It would take two Titantics to beat my stats on SlideShare

SlideShare announces I'm in the top 4% of viewed content on their site.

I had a huge year on SlideShare. So big, in fact, that yesterday SlideShare sent me an announcement,

“Congratulations, Carol!

Your content was among the top 4% of most viewed on SlideShare in 2013!
You received 8336 views in 2013.
It would take two Titanics to hold that many people!
Thanks for being an important part of our community!”

The beginning of my SlideShare career was an upload that served as an entry for the 2010 Pacific Northwest Social Media Awards. Carol's Save a Life Birthday Party made me a TOP FINALIST for a SoMe Award that year..

The experience got me so enthused about nurturing my inner PowerPoint that I spent a good deal of time researching books that would help me truly master the format. I chose carefully and found inspiration and direction digging through Slideology by Nancy Duarte who put Al Gore on the map, or rather his speaking tour on climate change.

Nancy Duarte and her husband Mark talk about their company Duarte Design.

And why are my SlideShare stats such a phenomenal feat?

Well, it's more for SlideShare than me personally—the more content that is viewed on SlideShare the more advertising they can sell. So, basically, this is a thank you for helping SlideShow create corporate revenue.

And all of this proves to me that even though my first SlideShare did not make me a winner in that year's social media contest, when those who take home the prizes are named Air New Zealand, Travelocity, and Intel my pro bono client the Southwest Washington Blood Program and I are winners when we bask in the afterglow of that big brand influence.

Indeed, it gives me further pleasure that the social media campaign that beat me out—an app that helps you find beer, has barely earned 10% of my submission’s pageivews over the ensuing years.

This proves that I can make anything sound cool, even donating blood, if it comes wrapped in a well developed PowerPoint.

Lastly, anything of value deserves to be nudged by advertising. Here's mine:

In your dream job do people yell?

As the political season heats up this PowerPoint presentation uploaded to SlideShare reminded me of local government meetings I attended in 2013, especially this one.

View more on SlideShares from Carol Doane including:

How to sell online advertising... 3 years ago, 16,069 views
Interesting that this one receives the most views, since online advertising that we sell now vs. three years ago is dramatically different and almost inconceivably more complex.


Carol's save a life birthday party three years ago, 12,848 views
This was the first upload and earned a position as TOP FINALIST in the 2010 Social Media Awards of the Pacific Northwest. Although, no trophy came home, it gives great pleasure that the winner's entry continues to have far fewer page views.


It all happened after the tornado two years ago, 2,826 views 
This was a lighthearted take on an online resume. Mid-stream into developing this PowerPoint an interesting event happened which changed the course of a career and is detailed at the end.

Social Media for Writers, three years ago, 2,815 views
Social Media for Writers was presented to the Vancouver Writers Mixer. Today, it seems a bit outdated, which only proves how fluid social media is. Nothing stays the same like change.

Beginners Guide To Advertising, three years ago, 2,753 views
A Beginner's Guide to Print and Online Advertising was developed as training materials for The Columbian Newspaper sales staff.



Cheap is a chance. Don't drown, three years ago, 1,535 views
Cheap is a Chance shows that legacy media, while not offering as robust of an audience as in years past, remains a solid path to a sound marketing programs. Responsive marketing is seldom cheap, and nothing is really free.

Never seen before targeting, eight months ago, 616 views
Never Seen Before Targeting is a quick look at advanced targeting options and a proprietary program offered by KGW Media Group.



In your dream job do people yell, 8 months ago, 416 views
Inspired by government meetings in the wake of the Don Benton hiring by the Clark County Board of Commissioners. There is a place in government for everyone who desires to serve. You just need the right friends, not necessarily the right credentials.

Tips for your end of the year, 1 week ago, 286 views
Tips for Your End of Year Donations offers ideas on how to get the most of the waning minutes of the closing year, which in three words is: share, share, share.

More people spoke positively about kittens this week

Find out who the top kitten influencers via this SlideShare presentation on social media monitoring from Eric Portelance.

The presentation walks us through measuring 'engaged users' of a brand (engaged user=customer), and helps us identify if there is value in distinguishing between the volume of customer engagement vs. the consistency of engagement. For instance, is it better to listen to someone who tweets a lot about your brand for a concise period of time, or better to pay attention to someone who tweets moderately over a longer period of time?

The slicing of the information for the pilot study of Nikon encourages us to consider our own ardent fans, and to understand what they all have in common, i.e., are they iPhone or Blackberry users? Do they drink coffee or tea, and what are their preferred beverage brands, for instance are they Starbucks customers or more likely to plant themselves at the locally owned alternative?

Dig in. Learn what's more important, influencing or building relationships. BUT first, before you view the presentation, vote for one -- influencer or relationship builder.

Social Media Monitoring - Finding Relationships

So, tell me, what do you know about your best fans?

Social Media Spotlight on Thank You's

Awesome feedback on Social Media For Writers

At the end of all great projects is a moment in the sun to bask in the glow of accomplishment. That is the fancy way of saying I HAD A BLAST, and forget the sun, this feedback is like a rocket to the moon.

Thanks again to the full house at the gallery and the 700+ SlideShare viewers in the first two days of loading the presentation online. I'd like to capture your feedback because it made me feel good, and all of us should be encouraged to step forward and share our expertise with our community.

Group hug :-)

Dec 4: Thank you for presenting valuable social media education this evening.You have helped me so much! Kathryn

Dec 5: Great presentation at @Angst last night. You rock! Ron

Dec 5: Thank you, for the invite to hear Carol  Doane. I usually take many notes, but tonight I arrived with no paper, no pencil. Carol gave us a recipe for successful communication, didn't she?  WOW!! Will we receive an email with address,  links? Thank you again. - Kathryn

Dec 5: Thanks again for pitching in to do this – terrific job. Carolyn

Dec 7: Thanks for the links, Carol. Your presentation on Saturday was full of great information presented in a way that made it easy to receive. I appreciate your energy and your expertise. All Best, Deb

Dec 7: Thanks for the info!! bob

Dec 7: Thank you for sharing your expertise and for doing this for free! I enjoyed my time there and got a real good feel for the local writers and what they are all about. Thanks for your time, Jeff

Dec 7: Haven't made time to join Twitter, but feel embarrassed that you thanked me before I'd thanked you! So I sent an e-mail to you, but it was rejected. So now I'm trying this--through your Blog. I know you'd prefer a Tweet, but haven't jumped in yet, and really want you to know how much I appreciated your talk! So this is the tweet I'd like to send: To Classic Carol: I am very grateful for your fun, comprehensive, inspiring intro to Social Media for Writers last Saturday in Vancouver. The friend I brought actually has a media project to work on and is very excited. Wow. Amazing. THANK YOU for sharing your time & know-how. Gratefully, Karla Joy

Then to top off the good vibes, I received the above message from SlideShare: Congrats! Your presentation 'Social Media for Writers' is showcased on the 'How-to & DIY' page on SlideShare.

I am now enjoying my 16-20 hours of 'fame' which is suggested on slide 60 of the presentation as noted below.

Social Media for Writers

View more presentations from Carol Doane.

It did not go unnoticed that all the hoopla gave me another fan on my Facebook page. Thanks, Annie.

A beginners guide to advertising

Mid stride interviewing candidates for a media sales position, I lamented to my director that there is no book I can hand someone to teach them what we do.

Beginners Guide To Advertising

When I began in media sales our world was far less complex. New products and concepts emerged slowly with much thought and thorough research. We layered them into our sales portfolios as easily as turning pages of a newspaper. We built a direct mail product, we created glossy magazines, coupon books, crafted custom print programs for full color brochures and flyers. We sold travel contests and auction events.

We stumbled early into the online world and chased premiere media consultants and followed their packaging advice. We trained weekly and tracked every nuance of the vocabulary: hits, views, impressions.

There was no standing still, but the pace was manageable.

Today, the media business bolts forward faster than the speed of light.

To enter our sales world now is a head spinning experience. Rewarding, but only with a heavy investment in self and a deep desire to grip the unknown and hang on to the ride while trying to steer the ship.

We learn by listening, watching, devouring information as if it were the air we breathed. As soon as we figure out how to sell static online ads, we're packaging flash ads into our marketing proposals, then video, then mobile.

We think we've got it figured out, take a breath and get knocked off our feet. Company resources wither and the weight of survival moves to every employee but rests solidly on the local territory sales reps.

This is no job to ease you into retirement. This is an ever reinventing itself career. And as the SlideShare above demonstrates, the concept is very simple. But it's what we bring to the table–our ability to grasp media concepts and communicate them in language a layman can understand–that pushes towards success.

So.

How'd I do?

Want to come work for me?

Send your resume to: TheClassicCarol (at) gmail (dot) com

View more webinars from Carol Doane.

Cheap is a chance. Don't drown in the advertising pool.

Proven advertising often is a simple solution that begins with your local media company, the newspaper. Today, news and information corporations offer multiple platforms for message delivery including the traditional paper that still delivers the largest audience over all local media. In addition, clockwork delivery, stable rates, printed rate cards, customer loyalty programs, volume discounts, anchored positions are all reasons to assess the options of the paper.

The audience continues to respond to advertising.

View more presentations from Carol Doane.

Carol Doane top finalist in Pacific Northwest Social Media Awards

It's real. Here's the Press Release for the SoMe Scrappy & Engaged  Award (I'm a top finalist!)

Every two minutes someone in Western Washington needs a blood transfusion. Sean Debutts, Social Media Coordinator at Puget Sound Blood Center, sent a direct message to Twitter follower Carol Doane to secure Doane as a champion to spearhead a blood drive. Carol Doane, the Advertising Sales Manager and Social Media Strategist at The Columbian in Vancouver, Washington, quickly agreed.

Doane's social media campaign and resulting blood donation event placed her as a top finalist for the Pacific Northwest Social Media Awards in The Scrappy & Engaged Award category. Winners will be announced after the Portland, Oregon InnoTech Conference. InnoTech is a business and technology innovation conference and expo sponsored by top brands IBM, Microsoft, Integra Telecom, Advanced Systems Group, Smarsh, MSI and others. Besides Portland, InnoTech conferences also take place in Austin, Texas; San Antonio, Texas; and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

The Scrappy & Engaged category salutes best brand awareness/user engagement for under $500. Doane dubbed her campaign, "Carol's Save A Life Birthday Party," and estimated the cost at $14.99, the cost of a birthday cake. As part of her submission she created a SlideShare to describe the event, http://www.slideshare.net/TheClassicCarol/carols-save-a-life-birthday-party. "A crew of social media enthusiasts in Texas and beyond were the SoMe Awards judges," reports Sean Lowery, Executive Director of the InnoTech Conference which is spotlighting the awards.

"Social media is very personal and this campaign struck a chord for me," says Carol Doane. "I have an innate curiosity to see if I can drive people out from behind their computers to share a cup of coffee and many will, but this project asked them to extend past surface conversation and participate in a needle-in-the-arm way."

Sean Debutts, the initiator of the direct message that launched Doane's participation notes, "Carol deserves the honor after all the hard work she put into her drive and all the visibility she gave the concept."

The Puget Sound Blood Center maintains eleven donation centers in Washington and continues to benefit from Doane's efforts. "For an hour the SlideShare I created to describe the campaign was Hot on Twitter and featured on SlideShare's Health and Medicine category," notes Carol Doane. "It's all these little wins that makes diving into social media fun."

What's next on the agenda for the Social Media Strategist? "The hardest part now," she muses, "Is explaining what a social media award is to my parents."

Social media is an all encompassing term for the mixing of technology and social interaction to add value to the community. The SoMe Awards honor the best social media projects, programs and campaigns in the Pacific Northwest. The SoMe event takes place at the prestigious Multnomah Athletic Club, 1849 SW Salmon Street, Portland, Oregon 97205, Thursday, May 7, 2010 from 7:00 PM to 10:00 PM.

Registration is $20 and includes two drinks and dessert. Event registrations are accepted online: http://ow.ly/1FZ1s

Information about the awards can be found on the SoMe website: http://www.someawards.com/

Award categories include:

• Best Brand Awareness/User Engagement (over $25k) – The Sugar Daddy Award 
• Best Brand Awareness/User Engagement (under $25k) – The People Like Me Award
• Best Brand Awareness/User Engagement (under $500) – The Scrappy & Engaged Award
• Best ROI (over $25k) – The Rich Get Richer Award
• Best ROI (under $25k) – The Keep Your Job Award
• Best ROI (under $500) – The Soon-to-Be Wealthy Award
• Best Social Media App – The Next Big Thing Award
• Best Agency – The House Party Award
• People’s Choice Award
• Best in Show

Carol Doane blogs on business themes at 360Convos.blogspot.com and as @TheClassicCarol on Twitter.

When time stood still, okay it's a screen shot

For a blink of an eye my work stood in front of the Altimeter Group. It was a beautiful moment, a social media coup. It started with an email from SlideShare: Congrats, 'Carol's Save a Life Birthday Party' is hot on Twitter.

That would make you wake up and sit up, right? Well, I did. It was extremely exciting. Especially the part where they called me by name, "Well done, you!" The handy dandy exclamation point did not escape my notice. It was perfectly placed.

My shaking fingers trembled over the keyboard as I surfed over to SlideShare.net and scanned their home page. There on the left rail was a light blue text link that connected every Slideshare viewer on earth to my uploaded power point, and not just any power point, it was the very first one I'd uploaded to SlideShare.

The purpose of my power point was to recap the social media trail I blazed while organizing a blood drive for Southwest Washington Blood Program.

It's quite believable that I would click the link and review the SlideShare 'Hot on Twitter' landing page, right? Well, I did. 

It's UNBELIEVABLY lucky that I grabbed a screenshot, because that is the only proof I have that my creation stood three paces in front of the Altimeter Group's work, and as I said in the beginning it happened in the span it takes to rub your eyes and wake up.

Of course, someone who would think it was base to brag that their work eeked out in front of the nations top analysts would never have begun this post in the first place. That person would not be me. And I'm keeping track. Yes, according to ItDatabase the Altimeter Group houses three of the nation's top analysists: R "Ray" Wang, Jeremiah Owyang, and Charlene Li. Both Ray and Jeremiah follow me on Twitter and we've had some lively conversations, and Charlene Li tweeted a comment I made on on a blog. Once.

The trio is well respected and actively followed in the social media sphere. When Owyang posts a SlideShare such as, 'Social CRM: The New Rules of Relationship Management'  he pulls in 38,000+ views. When I post a slideshare I pull in . . . well, check it out here. Almost as good, right?

Most of the time when something really cool happens you call your parents and blurt out your success in semi-comprehensible excitement and they say, 'Yay, way to go, honey.' For some reason social media coups don't have the same impact as getting your name in the newspaper, or showing up on time for the family dinner and remembering what you were supposed to bring.

I needed an alternative cheering squad. I turned to my kid and jumped up and down, "Slideshare, my PowerPoint it's like on their home page and it's neat-o, and wow."

She blinked and returned to texting.

Therefore, my 360 Convos Friends I have chosen this venue to celebrate with you.

You get it, right?