Exploring Scoop.it - publishing an online curation magazine

I have really enjoyed using Scoop.it. Their tagline is "Easily Publish Gorgeous Magazines. Leverage Curation to increase your visibility. Give persistence to your social media presence." Using this platform is a great step in social media and education. I made an account and magazine page called "Social Media & Networking" and it has so many important articles to me, and many more, in one spot. Articles that were delivered to me on my Curate page, I click on them to read them, get informed, learn more, then share them with others. The evolution of the RSS feed, but made sociable.

Here are some screenshots of the Scoop.it platform:

The Dashboard Page:

On my dashboard, I am able to see What's new? I also have my Curated Topics, My Stats, My Connected Profiles etc.

Next up... The Curate Page:

This is where Scoop.it delivers articles, videos, blogs and information about the pre-selected keywords and topics I choose. I can click on the "Manage" button to change or edit my articles of interest at any time. I can also click on "Clear Page" and it will remove the suggested articles and replace them with others. The red "Discard" button removes that individual post. If I see an article of interest, I click on the article headline, open up the page and read the post. I am getting ever evolving, up to the minute, social media information daily. So much to learn; but made so much easier here. I could then Scoop.it from my Chrome browser add-on if I wish as well. The most important button is the green "Scoop.it" button above each of the articles. Click this to add the article onto your online magazine. Then there is the blue button on the upper right that says "View Topic"

Then... The Topic Page:

The Topic Page is where all of the articles you have Scooped on Scoop.it appear. You can set it up to go out over your social networks and share the stories as you find them. An online magazine that updates as you curate. The best of the best, of your topic of choice, all in one place. I also share direct links to the page I have created: http://www.scoop.it/t/social-media-networking

Social Media Case Study # 1 - Highland Brewing Company

Situation:
Highland Brewing Company is the largest and oldest brewery located in the mountain brew town of Asheville, N.C. With regional distribution into eight southern states the company is considered a major success in terms of micro-breweries. With a great reputation and following in the local market Highland wanted to increase sales through their established distribution network while maintaining local loyalty in an ever more competitive market place.


Problem/Target
Although Highland had distribution into seven states they were struggling to build a following and increase sales through their distribution network. The company needed to establish the same positive brand awareness regionally that they had been able to do locally thereby increasing sales and brand loyalty. The options were to do to an expensive traditional advertising campaign or to re-evaluate their social media efforts and revamp those efforts into a serious campaign effort targeting the craft beer drinker in the region.


Solution:
Highland brought in G Social Media to re-evaluate how their social media was being conducted. G Social Media quickly realized they had no strategy, a small presence on Facebook and on Twitter they were virtually non-existent as a business. G Social Media put together a social media campaign that was consistent in supporting the brand and building loyalty. G Social Media rebuilt upon their Facebook and Twitter accounts, integrated into several other social media platforms such as You Tube so potential microbrewery drinkers could see how the beer was made inside the brewery. They established a Picasa photo album, RSS feed, Friend Feed, Twitpic account and then trained the staff on how to update the campaign going forward.


Results to Date:
Highland Brewing is now able to interact immediately with their customers in any number of ways that allows the brewery to keep a pulse on marketplace and its brand. Their sales force is able to post photos immediately supporting the brand from around the region. The marketing department can make an announcement and get feedback immediately on a number of topics. They have almost 2,000 video views on YouTube alone, almost 2,000 Twitter followers and 4,667 Facebook fans almost reaching the 5,000 limit.

Social Village comes to Free Asheville Social Media School

Asheville's Justin Brackett from Social Village will be teaching a part of the Free Asheville Social Media School on March 23rd at the Garage at Biltmore with Trey Pennington and GSocialMedia.

“People are drawn to an epic story; they want to be a part of something that they feel is bigger than they are. Everyone is telling their epic story every day. Now with Social Media everyone has the opportunity to tell their story to the world and to invite them to join in."

Justin Brackett is an up and coming social media guru. He has emerged into the Social Media world, surprising his peers with his knowledge and understanding of how Social Media is the next tool to change the world.

Social Village, Justin's company: partners with passionate and driven people, tribes of dedicated individuals who lend their time, talent, and money to help improve the world we share. The goal is to help share their story: to clearly fascinate an audience with the needs, the passions, and the actions that can be used to do greatness on a local or global scale.

Justin is making his mark on a world that desires life change. His experiences with the business world, the non-profit sector, and witnessing life change interpersonally gives him a unique position in the Social Media landscape. If you would like to know more, ask him. He really likes to tell about the epic he finds himself experiencing.

2010 Schedule for Asheville Social Media School

Okay, so for a brief itinerary on the Free Asheville Social Media School; we are going to layout some plans for the next several months. It is more than just making a blog, or meeting new people. All of these things are somewhat important, but without connecting it all together and creating a balance; it will not prosper effectively. We are going to take Western North Carolina and AVL on a journey of what social media is all about.


Class #1 – February 25, 2010 from 5pm-7pm – Our first class in Asheville NC is going to be at the Downtown Market on 45 South French Broad Avenue 28801. We are expecting about 200 people to attend this first social media class. We are going to start with an introduction and some basic info. Some questions that will be answered will be… “What is Social Media?” – “Why is Social Media Important?” – “Who created Social Media?”

We are going to discuss the simple importance of creating and maintaining an email. Learn the difference between emails options and why one may be better than the other. We are going to talk about being sociable in Asheville North Carolina and beyond. How can you express your media if your social skills are limited? We are going to show you some easy integration to meet more people and learn more about them. This is not just necessary for business, but for your whole life in general. We are going to learn some of the “unspoken” rules of social media and how to learn them online and then improve your daily living using them also. We are going to learn about the many different social media platforms that are available, how they reach different crowds and how you can use them all to circulate your message to millions of people.

We are going to have 1 minute intros at the beginning of every class from several people. If you would like to say something about you and your business, please let us know. But only one minute to show you the importance of making your initial message short and sweet for this new media society. At this first class… PaleoSun will be joining us to talk about some basic information about websites, and the Asheville Citizen Times will discuss some of their moves into the social media world.

*Since we are doing this right after work, food and drinks will be available from the vendors at the Downtown Market for about $4 per plate. Simple and good!

Class #2 – March 23, 2010 from 5:00pm-7:30pm at the Garage At Biltmore 101 Fairview Rd Asheville NC 28803 – Learn Social Networking using Twitter and Facebook. Besides G Social Media, we are going to have some guest speakers including Trey Pennington from Greenville South Carolina and Social Village from Asheville discussing some very important social media information. We will also show you how to set up a Twitter and Facebook account and some great tips for you and your business. Drinks will be available during the meeting and a music and social time will follow our class at 7pm. RSVP on Facebook or by Email (Email is on my blog website)

Class #3 – April 23, 2010 from 5pm-7:30pm at Elaine's Piano at the Grove Park Inn 290 Macon Ave Asheville NC 28804 – Learn Social Media Marketing using Video platforms from G Social Media, Asheville Video Productions and Bourne Media. Video communications are very important in today’s society. If a picture is worth a thousand words, a short video is worth at least 10 thousand to the targeted viewer. We will also show you how to set up a YouTube account and some lessons when uploading videos.

Class #4 – May 10, 2010 from 5:30pm-7:30pm – Learn Blogging as a personal journal project, a community awareness platform and business blogging from AskAsheville, Ashvegas and BlogAsheville in Asheville North Carolina. You will learn how to set a blog up, a few tricks to get it presentable and optimized, and how to fill it with the proper content and wording for your specific niche. Creating a blog for your business (and doing it right) is a very important part of your social media circle.

***More classes are planned for the rest of the 2010 year, with shorter spans during the warmer months. We have a few outdoor activities and social media retreats planned as well. This is going to be too much fun!!

***If you have a venue or place that you would like us to consider for hosting a Free Asheville Social Media School event or if you have something that you would like to donate as a raffle item at our events; please contact us. If you think that you know someone or are someone that would fit in good with one of these school sessions; please let us know. Thank you.

Asheville Social Media - Free School Coming Soon!

I have initiated a social media school in Asheville North Carolina beginning on February 25, 2010 and it is going to continue indefinitely in the months to come. Each class will provide important information to help you understand, initiate, and use social media effectively. Some people are simply coming to the classes for information. Some are coming to learn how to aggressively use it for their businesses and promotions. While some want to learn how to get started, others may want to make sure their marketing company is up to par. Many businesses are led into a weak form of social media because the media companies that are leading them do not completely understand it themselves. But all of us like to say "we know it all and have it covered." This is many times not the case. We are going to try to help everyone from the common social media and social networking user, to companies that are trying to assist their clients with new media.

The Asheville social media class dates for the next few months will be February 25th, March 23rd, April 23rd, and May 10th from 5pm-7pm, with social hours after on some of these days. We have a nice curriculum planned for all of these dates with great information and guest speakers coming in. We are going to answer any and every question you have concerning Social Media, Websites, Marketing, and Social Networking. You are going to be trained on how to start social media for fun, for your business, and keep it simple. More maintenance means more of your time, or more of your money if you are hiring someone to do your social media. We show you how to eliminate a lot of this time or expense by connecting your social media together properly.

These Asheville classes are going to be fun fun for everyone. We are planning several outdoor activities and even a social media retreat for the Summer of 2010. We are going to be meeting several businesses in the Western North Carolina area and learning how they connected with their audience before, and how they are currently connecting. You will learn effective change. We are going to learn how to make connections with businesses ourselves and how to extract the important information we need from anyone. We are going to learn some simple lessons that we should have learned in the playground as children... to big corporate business strategy. All of your social media needs will be covered in this free school in Asheville NC.

The 1st Class on February 25th will be at the Downtown Market at 45 South French Broad Ave Asheville NC 28801 from 5pm - 7pm and there will be some great food and drinks available for a small cost ($4 - $5) from the vendors. It is located right down the street from the Asheville Federal Building, across from United Way.

You can email me to reserve a free spot by clicking HERE or you can visit the Facebook event page.