool you, I’m not the greatest golfer, I just enjoy the game.

Unfortunately, life’s not all fun and games...Or is it? Most people dread going to work every day, luckily, I’m not one of those people. I work for an awesome technology company called Blue Medora. My daily grind is far from typical, even though I live in Rockford, I travel to Austin, Texas 3 or 4 days a week, every other week, Austin is almost a second home for me. 

Blue Medora specializes is engineering enterprise grade-IT monitoring integrations that allow IT professionals, the ability to gain betting insight and visibility into their physical infrastructure and software designed data centers environments. So, what role do I play in the company? I hold the title of North America Channel Manager, I’m essentially a liaison for all of the value-added resellers that sell Blue Medora software. It’s my responsibility to drive revenue by ensuring all other resellers understand Blue Medora solutions that way they can sell it to there customers. 

My goal for the daily blog post will be to increase awareness about our solutions, I want the followers to understand why these integrations are important and how they can help decrease down in their data-centers.

www.bluemedora.com

[baile2c-blog]