Cocoa Chunks Inc.

So last week I was sitting in my friend Mary’s dorm room, sprawled on her futon with five other girls who live on my floor, doing just about everything except studying for my quickly approaching french final. It was a typical college lazy afternoon, and we were all just laying around, joking and talking about the most random things, when the topic of cereal came up.

I know, cereal. Yeah, we’re pretty cool.

Anyways, Mary accidentally misspoke and called the cereal “Cocoa Chunks” instead of the real name “Cocoa Puffs.” And as we were laughing about how silly that kind of cereal would be, we thought it would be fun to start our own little online company, and market this newly named  product. We named Mary the CEO, and after much thought and discussion, I became the new Director of Social Media for this fictitious company! How exciting!

What’s funny about all of this though is that what started as a stupid little joke actually turned out to be really fun. I created a facebook page for Cocoa Chunks Inc. and got to work making it ready for our followers. I posted several statuses to let the public know about our new “product,” and attached several links to the page with relevant information (such as articles explaining why breakfast and cereal are good for you). In addition to all of this, we created a mascot, named him Cocoa Bro, and set him up with a twitter so that we could have even more followers. It was a slow start, but we all actually got really into it and began updating information about our new “company” and began asking our friends to like the page.

Now I know that only 11 people like our page so far, and Cocoa Bro’s twitter only has about 7 followers, but regardless of our low amounts of customers I think we are becoming pretty successful for a up-and-coming, make-believe company. It was interesting to try and think like how a social media director would think; I wanted to come up with new and more effective ways to reach our customers. And while this fun only lasted for a few short hours (as I had to go take my french exam later that day), It became apparent that working with social media could potentially be in my future.

 

Here are the links to our facebook and twitter page if any viewers are interested. Go Cocoa Bro!

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cocoa-Chunks-Inc/311061075583767

Twitter: @COCOA_BRO

Social Media for Nonprofits

I recently came across an article online about  the best ways to write for social media. The website is called Socialbrite.org, and it is an organization dedicated to, as they put it, “provide strategic consulting services to help nonprofits master the social Web.” Since I am a new blogger, I thought it would be a good idea for me to take a look at their strategies and see if they had any tips that could help me.

What I got most out of this article was that in order to be an effective writer via social media, being concise and direct is the best skill you can have. With the rushed and hectic lives we all lead nowadays, people don’t have time to read through long, drawn out details on the web. They are looking to get their information as quickly as possible. In order to catch readers attention, you need to make your writing interesting and to the point, don’t leave room for unnecessary details that can turn readers away.

This is especially important for nonprofit organizations. Nonprofits rely solely on donations from the public to fund their organizations, so creating positive public awareness is especially essential. PR representatives for these companies are learning that in order to keep these donations rolling in, they to create an image that people will want to read and learn more about. Poorly written social  media can severely hurt a nonprofit, and that is why SocialBrite can be such a fantastic resource. It connects real people with agencies to help with strategic planning and marketing campaigns that can be essential for business. Large companies such as Goodwill and the Knight Foundation are currently using this organization to create an image that will be most appealing to the public.

I’ve included a link to the article I have discussed, in case readers want  any further information about SocialBrite.

http://www.socialbrite.org/2011/12/08/5-tips-on-writing-knockout-social-media-content/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+socialbrite+%28Socialbrite%29

A New Beginning

Blogging world, Beware: Maureen Corbett has just entered the arena. In case you couldn’t tell already, this is my very first blog. Ever. And I’m not quite sure how I feel about it yet, sending my thoughts and feeling out on the internet for anyone to see. However, tonight I attended a presentation given by a man named Will Hardison and after hearing Will speak, I feel inspired. Will is a social media expert who owns his own web development company called Mediaplug, and he attended Purdue’s PRSSA monthly meeting tonight to tell us about the importance of social media in order to develop a professional profile online.  He talked about the importance of blogging, and how it can be a great way to create your social brand and really make a name for yourself in the corporate world.

So. This is my attempt to follow his advice. In the words of John Galsworthy, “beginnings are messy.” And I don’t expect the beginning of my blog to be any different. I am attempting to make this a professional blog, where I can post things about my future career goals, possible internships, news articles about careers I am interested in, and other such things. I’m sure some personal information will get mixed in as well, with things like my hobbies and interests, because I like to keep things interesting. I’ve always loved writing, and I think I write my best when I talk about things I am passionate about. So my passions will occasionally be mentioned in my writing, which is something I look forward to.

I feel like I should start by introducing myself. My name is Maureen Corbett, and I am currently a Freshman at Purdue University studying Communications. I am originally from Arlington Heights IL., which is a a northwest suburb of Chicago, about forty-five minutes to an hour away depending on how fast you drive. I grew up in a two parent household with a little sister I was always very close to.  I did well in school mostly because I loved to learn, and I acquired a passion for reading and writing at a very early age. I remember my first diary I had in first grade, where I would write stories about girls meeting their Prince Charming, or librarians that thwarted  book thiefs.  I enjoy music, playing the piano, waterskiing, movies, volleyball, and dancing, and many other activities but these are the first that come to mind. I’m having an amazing time at college so far. It was a big adjustment at the beginning, but I’ve met some amazing people already who I can tell are going to become lifelong friends. I joined an intramural sand volleyball team with some girls on my floor, performed a dance show with a company called X Works, became a new member of PRSSA (Public Relations Student Society of America), and am basically just trying to get as involved as I can.

I have a few professional goals, but they can be vague at some points because I am still trying to decide what I want to do with the rest of my life. I worked an internship the summer before I left for college as a secretary, and it taught me how important it is do pick a job that I love. I learned that I cannot be a paper pusher for a career, because I would eventually drive myself insane. I’m pretty good at writing and really enjoy it, and I know I want a job working with people. I want to major in Public Relations, and I can see myself working for a non-profit company, or some other organization that I am passionate about. I’ve always known that I want to help people in some way and be influential, and I think this is the direction I want to head in. Hopefully a lot of upcoming blogs will about corporations I would be interested in working for, and the steps I can take in order to reach those goals.

Well, I think I will end my first post on that note of professionalism. I know my first couple of blogs may be a little shaky, but I figure that once I get the hang of things blogging will become much more natural. But until next time, I will leave my readers with a quote. I will probably do this periodically, just post something random and inspirational that seems to speak to me at that particular moment. This quote is from Gautama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism who once said, “there are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way and not starting.” I guess this is his way of telling me to go at my new blog whole-heartedly!