#10-yr-old & chickens steal the social media show

 

Logan Citroen

Logan Citroen

Ten-year-old Logan Citroen and her Mill Valley Chickens were the hit on July’s social media panel benefiting Marin’s Center for Domestic Peace. The audience was small- and medium-sized business owners (SMB); Kathleen Nemetz, certified financial advisor for McClurg Capital and volunteer for the Domestic Peace Center, expertly moderated.

Yeah, I (K. T.), Smartnet Marketing, was on it too, along with Debra ArmstrongRenaissance Entrepreneurship CenterLiz MilksMollie Stone’sKathleen Mudge, consultant at CiscoWendy NogFuture Bright Interactive Media; and Stacie StrassbergFirst California Mortgage.

Logan, in my opinion, was arguably the most interesting on the panel, given that her Mill Valley Google+ page has garnered more than 23,000 views — and counting. Now, that’s what I call viral.

By reading the flier advertising the center’s event, you would’ve guessed only that she was a partner in an e-commerce business that raises backyard chickens for the growing number of farm-to-table consumers interested in not just understanding where their food comes from, but also in growing their own organic foods — or in this case, eating their own organic chickens’ eggs.

Logan and her mom, Leslie

Logan and her mom, Leslie

Kathleen Nemetz

Kathleen Nemetz

So my guess is that most of the audience, except Logan’s mom and partner, Leslie; and moderator Kathleen Nemetz, were as surprised as I was to see this tiny girl.

Her size and age may mask the possibility for her expertise in social media, but once she explained how her grade-5 class learned how to build a website for their PTA, the mask was off.

After the P.T.A. project, she helped her mom do the same for their backyard chicken business, Mill Valley Chickens and their product arm, Judy Chicken, which is their e-commerce site for all things chicken, ranging from coops and organic feed to rooster blackboards and little chickie salt and pepper shakers. In fact, they were featured on Eye on the Bay.

Logan continues, “So after we built the websites, we wanted to get into social media. And every time I turned around, my mom was saying, (she imitates her mom calling from the other room), ‘Logan, how do you do this on Facebook?’ Or ‘Logan, come here and help me with posting a video.’ Or ‘Logan, come here! How do I set up a page on Google+?’ Or ‘how do I put a photo up here?’”

She shrugs her shoulders, “So pretty soon, my mom decided to just hand over the whole social media thing to me.”

Logan’s pretty matter of fact about her role, but her expansive knowledge on navigating social media waters was impressive. I asked her later if she could explain her success. She says, “Well we helped to do a book called Hot Guys and Cute Chicks which brought in the BBC. It was male models with little fuzzy chicks. But I believe so many people have viewed our Google + page because it was written by a ten-year-old girl and that draws your attention. It also shows you more photos than writing and everyone on the panel was also saying that you need more photos on your page. Now my mom made the facebook account a while ago but it doesn’t have as many views because she is just writing not showing pictures.”

And there you have it. Logan was referring to what I call W.A.T. and explained as the Facebook algorithm, which gives a different value to different types of posts, vids and photos having the highest value (weight), the amount of engagement between sites (affinity), and what Facebook calls “decay” or the amount of (time) a post is there.

The other social media professionals on the panel also had lots to offer to an audience with varying levels of social media experience under their belts — ranging from not knowing what a post is, to an expert in SEO (search engine optimization).

Debra Armstrong

Debra Armstrong

Debra Armstrong is the Training Manager at Renaissance Marin, which is a nonprofit to help budding, diverse, and local entrepreneurs achieve financial independence; they have many resources for small businesses, including affordable as well as free classes and workshops that range in topic from  starting a business, management, and marketing to finance and data entry.

Liz Milks

Liz Milks

 

Liz Milks, Content Strategist at Mollie Stone’s, made it sound pretty simple and affordable when she gave the audience ideas of some inexpensive promotions they can offer. And she also emphasized the need to engage with and reward your social media audience — hers have become her best advocates for Mollie Stones, even the one who initially had a complaint.

Kathleen Mudge

Kathleen Mudge

Kathleen Mudge, social media marketing manager, consultant at Cisco, advised on topics such as follow through: like analytics; and the imperative to respond to folks who are engaging with you on your social media channels. She also cautioned that when outsourcing social media, you should keep a close eye on the content the company uses for you. She had a breakout session on Twitter 101.

Wendy Nog

Wendy Nog

 

Wendy Nog, Future Bright, had extensive knowledge of websites and generously provided a handout that outlined everything a website needs to have. Yikes! Nearly forty requirements!

Stacie Strasberg

Stacie Strasberg

 

 

Stacie Strasberg, First California Mortgage, addressed other uses for social media, even if all of your clients are referrals and provided some tips on how to find information that is relative to your clients. What would help them?

 

I cautioned folks to think first about their 6-month objectives and which channels can help with those — because, as with all marketing, strategy radiates out from business objectives.

All of the people on the panel talked about how imperative it is to not PITCH on social media channels. People are looking for information, not buying product here. Not even chickens.

This reminds me; Logan added a whole new meaning to the slang word for people — peeps. And I think Logan is her mom Leslie Citroen’s Golden Egg; in this case, the egg came after her mama chicken.

I for one am going to stay tuned to see what Logan Citroen is doing 15 years from now.  How about you?

Thanks for reading, K. T. www.smartnet-marketing.com, masters certification in social media from Market Motive.

K. T. (Karen Taggart)

K. T.
(Karen Taggart)

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