From the desk (and BlackBerry) of Keith Parnell

I get people all the time tell me it’s hard to get up with me when they need. Well, it’s really not that hard. Today’s communications methods make it really easy. I’m on Twitter. I’m on Facebook. I’m on my blog. I’m on JASEzone. I’m on foursquare. I’m on LinkedIn. A lot! Between my PC in the office, my notebook in the coffee cafes, and my BlackBerry around the world, I would estimate I have online access at least 18 hours everyday.

I live in these social communications as a part of my business life and personal life. These are my network of choice.

But ultimately, there is one single way to ensure I return your personal message. In my world, my home base is my blog. Hit me up here on the contact webform and I’ll shoot you a message back everytime.

Google Docs supports the backend of this contact webform so I have traceability. I have history. I have a way to prioritize communication. And I have a way to control the staying power of the message you took the time to send me. I have a way to manage my time.

You can email me directly if I’ve given you my email address.
You can call me on the BlackBerry if I’ve given you my phone number.
You can text message me if I’ve given you the number.
You can DM me on Twitter if we are connected friends.
You can inbox message me on Facebook if we are friends.
You can send a message on LinkedIn if we are a connection.

But none of these methods guarantee a return message. I receive too many spammer type messages this way with no way to manage them efficiently. Example - I receive ~150 Twitter DM’s each day, ~25 Facebook inbox messages each day, ~250 emails each day, and ~35 text messages each day. I cannot manage all of them and still be productive.

That’s okay though. There is one single way to ensure I return your personal message. In my world, my home base is my blog. Hit me up here on the contact webform and I’ll shoot you a message back everytime.

Where are you available?

What about you? What’s your preference on initializing a new one-on-one communication channel?

Photo credit: hegarty_david

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On Twitter? Follow me at @parnellk63.

Listening to The Sun Is Shining by Third Day.

Do you wonder who is JASE Group?
Do you wonder what JASE Group does?
Wonder no longer!

Related info:

http://www.JASEgroup.com
http://www.CoffeeWithTheCEO.com
http://www.jasegroup.com/brand_management
http://www.jasegroup.com/inbound_marketing
http://www.jasegroup.com/design
http://www.jasegroup.com/blog

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On Twitter? Follow me at @parnellk63.

Listening to After the Storm by Norman Brown.

photo credit: www.timbarcz.com

Here are a few quick blogging tips to keep in mind so you don’t bore your readers stiff:

1. Write for your audience. Not for you. Not for your boss. Write for your readers.
2. Don’t write a book. Booorrring. If your readers want to read multiple pages, they’ll download a new book onto their Kindle.
3. Have a purpose. Don’t just ramble on your blog. You can do that on Twitter, JASEzone or some other microblog platform. Write blog articles that have a point to make or a question to ask. Which leads to the next point …
4. Ask questions. Get your readers involved in the communication.
5. Share information. Don’t fall into the old school mindset that you need to hoard your “mojo”. Believe me, it’s not yours. Someone else has already thought of it.
6. Be Switzerland. This one is hard sometimes. I know. But try to be neutral.
7. Publish your articles on a schedule. Or atleast a semi schedule. Don’t sweat missing a beat or two but try to be considerate and thankful of your readers that are coming back to you for information.
8. Link. Link. Link. Out. Link to your competitors. Link to other ‘experts’. They will appreciate the recognition and do the same back to you. Trackbacks work. I promise.

What are some other tips you can think of?

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The team put this chart together to depict where JASE’s efforts and energies are focused on social media marketing.

Click here to get more info on Social Media 2.0 and how JASE can help you.

In this age of sprouting social media, social networks and easy-to-use social communities, are we really practicing what we preach? Do we use social media to communicate and even more importantly to interact with our customers?

We should. Now, more than ever before, we have the tools to increase bi-directional and multi-threaded interaction with our closest and also the most distant customers. We should be thinking of new ways everyday via social media to let our customers know they can rely on us to deliver on our brand promise to them.

I sent out this quick tweet last night to my JZ, Twitter and Facebook network but thougth I’d run it by you guys in the blog network to see what your thoughts are.

TBS MLB playoffs are “presented by BlackBerry”. Not Rim. Product brand recognition bigger than company brand. Good thing?

What do you think? Should a company make it standard practice to spend millions of dollars to brand one of their products rather than their company name? Should the MLB playoffs on TBS be “presented by Rim”?

Did you happen to see the amazing speaker lineup for September’s New Media Conventions event? Wow!

Get your tickets now. Don’t wait.

• Keynote: Keith Parnell from JASE Group Marketing & Advertising and NeedLocalHelp.com
• Session #1: The Role of Public Relations in Social Media, Michelle Rogerson from Reina Communications
• Session #2: Successfully Monetizing Your Blog, Julie Maloney from Momspective
• Session #3: How to Benefit from the Power of Google, Kurt Noer from Customer Magnetism
• Session #4: Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign, 14 Characters at a Time, Renee Alexander Hamilton, Operation Smile

New Media Conventions

Agenda

Have you ever said that to yourself?

You know you’ve said, I want a tool that will show me how to become a millionaire without trying or investing and without risk.

You know you’ve said, I want a tool that will type this letter for me.

You know you’ve said, I want a tool that will make this sandwich for me AND cut off the crust.

Well, here’s the tool that I want -

I want a tool that will 100% sychronize my social media discussions. When I write a blog post that automatically flows down to the JASEzone, then to Twitter, then to FriendFeed, then to Facebook, I want all of the separate discussions from each of my networks to automatically synchronize themselves on my WordPress blog so that I and my network can see the complete discussion from across that Internet in one place.

Maybe that tool is out there somewhere but if it is, I haven’t seen it yet. Why not? In today’s technology blast, and the online social networking blitz, why can’t I get a simple communications tool that will make my networking more efficient? Why should I have to visit each of my networks to make sure I don’t miss all of the discussions?

Could someone get on that please? Thanks. Call me when you’re done. Or better yet, reply to this post on Facebook and make it so that it will show up on my blog for comment discussion.

Okay, I didn’t mean that as harsh as it sounded. But my life is digital. My family knows that. My friends know that. Most everything I do in my professional and personal life is captured in some way on some media platform.

I tweet my work. I tweet about meetings. I tweet about clients. I blog on several different blogs. I take photos like crazy with my BlackBerry and immediately email them to TwitPic which autoposts to Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook. I take videos with my BlackBerry and live stream them to Qik which autoposts to Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook. I tweet about my wonderful family. I tweet while on vacation. Heck, I even tweet while at Major League Baseball games.

I am digital. I am live. Hear me roar.
I get questions all the time about taking a break from being digital. And I always answer with the same response - “why?” I enjoy being digital. There’s no stress for me to being digital. I don’t need that break that some people might. In all actuality, I’m a bit uncomfortable not being readily connected.

Let me clarify a bit for you on what I mean by being “digital”. I don’t mean just having access to my social media channels, although they are important to me. My BlackBerry and notebook give me a safe place to write my thoughts, for my blog and for private. They give me quick access to my huge music library which is a great stress reliever for me. They give me a way to collect and view my vast photo and video libraries. They provide me a way to quickly Skype (audio or video) call with my Nicole or my daughters or my Mother.

So you see, being digital is not a burden to me at all. Being digital is my way of life that provides me the most efficient, profitable and comfortable way to manage my time, my daily tasks and my stress.

Besides, I love my job. My job is my life. My family and friends are my life. And my life is digital. So why would I want to change that?!

“Hi. Thanks for friending me. Do I know you?”

Really? You’re really going to ask that question to someone that attempts to meet you in a social network?

Without trying to seem arrogant or irritated, I usually reply back with something that essentially means, “You would if you would open your eyes to social media.” Of course I rephrase that a bit to not sound truly irritated.

Social media is the perfect platform to make new friends, expand your business network, and get to know people better. Don’t blow it right off the bat by seeming like you don’t like people in general.

What do you think?
Why would you ask that question before approving a friendship?
Or how would you respond to someone that tells you to “talk to the hand”?

Nicole and I cannot begin to express the sincere thanks for the thoughts, sentiments and prayers we have received from our social media family over the past week. Your thoughts and comments have been almost overwhelming during this tough time of loss for our family.

To our blog, JASEzone, Twitter, FriendFeed and Facebook families: We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your friendship and prayers.

May God bless you all for your dear friendship.

Did you happen to see the amazing speaker lineup for September’s New Media Conventions event? Wow!

Get your tickets now. Don’t wait.

• Keynote: Keith Parnell from JASE Group Marketing & Advertising
• Session #1: The Role of Public Relations in Social Media, Michelle Rogerson from Reina Communications
• Session #2: Successfully Monetizing Your Blog, Julie Maloney from Momspective
• Session #3: How to Benefit from the Power of Google, Kurt Noer from Customer Magnetism
• Session #4: Successful Social Media Marketing Campaign, 14 Characters at a Time, Renee Alexander Hamilton, Operation Smile

New Media Conventions

Agenda