Jun 4, 2014
Erik
Deckers is the owner and President
of Professional Blog Service in
Indianapolis. He has been blogging since 1997, and has been a
published writer for more than 24 years. He has been a newspaper
humor columnist for 17 years, and is published in 10 newspapers
around Indiana. He is also an award-winning playwright, both for
stage and radio theatre. Erik is the author of books:
Branding Yourself: How to Use Social Media to Invent or Reinvent Yourself (2nd Edition)
No Bullshit Social Media: The All-Business, No-Hype Guide to Social Media Marketing
NBN14 Show Notes
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Erik begins by talking about his latest book, The Owned Media Doctrine.
Owned, Earned and Paid Media
In the owned media world, large corporations should be employing a newsroom model of operation to create all of their content.
Most companies are trying to push their message and not give what their customers want.
Educate the customers on the problems they have and “we” can solve their problems.
Journalists continue to be laid off, and new graduates replace them being paid far less.
Journalism as a career.
Many journalists don’t realize how many opportunities exist in PR and marketing agencies.
Erik tells the story of how he became a humor columnist. It began with being uncomfortable with anger and a letter to NPR.
My interview with David Hooper about reinvention.
How Erik used social media to reinvent himself.
Erik used the Rainmakers group (a referral network) and Indiana Chamber of Commerce to meet new people and grow his network.
He would then set up coffee meetings.
Erik belonged to SmallerIndiana, a Ning social network (defunct).
Erik went from the “direct mail guy” to the “blogging guy”.
In 2009, after Erik was laid off, he started working for Professional Blog Service. He later became the owner of the company.
Have several irons in the fire, so that one of those irons will get hot enough at just the right time.
Erik explains what people are doing wrong on social media.
The selfie is the pinnacle of how self-centered we have become.
90% of what you are talking about (especially on Twitter) should be about somebody else.
Always try to share the author of the article you are sharing via social.
Eric shares writing secrets. Metaphors rule, but similes will do in a pinch.
Pens VS. Pencils.
Twitter and LinkedIn are the best ways to meet people locally. Follow it up with coffee.
App Recommendation: Evernote app. He uses it for idea creation, to-do lists, and accounting.
Book Recommendation: Once More Around the Park: A Baseball Readerby Roger Angell.
Contact: Follow Erik on Twitter @edeckers. Check out his humor blog aterikdeckers.com.