It’s been a while since I’ve written a post here. I’m a month into a new job, and my last post is no longer relevant. Although I don’t post regularly, this blog has been been a tremendous help with accomplishing my goals. First, it has helped me find not one, but two jobs, and second, it has been instrumental in helping me build my network; an amazing group of people, most of whom I’ve become friends with. I was thinking about not renewing my domain, but how could I give away my name and a way to communicate with people? It’s just too valuable to me.

I hope to keep the blog fresh, and since this blog is not a revenue generator for me, I would still like it to be a place for me to write about things that are important to me (and maybe you), both personally and professionally.

What can I offer you professionally? In my new role as Director of Client Solutions for a web development firm, I help clients establish goals for their websites. We help mostly B2B clients, but also have B2C clients.  Companies (mid-size) come to us because they want a website that is easy to update and both SEO and social media friendly. Most of our clients are content-driven. They want to be able to update their websites often, create meta data and categorize content for SEO and be able to distribute content over social channels. These web sites aren’t your typical WordPress sites. In many cases our clients are using marketing automation systems, analytics programs and email platforms that need to be integrated for full functionality. That’s what we do well – make it all work together. We provide a content management system with integrated email, which is a plus for many of our clients, as well as content marketing strategies to make sure goals are being accomplished and adjustments are made if not. If you are part of an organization that is seeking a new web presence or know a company who is, I would love to work with you. If we already know each other, that would be fun! I’m also open to guest blogging/speaking on related topics. You can see some of my posts here and here.

How can I help you personally? I’m not all business. A natural extrovert, I like to talk about a lot of things like books, music, movies, my kids/family, and charities. Feel free to approach me with any questions or thoughts you may have. Oh yeah, one more thing:  if you are looking for work and want to utilize networking and social media to help you find the right job, I’d like to help any way I can because I’ve been there (twice!). I once heard a well-known social media personality (I’m not much of a name dropper, sorry) say “There may not be many jobs out there, but there is plenty of work.”  I agree! It’s out there.

How often will I be posting here? That’s currently an action item on my list. You can find me blogging on my corporate blog more often, but don’t give up on me here just yet

Until next time…

Image by: andrewjw

Sky Palette by Nicholas T

I’ve had a great year at Mercury helping to establish a marketing services business and working with many high profile clients to analyze their customer data and develop more effective marketing campaigns including acquisition, retention, and up-sell.  Additionally, we worked to help clients engage with their customers by integrating social media into their existing campaigns. 

Effective immediately, I am open to exciting new opportunities! I have spoken to many of you in the past years and have gotten to know you; so I thought this was an opportune time to let you all know. I also look at this as a chance to get closer to you whether through project collaboration or word of mouth regarding any new opportunities you may know of.  Either way, I’m open to a conversation about it. 

What is it that I do? 

My last official (kind of stuffy sounding but not) title was Director, Marketing Strategy & Analytics, which is a fancy title for developing data-driven, integrated marketing communications campaigns for clients. You can find my traditional resume here. My strengths are 16 solid years of integrated marketing communication (traditional, digital, social). I am very data-driven, which means that the database is where I start with clients. Many companies have amazing amounts of information on their customers. Some are challenged with making the most of that data to deepen relationships with their customers. That’s where I come in. Lastly, engagement is a critical part of any marketing strategy, and I help customers integrate that into their overall campaigns. 

What am I looking for? 

My background is mostly B2B high tech and pharma/biotech companies, and I have also done consulting for over five years. I prefer a full time position at a company that possesses two key qualities since it’s the environment I work best in: 1. Open to change (willing to challenge status quo;  e.g.,  ”this is the way we’ve always done it”)  2. Teamwork is not just a buzzword. People really do work together towards common goals (satisfying customers). 

How can you help? 

Let me know if you see a fit for either your company or another that comes to mind. Let’s talk, do lunch, Skype, etc. I’m open to talking more about it. 

In the meantime… 

I hope to get back into blogging about various topics that will hopefully add value to your lives and continuing my work with Beth Harte and #IMCChat. This is also a great time for me to get in touch with some of the Boston network! I’m only an hour away. 

Feel free to contact me via email, Skype (annabarcelos1) or through my social networks. Looking forward to great conversations and thank so much for reading this post.

Last night Beth Harte (@bethharte) and I launched #IMCChat, a chat focused on integrated marketing communications (IMC), and we were absolutely astonished by the amount of amazing people who contributed to this chat.  Earlier this year Beth and I met and talked about IMC, the challenges, our battle wounds, and what a beautiful thing it is when all the pieces of IMC (Traditional, Digital and Social media) all work together to talk to the world – all publics including stakeholders, customers, and employees. It isn’t surprising that we became instant friends, not just because we are marketing geeks, but we both have old school roots in work and life. The topic of IMC has consistently resonated with us. We are passionate about it so it was only natural to start talking to the world about it and find out what everyone else thinks or if it’s just us. We are happy to report it’s not, phew! Turns out IMC sparks lively conversations with a lot of people, whether they’ve practiced all marketing disciplines or just one.

Because IMC is all I know.  I love it, but it does have its challenges. Here are my confessions as an IMC marketer.

1.  I didn’t sign up for this. It chose me.

Sixteen years ago, I began my career for two conglomerates; one was Allied-Signal and the other a UK-based company called Cookson. There is where I got my education in structure, policy, bureaucracy, and the common feeling with some of these large organizations that you are one small fish in the sea. I must confess that there are both plusses and minuses with this. I appreciated the structure and policies & procedures because they created purpose, accountability, and accomplishment. Being noticed for your contributions, however, took hard work. My background at these companies included customer support, finance, sales; and then I landed in marketing and pretty much stayed there until today.

2.  I was a start-up junkie and still love the challenge.

The 90’s were the dot com boom (later known as dot bomb). Again there were plusses and minuses, but I fell in love with start-ups. Here is where I developed my career in integrated marketing communications. The energy and freedom of a start-up is amazing. There is freedom to take a position and run with it, make it your own, and learn a tremendous deal from it.  I landed in marketing communications and became the whole department. This basically meant I was responsible for all marketing. Back then it was traditional marketing – PR, Advertising, Events – and of course, lots of Sales support. The internet was fairly new and digital was just over the horizon. With start-up’s come big risks that can shut companies down like running out of VC funding (they were throwing money at companies back then like confetti), missing a key product launch in a competitive market and other detrimental things that can make or break a young company. This happened to a couple of companies I worked for and what didn’t break me made me stronger.

3. I work too damn hard. (Not that no one else does, but if you’re an IMC marketer, you know what I mean)

IMC requires much education, hard work and buy-in challenges. You are faced with learning all marketing disciplines, being accountable for everything if you are the marketing department, constantly justifying budgets, being asked for metrics, and building so many cases. I accepted that challenge and soon I began to really like it. Sure there were (and still are) late nights, but I wouldn’t trade the education I’ve gained to this day for anything.

4. The big picture will always be ingrained in my brain (but the focus has significantly shifted)

Having learned to be a strategic thinker is a huge benefit, but sometimes we have to break the big picture into bite-size pieces to really understand not so much what we have to accomplish but how we are going to accomplish it. With the emergence of social media, companies are more transparent to everyone outside the corporate walls. For large companies who still possess “we rule the world” mentalities, social media is flashing a huge spotlight on them, and if they aren’t making the effort to engage with customers, it’s noticed. Really noticed.  People talk about it out in the open, and everyone else can see what they’re saying. It will take some time for companies to admit it; admit they no longer have full control of their message, and to admit that it’s OK. For that reason, my big picture focus is more from the customer’s shoes than ever. Believe me, we have huge clients with this mentality, but we are working on them.

5. I think about all marketing channels/tools as means to an end. Can’t help it.

Being both in corporate and start-up environments has enabled me to learn and use all marketing channels – traditional, digital, social media. Goals are established, objectives are developed, tactics are created marketing channels are chosen, and metrics are assigned to each. That’s my world. Some companies are really good at this. Some, not so much.  Some companies have teams to execute; others only one person. I’ve been on both sides and I must admit, I’m glad because it wouldn’t have made me as open-minded as I am today.

Are the above confessions good or bad? I have days I say yes and others I say no, but one thing remains constant, and that’s my passion for marketing and the amazing ways it can transform organizations,  people, and the world.

What are your confessions? Were they blessings in disguise? Would love to hear your point of view.

Aside from doing my part in helping causes (every bit counts) like 12for12K and Tweetsgiving, this has been a very challenging year. I have never looked back and have counted my blessings. I try to make a concious effort daily to be thankful, and here are a few things that first come to mind.

1. My family – husband Al, son Jake (4) and daughter Sarah (9). I am the sum of all their parts and am thankful they are healthy and happy.

2. My job – I was unemployed for seven months this year, and even though it’s still surreal in a lot of ways, I am so grateful for having found a great job with great people that challenges me daily.

3. Friends – all my wonderful friends whom I wish I had more time with. That includes my closest friends and friends on the social networks, some whom I have met, and some not yet. Thanks for interacting. I learn something new every day from all of you, and if I can make any bit of difference whether it’s in 140 characters or an update, I hope it helps, inspires, provokes thought or is just goofy enough for a laugh.

The walk-away is that everyone, no matter what situation he or she may be in always has something to be grateful for. Focus on that and things get better. I promise.

Thanks Danny Brown for always inspiring us to be better people. You and your group are amazing, and I hope to always help in some way. I’m grateful for your efforts in helping others.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Please support Tweetsgiving and make a difference (#tweetsgiving).

There’s not a day that goes by where you will see a Tweet or receive a direct message telling you how to get more followers on Twitter (don’t make me show you). If those sending these types of messages are into that and number of followers is important to them, then my best advice is: Keep it to yourself! Folks on Twitter should have a clue by now that these messages don’t work for the social media savvy folks. We are here for different reasons. Of course, I can only speak for myself, but my greatest value on Twitter is absolutely, positively the quality conversations and relationships I discover and develop when I engage on this network! This is one of the best places to find links to some of the best content and blogs on the internet.

Another great thing about Twitter are the hashtagged chats that take place daily. Groups of smart very engaging people attend these chats and share valuable information. These are true quality conversations that you walk away with real, very useful information and make some friends while you’re at it. A few of my favorites that I frequent are #journchat (journalism, media folks), #pr20chat (PR 2.0 and marketing folks) and #smchat (social media policies, best practices, strategies). I wish I could consistently attend these chats but work and family life take priority at times.

Normally you will hear people talk about how Twitter is useless or a waste of time, but what I’ve found is those folks usually haven’t taken the time to educate themselves, engage or invest time on this social network or else they would see its true value.

Being a B2B marketer, I have experienced first-hand ROI on Twitter already including landing a great job (need I say more) and making some terrific contacts and friends I speak with frequently who know more than I do about social media or can provide some fresh insight of my world of marketing communications.

My organization is taking baby steps with social media. They realize its value, however, there are internal things at companies that need to be in place in order to jump in with both hands and feet, and that’s what I’m currently working on. Bottom line is social media is a valuable strategy for engaging with customers, generating quality leads and developing a human side to your brand. It is here to stay no questions asked.

I’ve committed most of my time to my new job (five months in) and am not blogging and engaging as much as I want to, but one thing is for sure. I’m here to stay. While almost 80% of people on Twitter come and go, I will always be part of that minority bunch who engages daily and continues building momentum in the social media space. You will always find me on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn so stop by and say Hi!

Many people have been congratulating me and asking how I did it; how I got a job through Twitter. I decided to write a blog post about it (and create a blog for that matter since so many questions come my way and I want to continue helping as much as I can, of course). The focus of this post is to basically tell you my social networking adventure the past seven months and what it has lead to in the end. A completely measurable end result – a job – in five tweets (of course there’s a lot work behind them). There are also five points or steps I took to get me there, and I want to share them with you.

Once upon a time…
These two things I know:  1. How to interact with people, and I really like it; and 2. Over 15 years of integrated marketing communications experience in B2B (diverse – from traditional to online). I have a genuine interest in people and what they’re about as well as a fascination with marketing and how it has evolved over years and is more prolific than ever today with the addition of social media.

I was let go from my position in January 2009 from a CRM/messaging services company where I was a Director of Marketing & Business Development for almost five years. It was a great job and where I really learned to be a marketing geek. The company used CRM databases integrated with email and voice broadcasting services that enabled businesses to communicate with their customers. When these interactions happened, a whole lot of data (analytics) were collected which then allowed us to refine campaigns and help customers obtain better return on their marketing investments. This fascination with data, integrated marketing tools, and helping customers succeed is what lead me to where I am today.

As some of you may know, losing a job is a huge milestone in one’s life, and it forces you to soul search (Oh sh_ _! What do I do now?) At the time, social media (especially Twitter) was in the mainstream.  Here are five things I did (the number five happens to be my favorite number as well) that I believe lead me to where I am today. It’s important that I let you know this post is not about ME but about helping YOU. I hope that these five tips help you where ever you are with your career or business and spark some thoughts you may not have had before. That’s the goal. So here are are five things I did that landed me an amazing job and a wealth of knowledge about the world of social media.

1.  So…You’re Not Working.  Act Like You Are!

The day after I lost my job, I did three things: 1. I called unemployment and got that under way. 2. I immediately updated my profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and 3. I contacted my “network” of former colleagues and friends and told them that I was out of work and am now a “free agent.” Doing these things take a significant amount of time and labor (lunches, meetings, phone calls, etc.). It’s important that you don’t let unemployment get you down. You have to stay positive and keep on keeping on. Although it was very sad for me to be let go, I needed to move on. My family means the world to me, and I contribute to 50% of the household income. I needed to keep that goal alive.  Keep in mind it was peak “tank time” for our economy and Rhode Island’s unemployment rate was 10%!

2.  Network, Network, Network. Oh Yeah, and Network.

As I became more active on Twitter, I began to meet a lot of wonderful people and learned about a lot of networking events (some I haven’t gotten to yet but will for sure).  I have to let everyone know that I am refraining from mentioning specific people because they know who they are, and I know I might leave someone out. So my network knows who they are, and that I am so grateful for having met everyone, will be eternal friends with them, and will keep the conversations going. I also have to give a lot of credit to the social media “giants” (we all know who they are), and although I may not know all of them on a personal level, I have learned so much and continue to do so every single day.  Anyway, I started going to local and not so local networking events. I also helped some former employers and contacts with projects and got to go to great places like Chicago and Philadelphia building relationships with new contacts who learned I was actively looking for work. I believe by now you know where I’m going with this – the whole physics thing: for every action you will get a reaction. That started happening for me.  Soon more and more people were contacting me asking what I was up to and what I was looking for.

3. Use your knowledge/expertise to help others. Don’t worry about whether or not there is money involved (Yes, really! Some will disagree I’m sure).

I became obssessed with learning about others and helping them any way I knew how.  Many questions, phone calls, and emails came my way and I, of course being out of work, had all the time in the world to address them and engage with people. I learned so much not just about my own line of work and what others were doing but about the whole point behind social media – engaging with people. Business or personal, social media is engagement between human beings. Use that any way you wish whether in a company or individually.

4. “If You Build it, They Will Come.”

I had to reference “Field of Dreams” for this one, but as you begin building a network of people, you learn from each other, and they will get to know who you are and what you do. You take up mindshare. The next time something comes up that may be relevant to you, you will most likely get an email or call. And then it happened.  Someone on Twitter noticed my tweets about direct marketing and contacted me.

Allan saw my tweets and contacted me to let me know he was working with a company that was moving in a similar direction as my expertise. That would be Tweet #1. I began interacting with him, and he invited me to an event the company was sponsoring. There I met the company executives and employees and began speaking with them. Before I even realized it, there were so many similarities between the direction they were heading in and my background.  I entered into a series of meetings and talks with the company, and the rest is history.

5. Never Forget Where You Came From.

This simply means you should remain consistent and continue what you started with 1-4 above. So many people will be active with networking and commitments they made pre-employment and then abandon all the efforts, and in some cases relationships, because they have a job.  Don’t do it!

I am now six weeks into a Director, Marketing Strategy & Analytics position for an amazing direct marketing company Mercury (follow us on Twitter @mercuryco). They are doing great things at this company including taking their 50+ year credibility and expertise from a mail/print house to an evolving direct marketing company that is innovating traditional media with the latest marketing technologies and providing customers with full service integrated marketing communications capabilities. Social media is the latest addition to the product family, and they created “Mercuralia – a festival ideas,” a series of events to get their customers thinking about social media and where it fits into their business (#Mercuralia on Twitter). Mercury is doing this, not just because the times are demanding it, but most importantly their customers are evolving, and Mercury wants to continue being their long-term partner.  Brands like Comcast, Cox Communications and AAA are just of few who have had long-term relationships with Mercury, and I’m excited about the possibilities (and challenges) that lie ahead. As Mercury evolves, there is much to be learned and gained, especially with a traditional culture that is undergoing fast changes into today’s fast-paced business world.  We are embracing the current social media landscape, and although we are fairly new at it, we are making strides to help our customers understand social media, the power of data and analytics to transform marketing, and how it is possible to integrate (not exclude) traditional marketing like direct mail with technologies like PURLs for more personalized communications that enable businesses to collect customer information for more personalized relationships and conversations.

The End…not!

It’s only the beginning of what’s to come, and I hope to share as much as I can as it happens with you.

So there is my story. It can be your story. If you follow the above steps or if they offer you food for thought, then I have achieved my goal for this post: to share my experience in the hopes it will create an experience for you or at least get you thinking.

Have you been through similar challenges this year? If so I would love to hear about them. Share your experiences in the comments for others. That’s where the real value is.

Afterthought: So I was thinking the other day. Wow! I lost my job! That’s a big deal. Why wasn’t I stressed and down? Why didn’t I worry about getting a new job? What would I do if/when my unemployment ran out? Funny thing is, at the time, I never worried much about those things. I focused on the future and listening to my instincts, and I truly believed it would work out. It did. Am I delusional? An eternal optimist? Maybe, but I’m still from the old school thinking that NOTHING comes without hard work, and I live that daily.  Being busy thinking that way distracts you from those dark thoughts, and I’m so grateful I was able to do that.

If you are reading this, nice to meet you! This is my latest redesigned blog to begin providing insight and help others. I know a whole lot about B2B small business integrated marketing communications. Social media is another tool in the marketing box for me, but a very powerful one at that! I will begin writing posts shortly.

The previous posts are compilations on various topics, business & personal, that I have imported from previous blogs. As you can see there was no real strategy, but if you scroll through maybe there will be something I wrote that will help you in some way. That’s the main thing!

Be well.
A

Being unemployed and currently exploring opportunities, I had to shift my priorities.

I’m so glad I read Danny Brown’s blog post “It’s Good to Say No.” When I first joined Twitter, I was under the impression that I had to immediately have a blog and presence on every single social media site on the internet so I could be effective to my potential clients, colleagues, friends, neighbors, dogs (I’m kidding about the last two). It was an overwhelming thought, and immediately I started creating a new blog on WordPress, which is about 85% done by the way.

I lost my job as a director of marketing & business development for a technology company in late January. Since then my whole world has changed. It’s no longer about getting my blog finished but more about networking and getting back in touch with former colleagues and co-workers to update them on my status. While I could be working on finishing my new blog and writing posts, I felt it was much more important for me to interact with people both on-line and off. Twitter has been a huge help, and I’ve connected with some terrific folks regarding potential projects and jobs. I simply listened to myself and felt this is where the bulk of my energy should be spent for now.

So, when am I going to finish my blog? When am I going to start writing posts? True answer? When I get to it on my To Do list. Right now I would much rather be interacting with people. A beautiful thing happens when you do that – amazing opportunities come right back at you.

Instead of dwelling on the doom and gloom of the economy and being unemployed, I put 150% of my energy into positive, productive things. This is what my instincts are telling me to do, and I am listening!

If you are reading this, I hope you’ve already reached out to me, whether it’s to say hello or if there’s any way my skill set is a benefit to you and/or your business. You will always find me on Twitter at @abarcelos. Hope you say hello!

I noticed my last post was a couple weeks ago. That’s not good! Main reason is I’m transferring my blog from Blogger to WordPress, and before I can announce it, I want to make sure my new blog has everything it needs to be user-friendly and informative.

So if you come here and read this, please bear with me. I’ve got lots of great things to write about and will soon!

In the meantime, you’ll find me on Twitter daily.

Anna

1. I love all things marketing! Have been in marketing since 1994. I have evolved from traditional marketing to online marketing and now to social marketing and know a lot of stuff. The challenge for me right now is what to do with it all!

2. I like horror movies. Don’t know why since my eyes are more closed than open when I watch them. Stephen King is my favorite, but I like all types from Wes Craven to Dean Koontz to Jon Carpenter. The list is endless. Main reason: they don’t bore me.

3. I love bubble gum, particularly Dubble Bubble.

4. I once had a breast cancer scare. Luckily it was benign and removed. With two- and seven-year olds at the time, I remember thinking, “I don’t have time to die.”

5. I do what I say and say what I do. Those who know me, know I’m there for them.

6. I am blunt to a fault sometimes, but people respect it and never forget it. They initially need band-aids.

7. I am positive and try very hard to be at all times. I have a high amount of energy, and it’s usually contagious.

8. I love to read, write, and listen to all sorts of music from Beethoven to classic Pearl Jam.

9. I love all things spiritual and inspirational.

10. I am 100% Portuguese. Unfortunately, my reading and writing skills aren’t fluent, but I still know enough to be dangerous.