Just Posted to the @PerkettPR blog, the first of a two part interview series with @waynesutton

It was great to catch up with fellow Triangle resident, Wayne Sutton aka, Social Wayne, ironically, not in North Carolina but instead at the Inbound Marketing Summit in Foxboro, Ma!

Wayne was a great sport – you can read highlights from my interview below and catch the video interview at www.perkettprsuasion.com. Enjoy!

Amplify’d from perkettprsuasion.com

Claire Russell Interviews Wayne Sutton at IMS10, Part 1 Read more at perkettprsuasion.com

Last month I attended and presented at the Inbound Marketing Summit 2010 in Foxboro, MA. It was great to be back in Boston, catching up with friends and colleagues. But a true highlight of my visit, ironically (since we live in the same area), was finally getting the opportunity to catch up with Wayne Sutton – or SocialWayne as he’s known here in ‘The Triangle’ of North Carolina.

For those that may not know Wayne, he holds nearly 10 years of experience in technology and social media. He is the Business Development/Marketing Strategist for TriOut, a location-based services application developed to help individuals explore the Triangle area and discover its cultural treasures. Wayne is also a consultant, helping start-ups and established businesses succeed in understanding how to best communicate their brand strategy through social media, as well as location-based services.

In this first of a two-part series, Wayne shares three tips for new entrepreneurs thinking about launching in today’s market:

Hire good people you can trust

Build a revenue model that adds value and solves a problem

Try not to spend or take money if you don’t need it

He also gives his take on the Raleigh tech/social media scene.

I hope you enjoy the interview  – our Part II interview will feature Wayne talking about the impact of location-based services on corporate marketing strategies. What should marketers be thinking about as they plan their 2011 Marketing budgets? We’d love to get your thoughts/advice.

Read more at perkettprsuasion.com

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Apple in Talks to Add Subscription Periodicals to the iPad

What do you think of iPad-tailored subscriptions for newspapers and magazines? Do you currently read print publications? Would you be more or less likely to subscribe to a tablet-friendly digital version?

I have to admit, I’m a print girl at heart. I mean, don’t get me wrong I think the iPad is super cool (can’t wait to own one of my own one day) but while I definitely get the convenience, and according to this article the cost-effectiveness of being able to view publications online, I’m not sure the September issue of Vogue, Elle or Harper’s Bazaar will be as exciting to read. Now maybe it depends on the type of publication, news, trades, tech, sure -but fashion and the celebrity rags – I’m gonna opt for the old fashion print versions.

What’s your take?

Amplify’d from mashable.com

If Apple gets its way, the next big wave of content to hit iTunes might be magazine and newspaper subscriptions.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Apple is trying to convince publishers to offer newspaper and magazine subscriptions for the iPad through Apple’s own portal. Even before the iPad was launched, rumors of this sort of arrangement were already underway. Many of the Western world’s biggest publishers, including Time Inc., Hearst and Condé Nast, released iPad-optimized magazines or newspapers to coincide with the product’s release.

However, magazines have been limited to single issue sales. Some apps notify a user when a new issue is available, but at $4 or $5 an issue, most users are unlikely to forego a print or online subscription for iPad content. Read more at mashable.com

 

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Home Depot vs. JetBlue: Who engages better on Facebook? And why is doing social media well such a challenge?

Its surprising but there are companies out there that are still struggling with how to correctly use social media. The biggest challenge seemingly, how to effectively “engage” with a target audience. Big brands continue to push their marketing message and their own agendas rather than using social media to be, well, “social”.

While you can of course use social media as yet another tool to extend awareness for your brand, your strategy needs to be less about YOU and more about the needs of your audience.

Here’s my question – why are brands struggling? As human beings we communicate and engage with one another, all day every day. So why is it soo difficult to extend that level of engagement to your brand and out to your customers?

Is the challenge that brands are just so set in their ways when it comes to marketing that they are just doing social media cause they know they have to, no matter how they do it? Or are these organizations just so large and slow moving that it’s difficult to get the marketing engine (and higher-ups) on board to take the plunge and to actually start making personal connections with their audience. Or maybe it’s as simple as bandwidth/resources? Because it’s no secret that to do social media well, you need to consistently be out there communicating and engaging with people – while also being authentic.Maybe it’s all of the above? What’s your take?

Amplify’d from www.imediaconnection.com

Article Highlights:

When and how to move the conversation offline, and how to effectively write a post that allows for it, are key decisions

By asking for direct contact information, one company actively sought to bring the customer out from the cold and take the conversation offline

One brand fans the fires of consumer discontent by using an impersonal tone, poor grammar, and indirect answers

Learning to engage consumers on Facebook involves a study in online behavior with a steep learning curve. The potential for pitfalls are prevalent, so many businesses simply choose to dictate content and not directly engage consumers at all. Others, however, are engaging their consumers personally — some with success, though others are struggling. The key is to understand online consumer behavior and form your strategies accordingly. Read more at www.imediaconnection.com

 

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Stella & Dot founder talks about motherhood and running a multi-million $$ company.

Jessica DiLullo is truly inspirational – serial entrepreneur, mother of two, has been able to juggle both launch and grow two very successful companies. How do women like this do it? Sometimes I wonder is it brains, hard work, money, dedication an incredible support system – a combination of all of these things? These types of stories always leave an impression – makes me wonder what I need to be doing better. Some great content here!

Amplify’d from www.inc.com

Balancing a Start-Up and a Baby

Serial entrepreneur Jessica DiLullo Herrin designed her latest company, Stella & Dot, to provide her with greater work-life balance.

I feel like I’ve ebbed and flowed with building this company, but I always focused on my greatest need, which was my children. I work in an office like most CEOs, but I didn’t do that full time until my second daughter was 2 and a half. I always joke that I created this company for women to work from home, but I go into an office. Make no mistake: I do work from home, but only after I work a full day in the office and come home and put my children to bed, and then I do the night shift.

At this point, I’m in a couple of cities a week doing training and working with our leaders to help them grow. When you’re running a hypergrowth start-up, there’s not a lot of part time. But this is my company, and that means I am going to have lunch with my daughter every Tuesday and make time for vacations. I still control my own schedule. It’s not a job where I have to choose between dropping my daughter off at preschool or being at a 7 a.m. meeting.

This year, we’ll do over $100 million in revenue. In the first half of the year, we exceeded our entire revenue for 2009, so we are set to triple revenue in 2010. But, more than the company’s revenue figures, the biggest source of pride for me is the amount of commission we are able to pay out to our sales force, in a time when people have really needed it most. We’ve paid out over $20 million to our stylists. And that’s money that women are using to make ends meet. That’s the reason I bound out of bed in the morning. Read more at www.inc.com

 

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Ten Things Your Employees Wish You Knew About Them

Let me preface my “take” on this blog post by stating that the sentiments in this in this article do not reflect my sentiments – honestly. I am lucky in that my boss is not only fair but committed keeping her employees happy almost to a fault! I’ve been with my current company for six years, and before that I was a client. Others have been working with this agency for nearly a decade! That in itself speaks volumes about our leadership!

This post caught my attention because over the last 6-8 months, I’ve heard either a friend or family member mention (gripe, complain, etc..) all of these (with maybe the exception of “Your girls don’t like being called girls”).

As this author wrote “I’m sure there is a lot more your employees wish you knew about them. Perhaps they’ll be brave enough to add their comments to this list.”

Amplify’d from www.fastcompany.com

If you think it’s tough being a manager these days, try being an employee. Most are in the position of having to go with the flow because of the current economic conditions. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they do so with a smile on their face. Here are ten things your employees wish you knew about them:

See more at www.fastcompany.com

 

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#RHONJ Reunion… I just can’t put it into words…Just read and watch this; http://bit.ly/9gwR8i

Ok, ok, it’s no secret that I am a Housewives of NJ – JUNKIE. Anyone that’s friends with me on Facebook is (painfully) aware that my Monday nights are (sadly) spent glued to the TV to watch not one, but TWO back-to-back episodes of this program (did I just say that out loud?)

Now it’s not just because I’m a Jersey Girl that I LOVE this show (and Jersey Shore) – but because it’s just such good (train-wreck) television! I mean it’s no surprise that Jersey Girls can bring the drama, but these ladies take it to a whole new level! They make the other women of the Real Housewives franchise look like saints (with the exception of #RHONY who are my second group of favorite ladies to watch).

It’s no surprise that I am counting down the minutes till the #RHONJ reunion on Monday (pre-viewed in this article by perhaps one of the funniest guys on the web – @ibbb. If you watch reality TV and don’t read this guy, you’re missing out!) After watching this trailer you will agree, these Jersey gals will NOT disappoint!!

SIDEBAR: I know there have been some comments out there lately about people, like myself promoting this kind of mindless TV and the likes of Jersey Shore. As a mother of Irish Twins, working full time, I admit it, I love these types of shows because they are just so darn entertaining and offer some comic relief throughout the week. This does not mean that I’m losing site of or ignoring more serious issues in happening in the world, but instead just giving my brain a break for one hour (or maybe two) per week.

Amplify’d from www.imbringingbloggingback.com

The Real Housewives of New Jersey reunion is going to be in two parts.  I’m breathing slowing as I’m typing this because I want to open up my apartment window and yell out, “I love you America, I love you!”  The gang filmed this in Atlantic City, which is just basically a large broken down carnival with gaudy hotels.  Basically, it’s a Jersey dream come true.Read more at www.imbringingbloggingback.com

 

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Subtle reminder to make time…

I saw this picture and had to share – How adorable is little Yogi?? (Courtesy of Lululemon Athletica Raleigh, NC) I wish someone introduced yoga to me at this age — imagine the impact it would have had on my life – Wonder if I’d still be a (hi-strung) Type A????

Amplify’d from www.facebook.com

See more at www.facebook.com

 

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Stars Over 40 Dominate September Magazine Covers; Is Our Youth-Obsessed Culture Over? http://bit.ly/aamlMv #fashi

There’s been some buzz about the fact that all the covers of the high-end fashion magazines September issues (the year’s biggest issue) feature women over 40. Not sure if this means that our youth-obsessed culture is over, or that the editors of these publications know what sells and that their thirty-something demographic relates more to Jennifer Aniston than to the chic from that Twighlight movie (sorry…I’m a 30-something).

“They’re cool, fashionable, interesting, compelling — they have something to say,” Harper’s Bazaar projects /features director Laura Brown told the publication. “I love that they’ve grown into their style. One of the things about getting older is you do grow into your sense of self. You don’t look victim-y anymore.”

More magazine editor-in-chief Lesley Jane Seymour agrees, saying that stars like Aniston, Roberts, and Berry have “real style, real staying power, real beauty. As the American population continues to grow older, everyone can relate better to a woman with a little wear on her tires.”

So is the youth obsessed culture over? I guess it all depends on who you ask – I mean someone in their 20s might argue that “Snookie”of “Jersey Shore” fame would have been a better choice over Julia Roberts, right?

Amplify’d from www.stylelist.com

See more at www.stylelist.com

 

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Confirmed: HOPA Dry Erase Girl Is A Hoax, Identity Revealed; http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/11/elyse-porterfield/

Pretty impressive. And what’s interesting is that this hoax hit the same day the “Jet Blue Hero” made headlines.Why do you think these two ‘stickin it to the man’ type stories struck such a chord? Is it the over the top circumstances or perhaps that in this day and age people are all about pulling for the underdog? Hoax or not – these two have caused white a stir.

Amplify’d from techcrunch.com

All they had to do was post the images of Porterfield holding the dry erase board on The Chive at around 4:30 am this morning, and College Humor re-posted, followed shortly by TechCrunch. Resig says they targeted us because his publicist said that they should try for a TechCrunch write-up (Nice work guys). When asked if this was done purely to garner traffic and get media attention, Resig responded, “We didn’t do this for the media. I’d did it almost to prove to myself that I had it in me, to make something go viral at 4:30 in the morning before the world wakes up. You get a pure thrill of watching your site go from 15,000 uniques to 440,000 uniques in a single hour, watching yourself sucker every site from a-z who didn’t do their backstory.” And later, “It struck a personal chord. And people wanted to share it.” To the tune of 238k facebook shares and 31k tweets. Based on what was essentially a lie. The brothers told a skeptical Peter Kafka that Jenny was “real,” they told us that people “want to believe.” Read more at techcrunch.com

 

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Bikram Yoga Tips – If you Love Hot Yoga – this is a must read!

Bikram is by far my most favorite form of exercise – I’ve taken classes in studios across the US including Boston, Ft. Lauderdale, San Francisco, LA and New York. LOVE LOVE LOVE this form of exercise – if you’re not familiar with it, I would definitely encourage you to give it a try – you won’t be disappointed!

Amplify’d from www.beautysnob.com

Unlike most workout/yoga classes, every Bikram yoga class is the exact same, so no matter where or when you take a class, you know exactly what to expect. It consists of a series of 26 poses performed in a room heated to between 95 and 105 degrees Fahrenheit with 40% humidity. Each pose is usually performed twice and held between 10 and 60 seconds. I was expecting to feel more exhausted after the 90 minutes, but I actually felt unbelievably energized and relaxed.Read more at www.beautysnob.com

 

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