Future of Communication

Communication like the majority of all other fields is dominated by men. There are very few female leaders and Sheryl Sandberg explained why in her Ted Talk segment , "Why we have too few women leaders". Sheryl believes boys are pressured more to succeed growing up than young girls are. There are numerous arguments as to why there are very few women leaders... some of the arguments include juggling being a mother and boss, others include women aren't willing to negotiate their salary and lastly women after childbirth lose their determination to set new goals in the workplace. I like that Sheryl posed these points but I believe that her views are ridiculous and only represent a small percent of women. As an African American woman I was happy to see that their are more African American women entrepreneurs than ever before, also in the year 2016 African American woman had the best year in startup businesses according to Forbes magazines. Women as a whole may not be dominating corporate businesses or Fortune 500 companies that are mostly ran by Caucasian men, but women are on the brink of creating new opportunities for other women. I believe it will be nearly impossible and unrealistic to think that a woman can step into a male dominated industry and receive a promotion over a man.... Here's why. Men rarely listen to women. We see this time and time again in all areas of life. Growing up in a hegemonic world, a man's masculinity is often feared and considered to be more powerful than a woman's female tracks. A man's posture, statute and voice commands respect. Since the beginning of time and for the few that have read biblical excerpts the woman has been believed to be the help mate. Since these beliefs have been passed on throughout generations, women are still looked at as a help mate and not a sole leader. This behavior and belief has transpired into the work force. There are still positions that are believed to be "womanly". Women can be secretaries, nurses and teachers but don't have the same presence as CEOs, Doctors, Principals and Administration.

Are you communicating effectively?

Effective communication is measured in numerous ways. Some of the most popular ways are metrics, relationships and revenue. These are a few popular ways that I would like to elaborate on because I have experience in PR and I can only write about my personal experience and what was effective for me. In digital PR metrics are everything. With the help of SEO (search engine optimization), Google Adworks and other online resources you can have a surplus of viewers on any social network and web platform of your choice. If your PR firm is helping build the brand with press releases, web copy, blog posts and social media channels, here are key ways to measure the outcome: 1.Web Traffic. For my website Vinkankel.com I measure the amount of traffic I receive on a day to day basis. I also look at the numbers my website receives throughout the week and month. Before I began using SEO my website received very little views. It was quite discouraging initially but after a little research I noticed my traffic began to skyrocket. I personally utilize social networks such as Tumblr and Twitter. On Tumblr and Twitter I can see what topics are trending. I then make my own post of trending topics. My blog lets me expand on topics briefly reached by other bloggers. If a particular client brings more traffic to your website that is a success, I conduct interviews with emerging acts. Emerging acts have their own following that are interested in learning more about them. Ultimately its great exposure for them and also for my website. This brings me to my next point referrals.  2.Referrals are anyone who credits their success to your website or encourages others to check it out will successful drive traffic to your website. Views count when trying to build a brand. Usually after I feature someone on my website they'll encourage their friends and family to check out the webstie. I receive alot of direct messages from people who are interested in being featured on my website. When people refer me I always encourage them to share my social networking pages. 3.Social Media Shares - The more views the better. If you are able to connect with people from different demographics and throughout the world you can offer your services to a bigger audience. On Facebook my friends range from the southeast United States all the way to Bangladesh. Another method is 4. Press Release Engagement. I personally dont do alot of press releases because I dont represent many clients. I use social media to simply give artist exposure.  Websites such as BusinessWire can help track the progress of your press release on all social media platforms. 5. Output and Outcomes such as Linkedln Sponsored Updates, Promoted Tweets and Google Adworks use leads to generate traffic.

Communication is also measured by the audiences response. Being able to actually help your audience and develop a relationship with them takes alot of practice. If you are a public speaker good body language and eye contact will encourage people to take you seriously and also become more intrigued. For example if you want to reach only 5 people but you want 80% of the audience to be convinced your product is worth buying, if 4 people purchase the product your communication was effective. Being able to convey a message and ultimately win over your audience takes building a relationship with the viewer or listener. In order to build a relationship the audience must feel some sort of trust. There are plenty of ways to build trust. Credibility can be won over by simply appearing to have knowledge. I find that companies with logos, great or catchy mottos and professionalism are often taken quite serious. A company that constantly updates their social network pages also appears to be credible as well. Companies that have a large following rather their following is paid or simply occurred over time makes people wonder how did they gain such a huge following and ultimately you might become a fan simply because someone you know is a fan.  The relationship between the communicator and the audience is very important. Getting an audience to respond in the manner you would like them to is the ultimate task. It can be very difficult. Especially now that more and more people are choosing to use paid social media Ads or promoted Ads in order to drive traffic to their websites and businesses. According to Tom Keheller and Barbara Miller real public relations is the process of engaging your constituent publics in a process of two-way symmetrical communication, designed to result in both sides reaching their objectives. … But in cyberspace, the requirement to be candid and forthright is doubly important. (p. 230) Lastly being able to make a profit from your services is a great sign youre doing something right. If people are interested enough to purchase your services, something youre doing seems believable. Many people in the PR profession or marketing profession arent successful. A few other pointers I found while conducting my own research are as follows:


“the state which exists between an organization and its key publics in which the actions of either entity impact the economic, social, political and/or cultural well-being of the other entity.” (Ledingham & Bruning, 1998, p. 62) This exert further supports my beliefs that effective communication is measured by metrics, building relationships and revenue.

“Relationships consist of the transactions that involve the exchange of resources between organizations.” (Broom, Casey, & Ritchie, 1997, p. 91) If the relationships that you build in the process are successful people will want to conduct business with you in the future. You will appear to be asset amongst your peers.

“routinized, sustained patterns of behavior by individuals related to their involvement with an organization. … Many online relationships operate in tandem with offline relationships and thus are part of a total organizational-public relationship.” (Hallahan, 2004, p. 775) Being able to successful. communicate will make you a public figure. The public will sought out for your services and you will be able to make a living off of your talents.

Burger King Be Your Way!

Burger King has been going through a communication crisis for quite some time. Burger King has pulled out every marketing strategy known to man to compete with its arch nemisis McDonalds. Despite its efforts to change its menu when ludicrous items such as Cheeto fries, red buns, fruit loop shakes, Big King (Big Mac competitor) and now its newest menu addition hot dogs, Burger King just cant seem to win. If you didnt know Burger King decided to change its infamous motto "Have it your way" to "Be Your Way". Personally Be Your Way sounds ridiculous but for some odd reason the people at Burger King's corporate office thought it would be best to change the motto in hopes that maybe just maybe thats all Burger King needed to revamp its image. So why bother changing the tagline? Fernando Machado, the chain's senior VP-global brand marketing, said that while "Have It Your Way" was more about the "functional side" of Burger King, letting customers know that customization was always an option. He said that Burger King is aiming to have the tagline become "much more than just a headline" in that the goal is to "create a much stronger emotional connection by talking to a behavior that already exists."

He added: "We're trying to elevate 'Have it Your Way' to a state that's much more emotional and centered on around self-expression." Burger King changed its motto in 2014. Have it Your Way is a 40 year old motto and truthfully I don’t believe Be Your Way has stuck or will stick with anyone. I got a kick out of reading a post from John Crudle with NY Post “I’m not sure how to “Be Your (or My) Way,” especially when I’m standing in line waiting for my shake to be shaken and my burger to be charbroiled. Burger King used to have a perfectly good slogan: “Have It Your Way.” Let me take that back: It was better than good. It was great. You knew exactly what it meant by “Have It Your Way.” You’d say, “No tomato, extra onions and please wear a hair net when you are plopping that beef on the bun.” That was a lot of people’s way. “Be Your Way” might work at Bible camp. And I’ve preached this sort of philosophy to my kids many times, although more eloquently. Do what you want to do. It’s your life. We’ve got bail ready if you need it.

“Be Your Way” is what they call in plain English a non sequitur. “Be Your Way” just doesn’t fit the meat-eating experience. (Okay, I know the phrase “non-sequitur” is Latin. I just gave you time to catch me in a mistake and feel superior.) Since Be Your Way was practically an epic fail but Burger King decided to stick with it. Burger King had to figure out another way to communicate with its faithful consumers. I personally only eat Burger King if Im in a rush or its dire straits, meaning I have to eat something to sustain life…. Burger King managed to take over the social media space and their approach was absolutely brilliant. Social media and millennials go hand and hand. Since millennials shape the culture and our the biggest consumers it was genius to tap into our world and somehow get a buzz online. Although going viral and having a lot of post seems to be easy nowadays, big brands often fail to get retweets and get a buzz from the youth. What better way to relate and gravitate to young people than incorporating entertainment. I love entertainment so Burger King’s approach was right up my alley. I especially love music and sports. Burger King’s marketing strategies changed in an attempt to take over the digital space. Under the Be your Way Campaign Burger King made its presence on Twitter more known. Im a habitual tweeter with over 60k tweets. I always notice when companies get creative a call their graphic design team for a little help. I also like when companies clearly have someone who understands and knows modern day culture. I think its pretty weird when it’s obviously an old person trying to be hip behind a company account, wasn’t the case for Burger King. It was almost as if one of my closet friends was running the account. Burger Kings knows all the current lingo, the latest music and although their food is still gross and weird I have a new found respect for the company. Burger King really cares about the public. Burger King tweets urban music and caters to the demographics of Twitter’s most frequent users. Burger King chose to use social media to cut down on advertising cost, absolutely brilliant. Now a days  no one listens to the radio and television Ads are often neglected. Tastemakers and critics started to take heed to Burger King’s strategic internet marketing schemes. Burger King’s smartest and most profitable marketing strategy occurred on May 2015. Burger King used a photo shopped picture of Burger King’s mascot “The King” alongside Floyd Mayweather and Justin Bieber during the Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight and posted the photo to Twitter. Justin Bieber has a huge cult following. They call themselves “beliebers”. Also Floyd Mayweather is one of the most successful athletes millennials have ever witnessed. Mayweather vs Pacquiao fight took place at MGM studios in Las Vegas, Nevada and was the biggest boxing match in the past decade. The fight was commercial free. Mayweather vs. Pacquiao fight had a 4.4 million viewers, within hours the King, Mayweather and Justin Bieber were alongside each other and the picture was all over the internet. The King managed to be beside two of the most elite men in entertainment… Wow!  Burger King developed a knack for social media advertising and is known for its outlandish approach by millennials who heavily indulge in surfing the net. Be your way campaign is one of the best digital campaigns in its own right. 

Is Google Adsense ethical

Google AdSense may be considered unethical to some. I would like to say I believe Google AdSense is 100% ethical and beneficial to the consumer and Google's company. Google tracks consumers location and some consumers find that to be alarming. I have used Google AdSense for my personal website. Google AdSense has helped my website target audiences in my area. Since I have a small business this is extremely beneficial. I am able to sought out potential customers. My Google Ads appear at the top of search engines. My Google Ads are also available to people world wide. My website offers marketing services for entertainment. Through search engine optimization viewers are able to find out information about their favorite artist and also stumble upon my services. I am very thankful for Google AdSense because it is by far the cheapest Ad service. Google AdSense works with various budgets. Unlike other companies that try to literally charge their consumers an arm and a leg. I think Google has capitalized on the online Ad market because Google is the number one search engine. Also Google does not include bias news articles on its front page like its competitor Yahoo. Google also doesn't use the annoying pictures Bing uses. Google Ads include text, display, rich media, and more — are reviewed to ensure the content is family safe and appropriate for an audience like yours. Depending on how much you are willing to spend you can have a very small Ad or a huge banner. I have small banners at the top and bottom of my website. I also square Ads on the side of my website. Advertisers bid for Ad space.  Advertisers with the most money often win the best spots. In  a sense companies feel as if its unethical because businesses that cant afford Ads can put Ads and receive clicks. Millions of advertisers compete for ad space. That means more money, more relevant ads, and more ad spaces filled. Another perk for consumers is that companies ca block ads you don’t want, choose where ads appear, and change the look and feel of text ads to match your site. You can even control the categories of ads you allow. Your site. Your rules. The best perk of Google AdSense is that you can access your Ads for mobile devices. Most of my users come from Mobile devices. I don't a app currently but my viewers use their cellphone more than desktop. Mobile is built into AdSense. Responsive ad units automatically adapt to different screen sizes so you can create a great user experience and continue to earn revenue when people view your site on a smartphone or tablet. I also enjoy seeing the results of my Ads on the Google AdSense app. So far I have made approximately $6 dollars from my blog. I would also like to include a Google AdSense link on this blog to monetize my hard work. All in All I think that Google AdSense is a great invention. I think Google AdSense should be utilized by all companies. Its very simple and the coding literally takes less than 5 minutes.

Leadership in 2k17

There are a lot of differences between leadership and management. Leadership is about vision, management is about executing tasks. Leaders are strategic communicators. A leader is able to effectively communicate with others and provide results. Being a good leader is accomplished by the behavior an individual exhibits. Management deals with the well known processes every company has such as HR or staffing, accounting or budgeting, measuring performance and problem solving.

I researched a few companies that I believe have the best examples of leaders.

1. Facebook.

I believe Mark Zuckerberg is the best example of a leader. Mark Zuckerberg is a computer programmer and internet entrepreneur. According to one of the workers on Glassdoor Facebook benefits are the best in the business, including significant PTO, meals, equipment--phone, gear, etc. Our health insurance plans offer benefits to cover IVFand surrogacy, we get 4 months off for maternity/paternity and 6 weeks for bereavement. We also get 6 weeks off after working for 5 years. Facebook cares about their employees and understand what it means to be a millennial. Mark Zuckerberg is an effective leader because his employees dont feel pressured at work and also enjoy coming to work. Facebook also has a casual dress code. 

2. Google.

I have a friend who personally works for Google. Google is an amazing place to work with on site fitness, day care and nearly any other perk you can think of. Google's management allows their employees to feel entitled to making executive decisions. Google is also a fun place to work with a very laid back dress code and a strong social media presence.

Levels of communication Millenials must learn!

Every business has a hierarchy and a way in which communication travels. Businesses must effectively communicate on every level or they risk causing their revenue or productivity to decline. I created some communication internal and external practices I use for my own business. I have chosen to use these methods of communication because they are relevant and effective. I believe it is important that all millennials research effective communication platforms. Now that most millennials are technologically savvy some methods may not be utilized and are also often forgotten. Internal communication 

• Speech – Speaking engagements, host events. By doing speaking enagagements a company can reach a large amount of people through a tour or circuit. 

• Telephone – create text alerts, toll free number to promote user engagement. Now that everyone has a cellphone for the most part... it is a great idea to use text alerts to encourage consumers or customers to stay tuned for upcoming promotions and deals. 

• App – Apps are convieient. Instead of having to search for a company online an app lets users conveniently see updates, by simply clicking an icon on either a computer, cellphone or tablet. 

• Radio – broadcast upcoming events and also reach a larger audience: 

• Mail – send an annual newsletter and upcoming events tosubscribers via USPS

• Closed circuit television - inquire how much local ads will cost and reach viewers or customers who may not enjoy browsing the web. 

• Electronic mail – media blast for upcoming events, breaking news and posts with top hits

• Social Networks – create a Facebook fan page, gain bigger social media following for “credibility”

External communication

• Use celebrity endorsement to gain a larger following. 

• Contact publicist and tastemakers to encourage others to try a product. 

• Partner with other media outlets to promote a product. 

• Reach the target audience (ages 13-25) through psychological and strategic methods such as surveys, trending topics, observation

• Contact DJs, party promoters, IG chicks, politicians and business professionals and other tastemakers that have a large following. Ask or pay them to run business ads.

Here are a few apps I found on Business Insider that are handy as well  

Hipchat is our go-to tool. Beyond standard one-on-one messaging, Hipchat lets us build rooms around functional teams and bring people together for ad-hoc conversations. Our team has taken advantage of its API to automate tasks and build amazing things. We even have a bot integrated into Hipchat that sends out GIFs at a moment’s notice -- a high priority for any startup that's serious about their GIFs. – Emerson Spartz, Spartz

2. Slack

Our team switched from Hipchat to Slack in less than a day, and everyone loves it. It's really easy to learn, the integrations are fantastic, links and file uploads show up inline and all the conversations are searchable for later. Also, the ability to create a Google Hangout from inside a chat room is one of the coolest and most useful features I've ever seen. – Mattan Griffel, One Month 

3. Campfire

We use Campfire and it's awesome. It's great to have password-protected group chats, and since it's network agnostic, our team members can use it no matter what other chat network they're on. It's also got a great suite of add-ons and extras, many of which are free, so we can really customize what we get out of it for customer service, development and design. – Dave Nevogt, Hubstaff.com

4. Basecamp

At Ajax Union, we use Basecamp both for internal team communication and for bridging the gap between staff members and our clientele. Basecamp makes it easy for people in different positions at the company, especially those who wear many hats, to easily share files and stay in the loop on projects and client information. It's easy to use and a go-to for getting team communication up and running. – Joe Apfelbaum, Ajax Union

5. Redbooth

While technically a task tracking application, Redbooth has implemented a fantastic built-in chat software. This combines being able to assign tasks and using the same window to communicate with members about those tasks. It helps keep chat oriented to business communication, which maximizes productivity among the entire team. – Cody McLain, WireFuseMedia LLC

Millennials want to go viral

Millennials want their content to go viral. Millennials keep their phones with them at all times. Sometimes having your phone with you to capture acts of kindness, police brutality, criminal evidence, etc etc is great. Other times having your phone can be a complete distraction... like when you use Snapchat the entire night instead of actually enjoying your time out. After watching Kevin Allocca discuss why videos go viral on TED Talks I came up with my own criteria. Kevin explained that a viral video must have three things: tastemakers, communities of participation and unexpectedness. I think that's totally untrue. People often go viral that arent considered tastemakers.Tastemakers are usually respected or knowledgeable in some field. The first person that came to mind when I thought of viral was the young lady who appeared on Dr.Phil and coined the catch phrase "Cash Me Outside, How Bout Dat".

Since being scene on the Dr.Phil Danielle Brigolli has launched a T-Shirt line and has also been featured on rapper's Kodak Black's music video. Danielle managed to go viral by being disrespectful and speaking in a urban tone. Danielle wears gold hoop earrings and has red hair. Danielle went "viral" from portraying a hood persona and having an apperance that does not "match up" to her behavior. I believe in order to go viral you must do something 1. totally unorthodox, 2.be very talented, 3. be very attractive or 4. do something others want to do but are too afraid to do.

Now it seems to be very easy to go viral. In order for a video to considered viral by some it must have at least 5 million views. I disagree. I believe a viral video in your community could consist of maybe 500 shares depending on the population but if majority of the community has seen it, it is considered viral. I have a highschool classmate who has capitalized off of making provocative dancing videos. She goes by the name of Ghetto Barbie. Ghetto Barbie fits into category 3. her appearance is attractive or appealing to her huge audience. Ghetto Barbie has also been scene on the biggest urban entertainment site WSHH. 

I also gathered some more reasons why things go viral on Forbes.com . Forbes suggest that these 6 things make a video go viral...

Keep it Short

The Twitter generation only uses 140 characters to communicate. Our attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, which means it’s time to tighten up your video content. A survey published in The New York Times found more than 19 percent of people had left a video after only 10 seconds. By a minute in, the video had lost a staggering 44 percent of viewers.

Since you’ll lose almost half of your audience by the end of minute one, put your most interesting, fascinating, funny, or surprising information first and foremost in your video. Creating viral video content is one place where you never want to save the best for last.

Be Upbeat

Jonah Berger, author of the book Contagious: Why Things Catch On, found the most highly sharable content tended to evoke strong emotions in the reader or viewer. And of those emotions, the most sharable content tended to be that which had a positive or upbeat note. Using empirical research, Berger and UPenn Professor Katherine Milkman found happy emotions tended to outperform sad emotions in the realm of sharability.

To be sharable, content needs to strike an emotional chord in viewers. These same viewers are more likely to share upbeat content, so if you want your videos to go viral, it’s important to strive for a positive spin.

Be Timely

If you want your videos to make the jump to virality, it might be time to brush up on your current events. By hooking into an existing Internet meme or popular topic, you increase the odds your content will be viewed and shared by those already interested in the topic.

This can be anything from a current event in the world, to a pop culture topic dominating the news. For example, just look at how many parodies of popular entertainment like Game of Thrones and Frozen exist on video channels. If you speak the same language as your target audience and present interest in the same topics, they’ll be more likely to share your content.

Be Involved

One of the keys to virality is engagement. Engaging with an audience can lead to loyalty and interest. After all, everyone likes to be heard. This is the approach taken by companies like Old Spice in several of advertising campaigns.

At one point, the Old Spice man, played by actor Isaiah Mustafa, answered fan questions on social media in short YouTube videos. Adding an engagement portion to your videos, like answering viewer questions, can give your content a boost and make it more sharable.

Be Informative

Your audience is always searching for new information and better ways to perform everyday tasks. If your video content is interesting and informative, it is also highly sharable. Everyone wants to learn something they didn’t already know, and videos can be a great tool for curating top-notch information.

At my company Pluto.TV, we curate the best videos for viewers, whether they’re looking for world news or cat videos. You need to take a similar approach to your videos, and curate the best and most informative content to surprise and inform your viewers.

Be Inspiring

By now, the incredible story of Upworthy’s success is old news. The site skyrocketed to more than six million unique page views per month in its first year, thanks in part to its famous (and infamous) headlines. Another reason is because the site looks to find inspiring stories to share with their large readership.

To get the viral edge you want, look for stories to inspire your readership, whether it’s a story of overcoming struggle, standing up in the face of adversity, or just finding success. Audiences love a good inspirational story, and the more inspirational it is, the more your audience will want to share it with others.

Creating viral videos isn’t easy -- if it was, every business would have a few viral hits. These six pieces of advice can help you improve your content’s sharability and quality, improving your odds at viral success.