It’s A Whole New World

Yesterday I attended the Speed Networking event at MSU. Speed Networking is like speed dating, but your meeting and networking with professionals. I got to meet professionals from the fields of advertising, public relations, communication, and marketing. An overall advice from some of the professionals I met was that getting involved with digital media is important. Aspects of the traditional world is becoming intertwined with the new media world. It’s becoming faster to share the news, videos and pictures around the world. Individuals don’t have to wait to check their e-mail on their computers; they can receive it at a touch of a button on their phone or mp3 player (for those who have Wi-Fi capabilities on their players). You don’t have to be face-to-face to connect with another person. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and other social networking Web sites make it to where you can network with other professionals, potential clients or with someone of similar interests and hobbies. In essence, it is becoming vital to become a part of this new world.

There are some who are already transition into this new world. There are those who know about it but are hesitant to joint and then there are those who are either confused or don’t know anything about it, and it’s nothing to be ashamed about or viewed as a negative thing. Regardless of where your level of expertise on new media is, you may still have some things to learn about this world.

In my second post, I talked about a class that I was taking this semester called New Media Drivers License, which is being taught by Derek Mehraban. I am having a lot of fun in this class! I am also learning new things about new media that I didn’t know before. Taking this class will not only help me make a presence in the new media world but also become marketable to companies that I apply to for a job. This class has helped me with both. 

If you are trying to find your online voice, a professional who is trying to learn new public relations tactics, or just want to learn the basics, ADV 492 – New Media Drivers License is a class you need to take. So, if you’re in the state of Michigan and have two Saturdays to give up, then you should enroll. You will not be disappointed. To learn more about the class and see some of the assignments, go to the website and check it out. Also, go to the Facebook group, New Media Drivers License. 

If you’re already set and going to enroll for next semester, check out chrisg.com, a website that talks about the basics of new media.

Google Adwords

Google never cease to amaze me. I remember when it was just a search engine that we used for research in middle school. I remember my teacher telling us to go to Google, and the first thing in my head was “What the hell is Google?” All I knew was either MSN, Yahoo, and Lycos (you remember Lycos?) Fast forward ten plus years later and Google is the top leader in the internet world. I can go on and on about the things Google has to offer to those who are following the new media movement, but I already went into detail about that in my last post on Google Earth. 

So I am going to move onto what I wanted to talk about, Google Adwords. Adwords is Google’s primary source of revenue. It is a pay-per-click advertising campaign that is triggered by keywords that are associated with the ad (in this case a banner that will show up on the side of the screen). So, if a person searched a word, say for example  ”Playhouse,” Google or Web sites affiliated with Google will have advertisements that will show up underneath the “Sponsored Links” column. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had the experience of creating my own Adwords banner and have specific keywords that are associated with my blog. I must say the process was not difficult at all. When I first thought of creating a Adwords banner, I thought the process would take a very long time and will give me some sort of a minor headache. But, I was wrong. I set my budget to $10.00/month. The HIGHLY suggest against creating a budget below $50.oo. But, I was doing this for fun, so my budget did not matter as of now. I have chosen 14 keywords that will trigger for my ad banner to show up.  Here is a list of keywords I have chosen to advertise my blog page: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And finally here is my ad banner:

Ad Banner

 

 

 

 

 

 

I must say that this is a different avenue to do advertising. However, you have to know what keywords will help your campaign get awareness. In addition, you must have a budget that can help your ad get pushed to the top of the “Sponsored Links” column and have an increase number of clicks on the ad. I have learned a lot more about this form of advertising and hope to continue learn more. Not bad for my first Adwords campaign!

Till next time.

New Media in 2009

The new year brings new opportunities and changes. 2009 has already bought us a new President and the changes and new path he will pave for this country. For myself its new hope and ideas that will make my future brighter.

In the new media world, new innovative ideas are being developed while other media will continue to thrive this new year. Robin Good wrote a two part blog about new media in 2009 – what independent publishers should expect this upcoming year. Part one talks about online publishing, marketing and advertising, video and net television, digital imaging, visual communication and site design. Part two details social networks and social media, identity, future events strategy, learning, education, online collaboration. 

These predictions are just his own opinions. He is not an expert in the new media field. However, he brings very insightful of what will happen within each market. Some of the things presented in the two part blog I did not know existed in the new media world (I am still learning new things every day about the new media world). 

According to Robin Good, web publishers should begin creating mobile versions of their website(s). There is a service that does free mobilization for websites, however, it is rely only on creating a portable device compatible to your RSS feed. But this method will bombard mobile devices with advertising. Hopefully someone (maybe Google) will create a product that will allow independent publishers to create mobile versions without having advertisements attach to them.

Legal issues and censorship will also become a topic within new media. Independent publishers may have to lobby for their rights and the rights of their new media ideas. Legislation may extend the commercial protection in the 1st Amendment to new media. However, there are those who think they should create new protection for new media.

Other predictions of 2009 included the growth of Twitter, Google, and social media and social media marketing. To read more of Robin Good’s predictions, go to New Media Trends and Predictions of 2009 - Part 1 and Part 2.

Blooger’s Block?

Blogscomic.net

There are times where I get writer’s block and it takes me longer than ever to write something. That’s how I felt this week when I was thinking of what I wanted to write about or in this case blog about this week.

 

 

 

 

My mind was spinning due to the lack of ideas for a blog topic. I would think of ideas while I was on the bus to my class, while I was at home, and sometimes I would dream about it (seriously). With no concrete idea developed, I took another route to get out of this block; I asked my “circle.”

I explained to three of my closest friends of my blog quest and that I needed help thinking of an idea for a blog. They all gave me some ideas, but I did not know how to put my own twist to it. But during my conversations with them, they kept telling me to write something that I know and feel passion about. Sounds easy, but in reality it can be at hard at times.

I was getting frustrated. I went to Google and typed in blog topics. Automatically, the first thing that popped up was a blog titled “100 Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write” by Christ Brogan. Within his blog, he provided 100 topics for a blog, which he wrote on a plane from San Francisco. I liked the topics and thought it was a good idea to create this list. Here is the link to his blog: http://chrisbrogan.com . Thanks Chris!

There is also another blog titled “55 More Blog Topics I Hope YOU Write” written by Darren Barefoot. If you need any blog topics go to these websites.

Do you have any blog topic that should be on these lists?

Till Next Time.

Oh one more thing – thinking about changing the theme of my whole blog. Any suggestions?

New Media Drivers License

 

You and New Media

The last time I went to class on a Saturday, I was in the 6^th grade (or was it high school?). On a cold Saturday morning, I woke up (very early I might add) to drive a little over an hour, in a snowstorm to attend my first class of my last semester of college. But, I wasn’t mad; in fact I was excited about it.

 

For the first time, Michigan State University created a class for students and professionals to learn more about New Media. It’s called New Media Drivers License. I first heard about this class while I was work at the APRR office when I met the instructor, Derek Mehraban. Just hearing some things he wanted to teach in the class made me want to take this class.

 

Right off the bat, I was amazed with the information that was presented to us in class! Although I was not new to the new media concept, I did learn new things in the class. One thing that this class helped me was by pushing me to start my own blog (finally I know!). This class will build on my current knowledge of social networking sites, blogs, and podcasting. But it will also teach me something new like about search engine optimization (SEO) and how it works.

I have two goals of what I want to get out of this class. First, I want to make my presence known in the new media world. If I can at least reach one person out there, that will make me very happy. Second, I want to be able to use the knowledge I gained from this class and become an asset in my future profession.

 

Check out the New Media Drivers License Web site.

Till next time.