How to Say No to Social Media: Tips from @ESPN_ProdGirl at #BrandsConf

“We need to get a profile for Foursquare.”
“How about Yelp? Do we have an account set up for Yelp?”
“Are we measuring our Twitter usage correctly?”
“What are our fellow leaders in our industry doing with mobile?”
“Have we created our Google Plus business page yet?”

Perhaps you can relate to the high tides of demands as you try to stand your ground and navigate through the ferocious pace of all the moving parts in today’s digital, social and mobile worlds. With all of the demands circling towards you for solutions and answers, how can you answer intelligently with poise and purpose? @ESPN_ProdGirl has some insight on how to be that go-to-social pro within a large company and her secret to success just may surprise you. 

Meet Katie Richman, also known as @ESPN_ProdGirl. Social and sweet on the outside, fearless and wise from within. Her twitter profile says: Social for ESPN. Best. Job. Ever.

During her presentation at the Brands Conference in New York City last week she shared sage advice to those who share the role as social media professionals within large companies like ESPN. With the rapid changes happening in the new world of social media, there are many demands, directions and devices that can derail productivity and our overall success as social media experts. Just how does this ESPN Girl ride the tides with ease? She smiles and says, “It sounds counterintuitive, but the biggest lesson learned in the past few years of social at a big company… is learning to say NO to something social.”

The tips she shares on how to cope with the new social media noise can apply to any professional who finds today’s technology, media and marketing worlds somewhat overwhelming and anxiety-inducing. Her tips are enlightingly simple yet worthy of mentioning:

1. Take a reset day.

Retreat and remove yourself from the overwhelming requests. Schedule a day to re-boot and reset your mind. Go off-site if need be. Be intent to not respond to any requests or in pursuit to check off your to-do lists.  

2. Visualize your full plate.

What is the capacity of each day? There are only so many hours in one day. See where the demands are outweighing the realities. Notice where the gaping holes of resources are. Then, go to management with specific requests based on your findings. Be factual, respond with metrics.

3. Create a parking lot.

Put all of the to-do items in park. This isn’t to be considered a morgue per se, just a resting place to reassess all of the great ideas and demands against the goals. Time will tell when a to-do item is ready to shift into drive.

This is Katie Richman’s Parking Lot tool. She claims that it is usually full of parked projects.

Katie closed her presentation with a lasting truth, “You may think that you are giving 110%, but there is no such thing. There is only 100%.” True words of wisdom shared by a professional who has learned the art and reaped the benefits of How to Just Say No and be successful at social. 

If you would found these tips helpful, send her a tweet to tell her thanks >>

To catch Katie’s presentation in its entirety, visit the video recordings of the #BrandsConf 2011 here > http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/18407514

Contributed by Andrea Cook, #140Conf Live Event Correspondent. Andrea Cook has brands and buzz on the brain. Since 1999, her Chicago-born consultancy, The Midas Center has provided award-winning marketing and media solutions to law firms, education facilities, non-profits, artists and hyper-local communities. She strives to support the noble game changers and life savers through social media marketing. She is a pioneer, coach, editor, cowork-owner and consultant for hire. Services vary, Live Event Correspondent services preferred. 

Say Thanks and Sleep More

Today's monthly WAG meeting will focus on a couple of quick TEDtalks. Just like the previous monthly meet ups of the Women Advisory Group's brown bag discussions that inspire, encourage and support like-minded business women from watching a TED talk, this month's video watching will cover two short segments. We could give it a title like, "Sleeping Our Way to the Top and Saying Thank You" but people may talk so we will be more clear on the two titles and share the actual clips from TED's web site below.

Arianna Huffington presents a short talk on a small idea that can awaken much bigger ones all in the name of a good night's sleep. Check out what she says about world transformation, leadership, ideas and discovery in Arianna Huffinton: How to succeed? Get more sleep

Next, we can't call it quits without the second video clip that we will be covering today.  This presentation by Dr. Laura Trice just begins to tells us more about the power of "Thank you." Check out the clip below.

More than watching the inspiring words presented by some of nationally recognized female leaders, the monthly brown bag lunch meetings are opportunities to share, connect, support and inspire one another. We hope you will attend today or next month's meeting!

Woman Business Leader Inspired Professionals

Yesterday, the Young Professionals Network in St. Joseph County presented Karen Barnett, President and CEO of the local area business Valley Screen Process as part of the Executive Conversation series of roundtable discussions.

A successful mix of information combined with inspiration was shared with 15 professionals during a Q & A session. Karen shared an overview of her 30-year career path starting from her job at McDonalds to working for her father at the family owned printing business. Her  steps continued in her father's company as she proceeded to the lead role as a stakeholder and CEO, responsible to growing the family's company to over a business that attracts over $2 million annually.

The candid conversation continued as she shared her biggest challenge that she was faced with during 2009 when her company went from a thriving staff of 50 to a slender seven. She is happy to announce she has rehired most of her workforce back and now has factors in place that will help her to see the risks so she is better prepared for any future decline in the revenue.

How did this business owner turn the company from failing- into thriving mode in the midst of a declining economy where the RV industry is hit the hardest? By tightening up her shoestrings (by the way, this woman is a remarkable dresser too!), Karen led her company through the recent time of a dying economy by diversifying into new markets. As a second generation owner of a company that had provided decorative graphics for recreational vehicles for decades, Karen worked with her team to brainstorm on new ways to use the existing equipment and bravely launched two new divisions within her organization including vehicle wraps and residential decor graphics.

Fascinating questions were posed to Karen by the audience members during the afternoon's session such as:

Q: Do you have tips in how to succeed in a male-dominated industry?
Karen recommends that you assert yourself by serving on boards. There are so many opportunities for networking and growing your confidence by serving on boards. She recommended women to get involved on the Women Business Owners of Michiana. WBOM is a monthly networking group that meets over lunch while leaders share and present on topics of interest to women business owners.

Q: How is online social media changing face to face sales? 
Karen relies on each of the brands to provide the proper marketing and sales for the diverse product line. She shared an example on how she marketed her children's decor through the use of mommy bloggers. Most likely, she wouldn't reach out to mommy bloggers to sell vehicle graphics however.

Q: How do you manage your time?
She admits that she's still working on the juggle act of the volunteer work with her personal and professional time and tells the group that she's tried using the iPhone, iCal, iGoogle, etc. to manage her schedule and to-do lists but still relies on the good ol piece of paper.

Q: Of all the roles in your career, which one helped prepare you for a CEO role?
Karen has worn multiple hats from working in the plant, to managing traffic in the plant, to processing and admin, she claims the most helpful position was the training and experience in sales. Sales taught her that "no never means no. No means, not now." For sales, she recommends to maintain contact, top of mind and make the calls by playing the number game.

There were more suggestions shared that enlightened the up and coming leaders in the audience. The most remarkable were words that Karen no doubt lives by, "Take the initiative and network. Be genuine." 

Thank you for walking the talk and exemplifying success along the way Karen! Keep up the hard work and pure heart.

June's WAG Brown Bag in Review

This month's Women Advisory Group's Brown Bag presentation was a five minute TEDtalk by Jessi Arrington titled, "Wearing Nothing New." Several professional women, a mix of business owners and entrepreneurial attended this monthly lunch meeting to learn, share and engage with like-minded business leaders. After watching the insightful and inspring presentation, there was a round table discussion on the main "take aways."

Here were a list of lessons learned that were shared during the noon hour:

- It's OK to let go.
- Confidence is key.
- There is a difference between judgement and discernment.
- Each woman has her own definite and personal style.
- A smile is the best accessory.
- Don't be afraid to be yourself.
- "When am I going to grow up and not care what others think about me?"
- Be yourself. Be confident. Accept your flaws.
- Own our own fears, inadequacies that hinder us.
- Be your own person. Be free to be confident.
- Let go and don't be afraid.

If you would be interested in viewing the short segment of the TEDtalk, check out the link below. Were there any other ideas or dreams, thoughts or goals that were presented in this clip and made an impact on you that we missed in the list above? Feel free to add a comment. And, if you would be interested in joining us for our future roundtable discussions-slash-networking lunch breaks, bring your own lunch and plan on coming at noon,  on the second Monday each month at The Midas Center, 200 N. Michigan Street in downtown Plymouth. Feel free to email or call the office with any questions. Pass it forward.

Today's WAG Brown Bag Lunch Program

Today is the second Monday of the month and we are opening up our regular monthly meeting time to invite all professional women to lunch for a casual hour of networking. If you would like to join us, please come on over, bring your own lunch and beverage and meet other business-minded women. Small group discussions will take place after a pre-recorded TED presentation. Here is the presentation we will be watching together. It has been selected to encourage and inspire one another. We hope to see you soon!