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.

TwitterFacebookLinkedInPlurkTumblr

Tags

Archive

2011 (31)
2010 (74)
 

Be a Social Technology Professional

Most Americans begin driving in their teen years. They are woefully inexperienced and highly enthusiastic. They tend to drive too fast, take too many chances and not give the road their full attention.

  • When do they become "expert" drivers?
  • When do they have "enough" experience that their judgment isn't questioned?
  • For that matter, are the automotive engineers experts at driving by the fact they design cars?
  • Do mechanics hold the title of driving expert because they know how to fix cars?
  • And what about adults, does daily usage give them expertise?

Just as driving has become ubiquitous, the regular use of social technology is quickly becoming mainstream. This begs the question, if everyone is doing it, how can you be an expert at it?

The answer is quite simple, everyone can be a social technology expert; however, only a few will be social technology professionals. In the same vein that everyone can be an expert driver; however, only a few will be professional drivers. This is where the activity of driving isn't a way to get to work, it is the work. When you hear the phrase professional drivers, what comes to mind...race car drivers, truck drivers and bus drivers. These men and women take the simple act of driving to the next level. Professional drivers take extra classes, earn additional credentials and participate in their profession.

This scenario should sound familiar because it is how the majority of professionals are made, with training (education), credentialing (certification) and participating in the profession (publish, speak, mentor). This is true for social technology professionals as well, as you take blogging, tweeting, connecting and engaging to the next level. You attend webinars, unconferences and tweet-ups; you share your knowledge via tweet chats, meet-ups and conferences and your experience level is beyond par because you are power-user with a body of work behind you.

Yes, everyone can be a social technology expert, YOU are a social technology professional.


This is the first in the new professionalism series.

 

Posted
 

The Influencer Project: 60 Speakers in 60 Minutes

I attended The Influencer Project: 60 Speakers in 60 Minutes on Tuesday afternoon. It was billed as “the shortest marketing project ever.” The speakers shared valuable information in bite-sized nuggets with the audience.

The format – each presenter had only 60 seconds to share their best tip on becoming influential in the social media space – forced the speakers to organize their thinking and focus their remarks to the most salient points. I live-tweeted the event and these are some of the takeaways…in tweet form of course.

  • figure out value / expertise you have & connect w/ folks already in the space, building community around your thought-leadership
  • online influence is a slow-burn, organically grown...giving more than you get, influence comes from a passive place    
  • give as much as you can give & help others achieve their goals   
  • building a community of readers by engaging w/ thought-provoking content
  • consistency, strength in connecting practical w/ profound, listening for silence for wisdom of your own heart     
  • connect the who with the what...think about authenticity & consistency of your voice & messaging
  • provide great value     
  • building digital dimensionality, showing as many sides of yourself and your business as you can
  • get active in other people's communities  
  • what expertise do you have that you can leverage to help others     
  • find a niche & become master of it, promote good content, do webinars to give back
  • understand your audience  
  • learn to talk more about other people     
  • its about "passion conversations, not product conversations"...let your passion shine...share who you are w/ the world    
  • share good content & do it consistently     
  • good content, be passionate about it, reach out, make comments on other's blogs, get over your fear     
  • online video is quick way to get messaging out there, create content re: your subject matter     
  • get OFFLINE and meet folks IRL; introduce folks to each other
  • people buy into the story, are you telling a story people can see themselves in, a platform for relationship     
  • wanna get started --> just start talking to people, "SM is really just talking to people"     
  • create content that stands for something     
  • make connections online and then meet them IRL, effective & powerful way to build trustful & genuine relationships     
  • "consistency demonstrates commitment" way to earn trust

A full transcript and mp3 is available here.

 
Posted
Posterous theme by Cory Watilo.
​