Thank You

Hey Joan,

Thank you for a great class and a great 4 years. It has been an absolute pleasure to get to know you and I appreciate everything you have done for me. I will be praying for you especially that you will continue to have as much impact on others as you have on me! Thanks again!

God bless,

Mark

ESPN Blog

I have started to look the blogs that are on ESPN for baseball games. Typically I have seen about 2000 blog posts for the games that I have looked at. I have also seen 5000+ blogs for certain games.I think it is interesting that every game gets millions of people around the world to type in and share their comments. I started to wonder how the Church could start to get a website going that 2000+ people could start to talk about things concerning the Lord. I feel that the world could change if the body of Christ gets into blogging in a way they do with ESPN. It is just some food for thought.

Texting for Salvation or follow up

Another interesting thing that during Unite they had an alter call. They had the typical cards that people could put their information on and say if they wanted to accept Jesus as their savior, rededicate their life to the Lord, or if they had questions and wanted to follow up with a person. However, what they did do was they allowed people to text into a certain number that allowed people to give the information electronically. This allows the group who put on the event to gather all the information without having to take all the cards. I haven't seen this before but I feel that it is a trend will be continuing to grow.

Social Media at Unite

I was just at Unite and  they had Twitter accounts where people could send the web stream so that people could watch. I think it was a brilliant idea to incorporate this because it allowed people to get out the word that there are a bunch of young people who are getting together to pray for the National Day of Prayer. I would be excited to see how many people ended up watching as a result of this event being posted on Twitter or even in Facebook. I was also thinking about how other events should use this strategy of posting in Twitter and Facebook during the live event so that people who are there can get the word out. I think it was very smart on their behalf.

Paypal Account

I thought it was very interesting that when we were designing our webpage, we could not add any products to be bought without having a Paypal account. This is very smart on the part of the webdesigners because it makes sure that there is a proper system set up that allows the business owners to get paid. When I did research on Paypal, I feel like it is the most reliable paying system that is used on the internet. I think it is also the one that is most trusted by consumers and by having Paypal, it makes your business seem more legitimate. For this reason, we used Paypal on our website.

Using Klout

            Another tool that I would recommend using is a tool called Klout. I do not understand how the calculations are made because it is made with complex algorithms, but it seems to provide some good feedback. Essentially what Klout does is that it measures the amount of traffic on a webpage, Tweets, re-Tweets, Likes, Un-likes, and other information, and calculates then how many people your social media has actually reached.  This can be a very effective tool because one can see how there can be a domino effect in one person seeing the website, and how a re-Tweet can then be seen by hundreds or thousands. With the use of social media, one can spend very little money, and have it be seen by thousands.

Google Analytics

            After doing research on how to measure if social media is profiting a company, I feel like the best way is to use Google Analytics.  This is a tool that allows you to track what page a person is on when they “Like” like your website or business. This allows people who are assigned with Google +1 button to track activity on their website.  This can also be used for Tweets in a way where if a person Tweets a something from your website, it will be tracked in Google Analytics to see where on your website is being affective. Practically, you can set up a social media campaign and track the activity of people who are looking at it. Using Google Analytics you can track where people saw it, how long the spent on it, and updates can be sent directly to you. One can then compare the sales of their business when the campaign was started to before the campaign, and use a cause and effect analysis to determine the most likely reason for an increase in sales.

Shopping Trends

A recent article that I just read talked about how everything is seemingly going mobile. People are using smartphones to access their data, to check stocks, and to purchase products. What a smart producer will do is have applications for their business that people can easily use on their mobile devices. This will create convenience for customer that will in turn make them more willing to purchase the products the producer wants them to buy. However, they have to understand that the trend of society is going mobile. If all a company has is a website that is hard to work on a mobile device, it could definitely hurt them in the long run.

Using Facebook to Help Website

On a recent article that I just read it made a good point that using Facebook is key to having your business explode. They talked about how Facebook is a place where people can go 24/7 to buy your products so you need to have a welcoming Facebook page that can direct them to your actual website. I think this is a step many people forget about or forgo. They feel they need to just have a good looking website, but they do not understand that a bad looking Facebook page will hurt their business. I think this is why so many companies are paying people to setup AND maintain their Facebook pages.

Enhancing our Websites Appeal

I just got done reading an article on 4 ways that a person can easily make their website more appealing. I feel that the number 1 solution is the most effective way is the most effective. If we can make the website visually appealing it will draw the attention of customers to a greater degree. There have been many website that I have been on that have a very poor design and I simply leave the site because of that. They could have exactly what I am looking for on their site, but I do not want to look at unappealing stuff. Another thing that will greatly affect how well a sight is received is by showing good looking materials on the website. If you are selling a product, you do not want to put up pictures of the product that make it look bad. Unfortunately, there are many websites that this is true of. Fixing these two problems will help generate more business from a website.

Tweets on Commercials

There is a new Taco Bell commercial that is out that is advertising for their new taco that is made of a Doritos shell. In the commercial, they have what a supposedly actual Tweets from customers who have eaten the new taco. They pop up a Twitter box with the Tweet in it, and then a person reads the Tweet and says who it was from. They are all about how good the new Taco is, and my guess is the reason they are using actual customers is to show that real people like the new product. I still find that this type of advertising is a little weird, but if it works, who am I to say otherwise?

Getting Licensed

I just got done taking my Life, Accident & Health test and I passed! This is a big relief to get done with as now I can start studying for my Series 7 and Series 66 exams. In order to pass this exam, I had to take 40 hours of classes that taught us the information. It was essentially a semester class given to you in 1 week. It worked best in my schedule to take the class during an actual school week because of other commitments I had after school is out. This was a huge blessing to get done, but it also cost me some in school because I had to miss a week of class. I am thankful that some good studying will make up for any of the missed time!

Things I have learned

I have recently done 30+ hours of community service at a homeless shelter in downtown Minneapolis. During my time, there have been many things that I have learned and I have also got hit with some major doses of reality. The first thing I realized is that I am very blessed to have everything that I have. I have nothing to complain about and I have to thank the Lord for everything that He has blessed me with. It really resignates with me how the Bible says to care for those who are in need. I realize that it is my responsibilty as a Christian to watch out for my fellow humans and try to help them out in anyway that I can.  Even though the long hours are tough, this has been a good expierence.

What is the point of Twitter?

After being on Twitter for a few months now, there is one main question that I have... what is the point of Twitter? To me, Twitter just seems like what a Facebook status update is, except Twitter doesn't do anything after that. I think that people should just stick to Facebook, as this seems to be the more complete social media system. I fear that Twitter is going to run into problems down the road because there is nothing else people can do on Twitter, so once people get bored, that will be its downfall. However, Facebook continues to add new "apps" that keep it fresh, and I feel Facebook will be better in the long run over Twitter.

LinkedIn doesn't have all majors

I think it is interesting that LinkedIn does not have majors like Finance or Business. These are some of the biggest majors that students are studying, and are very applicable in the real world. They also are not very obscure majors, so the question is why does LinkIn not list them as a possible major? This makes it hard for students like me to get a profile made that really shows everything that I have done. I think it would be wise for LinkIn to add these majors as it will appeal to millions more people.

Employers demanding FB password

There is a big debate happening in congress as to if it is legal or not for an employer to demand Facebook passwords from the candidates. I think this is one of the most outrageous things that I have heard. Why should I give personal information like that to an employer? I have nothing to hid on Facebook, but if they want to know what I have on my page, they should friend request me and then they can look at everything they want to. I am happy that some states are standing up and saying no to these employer's requests.

Dunk Contest Tweeting

For the first year in the history of the NBA dunk contest, there were no live judges at the contest. This year, the NBA tried using Tweeting and texting to determine the winners of the contest. After every dunk, fans could send in what they thought the ranking was for the dunk. The updates for where dunkers rankings were not given until the very end. I feel that this was a good thing because it left people in suspense as to who was going to win. I wonder if this is going to cause many other contests, competitions, and TV stations to start using social media to boost ratings.

How to make money with Social Media: Ch 6 conclusion

I want to write about the 1st of the 5 core values that the authors of this book talk about in regards to social media behavior. Number 1 is that we are to show people respect. We need to realize that they are humans on the other end, and as such we should treat them with respect. I do not like it when people post negative comments on Facebook as this really brings people down. I also think that companies like Facebook and Twitter need to respect the information that we give them as we are their clients. Granted, we do not pay for the service, but I do not think they should sell my email address to companies that want to market to me. I think that is very disrespectful. If we truly treated others as we would want them to treat us, I think the social media platform would be a lot more friendly and encouraging.

Social Media Bubble Burst?

In an article by Carrie Brown- Smith, she talks about how 2012 may see a burst in the social media bubble. Some of the statistics that she sights are the declining numbers of people who re-Tweet, post Tweets, or that are activly Tweeting. I am starting to see more and more of my friends shutting down their Facebook accounts because they feel that it is a waste of time. Is this a growing trend in social media in general? I do not think that is the case at this very minute; however, I do think that over the next 5 years we will see Twitter and Facebook start to decline. What I am interested in is what the cool new thing is going to be for social media. I think things like Skype, where you can literally be face to face are going to have some part in the new revolution that is going to take place.

Future of Social Media

I just got done reading an article in which many famous/entreprenurial people were asked what the future of social media is. The one asnwer that I found pretty interesting was the answer from Mike Monteiro who works with Twitter. I could not tell if he was joking or serious, but he thinks the future of Social Media is that of lying. He feels that the more people get to know about themselves, the more they are going to see how boring they really are. This is going to make people create fantasy worlds where people can "travel" to places where they can be interesting. Mr. Monteiro feels that is what the new inventions of social media are going to bring. I find this kind of a weird opinion, but if it is true, what are these new technologies going to look like? Is it going to bring more depression or loneliness because people will not be connected with the real world? We will have to wait and see!

Buy Facebook or Not?

After looking into Facebook, knowing that their IPO is soon coming out, it is very important that we evalutate if Facebook is a good. buy. I have come to the conclusion that facebook would be a good buy fro holding for 2-5 years, and I would buy into it after 2 months (When the stock decreases from its intial price). I feel that Facebook is a bubble and it is a matter of time before it goes "Pop". Facebook does not have any capital where it can get its value from. All of the ocmpanies worth is in ideas, so if they were to sell the company, there is not physical assets that would be transfered (besides some computers). So i think that the stock price will be way overpriced, but will go up for a few years on customer demand before it flops.

Is Social Media Worth the Investment?

The title of this post was the question that was being addressed in the Pivot Newsletter. I thought it was a good question to take an honest look at because some companies are spending millions of dollars on trying to grow there business through the use of social media, but is it really worth it. If you have read my previous posts, you remember that I talked about how many companies do not even track the results of the money they are putting in to social media. Having said that, lets us examine the issue of Social Media investment.

One thing that social media does not do well is that it is not a very good lead generating tool. Many people think that Facebook and Twitter are going to connect them to thousands of people to get more leads, but this does not seem to be what the facts suggest. However, if you are already connected with a person, social media is an AMAZING way to grow their investment with your company. Social media is not very good at generating results in the short term, but in the long run it does seem to have helped out many companies. In order to answer the question, one must ask what they want to use social media for. If it is for exposure or for continuing to build relationships it could be a good investment. However, if you are wanting to get a lot more leads, I would buy a lead list!

Facebook IPO

I just got done reading an article that gives some pretty grim warnings about the IPO of Facebook. They say that Facebook is trying to get a valuation of between 75-100 billion dollars. In my opinion, this is a pretty high valuation for a company that does not produce any physical goods. The article talked about how many of the large wealth advisors around the country are not buying into the entire Facebook hype. I do not blame them. If I were managing millions (or billions) of dollars of other peoples money, I would not put a large portion into a stock that makes all of its money from advertising. I think that Facebook is a great company, it has some room to grow, but in the end I think there might be a bursting of a Facebook bubble.

Linked In in Financial Planning

An article that I read called "In the Game: New Rules for Social Media" talked about how financial planners need to start using social media in order to build a more solid practice. They talk about how FINRA regulations shocked people because of the lack of regulations that compliance for companies have to follow in regards to their employees posts on Facebook, Twitter, and Linked In.  The use of Linked In is what most professionals use to help drive their business as it helps connect them with other business people around the world. I feel that social media can be used more in the business world that it is now. With 800 million Facebook users alone, there is a vast opportunity for a Financial Planner to get new clients. This article talked about how you can post interesting articles that you have read, or give little insights into financial planning. This will help build credibility with those around you, and ultimately help grow your practice!

Ch 5: Laying the groundworks for success

In chapter 5 of the book how to make money with social media, I cam across a very interesting and troubling statistic. According to this book, 84% of companies do not measure their return on investment for money they put into social media. This does not make sense to me. I feel that any smart businessperson should always find out if the money they are putting into a project is paying off. Granted, figuring out the effects that social media can have on a business may be hard to put into qualitative numbers all the time. At the same time, most people are bright enough to see if there is a positive trend using social media, or if the thousands of dollars they are putting toward using social media is not making any difference at all. If it is not helping, I would either revise it or get rid of it. If it is helping, I would tyr to make it more efficient and maybe put more money into social media. One will not be able to know if they do not track the results.

Ironic Tip for Getting Job

Tip number 4 in the article entitled "4 Tips for Landing a Job in Social Media" the tip says that you should not be boring when applying for a job. The writer talks about how making first impressions (especially in Social Media) is huge to landing a job. If one were to do just the normal amount of work, it would not stand out. What the author then said made me laugh a little. She said that social media is all about personality and it is your personality that you need to get across in your work. What I find funny is that it is through social media that many people are "losing" their personailties and are becoming more like boring robots. However, they are supposed to make a website where there is personality and life. There is only one place where you can go to for life and that is Christ for He is the bread of Life (John 6:35).

Some Interesting Thoughs About Facebook

I just read an article by Sam Laird. In this article, he discusses what life was like when he decided to decativate his Facebook account. This idea came from him realizing that Facebook and life were starting to become one and the same. When he stepped away from his Facebook, he realized that there were many things he was missing out on like pictures from parties he had been to or flirting with girls. A comparison that he made was that it is like a kid who doesn't have a television and his friends are reciting The Simpsons lines. If party pictures, flirting, and The Simpsons are what life is coming to, this world needs some change. Facebook should not be taking over peoples' lives, rather it should be a tool where people can stay in contact with friends, family, or co-workers. I feel as though this whole Facebook phase has got too out of control.

Connect With People Today

In reading out of the book "How to make money with Social Media", the author talked a lot about how in order to have customers tomorrow, you need to get to know people today. This is where social media can come in very handy. If you have 500 friends on Facebook, 200 followers on Twitter, and 100 people on LinkedIn, that is potentially 800 different people that you have the opportunity to do business with in the future. For this reason, it is very important that people start to build their social media pages, to pages that are set up for success when they start a career.

I recently read an article by Guy Kawasaki. In this article he gave 10 ways that a person can use LinkedIn to improve their  business, connections, and chances of getting jobs. One statistic that Kawasaki said was that people who have 20+ connections on LinkedIn are 34x more likely to be approached for a job than those who have less than 5 connections. This started to make me wonder why do not all graduating college students have an account. The economy is tough already, but it seems as though that the use of this social media would be a HUGE help in getting people connected with recruiters. Kawasaki also said that every single Fortune 500 company is represented on LinkedIn which means that there are  lot of recruiters looking to hire new employees. Colleges should be equiping students in the area of social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter etc.) so they can have the highest chance of landing a job.

Golden Gopher Basketball

The Minnesota Golden Gophers basketball team (14-5) pulled off two needed wins this past week. It first started off by beating the then #8 ranked Indiana Hoosiers 77-74. A few days later they took care of a Penn State team that is sure struggling to get going this year. By getting these two wins the Gophers all of a sudden launched themselves back into a realistic possibility of making the NCAA tournament.

As everyone knows, in order to get into the Tourney (unless you win your conference championship), a team needs at least 20 wins. I feel that this is very attainable now considering the rest of the schedule for the Gophers. This team needs six more wins to get to the 20 mark, and I think they can realistically win 7 of the remaining regular season games. They have 2 against Nebraska, 2 against Northwestern, 1 against Iowa, and 2 against Wisconsin. I know that Wisconsin has been ranked for most of the year, but they just do not have the offense to be considered super dangerous to play against. At the same time, a win against Wisconsin would add a lot to the Gophers resume during selection Sunday. The Gophers with all of their injuries still have a lot of athleticism and could potentially pull some upsets like they did against the Hoosiers in Indiana. They need another signature win to start climbing the list of voters for the Tourney. The next few games against Northwestern and #25 Illinois will be big tests for Minnesota and could be a big step in the right direction for the remainder of the year.