You are visiting an old blog site of mine that has plenty of archived material.  Feel free to roam around.

Also please visit my real home online (since October 2011) at https://www.scotthoward.me/

There are weekly updates and a weekly podcast plus you can sign up for the free SoundADvice marketing tips newsletter.

ScLoHo is alive and living at...

Here we are approaching the year 2016 in a few short weeks and as I promised a few years ago, I am not posting on this blog anymore except for updates and reminders like this one.

No, I didn't quit.  In 2011 I stepped up to a full website and continue to publish 5 days a week at http://www.scotthoward.me/ 

This blog and most of the other content on the other ScLoHo blogs live on at http://www.scotthoward.me/.

The new site won an award in 2015 too.

And if you want to know more about me, here's a place to start.


ScLoHo is Scott Howard, with a couple decades of media and marketing experience.

The 2014 Update

Here we are in the final month of summer, 2014 and I thought it was time to at least toss an update on this blog.

In October 2011, while working for a website development firm, I launched a new site of my own and consolidated all of my blog activities to one spot on the web.

In the past 3 years I also managed all the social media for an international party supplies and their multiple brands which gave me the hands on experience on a professional level.  If you do it right, you are always on the clock, monitoring and replying to your fans and customers along with the complainers, haters and spammers.  It really wasn't my long term cup of tea, but it was a fantastic experience and I was paid to have fun and experiment.

As 2013 came to a close, I was back in my favorite profession, radio advertising and marketing but this time I also have a sister company that does all kinds of web stuff that I can also hook you up with.

If you want more info on what I'm up to, visit my website at http://www.scotthoward.me/

The Annual Update

Here we are in the summer of 2013 and although I am no longer updating this site with the regularity I did for several years, I wanted to bring you up to date.

In 2011, I launched another site as my homesite and you can find it under at http://www.scotthoward.me/.

In February 2013, I walked away from the traditional media world and took a position with  http://www.shindigz.com/ and http://www.stumpsparty.com/ as the  SOCIAL MEDIA MAGICIAN FROM THE LAND OF SCLOHO. Really, that's what it says on my business card.  Facebook, Pinterest, Google Plus, Twitter and a bunch of blogs, (along with other secret projects) are under my direction.

Want more info?  Go here: http://www.scotthoward.me/about/  and here: http://about.me/scloho . Cheers!

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, with a couple decades of media and marketing experience.
You can contact him here:

So, what's new?

ScLoHo's Social Media Adventure lives on at http://www.scotthoward.me/ , except it's called ScLoHo's Web World.

It's not being updated multiple times a week like I used to on this site.

ScLoHo's Web World  is one of the categories on my website.

In April 2012, I returned to the radio business and am focusing my energies on that part of my life.

I plan on keeping this site alive as an archive and will occasionally repost some articles on the new website.

Over 12,000 articles from 2004 thru 2011 appeared on this site and my other blogs.  That's an average of 33 per week.  All while working full time.
Starting June 18th, I am doing 5 updates a week.  That is 250 per year. Still a lot.  Join me over there and on Twitter too at @ScLoHo.

The New ScLoHo Website

On Sunday October 2, 2011, I launched a new website, Scott Howard aka ScLoHo at http://www.scotthoward.me/ .

While I set up domain redirects for the 4 separate blog sites, like this one, you will most likely need to resubscribe to the RSS and newsletter feeds on the new site.

Why the move? Here's the answer = http://www.scotthoward.me/2011/10/03/welcome-to-the-new-scloho/


:)

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

ReBranding ScLoHo.. Stupid or Brilliant?

My wife said to me the other day, "You are nuts, don't listen to what Kevin says."

I had to ask her what she was talking about because, she just walked into the room and those were the first words out of her mouth.

Turns out she had just read what I posted on one of my other blogs earlier this week.

On Monday, I announced to readers and subscribers of my personal blog, ScLoHo's Really? that I was about to make a transition in my online activities. Read what I wrote there if you want.

Now my wife Kathy is a typical baby boomer who has her Facebook account and she has her Face to Face Life, and that about sums up her social networking.
Uh, don't go looking for a social media network called Face to Face Life. Face to Face life is what we did before the internet, and what most of us still do.

Anyway, here's the scoop:

This weekend I am launching a new website that will combine the 4 separate blog sites onto one website.

Blogger by Google has been my primary home for all of my blogs, even though I bought domains for each of them.

And I used to tell people to Google "ScLoHo" and you'll find 200,000 links to me.

Google "Scott Howard" and as of yesterday I was on the first page for my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.

Due to my presence in both the Social Media world as ScLoHo and the Face to Face Life as Scott Howard, I've been working at merging the two.

One of the key elements that I have learned since joining Cirrus is the importance of being found online when someone doesn't know your business name.

For those of you that remember phone books, ever try and find a plumber in the white pages?
Unless you know the name of the company, you're out of luck.

You'd look in the Yellow Pages.

Most of us look for answers by typing in keyword phrases until we find the answer we are looking for online via Search. We don't type in exact business names because we don't know until we search to see has the answers.

In many ways, Search Engines have replaced Yellow Pages.

This idea has been in my mind for a few years and as I take this last step (for now) it is the most aggressive change and required the most work from me, mainly due to having to learn more than I really wanted to learn about building a website on Wordpress.

As I have compared the Wordpress platform and support to what we offer at Cirrus ABS, I am now even a bigger believer in the Cirrus Content Management System.

One of the key elements that I have learned since joining Cirrus is the importance of being found online when someone doesn't know your business name.

The new website is already in use with 100 + articles available and next weeks updates are partially scheduled.

I am hoping not to break anything over the weekend. A few domain redirects, links to the archives which will still be hosted on blogger.com and a few more widgets, gadgets, gizmo's and gobbledegook, and all will be up and running.

ScLoHo is not going away as I explained to my wife, and I don't blindly follow the advice of Kevin or Seth, or anyone else, and I urge you to do your own exploring too as you continue on your Social Media Adventure.

:)

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

The Real Power of Social Media-4

Instead of focusing on one individual today, I have three more that came to mind as I was writing this series. While there are numerous others that I am sure are also making a difference, here are 3 that I have met that are not national celebs but are using Social Media to have an impact in real life in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

These include:

Andrew Hoffman. Andrew's background in the marketing world connected him to an organization called NeighborLink. Andrew is now the executive director and has used social media to promote the faith based volunteer organization that connects local people with needs with neighbors who can help. Check out their website.

Andrew also has been using his social media experience and connections with his alma mater, Huntington University. In January 2010 and 2011, he taught a class that introduced students to the power of Social Media and the impact they can have. This fall he has expanded that to a fall semester class.

Craig Crook. Among the notable things Craig has done recently was organize a TedX event which was an out growth of being a Linchpin. This isn't any easy accomplishment but it took someone like Craig to step forward and start the ball rolling.

Heather Schoegler also comes to my mind as someone who is highly involved in using Social Media as a tool to have an impact on real life. When you visit her twitter profile and see the multitude of ways she is connecting, you'll see why she was on my short list today.

I encourage you to connect with these folks yourself.

Tomorrow, an announcement of a big change.

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

The Real Power of Social Media-3

There are so many stories I could share regarding the Real Power of Social Media, and today and tomorrow I have two more.

Amber Recker is one of the ladies in Fort Wayne that uses Social Media to bring about real life changes.

When I met Amber via Twitter, I didn't realize that we already were 2nd degree connections on several levels.

1st of all, Amber's main paying gig these days is Director of Marketing & Development for Cancer Services of Northeast Indiana. This organization impacted my family when my Dad had cancer.

The next connection is via the Fort Wayne Derby Girls. One of my former co-workers at ROCK 104, JJ Fabini is also involved with the Derby Girls and friends with Amber and her husband Jon.

Amber is using her connections with these two organizations for the Bust A Move event this weekend.

And Amber started a summer series which has continued into the fall that combines Social Media, Food and Fundraising. Details on the October event are here.

I could continue with other events that Amber is involved with but one that I'll leave you with just one more. This year Amber decided to organize a Girls Night Out on a regular basis. My daughter Rachael finally got to go this month and here's her reaction.

Amber is one of those people I know that is demonstrating the Real Power of Social Media.

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

The Real Power of Social Media-2

Continuing my focus on the Real Power of Social Media, today I am going to introduce you to Randy Clark, another friend of mine who has had a tremendous impact on my life as well as many, many others.

In January of this year I was asked to be one of the panelists for the Social Media Breakfast in Fort Wayne and one of the other panelists was Randy.

Randy made the drive in the middle of a January snowstorm the night before from Indianapolis and that face to face connection has led to multiple life changing events.

I knew Randy somewhat via Twitter, and was invited to join him for an event he started called a Friend-Up in Indianapolis.

Randy's Friend-Up has become a monthly event that I started attending in April. Randy has mixed the Face to Face with Social by using a web service Posterous where notes are posted so those who were not able to attend in person can still see what's going on.

22 of Randy's friends are in this group and there are others not in the social media group who also attend the monthly gathering when they can.

It was my first visit to this group in April with just 5 of us that lead to my career move due to the sharing both in-person and on-line. And this summer I invited my brother in law who lives in Indy to join us and as a result, he ended up with some additional contacts and paying projects.

Randy Clark is under the radar of Twitter and Social Media Celebrities, but he is certainly demonstrating the Real Power of Social Media.

Okay, time for a confession. That last line was a not so subtle play on words that friends only friends of Randy would catch. Along with everything else that Randy does, he is also a member of the band Under The Radar. Check out their videos.

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

The Real Power of Social Media-1

On Friday, I used Seth Godin as an example of the danger elevating individuals beyond the level of their expertise.

This week, I am going to shine the spotlight a few people that I know that are using Social Media as a tool to accomplish a greater good, other than elevating themselves.

Quite frankly there are dozens of others, but when I was contemplating this subject, 6 friends whom I have met via Twitter came to mind.

Kevin Mullett. I either first met Kevin face to face at a Social Media Breakfast in Fort Wayne or at a Tweet-Up. I was a web amateur with a few blogs and was just starting to earn some residual income from some of the pay-per-click ads that the Forbes Network placed on one of my sites.

Kevin is dynamic, knowledgeable, outspoken, gracious, and humble at the same time. He is a professional in the web world. He works for Cirrus ABS as their Director of Product Development and was the one who actively recruited me to join the Cirrus team this year. This picture of Kevin was snapped as we were having lunch in May talking about the opportunity.

One example of what Kevin does to keep social media "social" is what is going on tomorrow.

The Social Media Breakfast in Fort Wayne that I previously mentioned was launched locally by people who where not actively using social media and within a few months last year, it died due to lack of interest, lack of promotion and a lack of understanding.

Kevin was then asked to revive it and he has done so with a gusto that it really needed.
But Kevin has been careful to make it an "open event".
That means it is not sponsored by Cirrus ABS.

Tomorrow is our September Social Media Breakfast Fort Wayne. It is always the last Tuesday of the month with signups for tickets via EventBrite. We have sold out of the 70 free tickets every month for the last several months.

Kevin has lined up speakers, panels, and drawn together people in the Fort Wayne area of various levels of knowledge and this face to face interaction is one example of the Real Power of Social Media.

Friday, I'll be sharing something that Kevin has challenged me to do.



ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

Seth Godin is Full of ...

Seth Godin is a bald blowhard without an original idea in his round little head.

Seth Godin is a marketing genius.

Seth Who?

Opinions.

We all have them, even Seth.

Those three statements I have heard this year from 3 different friends.

Seth is one of a about a hundred who have used the internet to enhance his empire.

He is not on Twitter, well not really. His blog, which is updated at least once a day automatically sends out a tweet. ThisIsSethsBlog twitter account has over 112,000 followers.

He does not follow people on Twitter, he does not allow comments on his blog.

So I wonder, should we pay attention to what he has to say about Social Media, if he isn't using it to be social?

Take for example this post from a few days ago:

"Yet"

Here's a way to figure out if it pays to adopt a new technology.

When you talk about your market or your peers, do you say, "no one is using it..." or "no one is using it yet"?

Yet implies inevitability. If they're going to use it, it might make sense to get there before they do.

[Worth considering: The difference between a technology where getting in early pays dividends, and those that don't. For example, having a website or a blog or a Twitter account early can help, because each day you add new users and fans.

QR codes, on the other hand, don't reward those that get in the ground floor. You can always start tomorrow.]

Here we have someone with a lot of influence, talking about things that he doesn't use, at least in the manner that it was designed.



Personally, I have several of his books. I've even read a few of them. And on one of my other blogs, I post a Sunday Seth which is a bit of Seth wisdom.

My advice is simple.

Listen to lot's of different ideas and opinions and then do what you want.

Yes, learn from others, but don't become a disciple of just one person, even if his name has God in it.

Next week I will feature 6 people I know personally who are demonstrating the Real Power of Social Media.


ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

Illustration source: http://blaugh.com/2007/02/27/thinking-like-seth-godin/

Living the Revolution

When I launched this website I included this video:

Here's why we should care about Social Media:



ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

3 Reasons Social Media Isn't Enough (Part 3)

Reason #3 today might fly in the face of advice I've offered in the past.

I have suggested, no, urged you to register your name on as many Social Media Channels as possible to protect your brand.

And I still advocate that with a disclaimer.

Here is the third reason why Social Media Isn't Enough from Robert Flemming, CEO of eMarketingAssociation.com:

3. YOU HAVE TOO MANY ACCOUNTS: It's easy to open social media accounts for yourself and/or your business. One of the objectives of your program should be to attract as many relevant members or likes as you can. Having too many groups or pages usually dilutes that objective. WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT - It is difficult to maintain interest in groups and pages, having too many invites stale material, and disinterest by members.

I have registered my personal brand, ScLoHo, on over 50 social media channels.

But I don't attempt to use all of them.

Some I will post an update on once a year to keep the account active and the message tells people where they can really find me online, with a clickable link if possible.

Some of these channels have disappeared over the years too.

What if you built your business using a social media channel that went belly up?

You would be out of business.

Which means you are vulnerable if you are depending on Social Media alone to be your online marketing presence.

The answer?

Get your own website.

Fork over the bucks for a domain, for hosting, for designing and even better... if you are serious about your business, hire a real company with real credentials to guide and direct you.

(Quick plug, This is one of the services my company does, so contact me via email: SHoward@CirrusABS.com or 260.255.4357).

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

3 Reasons Social Media Isn't Enough (Part 2)

Yesterday I said I am one of the lucky ones.

My use of Social Media in the form of Blogs, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, and dozens of other platforms started as a form of self expression and sharing with others.

And I gained both a reputation and following.

So much so that earlier this year, when I told a couple friends that I would be interested in moving away from my radio advertising career, I was immediately offered a position doing what I do now.

But I've also learned that I've been lucky in that I probably broke a few rules.

Not on purpose, but by simply doing what nearly all of us do.

Ignore the Fine Print.



Today, the second reason why Social Media Isn't Enough from Robert Flemming, CEO of eMarketingAssociation.com:

2. YOU VIOLATE TERMS CONDITIONS AND RULES: Every social site has rules. Read them, and understand that violations of these TOC’s may lead to your pages, groups etc., being penalized or even banned. WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT – If you invest a lot of time and energy into building your social networks, you certainly don’t want to run into trouble with the hosts of your pages. And things like running contests, logo usage, misdirected web addresses, copyrighted photos (that don’t belong to you), incomplete profile photos or phony ones can trigger an issue with your social media host. Just take the time to read the rules, and apply them.

Yeah right. Just take the time to read the rules, and apply them.

Let's be honest with ourselves. You and I are not going to read the fine print.

Which means we are vulnerable if we are depending on Social Media alone to be our online marketing presence.

If your only online existence is on Facebook, and you violate one of their rules, they can and will shut you down.

I recently met with a friend over a trademark issue over the name of her company and she is getting nowhere with Facebook.

Fortunately, she also has her own website.


The answer?

Get your own website.

Fork over the bucks for a domain, for hosting, for designing and even better... if you are serious about your business, hire a real company with real credentials to guide and direct you.

(Quick plug, This is one of the services my company does, so contact me via email: SHoward@CirrusABS.com or 260.255.4357).

Tomorrow, reason number 3.

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

3 Reasons Social Media Isn't Enough

I never thought I'd write this.

A couple of years ago, heck even last year I wouldn't have said this.

Because I am one of the lucky ones.

Ever since the 2003, when I launched the first of the multiple blogs I operate, I have been an ambassador for Social Media.

The truth is, I still am.

But with a few precautions.

Today, the first reason from Robert Flemming, CEO of eMarketingAssociation.com:

1. YOU DON’T OWN IT: Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter are companies that are managed by people that you don’t control. Insofar as your pages, groups and followers go you are at the mercy of another companies infrastructure.

Yes, my friend and now co-worker Kevin Mullett and others warned me about this.

And like I said, I've been lucky.

I haven't had an important account disappear or blog posts disappear. But I have recently bought my own domains and am in the process of backing up around 10,000 blog posts.

But here's what it means to your business or personal brand.

If your only online existence is on Facebook, the real brand you are promoting is Facebook, not yours.

Look at your Facebook page.

See all the Facebook stuff that has nothing to do with you?

They get to do that because they own your Facebook pages.

The answer?

Get your own website.

Fork over the bucks for a domain, for hosting, for designing and even better... if you are serious about your business, hire a real company with real credentials to guide and direct you.

(Quick plug, This is one of the services my company does, so contact me via email: SHoward@CirrusABS.com or 260.255.4357).

Tomorrow, reason number 2.


ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

Social Media Stats

Wrapping up the week with an interesting bunch on numbers on some demographic differences for social media users from Mediapost:

Social Site Elders Click Through More

SocialCode, reporting on a new Facebook advertising research study, examining over four million data points from a wide variety of industries, says that for ads with a 'Like' button, older Facebook users have a higher CTR while younger Facebook users will tend to click 'Like' directly within the Facebook ad.

While propensity to click-through on Facebook is positively correlated with age, writes Marketing Charts, propensity to like is not. Age has a strong positive effect on whether a user will click, but has a less pronounced opposite effect on the likelihood of them becoming a fan of a page.

Fifty-plus-year-old users, the oldest segment in the study, are 28.2% more likely to click through and 9% less likely to like than 18-29-year-old users, the youngest group observed. Compared to the rest of the younger population, 50-plus users see a 22.6% higher CTR and 8.4% lower like rate.

Laura O'Shaughnessy, CEO, SocialCode, observes that "... younger Facebook users are more comfortable using the 'Like' button than older users at this point... (though) older users have a high level of interaction and curiosity about the ads... (but) are also the newest subset to join the social network... "

When broken down by gender, age has a much more pronounced effect on CTR for women than it does for men, whereas for men there is a stronger effect on 'Like' rate than women:

• Overall, women are 11% more likely to click on an ad
• 'Like' rates are almost even for men and women; men are actually 2.2% more likely to 'Like' an ad than women
• For women, CTR is 31.2% higher for the 50+ age group versus 18-29 year olds; men only see a 16.2% difference between the age groups
• Versus all age groups, 50+ women's CTR is 22% higher versus a 16.4% difference for males
• The oldest male segment has an 11.7% lower 'Like' rate than the youngest segment, and 9.5% lower 'Like' rate versus all age groups; Women only see a 7.2% and 7.9% difference respectively

To read more from Social Code on Business Wire, please visit here.

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

Social Business?

According to legend, Facebook was a way for geeks to meet girls.

But Facebook became much much more and other social media channels are trying to create their niche and make some bucks.

One way is to get businesses involved with social media.

Often that is handed over to the marketing department.

Which brings us to this from Sherpa:

by Kaci Bower, Research Analyst

Chart: Organizations integrating social media into the marketing mix

Q. To what extent does your organization integrate social media into the marketing mix?



Click here to see a larger, printable version of this chart


Full and extensive integration is another way of saying that all touch points are being used. But doing this is easier said than done, as the chart above indicates. Only one-quarter of organizations surveyed were extensively integrating social media with both online and offline tactics, with an additional 31 percent working towards this state.

Marrying social media -- an online tactic -- with other online tactics was much more achievable to varying degrees for 32% of organizations. However, the data also suggests that organizations choose to leapfrog from limited integration with other online tactics to limited integration with both types of tactics and are bypassing the extensive online integration stage.

Strategic organizations, or those with a formalized planning process for the management and execution of social media practices, have a strong lead on other organizations when it comes to extensively integrating social media with online and offline tactics. The numbers continue to play out as expected.

Organizations still in the Trial phase -- or those with no process for performing social media -- lag when it comes to integration. These organizations are predominantly working on the first step of interconnecting social media with online tactics or are still operating their social media programs in a silo.

For additional research data and insights about email marketing, download and read the free Executive Summary from the MarketingSherpa 2011 Social Marketing Benchmark Report.


ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

Combining Social Media with Real Life

Recently I read a blog post from Josh Kilen that I believe is important.

I've edited it, so go to the original to read the full post:

5 Ways to Make Social Media Work

Posted: 25 Aug 2011 02:10 AM PDT

Via Flickr (fredcavazza)

After publishing a series of bedtime stories for parents to tell their kids and a devotional for Christians in Business, I needed a new project.

So, I’ve begun work on a book for authors and artists about using Social Media to its fullest.

These are a few main points from the book:

1. Start a Blog, Now

2. Create a Facebook Page

3. Start a Twitter account and post cool stories

4. Understand the power of YouTube and videos

5. Share Some Pictures

ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here:

Create Your Own Twitter Background

Yesterday I was asked if it was worth the money to buy a custom Twitter background.

I said no. Why spend money on something you can create yourself?

First off, let's look at what you need to do to load a custom background.

On your Twitter settings, click on Design.


Now you will see Theme options which include the background image.

But what if you want to be unique?

At the bottom of the page you'll see the option to change background image. When you click here you'll be given the option to upload your own image.


Which brings us back to thew question of how do I create that background image?


During the 8 years I worked for a group of radio stations, I used and abused Powerpoint.

Rarely did I use Powerpoint for on screen presentations.

I used it mostly to create proposals that included images and with the ability to move items around without the stricter formatting that Microsoft Word imposes on you, you can be pretty creative.

With Powerpoint you can save your finished product in a variety of formats including picture formats which is what you will need for your Twitter background.

There you go, use Microsoft Powerpoint as your canvas and you too can create a custom twitter background.

Here's mine: http://twitter.com/ScLoHo


ScLoHo is Scott Howard, a Solutions Consultant with Cirrus ABS.

You can contact him here: