Natalie Morris Morris MC

Not just another insurance guy

Natalie MMC — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 03:14:55 +0000

So I go to a lot of networking events, and I meet a lot of people. The truth of the matter is most people go to networking events to do one of two things.

Catch up with people they already know
Meet people who want to buy their products.

Of course there are different types of networking events, some are designed for passing referrals, others are educational, others are purely networking. I try to balance mine out.

When I first started going to networking events my goal was to sell my services, however I really hate selling, so I decided to be lazy and just go to meet new people. Once I started meeting all these new people and since I didn't have an agenda I was able to really get to know them. I started listening to their needs and found that I had all sorts of connections that I could make.

Of course that's what everyone says! I know that I have heard that 100 times, there are even those people who will set up an appointment with you to "get to know you better" only to have you trapped in a Panera's to listen to their sales pitch!

Even though I am suspicious of this "trick" I completely believe in getting to know people better. So I am willing to take the chance.

So here's my story. In my Grow NEO networking group one of the insurance agents asked if we could get together to "get to know each other". I must admit the flags went up, but we were meeting on my side of town and only for an hour so I figured it was worth a try.

Well I was pleasantly surprised! Jeremy Soditch is an insurance agent for New York Life who really does understand the meaning of customer service. He was completely interested in what I had to say and didn't push his services on me at all. We spent the vast majority of our time together discussing how he can use Social Media to help his clients.

The tag line on the bottom of his e-mail says "I am passionately committed to protecting families, and increasing the standard of living and the quality of life for my clients" and I can honestly say I believe him. So if you are in need of a great insurance agent who really does care, I would recommend Jeremy J. Soditch an agent for New York Life jsoditch@ft.newyorklife.com.

Natalie Morris
Morris MC, Ltd
nmorris @morrismc.com
www.morrismc.com
www.myteamsocialmedia.com

Looking For A Change?

Natalie MMC — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:57:59 +0000

Every few years I find myself itching for a change. Each change ends up enhancing my life and making me happier, however often the courage required to make that change takes me weeks, months, or even years to build up! It sometimes requires that I do a lot of research, some times I need to talk to everyone I know to get their opinion, sometimes it's just lengthy conversations with myself. Sometimes its obvious that the benefits will out weigh the risks, but sometimes it's not.

But no matter what, I know that "I need a change".

Let's focus on Jobs. So often we find ourselves going from opportunity to opportunity, without ever really being in control of our destiny. Yes you may be great at selling insurance but is that where you want to be in 30 years? Yes, you may be making great money at your job, but do you really want to spend 80% of your time traveling? Yes, you may have great benefits and a stable income but do you really want to be behind the scenes forever?

Do you like your industry?
Do you like your company?
Do you like your job?
Do you like who you work with for/with?
Do you like who you are?
Do you like who you are becoming?

If you don't know, consider joining our Career Launch Spring Workshop Series.

Fast Focus Career's spring workshop is a three-session workshop series that helps people identify well-suited careers tailored to their strengths and interests.

The Career Launch Workshop Series runs Feb.27, March 6 and March 13. It is designed to help professionals go from underemployed to super-employed. You will dig deeper to explore and uncover different possibilities and new job fields matched to YOU.

By matching skills, interests and passions to a person’s job, one can dramatically: Accelerate career advancement, derive real joy from work, work effectively within organizations, increase sales, service, technology performance, find a meaningful career.

I will be speaking at the last seminar on using Social Media to enhance your career goals.

http://events.linkedin.com/Career-Launch-Spring-Workshop/pub/222030

Starts:	Saturday February 27, 2010, 09:00AM
Ends:	Saturday March 13, 2010, 09:00AM
Event Type:	Training/Seminar
Location:	Corporate College East 4400 Richmond Rd Warrensville Heights, OH 44122 US
Price:	http://www.fastfocuscareers.com
Website:	http://www.mimivanderhaven.com/boutique/307
Industry:	professional training
Keywords:	employment, careers, workshop, advancement, jobs
Intended For:	Professionals
Organization:	Fast Focus Careers

Hope to see you there!

Natalie

http://www.morrismc.com
http://www.myteamsocialmedia.com

Making a list and checking it twice

Natalie MMC — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:53:31 +0000

Ever wonder how Santa visited all those children in only one night? It's because he made a list and stuck to it!

Often I get into conversations where I find my self explaining to people how easy it is to manage their time. All you need is a list and a little commitment and you will be able to get anything done. The conversation goes back and forth between their argument that they don't have enough "time" and my argument that with a list you "make" the time.

Unfortunately I have to admit that there are times that I do the same thing! My snag is my customers' needs always come first. If they need an article written, and update made, or they just have a question then I drop what I am doing and work with them…. even though their problem was not on my list. I find myself checking my e-mail every 15 minutes to be sure I'm not missing anything. Then the next thing I know the day has gone by, I have been working frantically all the time, and nothing on my list is done.

I usually pull myself back in-line when I have 10 things that NEED to get done NOW and seriously I don't have the time. But I put it in my list, and I stick to only completing those items and nothing else, and it always amazes me how quickly, and easily things get done! Now don't get me wrong, my action item list is probably 40-60 items long at any given day. However many of those items are not critical, or urgent so they can be done at a later date. The items that are critical and urgent are the ones that get put on my #1 list. This list then sits right next to me on my desk and every time I look over it's there.

The same thing works for Social Media. If you need to get started here's what you need to do:

Create a 30 day Social Media Plan- now this isn't necessarily something you will get done in one month, if you update your social media 3 times a week it will take you 2 and a half months, but at least you will always know what the next step is. Each "day" should be a manageable amount of time. I recommend 10-40 minutes for people starting out.
Create a Social Media Calendar- When are you committing to doing each step? Remember it's only 10 minutes, you can do it.
Find someone who will "follow up" with you regularly so that you feel accountable. Missing one day, or being a little late is acceptable, not doing anything for a month… well that's whey your buddy will give you a hard time.

Go ahead and make the time to write your plan. Make the time to put it in your calendar. Be accountable. And most importantly have fun!

Natalie Morris,

http://www.mysocialmediateam.com
http://www.morrismc.com

Social Media Seminars

Natalie MMC — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:57:41 +0000

So every time I go to a social media seminar I have waves of emotions. When the presenter stands up and starts talking about how easy social media is I think, "maybe I shouldn't be in this business"… "If anyone can do it why would they hire me?" When they talk about all the free tools… I think "why would someone pay me?" Then as the presentation goes on and he or she starts getting into the nitty gritty and starts really diving into some of the details and I look around and see the blank stares, looks of utter confusion, or sometimes complete fear I feel better! "People DO need me!"

I went to a COSE seminar today where Sage Lewis gave a very energetic presentation on Social Media. I learned allot, and was reminded of the importance of many other things I had put on the back burner.

The two points he stressed most - even if you decide NOT to use social media in your business are these:

Set up a Google Alerts to monitor what other people are saying about you and your business http://www.google.com/alerts.
Get a Social Media Policy in place so that if something happens you will at least have something in place to fall back on.

A few other points he made that I found helpful are here:

People buy from people they know - Social Media makes that possible over the Internet
Social Media is primarily used for branding and customer retention, however with proper management it can lead to sales
You MUST be excited about what you are doing for social media to work
If you don't want to do Social Media then don't - there is no moral obligation to being connected

If you want to read some of the tweet notes and get the links go to Twitter and search #COSE or go here http://twitter.com/#search?q=%23cose

If you want to see some businesses that are using Social Media check out Sage's Delicious Social Business Page http://delicious.com/sagerock/social-business

Have a terrific day!

Natalie

Natalie Morris/McAninchMorris MC, Ltdnmorris@morrismc.com www.morrismc.com www.myteamsocialmedia.com Cell: 440.552.0131HO: 440-247-7117

So You Fell Off the Social Media Wagon

Natalie MMC — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 15:19:21 +0000

Don't feel bad we all fall off the Social Media wagon once in a while. I missed last week entirely and this entry is 4 days late for this week. Things come up and we get distracted. The phone rings and we take the call instead of writing our blog, or for me I do a client's Social Media before my own. Or sometimes it's more serious, we had a death in the family which caused everything to go haywire, but we prioritized and of course visiting relatives took priority over writing a blog

So the big question is what do you do about it? Just like any resolution, if you don't jump right back on you are going to get left behind in the dust!

Blogs are conversations, journals, tell people what you are thinking and offer them your insight. I am thinking that even though I missed my blog, and was late for this one, I still made the time to do it now. So you can too! Don't get discouraged, don't give up!

Maybe you need to rethink the time you are trying to put into it. If you are trying to do too much too soon then step back. Maybe all you need to do is add one connection a week to your LinkedIn account. Maybe all you need to do is spend 15 minutes a week getting familiar with Facebook.

Do you need more than that? Do you need more than you are able to do? Don't feel bad, a lot of people do. That's why I'm in business as well as thousands of other ghost writers. If you are having car problems you take your vehicle to the shop, you take your dog to the vet, you take your taxes to the accountant. So why are you trying to do your Social Media alone?

Need help? Please contact me,

Natalie

nmorris@morrismc.com
Cell: 440.552.0131
www.myteamsocialmedia.com
www.morrismc.com

Keeping on track

Natalie MMC — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 21:01:34 +0000

With the snow falling outside and no sun to be seen for days on end one would think writing blogs would be easy. However, somehow this winter has become busier than most summers! Taking up ski instructing again didn't help the time issue, but it sure does help the mental "stuck in the house" feeling you get after a few days of bad weather. Bad weather? Not when you are a skier, this constant dumping of snow - is beautiful in my eyes!

So what are you going to blog, tweet, and update today? If you only have a few minutes don't skip it, just do what you can, and be done with it.

Have we discussed Hootesuite yet? There are a lot of tools out there that allow you to manage many Social Media venues with one tool. Hootesuite is the one I have been using for about a month or so, and so far I feel pretty comfortable with it. The best feature is you can schedule your updates and select where they go. Do you just want to tweet it, or do you want it to go to Face-book and LinkedIn too?

The tool is very straight forward, create an account sign into your Social Media accounts and your off!

Type in a tweet.
Use the Social Media Networks buttons to choose where it will go.
Use the "Shrink It" tool to automatically shrink your URLs.
Click the "Send Later" button to schedule when you want it to go out.

Use the dashboard at the bottom to monitor streams, check stats, and update your settings. It's all quite simple, however, it is NOT fool proof, or completely reliable. Be sure to check often that the posts are being sent out when and where you think. I have personally had issues with my Face-book account, but despite the lack of perfection, it makes the whole process much easier!

Thanks and have fun Hooting!

Natalie

http://www.morrismc.com

Tis the Season for Resolutions!

Natalie MMC — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 15:23:21 +0000

Now the holidays are over, and reality is setting in again. If you are anything like me today feels a little fuzzy and another cup of coffee may be in the near future. However through that "back to morning" fog I am excited! A New Year has begun and it's time for change!!

I have discovered over the past few years that some people like change and some people don't. And strangely I have discovered - or maybe re-discovered - that I do like change! There is a certain comfort in knowing exactly what your future holds, however as many of us have seen over the past year even the most stable of futures can easily be toppled if the economy, health, or other circumstances choose another route for us.

If we accept change as a good thing, then those circumstances won't throw us for quite as much of a loop and we can recover and more than likely be better off. Whatever my future holds I am looking forward to it!

Now that doesn't mean not to bother with a plan! Resolve to change your life, resolve to make more of your like, resolve to enjoy the things that you should be enjoying. Friends, family, health, and personal growth are so often forgotten and or at the least put on the back burner so that we can burn the candle at both of the the proverbial ends.

Each of us has many faces that we wear, write down all of our "faces" and decide which is most important to you. Once you get your identities straight decide what you want to accomplish with each one this year. Be as specific but as reasonable as possible.

Here are a few of mine:

Individual - as a person I resolve to be healthy this year, I will continue my journey with Weight Watchers and loose 2 lbs a month for the next 4 months to reach my goal.
Wife - as a partner in our relationship I resolve to ensure that my husband and I are always on the same page and that both of our voices are heard and understood.
Business Partner - I resolve to communicate with my clients, past, present, and future, on a monthly basis to ensure an open line of communication.
Ski Instructor - as a ski instructor I resolve to provide my students and fellow instructors with as much time as I can spare.
Networker - as a member of many different networking organizations I resolve to make at least one introduction a week and I will strive to make 1 a day (so if you are looking for someone or something please let me know ).

I have a quite a few other faces that I wear and that are important to me but that is just a quick set of examples. If you set goals, especially one's that you can reach you are much more likely to reach them.

If you Fail to Plan - You Plan to Fail

Next week we will discuss setting Social Media Goals.

Have a wonderful week recovering from the holidays!!

Natalie Morris

www.morrismc.com

Social Media in the Eldercare Industry

Natalie MMC — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 16:03:44 +0000

For those of you who are following my weekly posts - So you need a plan - you have your accounts set up, you reviewed you weekly events, important dates, etc and now you need to write a blog. So what do you write about? Go back to you list and see what are you doing? I am giving a presentation to the University Hospitals Bedford Senior Network at the January meeting. I have an outline complete and just need to work on an intro and a conclusion.

How Social Media works in the Eldercare Industry

First let me do a quick overview of the primary Social Media venues

LinkedIn - Corporate, professional networking community. People in this group are primarily interested in business related information.
Facebook - Personal, social networking community. People in this group are primarily interested in entertainment and connecting with friends and family.
Twitter - Primarily young tech savvy individuals, professional and personal, as well as everything else.
Blogs- Most people follow bloggers that are providing them with information they are looking for - either personal or professional
You -Tube - Great venue for providing information to individuals who prefer not to read or where a personal/emotional connection is required

So the overwhelming question I get from the eldercare realm is how can social media help my business, my industry, my facility, how can social media help me?

Every business is going to be different but here are a few ideas for using social media in the eldercare industry.

Use LinkedIn and Facebook to invite the community, residents, family, or friends to upcoming events.
Use LinkeIn's Events Module to post Continuing Education seminars your facility is hosting
Drive people to your website by update your status with links to important documents on your website
Search LinkedIn "Answers" for questions you can provide more expert information on
Use You-Tube to talk to visitors who may find reading difficult
Use You-Tube to answer common questions for those who may be intimidated or embarasses - be friendly and approachable
Use Facebook's fan page to keep families involved with your residents - let them know what's going on, and how they can become involved.

The next big question I get, and sometime I think I should get this one more is how to handle Social Media in the work place. There are a few major areas that you need to think about - especially if you have "patients"

HIPPA compliant - Social media regarding residents have completely different rules than those regarding patients
Policies for using social media in regards TO the work place - can employees talk about work when they are off the clock? If you don't have a published policy in place then it might be too late if something does happen. Are you sure your employees would make the same judgement call you would?
Policies for using social media IN the work place - with the Internet in people's pocket, and social media being one of the most common forms of communication for the younger generation, what is you policy for employees using technology in the work place? Don't wait until there is a problem.
Monitoring what other people are saying about your company - Of course it's impossible to watch everything on the Internet but by using Google Alerts you can at least have an idea if people are using you or your company's name directly in the media.

Social Media is definitely here to stay, the changes it has made are a revolutionary to the way people communicate, it is now up to you to manage how it affects you.

Be sure to visit us again next week!

Natalie

http://www.morrismc.com

http://www.myteamsocialmedia.com

So how's the plan going?

Natalie MMC — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 18:01:18 +0000

Hopefully you read last week's post and are on your way to being a Social Media Star!

Still need some help?

If you didn't do anything yet at least set up one profile. Since most of my clients are professionals let's start with LinkedIn.

For now all you need is the basic information that LinkedIn asks for, just fill in the questions and your new profile will be ready to use. You will want to go back to your setting sand update them to be more precise, but for now just get an account set up.

Now go to your calendar and see what you have scheduled for this week, here's what I have:

Monday

work on my business process
work on my weekly calendar
write blog
riding party at stables

Tuesday

UH Bedford Senior Network Holiday Party
Andrews Moving - schedule meeting with Sue
CERT Party

Wednesday

My weight watchers meeting
Make cookies with mom

Thursday

Check to see if Alpine Valley is open for the season!

Friday

Lakewood Chamber of Commerce

OK so that's pretty much a quick overview of the scheduled items in my calendar. As you may be able to tell, not all of those items need to be shared with my LinkedIn community. Below is what I will share and when

Monday - Blog
Tuesday - UH Bedford Senior Network Holiday Party
Wednesday - nothing yet…
Thursday - nothing yet…
Friday - Lakewood Chamber of Commerce

Now I need some information for Wednesday and Thursday…

January 19th I am speaking at the UH Bedford network so I will use that to fill the spaces, I will also mention the chamber meeting on Thursday and the UH party on Monday, and mention my blog a couple more times if possible.

So here is my tweeting schedule:

Monday - Blog
Tuesday - UH Bedford Senior Network Holiday Party
Wednesday - Mention speaking engagement
Thursday - Lakewood Chamber of Commerce - mention Blog
Friday - Mention Speaking engagement - Mention Chamber meeting
Saturday - Mention Speaking engagement

And Here are my Tweets:

Monday PM - just finished writing this week's blog! "So how's the plan going?" A follow up to "So you need a plan… Don't we all" http://ow.ly/LYmM
Tuesday AM - Looking forward to the UN Bedford Senior Network Holiday Party! For more info - http://morrismc.com/info.html
Tuesday PM - don't forget to check out my blog "So how's the plan going?" A follow up to "So you need a plan… Don't we all" http://ow.ly/LYmM
Wednesday AM - Want to know more about Social Media in the elder-care industry? Come to the Jan UH Bedford Senior Network - http://morrismc.com/info.html
Thursday AM - Looking forward to the Lakewood Chamber Meeting tomorrow at 11:30 http://morrismc.com/info.html
Thursday PM - don't forget to check out my blog "So how's the plan going?" A follow up to "So you need a plan… Don't we all" http://ow.ly/LYmM
Friday AM - Looking forward to the Lakewood Chamber Meeting today at 11:30 http://morrismc.com/info.html
Friday PM - Want to know more about Social Media in the elder-care industry? Come to the Jan UH Bedford Senior Network - http://morrismc.com/info.html

Now all I have to do it drop these in my LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook (if I want) on the days, and times I have scheduled.

As an FYI - there are tools that will schedule these posts for you, however be very AWARE they need to be closely monitored and do not work as consistency as expected. That will be another blog

So you need a plan… Don't we all

Natalie MMC — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:15:16 +0000

One of the most common questions I get about social media is "Yeah but, what should I DO?"

First of all social media isn't about writing a 4 page dissertation on the molecular significance of the bouncy ball. If you wouldn't talk about it at a networking event then you probably don't need to add it to your social media plan.

Second, social media isn't about adding anything to add anything, it's about providing useful information to people. In other wordsif you wouldn't talk about it at a networking event then you probably don't need to add it to your social media plan. OK those were the same words…

What you should do:

Set up a blog, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter account
Dedicate 1 hour at the beginning of the week to social media. During that hour:
1. Write a blog about your upcoming week
2. Write a tweet about your blog with a link to your blog
3. Copy the tweet to your LinkedIn status
4. Copy the tweet to your Facebook page
5. Write 5 specific tweets about your week (see below)
Dedicate 10 minutes every morning to update your profiles with the tweets you wrote at the beginning of the week (see above)
1. If you have an important meeting
2. If you are going to a networking event
3. If you are going to a fundraiser
4. A proposal you sent out
5. A new service you are offering
6. A date your readers should remember (i.e. tax day)
7. New legislation that may affect your readers
8. etc.
Dedicate 1 hour in the middle of the week to update your profiles
1. Add new connections
2. Ask and Answer questions
3. Comment on/to other people
4. Join groups and fan pages
5. Join discussions

That's it. That's all you need to do to get started in Social Media. Now once you get started you will need to tweak what you are doing. Maybe LinkedIn doesn't work for your business, maybe Facebook takes up WAY too much time for you, maybe your target audience thinks tweets are for birds. But this will get you started and will only require about 3 hours a week.

Have a terrific day!

Natalie Morris

http://www.morrismc.com