An Essay for Public Relations Class...

It’s interesting that teachers in classrooms everyday have to compete against everything available on a student’s phone, or in many cases, their personal laptops. How could the lecture or the PowerPoint in the front of the room be more interesting than Facebook, Twitter, AIM, text messages and everything else along those lines.


“Engagement” (whether it be in schoolwork or even online) is dwindling among the younger generation. A documentary called Frontline’s Digital World talked to students who said that when writing a paper they could only write one paragraph at a time. They write in “bursts and snippets.” Many support the idea that this has a direct correlation to the fact that they are “digital natives.” In the digital world, everything is truncated. Twitter updates, Facebook statuses, IMs and their short words like “lol” and “brb.” If they are writing in short ideas all day on the web, why wouldn’t they have a hard time writing a long idea like an essay?


In an article from guardian.co.uk called Facebook and Bebo risk ‘infantilizing’ the human mind, Lady Greenfield, a professor at Oxford and director of the Royal Institution, says “children’s experiences on social networking sites ‘are devoid of cohesive narrative and long-term significance. As a consequence, the mid-21^st century mind might almost be infantilized, characterized by short attention spans, sensationalism, inability to emphasize and a shaky sense of identity.’”

While many want to punish the students for their inability to concentrate on academics because their unimportant social networking is getting in the way, how can we? A pro-technology in the classroom principal from Frontline’s Digital World stated that kids will need to be fluent in technology and experts in communication because, “that’s the way the world is now.” Maybe the older generation should focus on catching up instead of criticizing?

In fact, they are. In an article from the New York Times this past October called Finding a Guide for Online Networking, Marc Prensky, author of Digital Game-Based Learning, explained that the older generation is “likely to be ‘digital immigrants’ who must learn the language and the culture of the Internet Age… ‘And your best cultural guide is younger person, a digital native, born into a world of computers, video games and instant messaging.’”


The documentary emphasized this as well, even stating that by the time the older generation researches and publishes information about technology, that technology is “obsolete.” The technological world is definitely a rapid growth that is continually developing, but it is also fascinating. Everyone wants to be a part of it, have their profile and presence on social networking sites and use the Internet to communicate with Skype and AIM. Even the older generation is intrigued while they are grumbling about students texting in class. But they can learn from the “boomers.” Prensky adds, “Smart immigrants have always relied on the younger generation to learn the language. Kids today are eager to help, because sharing information is part of their culture.”

Facebook Insights: Something Pro-Business Pages (Not Profiles)

Facebook Insights is just another reason to make the switch from having your business operate as a profile (collecting friends) to a page (collecting fans).

Facebook Insights measures user exposure, actions and behavior relating to your Facebook Page. It helps you understand the activity on your page, your fans, and trends. Only page administrators can see this on the left side of the Facebook page.

The two most important things to pay attention to when looking at Insights are the Interactions and the Post Quality.

The "Interactions" section takes the number of times your fans write on your wall, comment on your posts, or like (clicks the "like" button) your content and adds them together. This is in turn a compilations of interactions between your fans and your page for the week.

 

"When you create compelling content, your fans may choose to interact with the material by commenting, liking, or writing on your Wall. These fans help to spread your content virally throughout Facebook, as their engagement leads to organic stories being published in their friends' News Feed." --Help Center Facebook Pages: Insights for your Facebook Page

Want to increase the number of interactions on your page? This is where SweetPea&Co. comes in, to help you achieve these three keys to success with your business page on Facebook...

1. Post things that are relevant to your fans/ engaging content

2. Posting frequently, but not too frequently (it's not Twitter)

3. Increase your fan base

A note on "Post Quality." This measures "how engaging your content is to Facebook users. A higher post quality indicates material that better engages fans." This measure "takes into account your number of posts, total fan interactions received, number of fans, as well as other factors." --Help Center Facebook Pages: Insights for your Facebook Page 

 

Want to increase your post quality? The steps are similar to those one should take to increase the number of interactions on their page, but SweetPea&Co can make sure that both are accomplished for your business Facebook page.

1. Make sure your posts are interesting and meaningful (whether they are posts, photos, videos or links)

2. Don't post low quality content. It's better to post more interesting posts (like ones with pictures, videos, etc.) less frequently, than to post less engaging material more frequently

3. Increase your fan base (again)

SweetPea&Co thinks that Facebook's Insights can really benefit those using a Facebook for their business. And we can help you increase your interactions and post quality! But remember, you can only use this to your advantage if you have a page, not a profile!!!

Love,

Why You Need SweetPea&Co.

First and foremost! Even if your business already has a Facebook, if it is not being maintained appropriately, your page is in danger of a few things. Someone could put up a negative comment which could be left there long enough for your fans to see it and form the wrong opinion about your business. Also, you run the risk of losing fans if they don't feel like they are engaged in your page. It either needs to be maintained right or taken down.

"Social Media isn't a conversation. It's where the conversation takes place." -Jay Baer of Convince and Convert. Just because you're on Facebook, it doesn't mean you're in the conversation. You have only entered a room where the conversation can take place.

 

So, now to get to other reasons you need SweetPea&Co. We can help you conquer Facebook successfully. We can teach you how to cross-post in a way that will be beneficial to your business. We can help you develop your tone as your business and use Facebook's Insights to help shape this. We can help you pinpoint your audience on Facebook.

But most importantly we can help you formulate a plan for your specific needs as a business owner on Facebook. For example, if you're thinking you don't have enough time to do it, we can give you some strategies to still have an engaging presence, but not take up hours of your time each day. If you're thinking you will never have enough things to take pictures or video of, there are ways we can suggest to help make your page remain visually stimulating without the need of a camera attached to your hand. Is your goal to replace email newsletters, print advertising and mailers about events with Facebook? We can help explore the world of Facebook Ads, events and updates! Do you want people to discover your website and blog through Facebook? We can help you give them a reason to go back and forth throughout the multiple online components of your business. If your goal is to enhance your searchability on google through Facebook then we have tips for you to help that as well. 

See? There are so many reasons that you need our services! We can answer so many questions and make your life on Facebook so much easier. We're looking forward to working with you.

Love,

SweetPea WhitneyMae

Hello! I'm so excited to finally get this started. Welcome social networkers, welcome bloggers, welcome friends and welcome business owners. I'm SweetPea WhitneyMae and I have recently followed my mother's advice (after ignoring it a few times of course.) This is the blog for my small social networking agency: SweetPea&Co. We are experts when it comes to having an engaging presence on Facebook: the most important site for businesses to participate in. We can help you "be as successful on Facebook as you are with your business!"

How did I decide to create my very own networking agency? Well, as I said before, it was my mother's advice that sparked the idea. But it stems from a couple other things as well. First of all, my mother and I are extremely alike. She is an entrepreneur and has created a successful business in my small hometown of Gardiner, NY, and naturally I inherited her positive attitude. (Shameless plug for my mom's blog...HiHo Heidi's Diary). She has always believed in networking...even before it was internet-dominated. Anyway, I, as a Facebook user was noticing businesses slowly creating pages on Facebook and I started to convince my mom that HiHo needed to be on Facebook too. We played around with it (frankly if I ran the business component of Facebook I would change more than a few things) and we figured it out. Naturally we started talking to other businesses about it and then even reported that it was turning out to be a successful investment of time spent on the internet.

Then, a catering company I had been working for asked me (taking advantage of my knowledge from trying it out with HiHo) if I could help them with Facebook. SweetPea&Co. was born. This was where advice from my mother began. She knew that with my knowledge of public relations and social media I could help out businesses all over that knew that they needed to be on facebook (because if they aren't they're missing out) but did not know how to go about doing it.

When my boyfriend (the wonderful graphic designer and man he is) designed a logo, I knew it was really happening. (By the way, if you're wondering, "why sweetpea?" it's because it's a nickname that originated from him and then my mom caught on...)

Naturally, more and more businesses in my area (and some that are a bit far away but have networked with my mother by means other than the internet) began forming a list in a notebook I labeled "SweetPea&Co.: Wannabe Fabulous (and rich) Public Relations Diva." How, do you ask? Well just answer the question "what do mother's talk about?" for yourself and you'll understand. (Despite all the playful bashing of my mother I totally love her by the way.)

Anyway, I'm excited. This is really something I enjoy doing and I love learning more about it all the time! Recently I visited the NYIGF with my mother and attended a social networking seminar. There are always new ways to take advance of a presence in social media.

I will be blogging on a regular basis about clients, tips, our services at SweetPea&Co. and so much more!

Love,


P.S. Website coming soon!