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About Patrice

Patrice-Anne Rutledge is a business technology author and consultant who specializes in social media, online collaboration, and presentation technologies.
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Social Networking Success Stories: Jelena Woehr & Disaboom

jelena Jelena Woehr is a social media marketer for the social network Disaboom who also finds time to use social networking to promote her personal causes. How did you become a social marketer for Disaboom? I was actually hoping to find some freelance writing work to supplement my income when I ran across a Craigslist ad for a Social Marketer with the largest online community focusing on those living with disabilities or functional limitations. I responded to the ad thinking I probably didn’t have the right experience or education, and was pleasantly surprised to get a return email asking me to come in for an interview. I’d never heard of social marketing prior to seeing Disaboom’s help wanted ad, but when I interviewed with Tim Poindexter, I realized that many of the things I already did online, like promoting blogs and writing articles on YourHub.com, were forms of social marketing. I accepted the position without hesitation, and I love my job!

Can you tell me about some of your biggest success stories? My biggest success so far in terms of traffic has been the promotion of a blog post titled, “A Freebie A Day Keeps Empty Pockets Away.” I used StumbleUpon to promote the post, and overnight it blew up, with several thousand hits in less than twenty-four hours. Over the next month, StumbleUpon continued to send hundreds of hits every week, and sometimes thousands. In less than a month the post accumulated 23,000 views. I’m excited about the success, and a little mystified. The post must have stuck a chord with StumbleUpon users, but I spent very little effort on it, intending it to be just a filler post so that the blog wouldn’t seem inactive. Another recent success was our team’s use of social marketing to promote a blog post telling Alex Barton’s story. Alex, age 5, has Autism Spectrum Disorder. He was voted out of his Kindergarten class at the direction of a teacher, and was so traumatized by the experience that at home he withdrew to his room and repeated over and over, “I’m not special.” My fellow social marketer, Daniel Lifshen, promoted the post on Facebook through a note on his profile and wall posts in groups. I promoted the post on social media sites like Digg and Reddit. Hundreds of hits flooded in almost immediately. This successful promotion not only sent traffic to our site, it allowed us to network with other influential bloggers covering the story, and helped little Alex by offering a medium to promote a campaign to send him cards and small gifts through a family friend.

How has social networking helped you raise funds for causes you believe in?

I’m supporting Barack Obama for President of the United States, and I’ve used my social networking and social marketing skills to raise funds and awareness for Barack’s campaign. My most striking success came the day after Senator Obama gave his “A More Perfect Union” speech on race in America. I was blown away by the positive and honest message, and when I saw on Reddit that Barack wrote every word himself, without the assistance of professional speechwriters, I wanted to thank him for his courage. I left a comment on the Reddit thread asking everyone who appreciated seeing a politician bravely address the nation on such a sensitive topic without the assistance of a speechwriting team send a small donation to the campaign immediately. The response was instant: Many other users of Reddit shared my sentiment. I got busy making a personal fundraising page on BarackObama.com, and posted the link in the comment thread on Reddit. Donations from $5.00 to over $100.00 came in all day and all night, as well as comments praising Barack and his speech. My personal fundraising page raised over $1,700.00 in less than twenty-four hours.