Atlanta Women In Social Media Marketing_1

05/26/2009

A couple of weeks ago Mashable held a smashing mash in Atlanta for over 400 of its closest friends .. who signed up before the fire marshalls could call Stop! no more people. I shared a glass of vino or two with friends, got to hug a live pink boa, complements of Jungle Disk, Live pink boa and met new people. However it became crystal clear that although Diva Marketing celebrated its 5th blog-birthday my social media network is more global than local.

I found myself asking, "Who are these people and what do they do? What is happening in Atlanta social media marketing? To para phrase from my friends at BlogHer ..Where are the Atlanta women in social media marketing?"

A few months back BBF Dan Greenfield suggested that I interview the women in Atlanta who are involved in social media marketing. Last week ideas synergized .. why not create a resource list that highlights the women in Atlanta who are working in social media marketing? But not just a boring list .. a series of mini interviews where we can get to know these women better. Along the way perhaps new friendships will take online offline.

Criteria: using social media as a marketing strategy for your business ventures or helping clients use social media as a marketing strategy. Look for the Atlanta Women in Social Media Marketing posts over the next couple of weeks.

Atlanta Women In Social Media Marketing

Donna Lynes-Miller Donna Lynes-Miller - GourmetStation Delicious Destinations Blog
@gourmetstation


1. What does social media marketing mean to you? Social media marketing provides GourmetStation with non-conforming, non-traditional, casual and comfortable ways of communicating with our customers outside of our website. All social media tactics provide our brand with a means for different aspects of our brand personality to shine through.

2. My favorite social media tactic is our travel and culture blog, Delicious Destinations which include guest writers from around the world.

3. In 140 characters - What is Atlanta's greatest challenge in becoming a social media hub? With Internet driven social media tactics, I believe it will be difficult for any city to be a hub. The Internet is the great equalizer giving all regions the chance to participate.

4. 2 sentences about your company. - GourmetStation is a national food gifting company specializing in 3 & 4 course gourmet dinners, steak & seafood dinners, soup samples and dessert gifts. GourmetStation products also include dining certificates and monthly dinner clubs used by both consumers and businesses. I primarily focus on: B2C and B2B

5. Began in social media marketing: 2005

(Bloggy disclosure GourmetStation was one of my first social media marketing clients .. and proof that clients can be dear friends.)

Grayson daughters Grayson Daughters - MediaConnection.tv WaySouth Media, Inc

@SpacyG

1. What does social media marketing mean to you? Social media means staying relevant and informed in very turbulent times. Without social media, there's not much I could offer clients, or show potential ones, that could possibly set me apart from the pack. 

2. My favorite social media tactic is is the distribution of a video, or other original media I've created for myself or for a client, via Twitter. So easy. So fun. Such immediate feedback.

3. In 140 characters - What is Atlanta's greatest challenge in becoming a social media hub? In the corporate arena, Atlanta's greatest challenge is getting over the tendency to do things the way they've always been done. For decades. Right now is just the crazy time to try something oh-so-bleeding edge. In an economy like this, what could it possibly hurt?!

4. 2 sentences about your company. - Grayson Daughters is the founder of WaySouth Media, Inc. - producing and promoting new media. She blogs at Mostly Media, and you can follow her on Twitter as SpaceyG. Her very latest online venture is MediaConnection.tv. 

5. Began in social media marketing - I started using social media in 1995! (I think that's when I got my first dial-up/AOL account.) I started the first AOL Melrose Place chatroom on AOL, jointly with some dude from LA named J.T. Bug. I'll never forget that name, nor that first live chatroom experience. I published a southern culture webzine called WaySouth from '98-2000. I've been blogging since May of 2005, and was an early adopter of Twitter and Facebook (when it went beyond colleges). 

Lya Sorano 1008 headshot - small Lya Sorano LyaSorano.com Great Southern Speakers Georgia Gardener
No Twitter – I’m too exhausted!

1. What does social media marketing mean to you? Social media marketing opens up channels of communication and potential sales that did not exist before. Opportunities pop up that twentieth century marketing did not provide.

2.
My favorite social media tactic is to provoke discussions.
 
3. In 140 characters - What is Atlanta's greatest challenge in becoming a social media hub?
Traffic! People sit in commuter traffic all day and are too exhausted to peep – much less care about social media.

4. 2 sentences about your company. - The Oliver/Sorano Group, Inc. provides marketing and PR support, including social media strategies, to clients in a variety of industries. I primarily focus on: B2B.

5. Began in social media marketing around 2006-07.

Melissa Galt Melissa Galt -Today By Design Melissa Galt.com
@prosperbydesign

1. What does social media marketing mean to you? Social marketing is about the ability to connect to your target market cost effectively, frequently, and succinctly with value content.  It is about using multiple channels and layering communications for ultimate effectiveness.

2. My favorite social media tactic is the variety of tools and applications available on Twitter, acebook, and LinkedIN that add fun, convenience, and facilitate the sharing of information. Strategically I am a fan of Tweetlater as it allows me maximum control of my time while still maintaining by exposure and my reach.

3. In 140 characters - What is Atlanta's greatest challenge in becoming a social media hub? Atlanta has a golden opportunity to truly land on the map of social media, but to do so will require more leaders to step forward and claim their place.  The city is home to many great entrepreneurs and creatives, yet still the value of social media is not always understood.

4. 2 sentences about your company. - I speak, consult, train and mentor small businesses who think BIG and want to harness the power of social media and new marketing taking their business to the next level, and unleashing unlimited success.

5. Began in social media marketing - I have been using social media since 2008, and have been offering to clients this year.  I primarily focus on: B2B, B2C, Nonprofit, Education.  I believe it is the single factor that can keep many businesses afloat in tough economic times as it provides simple, effective tools to reach targeted buyers and decision makers whether business to business or business to consumer.  Social media is the cornerstone of relationship marketing and with women becoming an increasingly significant force in both consumer and business goods, new marketing as social media is considered, is essential.

Jeneane sessum Jeneane Sessum allied  Jeneane.net
@jeneane

1. What does social media marketing mean to you? Social Media Marketing means reaching customers and communities on behalf of my clients using social spaces on the Internet, where people come together to do/discuss/create/laugh/complain about what interests them.

2. My favorite social media tactic is monitoring and participating in the range of social media discussions to identify what Really Urgent Community Need a client can help solve to make something better for an existing or potential customer.

3. In 140 characters - What is Atlanta's greatest challenge in becoming a social media hub? To replace the “broadcast and sales pitch” mindset with genuine listening and understanding. To talk with not at.

4. 2 sentences about your company: Sessum Creative is an Atlanta-based marketing and public relations consultancy focused on helping clients talk with their markets using the power of social media and the Internet. Working with clients at home and internationally since 1998, we help clients with strategy, messaging, content development and media relations. I primarily focus on: B2B, B2C, Internet startups

5. Began in social media marketing - I entered social media as a blogger myself in 2001 with my personal blog allied). My first social media clients were Elimitaste Gum, Qumana, and Cox Communications. I helped these clients develop a blogging strategy and put in place processes to make sure that strategy worked. The primary goal was to use blogs as an effective way to talk to customers and build thought leadership.

Melissa libby Melissa Libby  MelissaLibbyPR Atlanta Dish blog

@melissal

1. What does social media marketing mean to you? Social media is public relations at its best. It is old fashioned communications with new technology. You must create relationships and spend quality time with people in order to have a genuine dialogue.

2.
My favorite social media tactic is Facebook status updates and photo postings.

3. In 140 characters - What is Atlanta's greatest challenge in becoming a social media hub?Too many advertising focused minds.

4. Include 2 sentences about your company. Melissa Libby & Associates was founded in 1992 and specializes in PR and social marketing for restaurants and anything edible or quaffable. I primarily focus on: B2B.

5. Began social media marketing - I attended a social media seminar at the University of Georgia in October of 2007 and it changed my business model immediately. On the way home I spoke to a client, Fifth Group Restaurants, and the owner agreed for his restaurants to be our guinea pigs as we figured everything out. We dove in. By December 2007 I had restructured my company to accommodate the social media function and now have two full-time employees who do nothing but SM.

Amber rhea Amber Rhea Being Amber Rhea Georgia Podcast Network Sex 2.0 Conference
@amberlrhea  - To keep us honest Amber provides us a "point counter point."

1. What does social media marketing mean to you? Honestly? Most of the time, when I hear phrases like “social media marketing,” the first assocation in my head is “obnoxious.” That might be unfair; but I guess I've just seen a lot of companies/individuals where I want to scream, “You're doing it wrong!”  I don't really use social media for marketing. It's an integral part of my life. I've been doing the social media thing since before anyone used the term “social media,” and it touches all areas of my life. I don't want to get ranty but I have to say one thing I've been disappointed with in the “social media scene” (such as it is) in Atlanta is how there is so much focus on business, marketing, PR to the exclusion of anything else.

If that's not your primary focus with social media, you're really looked down upon by a lot of people; some of them can't even conceive of someone not using social media purely as a marketing tool. It's frustrating because the people who are busy building their “personal brand” and establishing themselves as “thought leaders” wouldn't be doing what they're doing if it weren't for those of us who got into blogging, etc. years ago, back when the business world as a whole scoffed at us.

Example: At SoCon07, a fellow attendee argued with me when I talked about (how) transparency and being real are important things online. He was actually very condescending and was stuck on the idea of, your life will be ruined if someone sees you doing something dumb on YouTube. But funny thing, at SoCon08, he was back, and this time he was a social media consultant.

2. My favorite social media tactic is being accountable to myself and others.

3. In 140 characters - What is Atlanta's greatest challenge in becoming a social media hub? Entrepreneurs in Atlanta need to think outside the box for real and be proactive, not reactive.

4. Include 2 sentences about your company. The Georgia Podcast Network isn't really a company, except for tax purposes! It's portal site for Georgia-based podcasts. If you live in Georgia and want to start a podcast, you can host it on the Georgia Podcast Network for free. It also includes a directory of podcasts based in Georgia that are hosted on other sites. The show Rusty and I cohost, Mostly ITP, was voted Best of Atlanta 2006 by Creative Loafing, and Best of Atlanta 2008 by Atlanta Magazine.

I primarily focus on:  Life, friends, activism, work, technology, sexuality, politics, learning, thinking... and whatever else happens to strike my fancy at a particular moment.

5. Began in social media - I started my blog in April 2002 - so I recently had my 7th blogiversary. I've had a web site since 1996, though (or a "home page" as we called them back then) and have been writing about my life online since then. I wrote a little bit about my history on the internet

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Comments

Ack! You didn't fix my typo! It should be:

Example: At SoCon07, a fellow attendee argued with me when I talked about how transparency and being real are important things online.

Posted by: Amber Rhea on May 26, 2009 3:49:00 PM

Sorry amber ;-( added back in the "how" ..

Posted by: Toby on May 26, 2009 4:07:46 PM

Cool!

Posted by: Lya Sorano on May 26, 2009 9:25:27 PM

Thanks for the call out, but it's all you Toby. This is a great start and has the potential to be a great resource for established professionals and young women who are at the start of their careers. My PR machine is revving with ideas.

Posted by: Dan Greenfield on May 27, 2009 12:29:15 PM

If you EVER decide to balance this sexist list and ad some male social folks in Atlanta... I can be a DIVA too given the right amount of fodder, LMAO

Thanks for the post it was fun read.

John (@ColderICE)

Posted by: John on May 27, 2009 4:45:13 PM

OMG. I hope John's comment is supposed to be a joke. (which it fails at... but that's slightly more comforting than if it were meant to be serious)

Posted by: Amber Rhea on May 27, 2009 5:16:35 PM

@Amber -- I'll go with that John's comment was meant in good humor. It's sort of funny that the basis of this idea came from Dan .. who is a guy ;-)

@Dan - thanks again for your suggestion and kind remarks.

@John - glad to see you have a sense of humor. although there were what seemed like quite a few women at the mashabale event, as you might have imagined, it skewed male. So it seemed that the guys were way far more visible, as it always seems in the SM world, and I thought it would be fun to highlight Atlanta women.

I did consider opening it up to Everyone but based on the 400+ people at the mashable event the thought of putting together that project was overwhelming. If you have the tech skills perhaps we can work together to create a wiki for All Atlanta social media marketing people?

Posted by: Toby on May 27, 2009 6:11:40 PM

Very interesting profiles. I'm new to social marketing and I appreciate reading small success stories!

Posted by: Kimberly on May 27, 2009 11:00:17 PM

Greetings! I attended the Mashable event. It was awesome! I live in Atlanta. I use social media for marketing, to assist my clients, and for new business development. Social media & networking has created some wonderful opportunities for me. I would love to chat with you.

Thank you!

Posted by: Shara on Jun 2, 2009 12:43:49 AM

@kimberly - thanks for popping by .. good luck with your entree into smm.

#shara - nice to "meet" you virtually - if not at the mashable party. looking forward to your responses and adding you the list of atlanta social media women.

Posted by: Toby on Jun 2, 2009 1:08:56 AM

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