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Sunday, October 30, 2011

What Are You Saying? Building Your Social ME.dia Message

Most of my jobs consist of writing, well, all of them actually.  Whether it be writing reviews for some of San Antonio's newest hotspots to the newest (most useless) of web Apps, I find that I am writing about 80% of my work day.  I blog, comment, share, forward, reply, invite and chat at almost 85 words per minute.  But it wasn't until earlier this week, a conversation with my boyfriend, where I found myself stuck in the conversation as to finding out verbalize the importance of what you want people to read, rather than what you want to say.  He was starting a blog and I was having a hard time letting him move past the first two steps because he hadn't planned out what the blog was going to be about.  


"How dare you start a blog without a plan" was my argument.  And no matter how many times I asked him what his fishing bowl of topics may be contain, he couldn't tell me...his only response, "It's going to be about me." ...but alas, that was not enough.
My Twitter Cloud, @daRealChrisReed, courtesy of tagxedo.com
My boutique PR firm is growing quite fast as I am becoming more and more acceptable with my aesthetic and how I've created a work ethic to accommodate my many business moves.  My work is becoming more streamlined and my clients are boasting new successes as contacts are more eager to return emails and phone calls. What's my secret?  Asking for what I want and not just taking what I can get ... and being able to really communicate is basically the root of all of my success.  


Which leads me to my point.  What's your message?  What are you trying to convey?  
Does your "Rise and Grind" tweets get lost in your "Beer for Breakfast" facebook update?  Is your LinkedIn "I'm all about business and professionalism" profile get overshadowed by all of your "Picture Me Clubbin" pic tags?  


As marketers reach out to specific demographics using social media its often uncertain how to tell gauge what type of consumer, professional and or business owner someone is because every message they post almost always negates the previous.  The world is becoming increasingly smaller (despite how much reaching 7 billion is being publicized) as we are able to see just about every thought, idea, new picture, friend, baby pic, business venture, party and purchase that all of our acquaintances are making up to the minute.  I remember when CNN tickers were only in stock trader language, now I am updated on break ups and new comments while friends (in Hawaii) challenge me to a game of Scrabble.  Anyone can google my name and find out what I do, how to contact me, what I did yesterday and what I am planning in March ... it's easy (I mean, I think I make it easy, especially with sites like About.me/ChrisBethany).  
Word Cloud of the #BlackIntheCity Blog

This week Klout.com restructured its Klout Scoring System which rates a persons effectiveness and influence on the web through a series of calculations and cloud observations.  This very specific algorithm is almost a 2.0 to the former website scoring system Google used in the past.  It gives individual persons the tool of understanding what optimized (searchable) content they've uploaded is saying about them.  


What are you saying?  Do you use social media and the web to air out your dirty laundry?  Or are you using this tool to build your road to success?  Which ever it is, pick a message and stick with it...maybe airing your dirties for everyone to see will bring you success ... but, um, isn't that what reality tv is for?  Whole 'nother subject.


Oh, I figured out that I was going to go ahead and accept my boyfriends idea of going blindly into Blog-stardom, only to be forwarded his blog URL, MrOgba.blogspot.com ... lol, its all about him, he was right.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

Something to Do: The Italian Dish hosts Bella Cucina Tasting Event






thought my Detroit peeps would enjoy jumping out the box for a little, seeing what this really cool place has to offer.

Let me know if you!
TTYL.

Thursday, October 20, 2011

WAKE UP! Make-up! Contest Alert!





STONEnyc and Heidi D Cosmetics has partnered with Live Nation and The Fillmore Detroit to bring the ultimate beauty, fashion and music sweepstakes for one lucky winner. The grand prize consist of 2 tickets to see Marsha Ambrosius and Miguel live on October 28, 2011, $75.00 from online jewelry and accessory boutique STONEnyc, and six lip gloss from the Heidi D Cosmetics Bossy Collection. For your chance to win this please log on to Facebook.com and enter here. Remember to visit STONEnyc and Heidi D Cosmetics for your accessory and beauty needs. Good Luck!



Entry Period: The Sweepstakes begins at 12:00 PM ET on October 19, 2011, 
and ends at 12:00 PM ET on October 26, 2011.

PRIZES: One (1) Grand Prize

  • consisting of two (2) general admission tickets to Marsha Ambrosius and Miguel concert at The Fillmore Detroit in Detroit, MI scheduled to take place on October 28, 2011; 
  • six (6) lip glosses;
  •  and one (1) $75 StoneNYC gift card. 
    • Gift card redeemable on http://www.mystonenyc.com/ only and expires on April 30, 2012. 
    • Transportation and accommodations are not included. 
    • Approximate Retail Value of Grand Prize is: Two Hundred and Seventy-Six Dollars and Zero Cents ($276.00).







   Courtesy of Love Publicity | Detroit * Atlanta

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

A Detroit Showcase at SXSW!! Ohhhh, yeah!

Are you a talented singer, band or group that is looking to take your career and skill to the next level? 




BethanyEast PR & Mgmt. Consulting has the perfect opportunity for you.  We are putting together a showcase for Detroit-based artists to perform at the annual South-by-Southwest Music Conference. 
The SXSW conference brings music lovers, performers and industry execs together every year in Austin, TX to find the newest, best, most talented acts.  Last year the Michigan Showcase featured rappers and deejays and it was a HUGE SUCCESS… this show is JUST FOR singers and urban poets, and it is going to be BIG!

Participating Artists* will receive
  • Prominent marketing opportunities within the marketing campaign of the SOULcase
  • Track on the SOULcase Mixtape, given away free to attendees and SXSW passers-by
  • Invitation to the SOULcase marketing photoshoot (FREE)
  • Prominent promotion via a conference, city and national media and press campaign

Get in on this action!
This event is a first of its kind and has the main goal of shedding some much-needed light on the talent that Detroit artists possess.

Individual singers, groups and bands are welcome to take part of this lucrative opportunity, as you will be able to grow your fanbase immediately.  Thousands travel from all over the country to this conference, which features the newest trends and up-and-coming products in music, technology and media. 
Street Performers taking advantage of the crowds.

Some people perform guerrilla style, anywhere they can find a spot


Artists who wish to submit their work** for consideration can contact Chris Reed, Bethany.EastPR@LIVE.com

*There is a mandatory marketing fee of $200 per artists, band or group.  This fee can be paid in installments of 4 payments of $50.  This fee covers initial marketing, venue and equipment cost.  Artists are responsible for transportation to, lodging in Austin during the conference … discounts, and rebates may be available.
**Submissions can be in the forms of links to youtube videos, links to your SoundCloud account, links to your Facebook fanpage and should include pics of you during recent performance and a short bio.  Emphasis will be given to seasoned as well as new performers.  Facebook Fanpage likes, Twitter followers and press will be considered during the selection process.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

Girls, Girls, Girls and the Media

There must be a thousand new initiatives that have the goal of enabling and inspiring young girls to become powerful girls and women.  Women have been pushing for equal treatment and equal pay since the 1920s, and it's only right seeing as how women and girls control billions of dollars in buying power, manage to start business and families consecutively and has increased productivity of legislatures and governments across the globe.

But here comes the twist.  Despite the moves being made to tell women that they are worth every penny they spend (times 1000), despite philanthropic processes to send underrepresented women to college and the consideration given to girls in "depriving" cultures who don't have the freedoms of every other girl in America to be expressive and an individual there is still unfair treatment within the orientation, there are divisions among class, color, size and education, even style, hair color and culture separate women.  Whether it is the media or the economy of our melting pot of cultures that is procuring this division and pitting-against of women in America the effects aren't going unnoticed.

Ok, this year marked a ton of instances where women were put in the limelight.  Sarah Palin continued to show her ass, Oprah stopped the NBA Finals so that she can end her show, Chaz Bono decided to become a man, and without further description, Basketball Wives, all of the Real Housewives series, Bridezillas and Tough Love have done their part in MANipulating how entitled, selfish, mis-informed and disengaged women, allegedly, are.  

Devoted Mom or Education Thief
And then there is the legislature.  How many of us watched as Kelly Bolar, a devoted mother, was sentenced to 10 days in jail followed by probation after being convicted of "stealing" an education for her son.  When in fact all she did was send her son to an elementary school in her father's neighborhood, it was a better school than the inner-city school in her immediate neighborhood.  School officials claim that the cost of the education was approximately $30,500 for the 4 years her son was enrolled.  

I thought the charges were erroneous, in a country where we are pushed to do what we have to do to survive, get in where you fit in, and make sure you get everything you are supposed to get.  In this particular case the charges weren't overturned but Bolar's sentence was decreased to just probation.  (no one has said anything about the disparities in the funds applied per student and how they differentiate between inner-city and suburban Ohio public schools).

It just all seemed a bit harsh to treat this loving single working mother this way.  I mean, I can see if she was a party animal that would abandon her child for days at a time, partying and doing who knows what. It's not like she murdered her child or was forcing him to steal from neighborhood pawn shops.  

What does this tell black single mothers?  And I know a ton of black single mothers who are doing everything they can for their sons and daughters to halt them from becoming a statistic.  Unlike some other people that have been thrust into the limelight.

Casey "I'ma good mother" Anthony ... I'm just sayin!
Casey Anthony caused the state of Florida to spend more than a million dollars in search of her dead daughter and a truth in her web of lies.  She walks free.  


While single mother Janelle from popular MTV reality show 16 and Pregnant has about 4 drug-related infractions under her belt, and manages to make upwards of $75k a year.

In fact, the entire cast of 16 and Pregnant and its spinoff Teen Mom and Teen Mom 2 have made young girls familiar with the possible popularity of having a baby so young.  Which is funny, because this show was originally thought to show young women how challenging it is to become a mother too soon.  There are now reports of girls getting pregnant in hopes of being cast in a reality show.

Ain't that a mess?  This is what we are teaching lil white girls!

While lil Muslim girls are being killed by their fathers for becoming too American, this country really has a to invest a lot more when it comes to NOT streamlining the mindset of women into the uber-materialistic, commercial media whores that the majority is clearly becoming.  

Strippers being swept off their feet to marry football players or rappers and small town girls catching the eye of tech and internet CEOs is a rare occassion, but thanks to media at the rate we are going, women can get away with murder, as long as they look the part... 

Amanda Knox was recently freed of all charges of murder in Italy!
Black in the City is a realist type blog...I'm just calling them how I see them.  The American viewer is becoming seduced by the wiles of women who are of a small community among us.  There is a backwards movement going on here, and its moving much faster than the Girls, Inc. of the country, even the Barbie mantra of independence has been tainted by the bumping and grinding of our newest clown apparent representative 
Fried chicken necklace, raw talent? Confused much?
So, here's the call to action.  
  1. Turn off these shows that depict women as confused followers of false celebrities.  
  2. Read a book by one of the countries most esteemed female authors (um, the editors at Vogue, Cosmopolitan and ELLE aren't authors, so reach for a little Maya, Iyanla or Zora)  
  3. Become a mentor and do what you can to speak some common sense into these young girls heads.  Let them know that every marriage doesn't have to start out of pity and end with divorce, not having a daddy is no longer an excuse, self confidence does not mean you can last the whole day in high school without taking off your 4 inch stilettos, creating classic style is long lasting and helps maintain your balance so that newer issues can be confronted as they come.  
  4. Get organized, write a plan that doesn't include sizing yourself up to everyone else. 
  5. Get help when you need it, stop internalizing and, by all means, be a woman...if anything else, remain steadfast with your standards and growth pattern.
(drops the mic) Stay pretty Divas
ttyl.

ok, so after I posted this I was forwarded this video of a little girl performing Nicki Minaj's Super Bass (which is a song laden with expletives and sexual innuendos), this further influences me to teach my kids the "Ain't I A Woman" speech Sojourner Truth graced an audience with back in 1851.)