Social Media: Business Style, Featuring Handy Online Tools to Take Advantage Of

Mark Schlereth as an ESPN corresponder

We all know how Twitter is revolutionizing the way that traditional ways of things are done. From changing the ways in the classroom to finding career connections, this application is impacting our technological age in a powerful way. Former NFL star, former ESPN analyst, and current Fox Sports 1 corresponder/analyst Mark Schlereth, however, offers some new insight on how Twitter can also impact your business unlike any other social media outlet. Because his football days are over, Schlereth is now a business man, marketing his own brand of "green chile sauce." Before he could get his business off the ground, he realized that he needed to figure out to advertise his product to as many people as he good. Thus, he utilized Twitter into sending out his product for a vast amount of people to see! Schlereth says that even though only a small percent of his followers will actually see and/or interact with actually purchasing his product, he still values the ideal that Twitter and social media as a whole positively impacts the business world. He also advises to always keep on going, meaning to find new outlets and to always put your business out there! There always needs to be motivation to better your business, and thankfully, Twitter is a really beneficially way to do that.

To branch off of that, author of tech savvy advice book LOL...OMG!, Matt Ivester, has made sure to never let his readers forget that whatever you put on the internet stays on the internet forever. In chapter three, Ivester discusses how fast, easy accessible, yet permanent the internet is. Because of this permance factor, Ivester has advised his readers to always approach their posts with caution. However, despite the dangers that the internet has, Ivester makes it clear to his readers that the internet is much more a place of interaction, connection, and information than a place of mischief and mayhem.

Matt Ivester,
author of LOL...OMG!

Invester also continues to address similar point in chapter five, making it very clear that students, like myself, are creating their permanent reputation on the internet with every post that they make. From Facebook photo albums of the latest party to hurried rushed assignments sent to professors in the wee hours of the morning, the internet is establishing our presence as young adults, hoping to send a positive message to our followers, future employers, etc. More often than not, background checks are being done on anyone with any type of social media account because companies want to make sure that who they are hiring is someone that they want to be involved with. Our entire perception of the world mainly comes from the internet, so we all need to make the effort to keep it accurate, appropriate, and worth our time.

Example of a Pinterest page/board

Switching gears quite a bit, I'd like to make some honorable mentions for some really beneficial tools to boost your knowledge as well as social media presence. The first I'd like to talk about is Pinterest. Because of the growing value of this website, bloggers worldwide are able to share their favorite recipes, DIY's, and even some bargain deals on a lot of flashy items. But, Pinterest is also for a lot more than just scrolling through endless pages of food recipes, and Amy Lynn Andrews can show you how to use it. In her blog post "My Top Pinterest Tips," she literally takes you through every step in order to make you Pinterest account the most valuable and informative (and unique) as it can be! One of the most important steps that she mentions is to not "just be a repinner, but be a pioneer pinner." In other words, find original and unique posts, instead of the same repetitive Disney themed bedrooms everyone else is already talking about. Pinterest is really about taking your online knowledge to the next level.

Example of a paper.li newspaper

Another handy dandy tool to always keep handy in your internet toolbox is paper.li. With this incredible application, users are able to create their own newspaper! What this means is that a user can personalize a dashboard of news articles with information and topics of interest. For example, my personalized paper.li newspaper is filled with information and news about the psychology world, because I am a psychology major. Tim Lenahan's article "How to Publish Your Own Online Newspaper With Paper.li" takes you through a step by step instruction on how to really personalize and make your newspaper... well, like you! The article takes you through the basics of setting up an account, as well as really personalizing it to make it your own. Whether you are a sports fanatic or are super into the latest on quantum physics, paper.li can help you to enhance your knowledge as well as put out your personal interests on the internet.

How an IFTTT recipe works

Lastly, I would like to make mention of the application entitled "IFTTT" (which stands for "If This Then That"), which is a website designed to make your life a whole lot easier. The website is linked with hundreds of other applications, such as Twitter, Gmail, Spotify, etc., and allows you to create "recipes" that alert you when something happens. You can personalize these "somethings that happen," whether it be a certain person sends out a tweet and you want a text message about it, or your favorite Spotify artist dropped a new single and you want an email about it. Kevan Lee's article "The Big List of IFTTT Recipes: 40 + Hacks for Hardcore Social Media Productivity" opens up the eyes of IFTTT users to utilize this application for the betterment of their social media presence. One of the most interesting recipes that Lee discussed was to make Facebook automatically wish your friends a "Happy Birthday" message! Clearly, this application was designed for a lot more than birthday wishes, but it is also designed to just make life easier.

Thank you all for checking out this week's installment of Living, Learning, and Loving with Liv! Hope you picked up a valuable piece of information!

-Liv