Real-Time News & Accuracy in Reporting: Tragedy in Tucson

by Jessica Northey

Real Time News within the media is a method where events are portrayed at the same rate that the audience experiences them.

These past few days seem surreal to me. I live in Tucson, Arizona where my peer, acquaintance and District Congressman Gabrielle Giffords was shot, along with 19 others at a peaceful gathering, "Congress on your Corner", held specifically to give constituents access to her.

Within an hour I was reading tweets and posts from National News outlets saying that she had died. I was shocked and in disbelief. Turns out it wasn't true. From where I sat it looked odd, National News Outlets reporting that she had passed away at Northwest Hospital, but I was watching local news reporters standing in front of University Medical Center in Tucson. In addition, friends of the family were saying she was in surgery. Throughout the day we were hearing rumors, speculations and many unverified reports from different National news outlets, some even went as far as to blame Sarah Palin. It was all very disturbing, not just for our community but for the victims families. MORE

Getting Focused in 2011...Social Media and more!

I often talk about how setting goals for Social Media efforts is a key factor for optimizing participation. I think the same can be said about anything in life. By setting goals you are managing expectations for yourself.

United States Marine Corps says:
"Discipline is the instant willingness and obedience to all orders, respect for authority, self reliance and teamwork. The ability to do the right thing even when no one is watching or suffer the consequences of guilt which produces pain in our bodies, through pain comes discipline."

Why Twitter Is A Great Place to Influence People

by Jessica Northey
I talk about Twitter ALOT as one of the greatest Social Media Platforms out there. I always knew why but sometimes fell short articulating the statistics, see my brain works creatively and I have had GREAT results from Twitter so I don't always think about the math. It is always amazing when you read something and have one of those "A-HA" moments.

12 Reasons You Should Be Using Social Media

Great things come by the dozen!
Here are 12 reasons you should be using [and what you could be getting from] Social Media!

-helps YOU control YOUR message
-you can influence buying decisions

THE 35th ANNUAL CONCLAVE LEARNING CONFERENCE "FREEWAY TO YOUR FUTURE"

THE 35th ANNUAL CONCLAVE LEARNING CONFERENCE
"FREEWAY TO YOUR FUTURE"
DOUBLETREE PARK PLACE HOTEL/MINNEAPOLIS
JULY 15-17, 2010

I am so excited to be speaking at the Conclave this summer! It was a great honor to be selected and I cant believe that my time slot is between Gary Marince/Arbitron and Jon Zellner Sr/Clear Channel, Jimmy Steal/Emmis Comm, Tom Land/Journal Broadcast Group, w/Moderator John Gehron. I am humbled and grateful to Jay Philpott for making it happen!
This will be an amazing Conference and a ton of Broadcast information...I promise you will walk away from my Seminar having 'Aha' moments! Hope to see you at "Are You Being Followed? Social Media in 2010 & Beyond-Social Media Strategy that Gets Results with Jessica Northey!"

Finger Candy Friday: Spotlight on Larry Pareigis

Spotlight on Larry Pareigis (Country Music and Social Media Super Star)

Nine North Records/Turnpike Music's handpicked staff brings over 150 years of combined experience in radio and records to the table, starting with the company President/Owner Larry Pareigis. If you are on Twitter he is also known as @NineNorthLP. He has almost 14,000 followers.....why.....to quote Kidd Redd, "for one thing, he’s interesting about 10 times a day. He dedicates time to it. If you’re in the country radio, record or artist biz, @NineNorthLP is worth following. He’s inspiring, fun, enthusiastic, and joyous about his artists."

ABOUT LARRY

After graduating with honors from Middle Tennessee State University’s School Of Mass Communications, Pareigis continued the radio career he’d started in Savannah, GA. at 14 with stops at WKDA-AM/WKDF-FM Nashville, WSM-AM-FM/TNN/CMT Nashville, KRST Albuquerque, KNCI/KRAK/KHTK Sacramento & KYCY San Francisco, winning a Gavin program director of the year award on the way.

Post-radio, after a brief stop at Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss’ ALMO Sounds, Pareigis went to work for the newly-rejuvenated Monument Records label under the Sony Nashville umbrella. During his decade with the company that would be Sony BMG Nashville, he ran promotion for each label – at some points ALL the labels – under that umbrella, including the aforementioned Monument,  Columbia, Epic & Lucky Dog.

During that decade, he was responsible for breaking acts like Dixie Chicks, Gretchen Wilson, Montgomery Gentry, Van Zant, Miranda Lambert, Buddy Jewell & many more.

Upon leaving SBMG in 2007, Pareigis founded Nine North Records, Nashville's first "virtual" record label, providing promotion and marketing services to country artists.

NNR concentrates on the established artist that believes in extending their brand independently and the new artist that wants to get their music out there and not wait 18-24 months for their shot with a major.

In addition, the network of people that work with NNR can provide all the same services, on an a la carte basis, that a major would provide - in a much more financially realistic model for all parties involved.

Pareigis also worked with Rocky Comfort Records to guide Tracy Lawrence’s FIND OUT WHO YOUR FRIENDS ARE to a multi-week #1 as part of his True North consultancy. He continues to work with Laney & Tracy Lawrence as a part of Rocky Comfort.

In addition, he and the Nine North team are responsible for the promotion and social networking elements for the ACM-winning Duo Of The Year, Joey+Rory, and their hit single CHEATER CHEATER. The CD/download that CHEATER is featured on, THE LIFE OF A SONG, is well past 200K units in physical sales & 400K in digital sales already.

Recently working with Cold River's amazingly talented Katie Armiger on her first BDS/Mediabase reporting radio charting single KISS ME NOW.

Pareigis looks forward to bringing his years of experience in both the radio and music industries to bear for the artists that are a part of the Nine North Records/Turnpike Music family.

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Finger Candy Friday: Meet KNIX's Matt McAllister(@BenAndMatt)

GET SOCIAL with @JessicaNorthey
THIS WEEK I caught up with KNIX Country's Matt McAllister and am excited for you to get to know someone I really admire.   I have followed the career of Phoenix's KNIX Morning Show Co-Host for awhile now.  He is dedicated to putting the highest quality programming on the air. Matt is a very talented On-Air Personality who is in tune with the Country Music audience.  I was really excited about reading his submission for SocialMediology.com.  He really has a great understanding of how to integrate Social Media into Traditional Media and enhance the relationship with listeners. I expect more great things to come from Matt! - @JessicaNorthey

HOW KNIX USES SOCIAL MEDIA

with KNIX's Morning Show Co-Host Matt McAllister

Using social networking to promote your show isn’t just something that you “can” do, it’s something that you must do! The whole face of the radio game has completely changed in the last 10 years and we are seeing the marquis shows that couldn’t adapt to this new world get phased out. It’s unreal but you look at a market like San Diego, and every big name show has disappeared in the last few years…shows that have been around for 20 years or more, and dominated the market.

Part of that is a result of the economy with radio companies no longer willing or able to spend millions of dollars on one show anymore. But I firmly believe that another component of these old school shows leaving the ring is the fact that some of them didn’t adapt to the way listeners want to interact with their radio talent nowadays. The old days of “listen from 6-10am” are over. In fact, the on-air part of our show is now about 1/3 of our total presence in our listeners lives. The other 2 moving parts to the equation are live appearances and social networking. These days people are so used to getting what they want instantly! You have to provide it or they will find it somewhere else. They want and expect total access and we, as talent should feel honored they want to share our lives with theirs.

We post quizzes on Facebook and Twitter every morning to compliment what we are doing on the air. We also make use of an in-studio webcam and post daily blogs and updates on our website. In fact, as I sit here writing this article I’m having 5 to 6 conversations in Facebook IM with listeners who want to know what I’m doing right now. I handle most of the communication online for our show, and it’s a full time job. My iPhone blows up all day and I’m always posting updates and pictures to keep our audience engaged.

Nowadays it’s not uncommon for me to watch tv shows with our listeners and share observations the night before we talk about the show on the air. It’s a great way to gather material and lines from our audience, there is also something comforting about staying connected all the time.

Or maybe it’s just a sick addiction and I need help. Either way…it’s the industry standard for us now-so we better embrace it or find ourselves on the sideline…

Matt McAllister

mattmcallister@clearchannel.com
102.5 KNIX
Phoenix, AZ

MORE INFO ABOUT BEN & MATT

http://www.knixcountry.com

http://twitter.com/benandmatt

on Facebook

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Finger Candy Friday-From the Real World to Rural World: How Rachel Campos-Duffy Uses Social Media to Manage Her Career

From the 'Real World' to the Rural World:
How Rachel Campos-Duffy Uses Social Media to Manage Her Career From Home!
Meet Rachel Campos-Duffy: Television Host. Pundit.  Author.  Mother of Five.  Whatever her role Rachel is well-known for discussing the hot topics of the day in her signature honest, articulate, down-to-earth style. Rachel started her television career as a pioneer of reality TV on MTV’s groundbreaking reality show, “The Real World, San Francisco.” Fans of ABC’s “The View” will recall her recurrent role as a guest-host going head to the head with the likes of Barbara Walters and Meredith Viera in over twenty feisty performances. Her unique take on issues of the day are invariably colored by the Mid-Western rural town where she and her husband (former Real World, Boston Alum, Sean Duffy, District Attorney who is also running for Congress in Wisconsin's 7th District) are raising their five children. She is sought out by national media outlets like CNN, CNN.com, MSNBC and FOX News for lively, thought-provoking discussions from her unique perspective as an at-home mom, Latina and conservative.
- Jessica Northey, Owner-Finger Candy Media

I’m an at-home mom of five (soon to be six), writer, blogger, pundit, regular radio guest, and some-times television personality.  I also happen to live in rural Wisconsin – about four hours away from a major airport and a reliable television satellite or local television station.
So, how do I do it?  Well, living so far from media hubs like Los Angeles and New York, means writing and keeping up a web presence is crucial to “staying alive”.  My website and columns are an easy way for producers and editors to access my point of view on the hot topics of the day.  So are my weekly guest appearances on a nationally syndicated Catholic radio show (which I do by telephone from my home office).

As my remote location becomes less of an issue, bookers are actually intrigued by my residence in “fly over country”.  It’s a welcome change from the usual circuit of urban, coastal pundits and guests.  Though I occasionally travel to NYC, LA, and Washington D.C. for certain shows (The View, Hannity, Dr. Phil), lately, I’m Skyping in from my living room more and more often.


Needless to say, my involvement in media and social/cultural commentary depend on technology and I feel blessed to be a mom living in these incredible times.  I credit Jessica Northey, the queen of social media, with introducing me to the benefits of social media and taking the fear and mystery out of using it.  Through her very customized approach and savvy marketing skills, she has helped me build and expand on what I had already established.  My columns, radio and television appearances are reaching wider audiences and I am able to alert my family, friends, readers, and fans of a media appearance instantly – which is important since many of my bookings are on short notice due to breaking news.  Technology and social media are helping me to live the life I want to live.  I can reside in a small town in the idyllic Northwoods of Wisconsin, be home with my kids, eliminate the cost and stress of travel, and contribute to CNN and other media outlets from the comfort of my living room – all while wearing pajama bottoms and slippers.  I’m a happy woman.

For more info on Rachel:
Website http://www.rachelcamposduffy.com/
Blog on AOL's ParentDish
http://twitter.com/rcamposduffy
http://www.facebook.com/rachelcamosduffy

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FINGER CANDY FRIDAY: 15 Reasons You Should Be Blogging

15 Reasons You Should Be Blogging from Jessica Northey
TUCSON,AZ-Microblogging sites like Twitter and Facebook are popular because they are easy.  Easy to setup, easy to post links and pictures, takes less than a minute to use, requires no organized thought, prep or investigation.  It’s just 140 characters.  However, if you are serious about sharing your ideas, beliefs and building a stronger relationship with others, than you need to add full-on blogging to your marketing tools. You can also use blogging to provide more content to your Tweeting, Linking and FeeBing (Facebooking).

FINGER CANDY FRIDAY - The Super Bowl & Social Media

FINGER CANDY FRIDAY with JESSICA NORTHEY-TUCSON,AZ So, I Google’d the words Social Media and Super Bowl together to begin my blog post research article.  What I found was a few thousand pages filled with links to articles about Pepsi dropping the Super Bowl for Social Media.  In case you did not hear, a few weeks ago Pepsi announced that, for the first time in 23 years, Pepsi's millions for advertising would go elsewhere. 

Lot's of companies are scaling back. But this is being called one of the most monumental milestones in TV and broadcast media's battle with the Internet for content, viewership, and advertising, Pepsi has decided not to join the Super Bowl's massive advertising spectacle this year, instead opting to place its money along strategically placed spots on Social Media sites and platforms, reports Ronny Kerr from Vator News.  Rather than spending money on a Super Bowl ad, Pepsi will launch the Pepsi Refresh Project where users can submit to Pepsi ways to refresh their communities.

As the recession begins to wane and ad budgets slowly start to increase, social media is expected to be one of the biggest beneficiaries, according to MarketingSherpa. In addition they report that nearly all industries will increase budgets for Social Media marketing in 2010 and sometimes at the expense of other mediums, MediaPost reports.

SO what does this mean to Radio, TV and Print? How can you keep your unfair share of the budget in 2010 and define your medium as the best way to merge Social Media and traditional advertising?  The Non-Traditional Revenue specialist in me screams, “YOU got to get creative and do it quick!”

-For starters you need to build your targeted following on Social Media Platforms and become a leader.  This can be done through strategically optimizing Social Media tools.

-Provide entertaining and engaging content – this should be the easiest part for Media outlets.

-Become the thought leaders and Social Media Rockstars. By using it successfully you can show clients the value of Social Media when it is used with Traditional Media.

-With a Social Media plan and strategy it should also be easy to help clients use Social Media the same way you are (better for you to control your clients Social Media Endeavors than your competition)

-Why not create a position that serves clients Social Media needs. Again, it is better for you to control their Social Media efforts before your competition does.  If you strategically plan this and have it as an add-on option you become their expert.  It would be similar to controlling the voice, graphic or production work.

-It is very turn key to help people set up a Twitter, Facebook Fan Page or Blog and then they can link to your site and advertise it on your station.  That way when Social Media is successful for them it will still be because of Traditional Media efforts.

-Be sure that whoever does your Social Media knows what they are doing.  The best way to figure this out is to look at their Twitter, Facebook Fan Page or Blog and see if they have followers or what kind of posts they are making.  If they claim to work with other people look for success references.  Just because someone says they know what they are doing doesn’t mean they do. I fix mistakes that someone’s niece, nephew, graphic designer, website person did for them ALL the time.

-If you are just dabbling at this point check out this article.  It has really helpful information for Optimizing Twitter http://bit.ly/4xvOTq and I still make the argument that Twitter is one of the best resources to grow your Social Media following. Facebook and Blogging still depend on you to bring the traffic to them.

Jessica Northey  is the Social Media Editor for Full Throttle Country, Country Radio's full-service interactive idea sharing and new media on-line service. She is also the Editor of SocialMediology.com, a Blog dedicated to helping Media Professionals use today's and tomorrow's Social Media tools.  With over 19 years experience including Radio, Television, Internet and Print Sales as well as an On-Air Radio personality, Jessica specializes in big ideas and is known for the ability to create complete marketing campaigns and bridge marketing partnerships.  She is an Entrepreneur who owns MediaJess.com servicing all website needs including domain names, hosting, SSL Certificates etc. Her company Finger Candy Media provides social and new media optimization planning for businesses, brands and individuals. 

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Finger Candy Friday on Thursday: Social Media in 2010...Predictions, Observations, Ideas.

I started this thought collection the other week and have gathered such great information. I find it interesting to hear your thoughts, ideas and predictions about Social Media in 2010.  I wonder what it would have looked like if I said 2020? Another  time....it is my greatest hope that you are enjoying the festivities of the season!  I have been spending time with American family visiting from the Middle East.  They use Social Media the same as us, but for them it is even more important, it is a tool to break away from the shackles of censorship. As we sit safely behind our desk, or in our homes the thought of the powerful ability to transfer our messages to the world is not what we are generally thinking.  We just want to be heard and feel important in society or maybe we are looking to sort through our own observations and diary them for future generations.  As we grow towards the future it is very evident to me how we search less for information as it seems to find us! Anytime I turn on my computer I am instantly greeted with local and National news.  I remember having to wait for the traffic report on the radio or the local news on the 10’s.  I can text, click or call to find out anything I want or need now. So we know how our audience uses media, what are we doing to be there with them as they consume?

Merry Christmas Eve and ENJOY!

Social Media in 2010-Predictions, Observations and Opinions PART I

FINGER CANDY FRIDAY with Jessica Northey

With the first decade of the 21st century under our belt, we are all wondering what to expect during the next ten?  As we look forward to the future of Social Media I draw from my own network of friends and colleagues for their thoughts, ideas and expert opinions.  Over the next few weeks we will present you with Social Media options, predictions and opportunities. This is a work in progress and if you have any suggestions and/or predictions they are welcome!

The Digital Daypart - Using Social Media to Win Big in 2010

by Jessica Northey

This past week I took the last Conclave webinar of the year featuring digital-age entrepreneur Doug Zanger addressing, The Digital Daypart - Using Social Media to Win Big in 2010 and hosted by Jay Philpott.  Those of you who are not familiar with the Conclave, this organization was founded as a regional gathering of communications professionals. “Through education, the Conclave’s mission is to improve the quality of broadcasting and related industries so they may better serve the public interest.” In order to do this the Conclave conducts seminars throughout the year keeping with its mission statement, and makes available on an annual basis broadcasting school and baccalaureate scholarships. 

Whats Happening? Whats On Your Mind? What Are You Doing? from @JessicaNorthey

How do you answer these questions? It’s not polite or good SocialMediquette to divulge your bathroom practices, and unless you are looking for some menu ideas, discussing eating habits can be pretty lame as well. One of the questions people ask me the most is: “what should I tweet or post about?”


This is a question that can make or break you in Social Media.  I refer to it as, “Your Socialality.”
What does that mean you ask? Just like your Personality, your Socialality should reflect you or your brands unique attributes including behavioral, temperamental, emotional and mental that give you character! 

NEW YEAR, NEW COUNTRY PART 1 Chuck Geiger

With the impeding format take-over of Taylor Swift and her representation in the Country life group, this brings up what Jaye Albright of Albright & O'Malley said in her 2010 prognosis. In 2010, 50% of 18-49 will be the Taylor Swift generation, 36% Gen X and only 13% leading edge boomers.  This will prove to be a game-changer and a huge growth opportunity for country, as long as we understand the underlying values which unite our transitioning community.

FingerCandy BLACK FRIDAY from @JessicaNorthey

by Jessica Northey


If tradition holds, even in this economy, retailers whether brick and mortar or cyber, will see their business hit black today for the first time in 2009.  Forecasters are calculating how much they think we'll spend on Black Friday-the day after Thanksgiving AND Cyber Monday-the Monday following the holiday weekend. These days kick off Christmas shopping season and are a strong indication of what to expect. Consumer spending makes up more than two-thirds of all economic activity in America. And this year there is a lot riding!  Retailers such as JCPenney, Macys, Gap and Sears, have boosted not only their traditional promotional advertising efforts but are using social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter.  Stores are offering freebies and slashing prices and using social media to promote their deals.

What I am noticing is the clever way brands are using various Social Media Platforms to gain momentum as we enter the season of giving. These advertisements that work don’t sound like they are selling you something but appear as solutions:  “Avoid Traffic-shop online at____”, “Hate Crowds try shopping online at___.”

If you’re an online marketer, hopefully you have already kicked off your holiday-shopping promotions.  Black Friday has been a trending topic on Twitter for days now.  The deals out there are AMAZING. You can twice what you could get last year, for half as much!  However, if you are reading this and thinking, “I missed the opportunity already,” it’s ok….We can fix that!  What you want to do is re-group quickly.  Set up a meeting(or if you are a one-person shop) sit down and think about the following:

Set Manageable Goals(here are a few samples)
-Brand Awareness
-Reputation Management
-Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Rankings
-Relevant Website Visitor Traffic
-Improve Sales for a Product or Service

Determine Social Media Strategy
-What’s your unique selling point?
-What type of Campaign is this?(Awareness, Sales,Loyalty)
-What does your audience know about you today?(Nothing, Aware,Acted,Repeat,Advocates)
-Understand how your target audience uses social media.(Consumer, Creator, Critic, Collecter, Joiner, Spectators, Inactive)
-How will you humanize your brand?(Social Media is person to person not logo to people)
-How Will You Measure ROI?

Remember the Fundamentals
-Good picture
-Interesting bio
-Great background
-Include website or blog url address
-Make sure your accounts are not protected so people can easily see your information
-Content is King!

Target Followers
-Sign up for the Twitter Directories http://wefollow.com/ and http://www.twellow.com/
These are both free and a great way for SEO and indexing as well as other Twitterers looking for you or your service.
-http://search.twitter.com/ You can search to find people that you have things in common with, this is where you will also follow the people who are following them.  You can use the advanced feature to locate people of like interest, find out what people are saying about you, your brand, your industry etc.

Maintenance
-Follow/Unfollow http://dossy.org/twitter/karma/
-Blog
-Answer ALL @replies
-Retweet, Re-Tweet and Re-Tweet Again!
-Download Tweetdeck to easily organize your Twitter, Facebook and Myspace Accounts

Promotion
-Promote all your Social Media Networks on your website and vice versa.  Ideally you can use Twitter, Facebook, MySpace, LinkedIn or Bebo and drive traffic to your website or blog and vice-versa.
-Promote your Social Media platform participation in everything you do: Business cards, letterhead, vehicle wrap, Broadcast and Print Media.
-Consistently talk about it when you are out in public. You can even download Social Media Mobile Applications like Twitter or Facebook in to your phone and add people while standing in front of them.  Use it as a conversation ice breaker, simply ask, “Do you Twitter?” If they do add, and follow them.  If they don’t, this is a great opportunity to share what you do and how they can take advantage of your business or service if they did, i.e. coupons, advice, product information, etc.

Social Media gives you FREE access to promote you/your business.  With a little effort you can achieve respectable reach and unprecedented frequency promoting you and your business.

Jessica is the Social Media Editor for Full Throttle Country-Country Radio's newest full-service and free interactive idea sharing and new media on-line service. She has over 19 years experience including Radio, Television, Internet and Print Sales as well as an On-Air Radio personality.  She is an Entrepreneur who owns MediaJess.com servicing all website needs including domain names, hosting, SSL Certificates etc. She specializes in big ideas and is known for the ability to create complete marketing campaigns and bridge marketing partnerships. Her company Finger Candy provides social and new media optimization planning for businesses, brands and individuals.
You can also read her blog, “Observations from the Peanut Gallery” at  http://www.imwithjessica.com/