Pinterest Wannabes, Heads Up – Pinterest is a Visual Board of Your Life

by Susi Schuele

February 13th, 2012

As many of you are discovering, Pinterest is a fabulous site that’s pretty new to the social media scene but has been around for a little bit. You can share photos and images from the web that attach to their own stories – whether it be a recipe, a design project or just a favorite hobby or collection. I joined the Pinterest Waiting List almost exactly one year ago because as a creative, it was an exciting new place for me to be! Once I was approved in April, I went in and immediately created boards with names that appealed to me and my personality instead of using their defaults. Over time, I continually add images and links as they reveal themselves to me as being part of my life.

What’s particularly endearing to me about Pinterest is that it is all visual and that you can really see some gorgeous photos, obtain some magnificent recipes, and reap so many other benefits of thoughtful sayings, collector hobbies and fascinating miracles. I joined this site because of its unique ability to allow you to have so much fun sharing and displaying so much of who you are. Not to mention the sort of visual mind mapping that it allows. We literally re-designed the entire main area of our house and kitchen by pinning elements we planned to incorporate into our design.

Sadly, I am prompted to write this blog because of the “Pinterest Wannabe” crowd. This is the crowd that is joining Pinterest merely for the exposure or because they think it’s where they need to be and not for the value that it offers. According to Pinterest’s “Pin Etiquette“, read Item #3 which explains that this site is not about promoting yourself. As is true with most social networks, it’s about sharing. I have been so disappointed lately watching this “Pinterest Wannabe” crowd appear.

Wannabe Scenario:

Someone follows me.

I go to their link to see what fascinating things they have for me to “Like” or “Re-Pin”.

I find they have no boards, no likes, no pins and yet they are following many and being followed by many.

What a shame. It reminds me of all of those who joined Twitter or Facebook for the same reasons – they join to be part of the “Wannabe” crowd and have no clue how to use it or make it valuable to themselves or others. It’s particularly upsetting with Pinterest because why would I want to follow someone who HAS NO PICTURES OR BOARDS? This is a visual board of your LIFE people. 20% of those following me have no boards whatsoever or one board with one pin relating to their business.

So there.. my rant.. and here’s my advice to Pinterest newbies – don’t be a Wannabe! And…

Don’t sign up if you don’t want to share things you love
If you do sign up, don’t follow anyone until you have something to show them
Don’t put your logo in your photo spot – this is about you, not your company
Have fun with this. Show pieces of who you are professionally because that’s part of who you are – but don’t bore us to death with sell, sell, sell.

Am I too sensitive?

Categories Just Thoughts, Pinterest, Social Media, Social Networks, Susi's Blogs, Uncategorized
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My Virtual Project Hosts Holiday Benefit for Lake Country Caring

by Susi Schuele

November 1st, 2010

For many months now (perhaps even years), I have been feeling the need to “give back”. Most of us take so many things for granted these days. Like a toothbrush.

The Beginning of This Story

A couple of years ago, Chuck and I got married and combined households. Since we have both raised families and owned homes, we had quite an abundance of “duplicates” and searched for a place to give our excess to. The Lake Country area of Wisconsin is a beautiful area but not without its needy. Our search for somewhere to donate what we no longer needed lead us to Lake Country Caring, LLC in Hartland, Wisconsin. There may have been other places, but this one we felt was special because it was close, helped the local community, and would take pretty much whatever we had. Their story is only partially told on their website at Lake Country Caring.com. We went to LCC, hauling our excess in our 4-Runner and in a trailer behind us to their warehouse. They take donations only on certain days of the week when they have volunteers available to help unload. What we found when we got there was a few of their volunteers more than willing to come out to us and unload every piece of furniture, clothing or appliance that we had.

Fast Forward to Today

Lake Country Caring - Helping Familieis in Need

Carrie with one of many of the clients of Lake Country Caring

After this visit to LCC, I kept having this nagging feeling of “How do we give back?”. What can we do to help? We have so much compared to so many. We came upon the idea of holding a fundraiser. But for who? For a pet shelter? – I love pets. For a battered women’s center? I can only imagine their pain. For cancer? – I’ve lost 2 parents to cancer. Many great causes but which one do we put our support behind? And it came to us. Why not Lake Country Caring? Because.. it’s about community. We want to help those in our community. There are many worthy causes around many parts of the state, country and internationally but we want to help our neighbors. We have people in great need right here. People who used to be donors to LCC who are now needing the donations because of lost jobs, bad economy, foreclosed homes. So the project started just a week and a half ago. It’s an aggressive timeline – but with help, I know we will make it succeed.

My first email was to Carrie Glapinski, President of Lake Country Caring. In this email, I told her that My Virtual Project wanted to build her a new website – no charge. Let’s get this party started! They need a new website that can be interactive and something that’s easy for them to change themselves (but they will always have my help – no charge). I also mentioned that I’d like to meet with her to discuss a fund raising event. Carrie was thrilled and she agreed to meet with Chuck and I October 22nd. We sat down over coffee for a 2-1/2 hour meeting that, at times, moved me to tears. Hearing Carrie tell me that there is no “typical” need, relaying the story of a child whose eyes widened because they were delighted to know they would not have to share a toothbrush, hearing about how the organization started out of a small home, hearing about the total commitment by all volunteers (there is not one paid staff member) to this organization. I immediately knew this is how we are supposed to give back. And now I’m on a major mission. And perhaps you should know Lake Country Caring’s stated mission:

“To provide a helping hand to families in the Lake Country area through our contributions of time, household necessities and prayer.”

This is a simple request. Time, household necessities and prayer. Please help.

How to Help

There are a few ways you can help:

1) Let me know if you can sponsor this event through provision, cash or time. We need:

Raffle items
Decorations or decorating help
Registration help
A Cake
Entertainment
Cash – Always

2) Attend the Benefit – sign up here.

Our gracious Host Sponsor, Olympia Resort in Oconomowoc has donated the room space, and much more. We are so very grateful and blessed for their support.

The event will be held there on December 4th from 6:00 – 8:30 pm. It will be a “Trendy Dressy” event with a wine tasting, hors d’ouevres and entertainment (to be determined!)

The cost is $27/per ticket plus any new hygiene product or towel (bath, hand, washcloth, kitchen). The direct link for tickets is myvirtualproject.ticketleap.com/lcc-benefit

3) Tweet about it on Twitter (and please RT our tweets!) – Hashtag #LCCares

4) Post it on Facebook

5) Post it on Linked In

6) Blog about it

At a time in our country when many are suffering – how are you giving back? And won’t you please help the next child not have to share their toothbrush?

Categories News and Announcements, Susi's Blogs, Uncategorized
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My Virtual Project Reviews "The Social Network"

by MVPSchuele

October 6th, 2010

The critic’s ratings for “The Social Network” were the highest for any movie thus far in 2010. This was based on reviews by 40 major critics who rated the film an average of 97 out of 100. WOW, since this is our area of expertise, this has to be a MUST-SEE movie for us.

We decided NOT to go to the premiere night, thinking there would be a mass of social media crazies waiting in line. I had visions of the last “Star Trek” movie and the huge crowd of “Trekkies” waiting for that one to start – no thanks.

So instead, we went the next night, and decided to attend the earlier 6:30pm showing, thinking the lines would be less of an obstacle. What we found was a surprise. We parked in the front row (okay, we arrived 25 minutes before the start of the movie), there was no line, we walked right in (we had even pre-purchased our tickets online in preparation for the crowd), we got our popcorn and soda, and headed to the room where our movie was playing. There were maybe 10 – 20 people in the theater so we had our choice of prime seats. By the time the movie started, the theater was still only about half full.

Susi and I both thought the movie was excellent. I occasionally (okay, usually) nap once or twice during movies unless they completely hold my attention. This one did. The basic story is about a college student who develops “The Facebook”, a social network that allows college students to share information and communicate with each other. The big question in the movie is whether he steals the idea from two other students who asked him to help them develop a similar site. I thought the acting was very good. Jesse Eisenberg played Mark Zuckerberg, a narcissistic and arrogant Harvard sophomore (and genius, by the way) who wanted to be “accepted” by the school’s elite. Eisenberg used just enough “eccentricity” in his character to be believable.

I was also pleasantly surprised at Justin Timberlake’s acting skills (although I don’t particularly like his musical stylings). Timberlake played Sean Parker, the founder of Napster and a real go-getter. Some would say he was “full of old flannel” (the English saying for full of crap). He was a mentor to Zuckerberg in the early days of Facebook before going on to become president of the company after conspiring to oust (some would say) Zuckerberg’s partner Eduardo Saverin (played by Andrew Garvin), who ended up suing Zuckerberg for an undisclosed amount of cash (and winning). Timberlake portrays Parker surprisingly well, at least in my opinion.

The movie was very entertaining and informative (although I believe there was some “artistic license” taken with the story’s characters to make it more engrossing). We all root for the underdog and Jesse Eisenberg (Zuckerberg) played this to the hilt. His intelligent and witty-yet-sarcastic repartee with the attorney was very funny and you actually felt good when he got in an appropriate “zinger”.

I know the critics rated this movie right up there with The Wrestler, The Hurt Locker, The Incredibles, Sideways, and Finding Nemo, but that may very well be because social media is so prevalent in today’s society. No matter how high The Social Network review scores are, the bottom line is that just like with social networking, it’s ultimately up to the people, not the critics. Time will tell.

Categories Chuck's Blogs, Facebook, Social Marketing, Social Networks, Uncategorized
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Social Media – A Double-Edged Sword?

by MVPSchuele

June 9th, 2010

Many businesses today want to leverage social media to grow their business. Making social media a part of an overall business marketing strategy makes good sense, and in today’s “connected” world, is almost a requirement. Some businesses try it and fail, mainly because they don’t know the best way to use the tools and techniques to be successful. Others experience varying levels of success due to knowledge, diligence, perseverance, hard work and sometimes, luck. Done well, it can take your business to the next level.

There is one thing about social media that we must all remember. It makes us transparent. If you are a business owner and want to embark on the social media path, make sure you are 100% confident that your service and your products are up to the test.

There is a saying that “Good news travels fast” and on the internet “Bad news travels even faster”

If your customers have a bad experience with you, they will tell everyone who listens about it. Remember the YouTube video about “United Breaks Guitars”. A story about a musician whose ”pride and joy” guitar was broken in baggage handling and because United did not take responsibility for the incident, he wrote a song about it and made such a negative social media blitz on YouTube that the management of United offered to buy him a new guitar. He politely declined and proceeded to make a second video, driving the stake even further into the proverbial “heart” of United.

The moral of the story

If your products and services are solid, social media is definitely for you. If your customers are satisfied (and they don’t even have to be overwhelmed, just satisfied), then bad press most likely won’t come your way. However, if you do slip up, be prepared for a social media storm that may have a significant adverse impact on your business. Too many of these “bad news” stories about your business can drive potential customers to your competitors.

Let’s face it – nobody is perfect, so you need to be prepared to react to negative comments that may get posted. Reputation management includes monitoring all things being said about you, your business, your products, your service, and IF something negative shows up, handling it quickly and effectively to avoid further backlash. Use the tools available to make sure you know what is being said about your brand and social media can be your best friend.

Categories Chuck's Blogs, Social Marketing, Uncategorized
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Blogging With the K.I.S.S. Method

by Susi Schuele

May 20th, 2010

I’m not a regular blogger like others I know. I really hope to get better at it and I envy those that are so good. As I was getting ready for work this morning, I was thinking about all of the things I could blog about. Should I blog about the puppy again? Should I blog about my brother’s birthday today and how age doesn’t make us old? Should I blog about what a graphic designer needs from their clients? Should I blog about the 3 marvelous speakers that I’ve seen in the last 2 months? Endless thoughts it seems. But which one?

And then it came to me.. if I wrote down my thoughts about what to blog about, I’m actually writing a blog! How simple is that? And really, blogs should be very simple. Short and to the point. Isn’t that what we want to read? In my humble opinion – if you want to write a long blog – make it an article instead. It’s about that expectation. Here’s an article on The Ideal Blog Post that I thought was a great overview – even if it’s a little dated.

And, oh, by the way – K.I.S.S. can also mean Keep It Simple Successes. And that’s how I think I’ll blog from now on – about sweet, simple successes like actually writing a short little blog today.

So, it’s not that hard – put some thoughts down and share.

To your best life!

Categories Just Thoughts, Small Business, Social Marketing, Susi's Blogs, Uncategorized
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