Name: Carole Sanek
Website: http://carolesanek.com
Bio: Carole has worn many different career hats over time and while she enjoyed writing, it was something she thought was just fun to do. Then she found blogging. She started blogging 9 years ago, ahead of the masses, and she maintains 2 personal blogs and 1 business blog to this day. Both of her personal blogs have won awards. In 2012 she was awarded “One of 23 Best Breast Cancer Blogs” by healthline.com and in 2014 she was awarded “One of 60 Best Cancer Blogs” by delimmune.com Carole also blogs for clients. She has published articles in “The Official Menu Guide of Coastal Georgia” and in “Breast Cancer Wellness Magazine”.
Writing took off in a different direction for Carole when social media started to grow and she saw the potential for taking her writing in a new direction as a content creator. She opened her business The Social Butterfly Media Marketing LLC 1/11/11 and has assisted many clients in social media branding and social media PR. Now a new career hat is appearing on the horizon as Carole launches “The Crazy Marketing Ladies Show” with 4 other great women, where they will podcast all kinds of great marketing ideas and have great guest interviews with successful people whose marketing efforts got them where they are today.
Blogger since: 2005
Question #1: Thinking specifically about technology and tools – what is the one thing that has had a significant and positive impact on your success and in what way?
Being that I manage and monitor social media platforms for clients I have to say that the most significant tool I have in my tool box is Sprout Social. While it is not free it is easy on the eyes to use, I have used other similar programs, I just find this one to be perfect for my needs.
Question #2: Monetization or ROI. Few people blog just for the fun of it. Most have a very specific goal in mind. What’s the metric you use to determine if your blogging is reaching that goal?
Google Analytics tells me the who, what, where, and heading back to my favorite tool, Sprout Social, I can access my Google Analytics as well as client’s Google Analytics with Sprout Social. I also watch the reaction to my blogs when I post them to social media, especially Facebook. My reach when I share a blog increases significantly and while that is a non-analytical approach, it makes me feel good to see that.
Question #3: Getting the word out. As a blogger, writing is one thing. Content distribution is another. Do you follow a specific plan once the post is published to draw in more readers? Social media, newsletters, reposting…
Being a wordpress blogger jet pack revs it’s engines and sends my blogs to all my social media platforms. I use Sprout Social to create messages with a link back to my blog. I schedule these to go to Twitter. It takes me about 10 minutes to create these and schedule them, I change the wording around and let them fly. I also definitely send my blogs to Pinterest using the image inside the article. I had a newsletter, I took it down to revamp it, and it will be going back out soon and of course I always include a link back to my blog.
Question #4: How do you plan to grow? Continual growth is important. As it pertains to learning and staying on top of the business, what is it that you continuously do to ‘sharpen the saw’?
I attend 3 major conferences a year. Social Media Marketing World, New Media Expo (which is a combined conference in 2015 with National Association of Broadcasting, and Content Marketing World). I go to learn and more importantly to connect with thought leaders in the industry. This all lead me to partner with 4 other great women and we will be launching The Crazy Marketing Ladies Show in October, a pod cast devoted to crazy marketing and not-so-crazy marketing tips and ideas. I will be covering social media marketing, we have 2 marketing wonder-women, a networking queen and a photographer on board because we know the importance of images in marketing.
Question #5: Not looking for the “Abe Lincoln” answer, so Presidents, Candidates, Authors and Wayne Gretzky are out. Amongst your friends, coworkers, and others in your industry – who is it that your really admire? What is it about them (or their business)?
Who do I want to be when I grow up is more to the point of my answer. Coach Deb Cole is the person I most admire at this point in my life. She has also agreed to be on our pod cast, she is a young, vibrant entrepreneur and yes, a coach, and someone to watch. She is everything social media and I read everything she writes.
Pretty fabulous for a Butterfly, eh? 😉
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Mike Mueller
He's an avid hockey fan, rides a mountain bike, sometimes rides a road bike, has a few motorcycles (he had a really fast one, bought a cool orange one, rode a really slow one, and wants a really small one). If that isn't enough, he makes cheese and sourdough bread, loves strong beer and good red wine, and poorly plays the Mandolin.
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