Shannon's thoughts on marketing, public relations, social technology, entrepreneurship and other things

Shannon Mouton
Shannon Mouton

the principal at Topaz Consulting, is a relationship marketing professional, with a passion for utilizing social technology for building B2B/B2C relationships, sharing information, networking and advancing the greater good. She has over 20 years of public relations, marketing and community building experience. Her combination of political, nonprofit, higher ed and corporate experience has afforded her opportunities to build communities where none existed, develop and launch innovative programming and bridge generational, economic and racial divides.

Shannon serves on the board of directors for the In Series, a Washington, DC performing arts organization. She is a regular contributor to Women Grow Business and Discover Exceptionalism, and her blog, Shannon Sez So, examines life's joys, pains and idiosyncrasies. Shannon is the founder of Topaz Consulting, a DC based marketing consultancy with a nationwide portfolio of clients. She graduated from Mount Vernon College (now part of The George Washington University) and is a proud native Washingtonian.

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2011 (31)
2010 (74)
 

It's all about the conversation

William T. Dillard is credited with the famous real estate quote, 'location, location, location," simply put, when it comes to real estate, location is the priority and a key to success.

Today, I'm taking credit for the soon-to-be-famous social technology quote, "conversation, conversation, conversation," simply put, when it comes to social technology, conversation is priority and a key to success.

Yes, when it comes to social technology it is all about the conversation. Not the diatribe, though it can be interesting, not the rant, though it can be entertaining and not even the meme, though it can be wickedly funny.

To be clear, a conversation is an "informal interchange of thoughts, information, etc., by spoken words; oral communication between persons; association or social intercourse..." The takeaways from the definition are "interchange of thoughts" and "communication between persons." Based on this definition a conversation requires at least two individuals who share-listen-respond-listen-share/respond-listen-and so on, and so on, and so on. There is back & forth, give & take, call & response.

As you utilize social technology platforms to establish your personal or professional brand, ask yourself these questions:

  • Am I asking questions to illicit responses from my fans, friends, tweeps, connections, etc.?

  • Am I participating in conversations (tweet chats, forums, discussions), offering my opinions or subject matter expertise?

  • Am I only pushing out information, such as my blog posts, links, and RTs?

  • Am I responding to people who ask me questions and am I doing it in a timely manner (w/in 24 hours)?

  • Am I consistently engaging my communities in "interchange[s] of thoughts?"

Remember, your brand is what people think about you, so talk to them, give them something to think about.

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Google's Campaign for World Domination

Media_httpwwwscoresor_chpty
via scores.org

Business model 1: develop internal competencies to meet the growing demand of customers

Business model 2: buy the companies that have the core competency your customers want ~ding, ding, ding~

If you wondered how Google is able to offer such a broad spectrum of services to its community, this is how they're doing it.

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Women: Conversations with Awesomely Fantabulous Women I Wanna Be Like When I Grow Up

I am is pleased to announce the launch of Women: Conversations with Awesomely Fantabulous Women I Wanna Be Like When I Grow Up. They've been blowing their vuvuzelas long before the World Cup opened. The first Awesomely Fantabulous Woman is Jill Foster. Many of us know Jill, she is co-founder of DC Media Makers, founding editor of Women Grow Business and founder of Live Your Talk. We had a great conversation and I learned a lot about Jill, which makes me want to be even more like her.

Jill, did you always want to be an entrepreneur, did you have a lemonade stand as a kid?
You are funny. I'd had a dream business concept for years, but two things had to happen. First, I needed to come into my own leadership strengths; I needed to own them. Second, I had to become adept at social technology and using it to build communities.

Most of us know you from Women Grow Business, where did that idea come from?
It was really a snowball effect. As co-founder of DC Media Makers, I was learning social technology and meeting people in a casual setting, which led to more participation in the DC social tech community, Women Who Tech, DC Web Women, etc. I was a sponsored blogger for Utterli at the 2008 Democratic National Convention; the opportunity at the DNC was really motivating. Then in January 2009, Shashi Bellamkonda called, saying he wanted to establish a blog community and asked for my help.

So, when did Women Grow Business launch?
In January 2009.

Wow! That was kind of quick.
We weren't going for perfection, the logo, policies, etc. would come later. Our goal was to provide consistent and accessible content and build a community around it.

Have you met your goal?
YES, and we've exceeded it. Women Grow Business is creating value no matter where women are in their careers. By collaborating with women in the area, we generated fantastic content. There is a dedicated volunteer team of contributors, representing different facets of entrepreneurship and business leadership, from ecommerce start-ups to long-time solopreneurs to C Suite executives. There are also liberal commenting and sharing policies.

Women Grow Business has taken off, getting the attention of The Washington Post, Washingtonian and Forbes. Was this expected?
Not so soon. This was not my first social technology client experience, though it was the largest community building experience of my career. I knew social technology provided potential for women to relate and build communities through their brands, further sharing and showcasing their distinct business personalities. It is easy to fail at running your own business, it is less easy to respond in a constructive way to failures and business mistakes. It was through helping launch and growth of Women Grow Business that I realized I was ready to go for my dream business.

So you started Live Your Talk. What is it?
The mission of Live Your Talk is to help women professionals be awesome and distinct communicators online through social media and offline through public speaking skills.

Every conversation is an exercise in leadership. Social technology is an extremely compelling way for women to be heard, and thus lead.

In closing I asked Jill some fun questions:
Are you a hot dog or hamburger person?   hot dog
What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?   coffee
What is your favorite book?   Tie between Ender's Game, Age of Innocence and Grapes of Wrath
Where were you born?   I was born in California and raised in Oklahoma. Go Sooners!

As of January 2009, Shonali Burke became managing editor of Women Grow Business. She has taken Shashi's and Jill's vision to the next level. This summer Women Grow Business held its first Boot Camp.
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Sharing the Social Goodness: Social Media Infographics

via slideshare.net

An early lesson everyone should learn, when it comes to social media, it's not all about you, your product or your organization.

Social media is a set of tools providing access to communities of intelligent, witty, experienced women and men. To get the most out your time in the social media space, have an open mind to learn from others AND an open heart to share to share your brilliance.

Practicing what I preach, from time to time, I'll bring you information from other sources for the betterment of our community. That being said, this is a great slideshow from Kforum.

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Posterous theme by Cory Watilo.
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