The Educated Emotion

Monday mornings come every week; they are just crazy like that. But, did you know that they can kill productivity for the entire week? I didn't know that either -- until I reached the end of my first year in business and realized much of my year had been just a string of bad Monday Mornings . Here are four things I learned over the course of my first year: It Was The Night Before Monday and All Through the House..  Whether you have 3 hours or 15 minutes, a little preparation on Sunday evening can help in big ways on Monday morning. For me, that is often just 15 minutes creating a to-do list or journaling. Laurita Thomas, who is the associate vice president and chief human resource officer at the University of Michigan, spent several hours each Sunday in her office, preparing for the week ahead for the first few years in her position. "I don't do that anymore" said Thomas, "but I do spend time each Sunday evening preparing for the week." Schedule ...

*originally posted on April 18, 2012 Three Farmers and Two Geese Today the entertainment industry lost one of its greatest contributors, Dick Clark. He spent over 60 years in numerous memorable roles from radio to music to television. One of the roles that he is less noted for is entrepreneur; some of Clark's biggest marks on the industry were actually ones he created. Dick Clark was always the 'cool kid'. He wanted to be a part of what was new. In fact, he said that he wished he had been a little younger when the Internet takeover began.  In an 1999 interview  with James Moll, Clark was asked "How do you describe the start to your professional career?" Clark responded with a story of his first job in the mailroom of a radio station. In the mornings he would sit with disc jockey, Danny Fusco and give the weather forecast for the rural radio network, assuming that no one was listening. But when Clark started performing as if someone was listening, that...

C'mon! Let's put the 'social' back into social media week! #SMW2017 Please note: Comments can be made directly underneath each blog post. Any Comments made previously, via Google +, will no longer show up under blog posts.

Linkedin is now shinier and more functional than ever! I haven't had time to go through all the new features yet, but here are my favorite three new features so far: 1. Familiar Menu and Profile . You don't have to dig through drop down menus on your profile page for basic information like 'Notifications' and 'Messaging'. Also, the profile and header area take up less space so you can see more information above the fold. 2. A Clean Home. Did you ever feel like you needed a map to get around your own home page? Yeah, me too. Now there is a distinct newsfeed/timeline in the middle with your own numbers on the left. 3.  Easy to Navigate Privacy. I remember taking 15 minutes just to explain to a class where to find some of the privacy controls in LinkedIn a few years ago. Now it is laid out so clearly I dare say other social utilities might take note! I imagine there will be more I'll have to say about the new improved LinkedIn over the next f...

Last week, I had professional photos taken. This was after several situations came up in the past few months where I was asked to provide a professional, high resolution photo of myself to go with my bio. I found that I had plenty of selfies, goofy, and off guard pictures, but none that represented me professionally. After reaching out to my young, retired photographer friend and writing buddy I had a photo shoot. It was much less painful than expected and she sent me sixteen decent photos among three backgrounds to choose from. I narrowed the poses down to the top six choices from myself and family, but still wasn't sure which picture would encapsulate my personality and professionalism at the same time. So, I took my photos to Facebook to poll friends, family, and followers. Top four photos chosen in Facebook poll. Photography Credit: Bethany Neal. I labeled each of the six poses A through F and asked people to choose one of the options. What happened next was completely u...

Please note: Comments can be made directly underneath each blog post. Any Comments made previously, via Google +, will no longer show up under blog posts.'' If you have a pulse, at some point you have done something on impulse. Recently, tennis player Svetlana Kuznetsova cut her hair during a match before returning and winning the match. I don't know the details surrounding the emergency haircut, but definitely looked like an impulsive decision at its finest. Tennis player cuts her hair in the middle of match ✂️🎾 In art and sports, spontaneity and split-second decison-making are often encouraged. In the business world, not so much. If you are starting a business, own a business, or even work in a business --you probably have plenty of cautionary tales of impulsive decisions gone wrong. The six-figure-earning account executive who got into a fist fight with a co-worker, the business owner who built an expense around money not yet earned, the employee who leaves a p...

A social breakup is when social media followers decide, for whatever reason, they are tired of following you or your brand. Top reasons for social breakups include too much length of time between posts, hyper posting (posting too many times for the social media tool you are using), inconsistency, too much selling, or sometimes the honeymoon period (giveaways, initial excitement, or novelty) is just over. Do All Blogs Go to Heaven? A couple years ago I started to see a decline in my blog reader engagement .  Unlike the 95% of bloggers who give up on their blogs, I knew what to do.  After all, I have been blogging for almost 15 years.  I simply wasn't doing it. I was spreading myself too thin, disorganized, and to be honest...a bit bored/burnt out. Here we are two years later. With the new addition to the family (shown below), I have less time than ever. So, why in the heck would I decide to rebirth a blog? Good question. There is a lot of research on ...

#TipTuesday #TechTuesdays You may have noticed that the number of followers have decreased for your Facebook Brand Page. That is because after March 12, Facebook began purging all inactive accounts. Likes that you obtained through paid advertising or from years ago may be connected to inactive accounts. It makes sense. But, it's also discouraging if you are trying to build your followers. Before you despair, remember that everyone is basically in the same boat. Getting your numbers back up may not happen as quickly as it has in the past, but it is still simple as 1 2 3. #lesgosocial 1. Invite friends. It has probably been a few months or years since you have invited people from your personal friend list to Like your Facebook page. 2. If you are responsible for social media for your business or organization, adjust your success metrics to match what Facebook insights are telling you..beyond the Likes. 3. Love the one you're with: Encourage engagement with existing ...

#TechTuesdays #TuesdayTip Free Ninety Nine! Doesn't it sound good? Oh boy! Two FREE roundtrip airline tickets to wherever you wish. All just because you just happened to be on Facebook at the right time, connected to the right friend. Have you seen an ad or been tagged on an ad like the one below on your Facebook timeline? I hate to break this to you...but it is a scam. Perhaps you received something like this in your email inbox? Examples:   [Collected via e-mail, November 2011] Receive 2 FREE Southwest Airline Tickets Today! [URL elided] For a limited time you can receive  2 FREE  Southwest Airline Tickets good for any travel within the USA! Don't wait, this is a one time free gift offered just in time for the Holidays! [Collected via e-mail, October 2012] Planning for the holidays? Lucky you! Southwest Airlines is sending out thousands of complimentary flight vouchers to current Facebook users! To get yours, fly by [URL elided] to foll...

Good News! Social media does not have to be boring and ineffective to still maintain professionalism.  Many organizations have started to get hop by adding cute photos, taglines, humor, and video. But, a thousand likes on your pictures of cats in cute hats won't necessarily translate into new paying customers or increased awareness for your organization. Below are twelve ways to begin to strike a balance in communicating effectively and professionally the key parts of yourself, brand, or organization. This list comes from years of seeing people and organizations struggle with keeping their online presence professional, yet engaging and effective. This presentation was created for the University of Michigan's Center for the Education of Women hosted its 33rd Women of Color Taskforce Career Conference, one of the oldest and largest career conferences for the University. We were happy to be a part of this day of learning with the session Communicating Professionally and Effect...

A couple weeks ago, I posted a podcast of an interview performed by Christy Haussler: The Educated Emotion: Les Go Social Podcast Interview - The Secret Ingre... : Photo By Dwight Burdette [ CC-BY-3.0 ],  via Wikimedia Commons I was recently interviewed by Christy Haussler, of Brick and Mortar Rep... I received a few reader responses, both on the blog and on other social media. One, in particular, was about ways to begin utilizing Facebook as a professional networking tool - even before you create a page. View the reader response, and my reply, below: henry brown 1 week ago   -   Shared publicly Very great podcast and information, it was very helpful with some insight that I needed. Tell me.... What are some of the best ways, that you think of course. How Facebook can be used as a "Social Utility "?   1  ·  Reply Leslie McGraw 1 week ago Hi Henry. T...

Photo By Dwight Burdette [ CC-BY-3.0 ],  via Wikimedia Commons I was recently interviewed by Christy Haussler, of Brick and Mortar Reporter , for my first podcast ever. The notes are posted on her page , but to hear what I think is the single-most ingredient to a successful social media marketing plan, listen here  and post it in the comments (and there just may be a little reward in store for doing so): Post by Brick and Mortar Reporter Podcast .

I made the decision about a month ago, to quit playing with my prices and use the price points that I researched extensively. My research included web searches, informational interviews, and senior business advisers. I wanted to have the fairest pricing available. I have had a couple people that have known me for awhile question my pricing. I lost confidence in my pricing and tried to appease people at prices that were not at benefit to me or them.  Today, I am pleased with the increase and consistency in quality and detail I am able to provide to clients. I know that I am competitively priced  for the services I render. A couple weeks ago, I finished up a 90-day strategy with a debut author that had no previous digital footprint and started working on action steps. I charged him my standard rates and was able to create a practical, creative, strategy for him that I am really excited about. He sold 18 copies of his self-published book within one week of us worki...

Les Go Social Tip of the Week, shared with Aquarius Press and Willow Books newsletter. The advertisement above is a sneak preview of the tips you will find when you join my newsletter  to be relaunched in 2014.  Nobody is immune to the ills in society that can surface on social media, but there are many more benefits than risks. One way, is to give the places, vendors, stores, artists, nonprofits, and restaurants a shout out. If you don't know what a shout out is, I will explain. Back in my hey day (mid 90s and early 2000s), there was time each evening that my favorite Detroit radio DJ would allow people to call in and request a song and mention a name of a family member, friend, or business. It would sound something like this, "Hi, my name is George and I would like to request Butterflies by Michael Jackson. I also wanna give a shout out to my One Touch Barber Shop and Salon on 7 Mile." It was a simple gesture, but I remember making decisions on places to eat or...

Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor, poster made for Giving Tuesday, Cafe Ollie's in Ypsilanti, Santa and 3-y-old Judah in Depot Town, Kolossos Printing  in Ann Arbor, and Bookbound of Ann Arbor. In a conversation with the founder of DishFish , Joel Vergun, he said something that really stuck out to me as a community enthusiast. He likened the support of small businesses to a cause that you you would normally associate with a nonprofit. "We see helping small businesses in the community as a worthy cause," said Vergun.   In the collage above, I captured a few locally owned and operated businesses and organizations that I patronized this year. In the top row f rom left to right:  Mashup of an evening with poet Nikki Giovanni at Nicola's Books in Ann Arbor, a poster for my first year serving in the role of a social media ambassador for Giving Tuesday, In the bottom row, from left to right:  Danielle Teachout, co-owner at Cafe Ollie's in Ypsilanti, ser...

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED IN APRIL, 2012. REST IN PEACE... Three Lessons on Social Media From Dick Clark   Three Farmers and Two Geese Dick Clark spent over 60 years in numerous memorable roles from radio to music to television. One of the roles that he is less noted for is entrepreneur; some of Clark's biggest marks on the industry were actually ones he created. Dick Clark was always the 'cool kid'. He wanted to be a part of what was new. In fact, he said that he wished he had been a little younger when the Internet takeover began.  In an 1999 interview  with James Moll, Clark was asked "How do you describe the start to your professional career?" Clark responded with a story of his first job in the mailroom of a radio station. In the mornings he would sit with disc jockey, Danny Fusco and give the weather forecast for the rural radio network, assuming that no one was listening. But when Clark started performing as if someone was listening, t...

A picture of the beautiful Kettunen Center, home of the Peninsula Writers Winter Retreat, taken by Ms. Yma Johnson. 2013 I know it isn't officially winter yet, but as a Michigander I have to be prepared for whatever in November. If I have to think of winter, this picture (shown above) is where I would like my mind to wander. It was taken by a friend while we were on a writing retreat. Those three days jump started a creative writing process that had died and gone sour inside of me for months. Removing myself from my normal agenda was just enough to rev my pen into action. During February's State of the Union address, President Barack Obama said "no single event makes a trend." There is no better description to the dynamics of restoring an economy...or even personal credit. As a budding entrepreneur, I excel, I coast, then I get bap-slapped on a regular basis. I have shared how I had to scale back my business. This Spring and Summer, I slowly began adding back ...

This story of Sky Blue Pink was told by Mashable's Brian Anthony Hernandez I like to think of cyberspace as a clear blue sky - with the capability to be warm or cold. It only takes a few moments reading comments after a popular news article, to see how cold cyberspace can be. But to be fair, many have also been recipients of kind and meaningful gestures in cyberspace as well. One of the most recent warm moments in cyberspace was when more than 3500 people from over 100 countries participated in an online campaign , #skybluepink. The campaign was launched by Brandon Curtis with the simple goal of adorning the walls of his dying father. His father was able to enjoy the beautiful pink and blue skies before he passed away. As a small business owner, you may not have the next viral video on your hands. However, you can set the temperature for your social media with your online campaigns. If you frequently have Negative Nelly's taking over your comments, it might be time to ...

This month, my business turned one year old.  When I look back at my original business plan, I am awed at the goals I had. Several months in, I found myself frustrated working 10 to 12 hours, 7 days a week with little to no profits. I went to a business advisor and she said "why don't you employ the same philosophy you have for small business in your own operations." That piece of advice was a huge turning point for me. I scaled back my operations and am slowly re-integrating one thing at a time. By scaling back on my own goals and operations, I am able to spend more time with each client, learning throughout the process with smaller, smarter goals. Today, Deb Nystrom and I are hosting a free free webinar on Google + from 1 to 2 p.m. as part of the Social Media Week festivities. Please join us by signing up with the eventbrite link by 12:30 p.m. Eastern Standard Time or via email at Leslie [at] LesGo4It.com. Event registration for Scale Back to Scale Up Your Sma...