Monetizing Our Efforts

Yesterday the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce offered a workshop on using Facebook advertising to boost one's business.  I went because it was free and because it might have offered a nugget or two.

I don't have the freedom to do much of what the presenter suggested, but it's interesting to know how internet marketing works these days--at least as it pertains to Facebook.  If you've wondered whether or not ads are targeting you because they know you, you've probably already figured out the answer--they are.

I wish there was a way that I could respond to say, "Yes, I looked at these suitcases and more than once.  Yes, I already bought them.  Please stop sending me these ads that make me sad that I no longer have a vacation to look forward to."  Our session yesterday did not cover that subject.

Our presenter kept telling us that we had to think like an online marketer.  That thinking required lots of actions, of course.  I continue to be amazed at what we're all expected to do these days.  Some of the people at the workshop were there because they're in fields where they might have known they would be expected to do a variety of marketing, like the woman who makes jewelry.  But the dentist?  He not only has to clean teeth but figure out an online marketing plan?

Some of the approaches seemed downright onerous, like the advice that a realtor interview the principal of every school in a district where they represented houses and offer that information on a website that would then convince people to hire them for their real estate expertise.

I came home and put the finishing touches on the article on female medieval mystics that's due today.  I did some grading for my online class.  I did not figure out ways to monetize this blog.  I did not create a Facebook page that will declare my skills and services as a writer.

While I am glad that I went to the workshop, it's not what brought me the most joy yesterday.  What did?  I spent time in the parking garage taking pictures that will eventually make their way to Facebook.  Our EMS students were working their way through a simulation:  a car wreck with a dead person in the front seat and an injured person (the medical mannequin) in the back seat. As with more traditional classes, I was impressed with the way that the instructors made complicated concepts accessible to the students.  I was impressed with the creativity of the class.  Several times yesterday, I realized once again how lucky I am to be here at this school, at this particular moment.

I'll leave it up to the more talented people hired by the school to figure out how to monetize the pictures that I send them for the Facebook site.