Results

Butts off the grill after 10 plus hours. An hour to rest in an empty cooler and then to the forks, voila! Pulled pork! Tasty!

We're Smokin'

Found a great deal on Boston Butts at Winn Dixie - $1.55 /lb. yesterday, so today I slathered them in yellow mustard, massaged them in rub and plopped them on the smoker.

The enticing flavor of hickory smoke is wafting through the neighborhood as we speak.

I've got a North Carolina style mop sauce ready to start going on around 2pm today and by 5 we'll be pullin' pork.

Have your self a good weekend, I'm off to fix a big glass of Iced Tea.

Social media as a marketing and PR tool... your ideas please.

How are you blending social media - twitter, flickr, facebook, youtube, blogger to reach your constituents, market your product, promote your brand?

Which tools are best for which demographic groups? How do you integrate multiple tools? How much time per day do you spend with social media?

How do you track your success?

The question has come up at work... if we add a blog, twitter account, facebook group, youtube channel - will anyone use it? Specifically, will anyone we want to reach use it?

I've noticed since I started following a few people on Twitter all of a sudden several people started following me... if they expect me to be interesting or funny or very active with posting they'll probably be disapointed. So I know we can get followers but as a communication tool for a targeted market just how effective will it be?

In addition to work, I also provide web / technology support for my church. Here the same questions come up.... how effective can we be using social marketing to reach current and potential members?

Is the reward going to be work the effort?

Back Again Kinda

Decided I couldn't leave blogging behind. Tried blogging for a year or so about the small/medium business market for IBM/Lotus products at lotussmb.com.

Closed that blog because

1) No longer working for a small/medium business - now working as IT Director for county government.

2) No longer working with IBM/Lotus products and I don't see that changing in the near future.

Why am I back? A couple of reasons. To keep up with friends and occasionally post about life, technology, music, culture, fun, travel and maybe occasionally work.

I'm also using this site as a test bed for linking social media into a coherent whole for marketing and public relations. Partly because I'm just interested, partly because the issue has come up at work, partly because I'm part of the web/communications committee for church.