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Welcome to Social Media

I wasn't there, but back in September (on my birthday of all days) members of the Cleveland Social Media Club gathered together to discuss ways to educate people on the use of social media. At that time they proposed producing an e-book on the topic "Advice that you would give someone on how to get started with social media." Later that day, Nader Ali-Hassan posted a message on the Cleveland SMC forum asking people to submit articles on the subject.

Always willing to share my two cents, I wrote an article for submission. As time went by others did the same, we formed an eBook committee, and by February we had almost 20 chapters. Soon after I joined the editorial team to help edit the chapters and get the book ready for completion. As we worked on the project, the team decided that we needed to produce something more than the usual downloadable .pdf file for the book. We also wanted a Web site where we could publish an HTML version of the book and provide a place to share other educational resources related to social media.

Cover art and layout of the .pdf version
of Welcome to Social Media was done
by Tony Ramos

Tasked with the creation of the Web site, I built Welcome to Social Media, which launches officially tonight at the Cleveland Social Media Club meeting (members of the public are welcome to attend). This new site features an online version of the Welcome to Social Media eBook, a social media blog and related resources. Over time we'll add additional materials to help educate the world about social media and related topics. If you have ideas on things we might include, please submit them via our contact form or here in my blog comments.

Welcome to Social Media excerpt: Setting Goals to Plan Your Social Media Strategy

As many of you know, I have a tendency to prattle on about goal setting in regards to Web development. The same as true for social media, and thus that was the theme of my chapter. Here is an excerpt:

If you don't control your online presence, someone else will.

When embarking on any new project or adventure, it helps to set some goals. What do you want to get out of the project? When it comes to social media I think we all share a primary goal, that of controlling our online presence.

Many people are hesitant to jump into the world of social media. Some are shy while others simply don't know what they'll do once they join the fray.

The advice I give to each is to consider what may happen if they don't get involved. In a day when employers Google job applicants and the charming lass you met at that party last week is searching the Web to make sure you're not a psychopath, you want to be in control of what they'll find.

The fact that you aren't posting about yourself doesn't mean others aren't. Perhaps your name and your clever ideas about composting were posted in the meeting minutes of your neighborhood gardening club. Perhaps your last promotion was mentioned in the online version of your local paper. Then again what if the first thing that comes up in a Google search is your wedding announcement…from five years ago…to the fellow you divorced when you discovered he was pawning your jewelry to invest in a pyramid scheme? Is that what you want to the world to see? Probably not. Read the article in its entirety on the Welcome to Social Media site.

A Cleveland Social Media Club team effort

Kudos to Jim England, Jeff Hershberger, George Nemeth, Stephanie Jansky, Tony Ramos and the many other authors and Cleveland Social Media club members who worked together on this project. On behalf of them all, I hope you will find Welcome to Social Media to be a useful resource for your social media explorations.

Welcome to Social Media Links

• Welcome to Social Media
• Welcome to Social Media, Volume 1, eBook (HTML)
• Welcome to Social Media, Volume 1, eBook (.pdf)
• Cleveland Social Media Club

Coming soon

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