The Time Has Come: A Manifesto (…of sorts)
LSC-Kingwood Spring 2010 Entrepreneur Certificate Program
The Spring 2010 Entrepreneur Certificate program at Lone Star College-Kingwood kicks off next week. Join us for a series of 8-hour seminars designed to help you get your idea off the ground.
Course #1: Getting Started: Do You Have What It Takes?
Are you ready to start a business? In this course, you will take a personal assessment of yourself and your business passions and come to understand the realities of business ownership, including the economic as well as the emotional investment. Thereafter, specialized one-on-one consulting is available with one of the Lone Star College System Small Business Development Center consultants at no cost as you start and grow your business.
Tuesdays & Thursdays, February 9-18, 2010, 6:30PM-8:30PM
Fee: $51.00
Registration #: 23515
To register, just call 281-312-1660 or 281-312-1661.
NEXT COURSE: Find the Right Business. Legal and Human Elements, begins Tuesday, March 2, 2010
Lone Star College System Entrepreneur Certificate
This program is conducted by Lone Star Corporate College (LSCC) in partnership with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC). Students completing the entire program will be awarded an Entrepreneur Certificate and a trial membership to the local chamber of commerce. Specialized one on one consulting is available with one of SBDC’s full time business consultants at no cost.
Entrepreneurship Courses
• Getting Started
• Finding the Right Type of Business
• Finding/Keeping the Money
• Business Plan/Marketing
• Consult with a Local Business Owner
For a more information about the LSCS Entrepreneur Certificate and other business and professional courses, check out the LSCS Spring 2010 Continuing Education Schedule of Classes.
New Year’s Housekeeping
Hold on! This is a long one…
As many would-be bloggers probably do, I started out with a goal of updating this blog several times a week a la Chris Brogan or Seth Godin or ProBlogger or any of the other blogs whose RSS feeds I follow daily. But good intentions didn’t make for a blog. Other forays into social media have been a little easier:
Once I got the feel for Twitter, I found it kind of fun to share blogs, articles and Web sites. I’m now into a daily Twit-rhythm, maintaining three Twitter accounts. Not bragging. Why would I? Just that I decided that each “part” of my persona needed its own account. I have one for more business-related tweeting, one for kids and the environment, and one that is strictly personal where I get to follow celebrities and talk a little trash now and then. Though one colleague swears by Hootsuite and implores me to switch, I have grown comfortable with Tweetdeck. That’s where we are – a whole new Mac vs. PC debate for the 21st Century. I also have Tweetdeck on my Ipod Touch, so whenever I can find a WiFi hotspot, I’m on!
This is a whole other social media monster and my next real challenge. I’ve had a personal Facebook account for awhile now, but once again, I decided that one shouldn’t mix business with pleasure, so I have attempted to create a professional FB account with multiple Pages. It’s a little more than a mess, right now. It’ll work out, though.
Blogging
So, I find myself wanting to blog, but not quite into a rhythm. I even made a blog chart of topics and dates to blog. (That’s the Type A Capricorn in me!) Maybe, that took the fun and experimentation out of it. Not sure. I have several – five, in fact – blog drafts waiting to be completed. So, instead of trying to cram five posts into a day or two, I thought I would do some housekeeping, wrapping up several topics in one post:
DAY 30++: Marlive Harris
Marlive and I have worked together for about a year now. I tell her that this whole foray into social media of mine is all her fault! She told me enough about her work as an online publicist for several African-American romance writers, that I couldn’t help but be curious. So, one day this fall, Marlive comes in my office to find a whiteboard filled with a semi-mindmap/flowchart of what I could start blogging about. In a crash course that afternoon, Marlive introduced me to all of the tools, tips and tricks of social media. My head was spinning…in a good way! More than any person, blog, book or Web site, Marlive has been my coach, mentor and guide along the social media highways and byways. Thanks!
Social Media Foundations
Back in November, as I was consuming as many “how to” blogs as possible, a blog post by Chris Brogan proclaimed that, “If you don’t stick to your goals, there’s no reason to put any time into social media, period.” Goals? You have to have goals to be good at social media? I thought it was more like jazz rifts and poetry slams, everyone tossing their ideas, thoughts and images into a big pot and seeing what boiled up. Wrong. Now, a few months into this whole thing, I realize goals – and strategy – are just as important to a cohesive social media campaign as they are to any good marketing and PR effort. So, this month, I’ll be taking a step back and setting some real goals for what I want to say, share and follow.
“Peepholes and Passwords” in the Social Media Club
Back in December, I came across the SoCal Action Sports Network and their disclaimer that:
“Our network is by invite, referral or request only. Although we have many influential members, qualification is not about status; it’s about relevancy. If you feel that you qualify or have interest in joining us please inquire here.”
What? I thought the whole social media thing was about following and friending, and being followed and friended to increase one’s network – ergo, influence. Why would an organization restrict access to their social network? Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m an “action sports” kind of guy, but why can’t I at least step inside that world and look around. I want in! A-ha! Well, recently, I can see the need to limit who I follow and friend. One of my accounts, thanks to instant refollowing, is now clogged with MLM schemers and some very irrelevant “followees”. I’ll be vetting some of those whom I follow…and, in small doses, maybe even install my own peephole and password.
So, that’s where I am as of January 6, 2010. Where I am on January 6, 2011 is anyone’s guess. Here, maybe?
What are your plans for social media in 2010?
Loathing the Embrace
"Conversation with friends" by Pingu1963-very busy!
In the last month, I’ve been reading all of the positives about social media that I forget there is always a naysayer caught in the middle between wanting to embrace a new technology and loathing the prospect of that embrace. It is interesting that this person talks about creating relationships. Many of the top social media leaders (Well, mine, at least - Chris Brogan, Shel Israel, Scott Stratten, Mitch Joel) talk about nothing else except relationship building (read: Trust Agents). Of course, we still have to have face-to-face relationships, but we can’t meet face-to-face with every potential student or client. Consumers have so many media choices that we have to use every possible media, including social media, in a smart way to reach them, tell our story, involve them in the conversation, and, ultimately, create a relationship that will translate into a valued customer (and, yes, for my higher ed compadres – students are customers). Mass, interruptive media is dead.
What do you think?
29+ Days Later: Seth Godin
An Idea by aloshbennett
On Friday, Nov. 6, I had been blogging for exactly one month. To celebrate, I wanted to play my own version of #FollowFriday, or #FollowFive, and give shout-outs to some real experts who have helped me get started on my blogging adventure. So, before I move on to other topics, I need to finish. Today, Seth Godin.
I’ve been following Seth long before there was anything called Twitter. The route to his marketing advice goes something like an article I downloaded from the 2004 HOW Design Conference web site by Tom Peters which led me to Fast Company magazine which led to Seth Godin. I first read Purple Cow and then, Unleashing the Ideavirus. Since then, I’ve followed Seth’s blog and found his thoughts, though aimed at business, very applicable to higher education and continuing education, in particular. Most recently, I read The Dip and, again, found it very prescient to a year spent mulling over my career, my life and my education. Thanks Seth. One can usually find a Seth Godin quote on my office wall. Currently, I have one that reads: “By the time you’re told the right answer, it’ll be too late.” Another favorite is “Sell just one thing. Go deep. Then stop.” (or something to that effect)
So, thanks Seth. I’ll definitely keep following.
Tell me. What have you learned from Seth?
28 Days Later: Chris Brogan
'Change Direction' by Phillie Casablanca
This Friday, Nov. 6, I will have been blogging for exactly one month. To celebrate, I wanted to play my own version of #FollowFriday, or #FollowFive, and give shout-outs to some real experts who have helped me get started on my blogging adventure. Today, Chris Brogan.
In my office, I have a whiteboard that is now filled with what one might call a mindmap. It was a way for me to get a handle on the structure of what I do, the many areas I manage, and how those sometimes disparate areas could come together to form a blog. While talking to an experienced, blogging co-worker (more on her Friday), she mentioned that I had to follow Chris Brogan. Taking her word for it, I searched for Chris on Twitter and followed him. Boy, am I glad I did. Chris’ posts, tweets and videos have all served to make a sort of mini-blogging boot camp. I get his RSS feed into MyYahoo!, I follow him using on Twitter, and I have his book, Trust Agents, waiting for me on my Kindle. He is truly someone who takes to heart the idea that sharing one’s knowledge and experience garners more attention and followers than simply using social media to sell a product. Digging deep into Chris’ archived posts, I even put together my own blog “cheat sheet” (the idea for these ‘anniversary blogs’ are a variation on something Chris posted about blog topics).
So, thanks Chris. I’ll definitely keep following.
27 Days Later: Shel Israel
"Holmes" by graham
This Friday, Nov. 6, I will have been blogging for exactly one month. To celebrate, I wanted to play my own version of #FollowFriday and give shout-outs to some real experts who have helped me get started on my blogging adventure.
Shel Israel
A Twitter link led me to Shel Israel. Starting this blog was difficult. I needed help on social media, marketing and what to talk about. As my blog title says, I’m a ”master of none”. I’ve really struggled to find something coherent to discuss among the many subjects (products) that I manage. Mr. Israel’s blogpost today on personal brands within the corporate structure really got me. It’s exactly what I’m attempting and experimenting with, only within higher education, not the corporate world – just replace the word ‘corporate’ with ‘college’. The scary part is that, so far, the “college” hasn’t caught on, yet. I’ll let you know how it goes.
I’ll definitely be following. Thanks Mr. Israel.
The Latest Scapegoat for the “Education Crisis”
Photo by George Eastman Collection
I didn’t think I would have time to write a post today, but a late afternoon tweet from Edutopia brought me online. Apparently, last week, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan called for a “revolutionary change” in teacher training programs, calling them, according to The New York Times, a “cash cow” for their respective colleges. Duncan reportedly went on to cite conversations with teachers about their training in which they said that they were not adequately trained to meet the demands of teaching.
Scapegoating
First, this kind of fingerpointing and scapegoating goes nowhere to solving the problem. Teacher training programs are in no way “cash cows.” At least in alternative programs, paying for counselors is expensive. And, in Texas, at least, programs are being told to reduce prices so that they can finally be eligible for state reimbursement. Second, most teacher training programs, both traditional and alternative, are heavily regulated by state education agencies. Duncan did say that government was partly to blame, but I would say all the blame should rest on the government. Only when schools finally move away from an industrialized education model and begin to embrace the type of knowledge-based models students will ultimately find themselves in once they are in the workforce, can fingers be pointed at teacher training programs that are not keeping up.
What do you think?
Environmental Consciousness
I always thought that when a true economic argument could be made for environmental awareness, then, it would hit the mainstream. Though it would be great for “green” training programs to claim that a by-product of the training is a rise in environmental consciousness on the part of employees, there are other drivers. More and more businesses are seeing the competitive advantage of ‘greening’ and, more importantly, by raising awareness of green or sustainability issues at the worker-level, employees may develop a greater awareness of the economics of greening. Namely, they should gain understanding of how reducing, recycling and reusing impacts the bottom-line of a company and, ultimately, their jobs.
Social Media in Higher Ed
For some, like me, the use of social media in higher education is a whole new frontier. With budgets so tight, what more could we be doing to tap the marketing potential of social media? Are we, at the community college level, being slow to catch on? The topic is rarely discussed at meetings when everyone is wondering how we’re going to promote our programs.
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