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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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May

3

What to Do About Social Media Overload, or How to Network Online and Still Have Time to Run Your Business

Filed Under Social Media & Social Networking | 1 Comment

LinkedIn. Facebook. Twitter. YouTube. MySpace. StumbleUpon.

And the list goes on. With so many options available today, it’s easy to experience social media overload.

Anyone who knows me, knows that I’m a big fan of social media and how it can help you generate buzz and develop your business. But it can be overwhelming, even addictive for some. With new social sites popping up every day, how do you make the most of the opportunities social media provides and still have time to run your business?

Here’s my advice:

Be choosy. You don’t have to participate actively on every available site. Pick a few sites that best match your goals and your target audience and invest your time there. Don’t feel guilty if you don’t have a presence on MySpace or Digg just because “everybody” else does.
Check your web analytics. Review your web stats to see where your traffic is coming from and focus on the social sites that bring the most traffic. A great free tool that helps you analyze your web traffic is Google Analytics. You may be surprised when you view your results. For example, I didn’t expect much when I created a MySpace profile, but I generate a lot of traffic from this site even though I update it infrequently.
Schedule time for social networking. Whether it’s every morning for 15 minutes or once a week for an hour, having a schedule helps you set limits. Your schedule doesn’t have to be set in stone, however.
Categorize sites based on effectiveness. If you discover that your Facebook profile generates far better results than your MySpace profile, for example, you may want to invest time on Facebook on a weekly basis and update your MySpace site only once a month.
Consider automation. Using tools like Ping.fm enable you to update multiple social sites at once. Linking between your social site profiles, your blog, and your website also helps increase visibility with little effort.
Get focused to get results. Just because you spend an hour a week on social sites doesn’t mean you’re automatically going to generate the results you want. You need to understand the best ways to use each site so that you spend your time effectively. Fifteen means of strategic social networking can be worth far more than several hours of aimless social surfing.

Sep

20

Social Networking Success Story: I’m Too Young for This!

Filed Under Social Media & Social Networking, Success Stories | Leave a Comment

Concert pianist and motivational speaker Matthew Zachary is founder/CEO of the
I’m Too Young For This! Cancer Foundation, the nation’s largest advocacy, research, and support organization for survivors in their 20s and 30s. Matthew uses social networking sites such as MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and LinkedIn extensively to spread the word about his organization and mission.

What prompted you to establish the I’m Too Young for This! foundation?

As a young adult survivor of pediatric brain cancer who was originally diagnosed in college, I remember the horrible feelings of isolation and anger for not being treated like a 21-year old with different needs than the 6 or 60 year olds sitting next to me. Issues like dating, sexuality, fertility, employment, nutrition… even basic psychological counseling were nowhere to be found. I was a piece of meat.

Jun

15

Social Networking Success Story: Parkland Health & Hospital System

Filed Under Social Media & Social Networking | Leave a Comment

Charise Thomason, a public relations specialist at Parkland Health & Hospital System in Dallas, recently talked to me about the success of their MySpace page dedicated to teen health issues.

What prompted you to create a MySpace page for your hospital?

We’ve noticed a decline in younger patients – teens and young adults – and we’re concerned that these patients are not receiving help from anyone. We want these members of our community to be informed of the family planning options available to them to avert unintended pregnancies and illness. We’ve created the page to communicate with teens using a vehicle they are already comfortable with – that is social media. We hope it will become a valuable resource for adolescents who may have questions about reproductive health or who may find themselves in need of help.

May

31

The Truth About Profiting from Social Networking Just Released

Filed Under Book News, Social Media & Social Networking | Leave a Comment

My latest book, The Truth About Profiting from Social Networking, was just released by Pearson/Financial Times Press.

This book reveals 50 proven social networking principles and bite-sized, easy-to-use techniques that show you how to make the most of social networking sites such as Facebook, YouTube, MySpace, and LinkedIn to generate publicity and profits for your business.

Endorsed by industry leaders, The Truth About Profiting from Social Networking has been called “insightful, enlightening, and essential” by industry experts.

View the table of contents
Read the testimonials
Visit the media room

Purchase on Amazon
Purchase on Barnes & Noble
Purchase on FTPress.com