Friday, June 26, 2009

Why I love Feelgoodz

This week I interviewed Kyle Berner about his success with Feelgoodz. He is a social media dream. Authentic, passionate and absolutely adorable. Hear how he survived on a $45 food budget for 3 weeks...oh, and quadrupled his sales.

Confessions of a former Yes Woman

Today I got in my first fight with a respected peer and close friend. About social media. I was fully pissed off about a project that I was passionate about that I thought was being handle entirely wrong. (Never mind that said project isn't even one I am working on.) I had strong opinions and knew that I was right and pretty much said so. Because that's kind of what I do.

And then it dawned on me...that's kind of what I do. Since when? How did that happen? See, not long ago I was a quiet yes man. Yes, it's true. Yours Truly was an insecure ad gal pushing traffic orders. I don't know exactly how it happened. I started out with a vision and a dream. But, then I spent way too long being held back and began accepting mediocrity. I did what was expected and didn't cause trouble. Went with the flow. So I began to retrace my path to today's social media smack down.

It started when Danger came along. I discovered a community of mommybloggers that inspired me and rekindled a fire inside that was all but extinguished. I followed them, discovered this thing called Twitter and got involved in a conversation that was empowering and real and candid. I was hooked. And then I found other people in my own backyard that were just as hooked. And then I realized that these people were making things happen and changing the game. And before I knew it I was one of them. Suddenly, I was part of this crazy revolution of authentic passion that refused to bow to mediocricy. Well, I had to do something.

So, I started doing rogue social media campaigns for clients. They worked! Bye Bye rogue, hello full frontal honesty. And adios mediocrity. Off I went to follow my dreams and pursue my passion. So that's the story of my transition from yes man to social media champion. A transition that happened so organically that I totally missed it. Until today.

So, there you have it folks. Tiffany Epiphany. Thanks for listening.

Disclosure: This is my blog. My personal rant about all things me. It is not a mommyblog nor it is not a place for intellectual discourse on social media strategy. It's just me. And my 2 faithful readers:)

Friday, June 19, 2009

The Twitter Reply Conspiracy

A while back Twitter changed the reply function so that you only saw responses to people you were following. Which means when you send an @tiffanystarnes message, instead of going to everybody that follows you, it only goes to people who follow both the me AND you. So your college buddy in Wisconsin won't ever see your pithy response to my eloquent 140 chracter genius.

I try to explain this "Tiffany style" on LPTV. Pretty sure I wasn't drinking, but also pretty sure I only confused the situation further. Long story short...if you want everyone who follows you to see your Twitter posts, put a period before the @ when you Tweet.

But, if you want to hear about Dianne and the band guy carpooling to a U2 concert...

PS. Yet another Phoenix commercial. Maybe I need to get an Associates degree.

What's a Friend Worth

Another Launch Pad TV post from the archives. I talk about whether IRL (In Real Life) connection is necessary to build meaningful relationships given the bevy of online tools to connect.

Oh, and um, like, my hair is totally much better in this one.

PS. Still can't get rid of the Phoenix ad. I am not a Phoenix. But good for them.

Launch Pad TV

The last few weeks I've been doing a segment on Launch Pad TV about whatever I happen to think is interesting in social media. It's basically a random blathering diatribe about one thing or another and usually involves lots of "um, so totally, like" Tiffisms. Well, for some reason they keep asking me to come back. Meanwhile my blog is off in the corner pouting at my blatant neglect. So, I figured, why not post my social media rants here?

This week, I , um, like totally talk about the social media impact on the Iran elections. With a touch of a hangover. And dirty hair. Don't judge.