Biz Mentality

An up-to-date discussion of today’s business topics. Encouraging young minds to start “Thinking Biz.”

[bizmentality-blog]

Potential Challenges with Implementation

Over the course of 8 weeks taking “Social Media & Emerging Technologies in Business,” I have worked with Partners Bulk Logistics as a social media consultant. I have given various recommendations in a set of memo’s to the company in order for them to improve their social media presence. 

This week, I watched a lecture on the implementation of social media objectives and the challenges companies may face when doing so. One quote from the lecture that stuck out immediately to me read, “Social media objectives fail most frequently because organizations focus on the technologies when they should focus instead on achieving a purpose through the collective behaviors that those technologies make possible. New behaviors aimed at purpose, not technology, provide business value.”

The last portion of that quote pertains to providing business value. This is one challenge PBL may struggle with when implementing social media recommendations. Getting the managers to understand how the recommendations I am giving can provide value to the business if done effectively is one of the most challenging aspects. 

Whether your social media clients ever end up implementing your recommendations is ultimately up tp them, however, making it clear how it can add value is very important. For them to see it as a profit tool rather than a cool technology is very important. 

Another challenge I think PBL may face when implementing the recommendations given is consistency of content. I have provided them with a content calendar to use to schedule posts, however not many of the employees have the extra time to dedicate to social media. I do not think they will struggle with the implementation of new pages such as Twitter and Instagram, but content is what I worry about. In order for their community to grow and the recommendations to work, they will need to post at least once a day. 

To check out the lecture I watched concerning implementation and the challenges it poses, click on the link below:

https://chipcast.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=83dc63e3-464c-4709-a393-ef4f4bba243e

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Content Curation, Creation and Sharing Across Networks

This week’s topic of discussion is the Hootsuite Podium - Chapter 5: Content Marketing Fundamentals. I spent some time watching the training videos and taking the online quizzes this week and wanted to talk about some of the main take-aways I had regarding how to curate, create and share content across various networks. 

Developing Effective Content

When developing shared content, it is important to keep in mind that there are two main categories: curated and created. Curated is content gathered from trusted sources relevant to your organization and created is content produced directly within your organization. Hootsuite recommends that companies try to use a 40% created, 60% curated, ratio as a rule of thumb when developing shared content. 

Content curation is broken down in to an additional two categories: internal and external. External is finding trusted sources and content that resonates with your audience and then re-sharing it on your own networks. Companies also have to gather, evaluate and share content from within their organization. This is known as internal content curation. It is important to take created content from within your organization and repurpose it across various platforms. 

Sharing Effectively Across Networks

When it comes to sharing internal or external content, there are a few “best practices” I learned from the Hootsuite Podium that I think are very helpful. First, grabbing a reader’s attention amongst all of the content being produced is crucial. One way to grab attention is to develop a strong headline or caption with every piece of content produced. A strong headline is generally very clear to understand and should be emotionally provocative in some way. 

Another piece of advise I learned was to include some form of video, audio, or image in every piece of content that you create. It may be okay to occasionally produce content with text only, but if you choose to do that it is especially important to track the data to see how visuals are impacting engagement. 

Along with using video, audio and images when producing content, it is also very important that you vary your content regularly. Posting the same type of content about similar topics can become repetitive and boring. Instead, using a mixture of questions, polls and calls for user generated content are all great ways to facilitate a conversation. The more conversation and engagement that happens the more your organization will become a “social organization.”

Becoming a Social Organization

The ability to effectively curate, create and share content across the major social media platforms is the key to becoming a social organization. Many businesses are not built to be social. They try to become social organizations the more they realize how effective social media can be for their business. By following the recommendations in Hootsuite and what I have shared above, your company can start becoming more of a social organization. 

There is one company that I thought was a great example of a company that was basically built to be a social organization. That company is Dude Perfect. Dude Perfect started as a youtube channel that involved a group of college guys who filmed themselves performing trick shots with various athletic balls, discs, pucks, you name it. They have now grown their business substantially solely through social content. They produce content across various networks such as Snapchat, Youtube, Twitter and Instagram. 

If you want to check out the Dude Perfect Youtube page or watch the Hootsuite Podium tutorials that I did this week, click the links below:

Dude Perfect: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRijo3ddMTht_IHyNSNXpNQ

Hootsuite Podium Chapter 5: https://education.hootsuite.com/courses/take/social-marketing-education/lessons/2540601-1-1-the-value-of-content-and-the-importance-of-a-social-media-content-strategy

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Building and Growing an Online Community

Effective Principles on Online Community Building with Social Media

In order to build an effective online community using social media, it is first very important to form a clear vision for community collaboration. The first step in having a clear vision is to develop a vision statement. In order to develop a clear, effective vision statement, you need to understand when community collaboration is appropriate, know where community collaboration is more likely to deliver value, apply an understanding of your organization’s goals and culture, and craft and distribute an organizational vision for community collaboration. 

After successfully developing a vision statement, it is important to consider a few aspects of community collaboration. Companies must be able to understand when community collaboration is appropriate and when it is not. Companies must apply an understanding of their organization’s goals and culture. Lastly, they have to be able to know where community collaboration is more likely to deliver value for their specific goals and objectives. 

When a company has a complete understanding of their vision, goals, objectives, culture, and where community collaboration is likely to deliver value, they can then develop their own unique strategic approach to community collaboration. The first step in this approach is developing a well-formed purpose. Having this can motivate an identifiable target audience to participate and engage with content across all platforms. 

Growing an Online Community

After watching the tutorial videos and taking the quizzes on the Hootsuite Podium module 4, I have learned some social media principles for growing an online community that I would like to share and discuss. 

First, as a company it is most important to develop a strong brand voice and mission. All of your social media content will be centered around this. One of the best ways to establish this is to create a branded hashtag that will be used to help people engage online with your brand. This brings us to content. All companies must produce content on a regular basis in order to grow their community. Without content, even if your community grows large, it will not be engaging with you. 

Beyond creating content, companies must use two-way communication to fully engage on social media. Two-way communication involves producing content and then responding and engaging with comments. If comments are positive or constructive criticism it is important to always respond and to do so with enthusiasm and in a positive way. This reflects well on the business. If content is vulgar, offensive, or seems like spam, it is important to hide or delete it from your feed. 

Application of Principles for Social Media Client

The principles I have learned this week have helped me to give some great advice to my current social media client for this class. The small logistics company that I work for, Partners Bulk Logistics, hosts an annual golf outing for employees and customers. Our customers include the management of company’s we haul bulk material for. One recommendation was to include social media profile links and our branded hashtag on the banner for the golf outing. In addition, it will be printed on Koozies and golf tees given to participants for free. This is a great way to engage and grow our community. The amount of people that could potentially see our pages and follow and like them on social media increases substantially with this type of marketing campaign. 

References for the book I read from and the videos I watched before starting this week’s discussion on building and growing an online community: 

Bradley, Anthony J., and Mark P. McDonald. The Social Organization: How to use Social Media to Tap the Collective Genius of your Customers and Employees. Harvard Business Review Press, 2011. Pp. 39-76.

Hootsuite Module CH. 4: Building Your Advocate Community - https://education.hootsuite.com/courses/take/social-marketing-education/texts/2512115-chapter-4-overview

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Big Data: What to be Aware of

With big data comes an even larger responsibility. Businesses and consumers can leverage many opportunities with big data, but should also be aware of the many threats it can pose. Finding a way to balance the opportunities and threats associated with big data can help keep business and consumer’s data secure. 

Businesses

For businesses, big data offers many opportunities to get to know customers’ likes and behaviors. It can also provide the opportunity to test a product and see how it is performing. The ability to do this comes with its threats. Whenever storing large amounts of consumer data, businesses are at risk for hackers to steal data. This can cause customers to lose trust. 

Additionally, businesses are at risk for having data on their products hacked. Trade secrets, product performance, algorithms, code, and much more can be compromised in a business if you do not take the proper actions to prevent it. A lot of companies react too hacking instead of preparing for it. With large amounts of data now being stored it is important to think about how you can keep your data secure. 

Consumers

As consumers, we are offered a lot of technology at our palms for free. It is free most of the time of you are talking money, however, most of us are actually paying in the form of personal information. Every time you take a picture of your bank card with your phone, or for some reason take a picture of a social security card or birth certificate, this can be stored in the cloud. If hacked, someone could find and use your information. 

It is important as a consumer to make sure you are protective of your personal information or anything that you wouldn't want compromised. Sometimes we trust blindly and then can be compromised. In the video below, it discusses how those who used Target and Home Depot credit cards were at risk for their information being compromised because of hackers. 

Once your information is out there and possibly being sold and resold, you really have no control over it or what people that have access to it are going to use it for. So, do not blindly give information and take action to change accounts and passwords if you are ever potentially at risk for having your information compromised.

To learn more about Big Data check out Douglas LaLone’s discussion about the legal side of big data below: 

https://chipcast.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=4fe95594-73e5-4b1a-8a3c-83896b88b6d9

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3 Reasons Junk News Spreads So Fast

Intro

This week I read an article by the Oxford Internet Institute called, "Three reasons junk news spreads so quickly across social media." In this post, I will be discussing my views on all 3 reasons and giving specific examples from personal experience. In addition, I will discuss some of the things businesses and individuals should be aware of, and how they can respond to these conditions.  

Algorithms

The first reason discussed for the fast spread of junk news across social media is the use of algorithms. The article states, “Social media platforms rely on algorithms to determine how news and content are disseminated and consumed.” This is useful and good when real news is being spread, but when junk news is being spread, it creates a major issue. 

Algorithms that are currently used by Facebook and Google have the ability to affect what type of content you consume even based on geographic location. This becomes an issue with politics and using social media to connect with and influence voters in different geographic regions. I have personally felt this happening after searching for certain products and getting ads shortly after for similar things. We search and the internet listens. 

Advertising

Due to algorithms gathering large amounts of data on us as individuals, companies can then buy this data and use it for advertising purposes. Knowing who to advertise to and in what geographic locations is a game-changer. It allows you as a company to pick out your target market very efficiently and advertise to them more effectively. 

One topic of discussion I want to mention on advertising is clickbait. By playing on consumers biases, companies entice consumers to click links to their site or articles. Because of these biases, people show more outrage when their identity or values are perceived to be threatened, leading to exaggerated, misleading, and polarized content. 

I have personally experience a lot of clickbait, especially on Twitter and Snapchat. Most ads are not too enticing, but when there is a story that interests me and I want to read, I will click to only realize the article is not the main point and it is clickbait. 

Exposure

Lastly, what we decide to expose ourselves to on social media can influence our biases and spread junk news more quickly. Even though algorithms and advertisements can influence us, we do decide in the end the type of content we follow and put ourselves in front of. Our community, friends, etc. all can influence the content we read and spread ourselves. 

Having exposure to accounts that are verified and spreading accurate information is crucial. I try not to follow any accounts for news that are not verified. In addition, it can affect what you see depending on the news station as  well. Think about what you follow and how it can affect biases. 

What to be Aware of and How to Respond

Overall, we all need to be aware of what we are following and who. Making sure we get accurate and quality information over junk news is very important. To do that, we must understand the algorithms and the way ads are being run. We do not pay for social media with money, we pay with personal information. Be careful what you share and make sure it is not junk news. 

If you want to check out the article and read it for yourself, copy the link below and feel free to share your comments below:

Howard, Philip, and Samantha Bradshaw. Three reasons junk news spreads so quickly across social media, Mar. 2018. www.oii.ox.ac.uk/blog/three-reasons-junk-news-spreads-so-quickly-across-social-media/

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What Makes a Good Social Media Consultant?

A good social media consultant is able to raise brand awareness and deliver traffic to your company website. In order to do this effectively, social media consultants must be very creative and have the ability to understand the way people think. Connecting with the consumer and producing content for a company that aligns with the values of both the company and the customer is crucial.

Overall, a social media consultant is going to drive and maintain the reputation of a company. With that said, these individuals must be honest and dependable and someone that will represent the company in a positive and influential way. Social media consultants may be anonymous employees or could also be an influencer. Influencers are generally celebrities or those with strong online followings. Besides these individuals, companies also hire social media consultants to work anonymously on behalf of company profiles such as Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.

This week I was asked,“If you were acting as a social media consultant to yourself, what plans and strategies would you advise to improve your professional social media presence?” First, I would start with planning and getting an idea of what my own goal is for social media. When producing content, it is important to decide if it is going to be entertainment, information, or a combination of the two. In addition, you have to decide what your main form of content will be. Am I one that likes to be on camera and produce videos for content? Do I not like to be seen but would be comfortable talking and posting audio? If I am not comfortable with either, will I focus on written text and images? These are all questions to ask when trying to improve my social media presence.

Beyond planning and embracing what forms of content work best for me, I would also base strategies around different platforms. If it is LinkedIn, I would be more professional in the design of my page and my profile picture than I would for say Instagram or Twitter. It is important to create content on all platforms to increase overall presence. Posting content to only Twitter or Tumblr would not be a good strategy. Linking accounts and posting a lot of content on different platforms will increase presence and awareness.

So far, I have worked to make my different profiles unique in their own way. Twitter and Instagram are more personal and lifestyle and LinkedIn is more professional and business centered. In the future, I should start posting more content that aligns with interests I have in my personal and work life. For the most part, I comment and engage but need to produce more original content.

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Managing Big Data

“Big data” has become a frequent and growing topic of conversation in the last few years. Along with the many perks of having access to big data, there are also many red flags, or concerns, that it brings. But what exactly is “Big data?” Big data is defined as, “Extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions.”  

This week I watched a few videos and read an article concerning big data and I wanted to share with all of you what I learned and some of my thoughts for discussion.

 When companies begin analyzing large data sets to reveal patterns in human behavior, there comes in to play a lot of moral questions involving information privacy. Should companies be able to gather data on our behavior? Can those companies sell the data they gather about you to other companies? These are just a few of the basic questions that are asked. 

This is already happening, everyday, all around us. Have you been discussing a brand or a product with a friend recently and then see an ad for that product or company on your Facebook timeline or in a Snapchat ad shortly after? This is big data at work. For some, an uncomfortable feeling accompanies this occurrence. We are not used to technology being able to do this yet. We are not fully comfortable and some feel an invasion of privacy. 

The truth? You make the decision to allow companies to do this. For every set of “Terms and Conditions” you agree to, you are allowing companies to listen in if you will. Most all companies do not use this data that they gather for harm, rather they do it to increase sales and reach customers in a way they never could before. We have seen, however, instances recently where information has not been kept as secure as it should. Facebook recently was found to be keeping over 600 million users’ passwords in their company system without encryption for employees to view. 

We live in a world where our personal information is becoming increasingly at risk for abuse. Passwords, account names, account numbers, and even social security information are all at risk for being sold and used inappropriately. This may seem like something that will unlikely happen to you, but the risk is real and it is there. 

Check out the links below to watch/read what I did and learn more about managing “Big data” and and how it relates to personal information privacy:

The End of Privacy. "The Data Brokers: Selling Your Personal Information." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAT_ina93NY

Ceglowski, Maciej. “The Internet With a Human Face: Beyond Tellerrand Düsseldorf, 2014.” https://vimeo.com/102717446

Zuckerman, Ethan. “The Internet's Original Sin.” https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/08/advertising-is-the-internets-original-sin/376041/

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Would you survive without social media for a day? This week I experimented with my personal social media use to see what it is like to avoid social media, and even your phone, for an entire day. To begin the experiment, I needed to either gather good data or track my own progress. For this experiment, I decided to use my iPhone’s Screen Time function. With this, I was able to look at my phone usage from the week in a variety of different categories. I began by looking at total screen time per day and broke it down in to what that screen time was specifically used for. As you can see, I used my phone for about two and a half hours a day with a few days being much more and a few days being less. Saturday was the day that I did not use my phone. The minimal data you see for Saturday would be from using my phone past midnight before bedtime on Friday night and also once I finally got my phone Saturday night before bed to check an email and to set an alarm.

As you can see, I use social networking throughout the week more than any other platform. I would say my use is not too crazy compared to some others I have seen who can sometimes go over 4 hours of use a day. When it comes to social media use, I rarely make posts, comment, or actually engage with others. I usually use social media to check up on news. I like to follow business pages, sports, politics, etc. My daily use consists of watching daily ESPN on snapchat, checking LinkedIn and Twitter for business stories and accounting news, and going on Facebook to see what family is up to. After tracking my social media usage, I then experimented by not using my phone on Saturday. I left it in my bookbag at home while I left for the day. I do have an apple watch so I was able to text and call those I needed to stay in touch with, but as far as social media and the internet go, I did not use them. I began the day walking my dog, and then went to Lansing to shop and go to dinner. After dinner, we went to a movie at the IMAX and then our way home for the night. I found myself anxious throughout the day not having it. I would almost forget every hour that I did not bring it and begin looking for it to only realize what I was doing. I would think, “Oh, let me look that up real quick,” and then not be able to. It was frustrating but as the day went on it became more normal. The thing I realized was not that I missed checking social media platforms, but that I missed the ability to use my phone as a tool that connects to the internet. I constantly am getting directions, Googling things, looking up food menus, etc. Not being able to do this was difficult. Lastly, I realized that I check my phone a lot due to notifications and also just checking to check.

As you can see above, I check my phone about 60 times per day on average. This average would have been higher had I used my phone on Saturday. If you could see the numbers, they would tell you that I picked up my phone Saturday a total of 8 times compared to the highest on Thursday of 84. Not being able to look at my phone or check notifications was probably the most difficult part. I think I can go a day without social media, but not a day without a phone. Going a week without social media would be a different story. I would feel disconnected from the world. Overall, I was interested to see the data my iPhone has to offer on screen time and it worked really well for tracking this experiment. I suggest opening up your screen time function and taking a look!

[bizmentality-blog]

Social Media: Use Less? Nonsense!

With over ¾ of Americans having access to the internet in 2016, generation Z and even millennials find it hard to think of a time they haven’t had access to the internet for an extended period of time. The only time I can think of where I have not been able to access the internet or any social media platform for an extended period of time is on an airplane. Though I suppose you could pay for Wi-Fi on most flights today and stay connected, I am a college student in debt looking to save any way I can. Without internet on a flight, I find myself doing a lot of the things written in “Before the Internet,” by Emma Rathbone. Doodling on a notebook, playing Sudoku, reading a book, listening to music. These are just a few of the things I generally do on a flight to pass the time when not connected to the internet.

When it comes to the internet and social media, I use it to the extent of staying connected and being informed. I follow a lot of business pages like Bloomberg and the Big 4 auditing firms. The notifications for Twitter and Facebook are turned off on my phone so I am not constantly being distracted with meaningless notifications. I check these platforms on my own time and not when a notification tells me too.

I personally do not abuse social media, however, I take a position contrary to popular belief when considering whether we as a society are on the internet excessively and using too much social media. After watching the interview with Sherry Turkle, I do not agree with many of her ideas. The studies she has performed and contributions to psychology she has made I respect one hundred percent, however, I do not see her findings as a negative.

Restricting your child’s screen time or social media usage is not something that needs to be done. Sherry described the “old times,” much like the article from the New Yorker did. To me, this is exactly what Sherry said she finds people to think is, “BORING!” The way things were “Before the Internet,” are not something we need to resort back too. Limiting your child’s ability to use these types of technology is only limiting their skills in using them.

We live in a world now where the ability to use technology and reach customers through social media is infinite. More and more jobs involve computers and technology. This is not going to change and we are not going to use them any less. So, when Sherry says we should not be using social media as much, I do not agree. What I propose is that we use it smarter. Use it for good, for self-improvement, and for learning as much as we can from as many others as possible. Overall, I think this is what Sherry Turkle was saying as well in a way.

Check out the link(s) below to the New Yorker article and Sherry Turkle interview and let me know your thoughts too:

Rathbone, E. Before the Internet. (2017, June 19). Retrieved June 28, 2019. https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/06/26/before-the-internet

Moyers. (2013, October 18). Segment: Sherry Turkle on Being Alone Together. Retrieved June 28, 2019. https://billmoyers.com/segment/sherry-turkle-on-being-alone-together/

[bizmentality-blog]

Let’s Start Thinking “Biz”

My name is Austin Jones and I am currently a senior at Central Michigan University. I will be graduating in December, 2019. My major is Accounting and I double minor in Finance and Information Systems. During my time at CMU, I have had a few internships. First, I worked for Auto-Owners Insurance Co. in Lansing, MI as an information systems intern. After that, I worked as a financial advisor intern in Los Angeles, California for a firm by the name of Gideon Strategic Partners. Currently, I work in my hometown of Jackson, Michigan as an accounting intern for Partners Bulk Logistics.

After graduation, I would like to move back to Los Angeles and find a job at an accounting firm, preferably one of the big 4. I plan to sit for the CPA exam within one year of graduating from CMU and want to become certified in both Michigan and California. A career goal of mine is to become a partner at one of the big 4 accounting firms before the age of 40. With this blog, I hope to get myself and my BIS 315 classmates thinking in more of a “Biz Mentality.” As many of us get closer to graduation, we will begin our careers and will be entering the real business world. This requires us to start thinking differently, more like a business professional and less like a college student.

To start getting us all thinking, I wanted to share a company with all of you that I believe is exemplary with regard to its use of social media. Here is the link to VAYNERMEDIA:    https://vaynermedia.com

Many of you may have heard of vaynermedia because of its creator, Gary Vaynerchuk, but more importantly because of his ability to reach a vast audience on multiple social media platforms. Whether you are on snapchat, twitter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn or any other social platform, you will probably see Gary Vaynerchuk and his unique social media presence. He has a special ability to develop an organizational vison that cultivates collaborative communities. In addition to Gary’s own personal influencer accounts, vaynermedia also has its own accounts as well. Both equally as engaging. In addition to social media, Gary also does a lot of public speaking and also has a podcast. The one thing that Gary preaches is content, content, content. He is breeding a new generation of hard-working entrepreneurs and young business professionals. Give the website a look and check out some of his accounts on basically any platform!