The Best Ways Your Local Library Can Help You

Your local library often acts as a community hub. As well as being somewhere you can go to read and borrow books, it usually offers a range of other services that can be very useful. Whether you use it for studying, work, or personal reasons, you could find your library more useful than you think.

Borrow Multiple Types of Media

Everyone knows that you can borrow books from a library. However, the modern library often has several other types of media you can borrow. In addition to other print materials, such as magazines, you can also explore ebooks, audiobooks, CDs and vinyl, DVDs and Blu-Ray, and more.

Borrow Tools, Instruments and More

There is often even more that you can borrow from a library. Depending on the library, you might be able to borrow tools for your latest DIY project, musical instruments, cooking and baking equipment, and other useful items that you might not want to buy.

Join Community Events

Libraries are fantastic gathering places. They often have separate rooms and spaces that are ideal for meeting up with others and having discussions. They're often used for book clubs, readings, craft groups, and various other community groups and events that need somewhere to meet or take place.

Research

Your library can also be an excellent place to go if you're trying to find out the truth about something. You have access to a wide range of resources for research, and you can benefit from the skills and knowledge of the librarians who can help you battle fake news.

Infographic Design By University of Southern California

Libraries are an incredible resource and your local library would love for you to visit today!

How do you use your local library?

Why Social Media Marketing Is Perfect For Public Relations

I have been on the internet for a long time, since 1996 to be exact.  As a mom married to a military service member who had to go on deployments a lot, the internet has been a very important part of my life, not only for social interaction but entertainment as well. It's really difficult to get out and socialize when your husband is gone for up to 6 months and you have two toddlers depending on you for everything.  I started with forums for awhile, long enough that I was even a moderator on one for quite a bit. 

Then, MySpace came along and social media took off. I spent every free moment I had (which wasn't much) reading blogs, writing blogs, reading, and talking to folks from all around the world. By the time Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest came along, I was all in! And as most things do, social media has evolved into being a pretty important part of everyone's life now. I have seen so many things come and go through social media, it's infinitely interesting.

The most interesting thing I have found is how brands can so easily boost themselves on social media. Considering it's literally my job now, I have been researching and reading as much as I can about social media marketing and how to run effective campaigns.

There are plenty of different ways to market on social media. You can have a blogger, such as myself (contact details on the contact tab above!), write about your brand or product and spread the word on social media. There are also PR companies, such as Behrman and PR, that can handle larger brands/companies as they generally tend to have large teams that are adept at handling all of your brand's needs. Social media marketing has become imperative for business growth these days. The ROI (return on investment) for social media marketing campaigns is very high, and brands walk away satisfied with the growth and profit from these campaigns. 

By far, social media marketing has proven to be highly effective and indispensable to not only established brands, but small and upcoming brands. With the rise of influencer marketing, more and more brands are turning to social media marketing to showcase their brands and even introduce new products to the masses. By enlisting the help of influencers, public relations, and bloggers, more brands and businesses are able to reach more and more customers that otherwise would not have the same reach (thanks, algorithms grr!) as some other social media icons do. As someone who makes a living with social media marketing, I am really excited for the future of this industry! As with everything on the internet, I can't wait to see how it evolves from here. 

How have you seen social media evolve? Have you ever found a new product because of a social media marketing campaign? Tell me about it in the comments below!

How You Can Be Proactive When Sharing Your Music

Many people love the idea of having a job in the music industry, and often that could be as a singer or songwriter, or both. Many have this dream, but how many of those people will actually have success? The figure can be quite small. But if you have a dream, you don't need to give up on it just yet. I wanted to share with you some of the ways that you can be proactive when it comes to sharing your music and your talents. I hope it gives you the inspiration you need to make it happen.

Image source

Use Social Media To Create A Following

Social media is a free to use platform, and you possibly share a lot of your life on there already. So why not create a separate page and dedicate it to your music? A facebook page could be a great way to share videos and live performances. You could also use other social media platforms like Instagram. Stories or Instagram Live could be a great way to showcase what you do. Social media can be a great way to build an organic following. Regularly sharing content can help you build that. 

Consider Sharing Content on Platforms like Soundcloud

There are platforms that are specific to music and sharing your own music. Like any platform though, you do need to be listened to and shared, so this is when you could look into companies that offer the facilities to buy soundcloud plays. This could give you a springboard to bounce off when it comes to future music releases and what you share online. Like anything, you want to be seen and heard, and this can be one of the best platforms in which to do so. 

Could YouTube Be the Way Forward 

YouTube is a fabulous platform to share content, and can work really well when it comes to sharing your music. You could even look at creating a video to go along side your music which not only helps with the hearing sound of things but could also help relate to people that are more visual. Another way to use YouTube would be to get in touch with people who already have decent followings, and ask to have your music showcased in their videos. They can give you the content for the music and also credit you as well. It can be a great way to ensure that you get the best of both worlds from this platform. 

Getting Your Music Heard As Much As Possible 

You do want to do your best when it comes to getting your music heard and one of the best ways to do that would be to continue to “gig” as much as possible. Headlining events, singing at parties, having a residency, doing what it takes to be seen regularly and have your music heard can not only help you reach out to people, but this also gives you valued experience in the industry in which you want to be part of.

I hope that these tips help you to be more proactive when it comes to sharing your music. Do you have your own tips to share?

Data Collection And How It Can Be Used

There are a lot of people on the internet. A LOT.

As you can probably imagine, a lot of people means a surplus of data. Meta data, hierachial data, reference data, it goes on and on. There are social media sites, blogs, vlogs, and various other websites that are collecting data every single second of every single day.

That's a lot of data.

I was wandering in my brain the other day and got to wondering how all of that data is just swirling around out there in the ocean of the internet and the internet, for the most part, hasn't collapsed upon itself because of all of the information it carries. 

Basically, I imagined mountains of humming, whirring servers plotting to take over the world.

My brain is a weird place, always.

So, to The Google I went to find out how exactly that works. What I found is that there are quite a few data management tools out there that offer solutions for companies with all of this data. 

I'm never going to be able to invent ANYTHING because people think of these things before I do.

Anyway, I fell way down that rabbit hole and kept on digging.  Data and how companies handle it has been in the news quite a bit recently. Many companies are trying very hard to not make the mistakes of Facebook. It was a mistake no one wants to make again. It was a huge event in history with a gargantuan effect on how data is handled, NOT shared, and managed. The impact of that catastrophe has shockwaves that are still spreading throughout the internet and will continue to spread for many years to come. I'm not sure what that means for the future of Facebook but I've always been partial to Twitter, anyway.

The way data is influencing AI is another interesting topic I came across. Microsoft recently announced that they are learning how data, advanced analytics, machine learning, and AI are able to optimize operations and drive innovation. In this case, the collection of data is being used in a positive way to bring better products to customers while keeping the internet speedily winding through its tubes as we are used to. In a sense, the internet is evolving with us.

I came to the conclusion that data collection can be used in a positive way or negative way. Obviously, we would prefer the positive way, as we all learned the hard way. If the *positive* collection of data means better and faster response to health concerns, smarter computers, and better ways to facillitate solutions to problems generally handled by computers, it would be the best thing for the internet and us as a whole. 

As long as it does not begin the mass overtaking of humans by machines, I'm alright with it.

What do you think about data collection? Has it personally affected you? I would love to hear about your experiences in the comments!

Voices Of Social Media

It is amazing how much social media dominates people's lives.

I started my journey into the internet way back in 1996. I was twenty years old.

It's really hard for my kids to understand that no, the internet did not exist in my life until I was 20. They have always had the internet. 

Windows 95 had just hit critical mass and everyone had a desktop computer in their house. I was a new mom and started out looking for tips on pacifiers in a chat room and twenty one years later, I literally would not have a job without the social aspect of the internet. 

It is insane to sit back and think about how important social media is not to just us, but the entire world.

A virtual global free market has sprung up because of it! 

I started out with chat rooms, was a moderator on a forum for awhile, started my blogging career on XANGA, and then MySpace happened. 

Then onto Facebook, and Twitter, and Instagram, and now Pinterest. It is ever moving. A new social media site was just announced last week. You guys can join it, but I am exhausted.

                                                photo via

Social media is where the majority of people get their fake news, nowadays. I love Twitter, I go to Twitter first for news. Facebook is friends and family stuff. Instagram for photos and Pinterest for everything I am planning. It's like the first and last step of every day. Wake up, check, have a day, check, sleep.

Back to that virtual global free market, did I mention that I love it? I have met and done business with people from all over the world due to social media! I have found some great products and met some great folks to network with. Sometimes, because of luck. Sometimes because of social media optimization. There are many different ways to call attention to yourself on the internet, that's for sure. Social media and advertising are besties because of it!

In order to do business, you have to attract business, right? I never thought I would be the type of blogger to use any SEO tactics but now I am surprised I hadn't sooner! Sometimes, it can feel like you are screaming into the wind but because of the internet, specifically social media, there is always the chance that someone will hear your voice through the jumble. And that's all bloggers really want, I think. To be heard through the noise.

How do you drive traffic to your brand?  Have you noticed how well social media and advertising work together?