The Educated Emotion

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.

Register for Classes Happy Monday! After being swept away with my new bundle this year, I am stirring up a little bit of action. I hope to have a full set of offerings this coming Spring. In the meantime, I have some classes and activities that might be of interest. Note: All times provided are EST. Nov. 1 - Tru Story Blog Reloaded With renewed focus and content, I am finally ready to relaunch the Tru Story Blog. Expect honest conversation about success, failure, entrepreneurship, social justice, community and more.  Location: WORLDWIDE at   www.trustorysuccess.com Nov. 1 - #NaNoWriMo2016  National Novel Writing Month and the Writer's Digest PAD (Poem a Day) Challenge Location: United States at www.nanowrimo.org or http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/2016-november-pad-chapbook-challenge-day-1 When: Nov. 1 -Nov. 30 Nov. 5 - Remembrance Project Author and Producer, H. Buchanan, will launch The Remembrance Project Location: Carr C...

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...

Les Go Social Super Cyber Events   Buy today and get 40% off Constant Contact for 3 months. This is your chance to get an amazing deal, plus all the tools you need to connect with customers and grow your business like never before. 4 days only. Ends at midnight, Thursday Dec 4. Don't wait! #ShopSmallSaturday #SmallBusinessSaturday #CyberMonday #WorldAIDSDay #GivingTuesday #ventureLOCAL #EOHPoetry #lesgosocial As you have probably noticed, each of these newsletters will generally start with a set of hashtags. These hashtags are trending topics and have information indexed on all platforms that support hashtags. For instance, today is Worlds AIDS Day as well as Cyber Monday.  Tomorrow is Giving Tuesday, the day dedicated to our non profit sec...

Ann Arbor, Michigan has made it to the top of many lists as the best place to live for women, bicyclists, and even dating. Recently, Ann Arbor has made it to the top of a not-so-noble list: The Laziest Cities list.  My first reaction was that of disbelief. But, then I read how the list was derived. For instance, locals like to begin their day at an average time of 8:17 a.m., which is later than most cities in the United States. My guess is that Ann Arbor's appearance on this list is a byproduct for some of the other lists it has topped. Locals like to carpool, bike, walk, and jog to work. Also, there is a lot of support for the arts. Between 2004 and 2005 I witnessed thousands of people lose their jobs and careers after a major pharmaceutical company left town. The estimated loss to the local arts community was nearly $400,000. This is a combination of the loss in funding directly given by the company as well as the decrease in highly paid professionals with time and...

Friday will be my first day "officially" working in 2014, as I wanted a day to get my household back to normal before I start to push forward with professional goals for the New Year. A few weeks ago, I joined an effort to shed some light on local businesses through Shop Small Saturday, Buy Local Week, and Pinterest's Hometown Pins Competition. In an effort to be globally competitive and create a sustainable earth, sometimes we forget one of our first lessons: take care of home. The holiday season, and the sense of community we experienced, was a great reminder of how much buying power we each have every day. One of my "resolutions" is to patronize businesses that invest in the community I live whenever possible. Before I was an entrepreneur, I was a writer. So, I thought it'd be fitting to focus on my favorite writing spots in my hometown for my submission to Pinterest. Below, are my 2014 Picks for the best places to write in Ann Arbor. http:...

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...

#Reblogged :  Ann Arbor with Kids: Protect Your Privacy Online Course Giveaway : As more of our lives have moved online from banking to shopping to social media, protecting your privacy online to help prevent identity the...