January 2012
1 post
October 2011
8 posts
3 tags
Hiring an Assistant - Part 5: Meet Julia
I just made a new hire and I couldn’t be more excited…Meet Julia!
She’s a recent New Orleans transplant (originally from Cambridge, MA) who loves social media, fashion, pilates and cooking. She’s got a degree in psychology, an amazing attitude and enjoys exploring the city.
You can follow her on Twitter @JuliaBallard
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Hiring an Assistant - Part 3: Interviews
I like interviewing people - I really really do. It’s the only way to ask all the questions I want without being nosy or overstepping boundaries (for the most part).
Interviewing people for the extremely prestigious position of my new assistant was not only interesting, it was HILARIOUS.
I interviewed a painter who had trouble getting motivated to paint, someone who talked about...
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Hiring an Assistant - Pt 2: Don't be Lazy
Mistakes happen in any entry level position; there’s a learning curve and lots of new things to absorb. I’m prepared for that and am ready train and work with this new hire very closely. Laziness, however, is pretty unforgivable in my book.
So I picked my 11 favorite applicants out of 33 submissions and asked they submit three things: a sample blog entry, three example tweets that...
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To automate or not to automate: Silicon Bayou... →
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Hiring an assistant - Part 1: Posting the Job
I need help. Good, affordable help with impeccable spelling and a great attitude. So I decided to use WorkNola to find my perfect assistant. I did get some really great applicants but I also got things like this:
“My name is [name respectfully edited out] and I am looking for an opportunity. The opportunity that I am looking for is one that is going to allow me to become successful. The...
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To automate or not to automate?
I’ve been reading a lot about pros and cons of social media automation lately, which, if you are unfamiliar basically means that you schedule updates like tweets, facebook posts and/or blog posts in advance and have them automatically post at a certain time on a certain day.
This is of course a time-saving method but can remove a lot of the personalization and real-time nowness from what is...
September 2011
6 posts
3 tags
Announcement: Conversations With Megan in Silicon...
Excited to announce that starting next Friday, I’ll be a weekly contributor to New Orleans’ tech/startup news site, Silicon Bayou News!
The column will be called “Conversations with Megan” and I’ll be posting mostly “how to” social media stuff will tidbits and tweets that I will pull from actual crowdsourcing scenarios - some of which I hope...
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Social Media Seminar Snapshot
Last Friday I hosted my first ever seminar - Social Media and Your Nonprofit…and it went great!
(twitpic by @cshultz)
My slides can be found here: http://slidesha.re/qnFvY5
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Quickbooks is out of the question...
Frustrated by the limited number of contacts I could add to my Freshbooks account for the $20/month fee and determined not to upgrade, I’ve been looking for other options.
And no, I will not consider using dusty old archaic stupid Quickbooks.
So I started playing around on the ThriveApp trial as suggested by @pwillefo.
It’s pretty amazing and intuitive as well as affordable - if...
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What's the best RSS reader?
I’ve been a huge fan of Google Reader, especially since I’ve been using it on Flipboard for iPad, but don’t love the web interface. So today I put the question out to Twitter and here are the responses I got:
What are your thoughts?
August 2011
1 post
6 tags
How to post on Google & Facebook simultaneously -... →
June 2011
1 post
8 tags
Just signed up for a Square
I’ve been reading a lot of about Square, a company founded by the co-founder of Twitter, that allows anyone to accept credit card payments via mobile device.
The plugin looks like this:
And the setup is pretty quick and straightforward yet seemingly secure.
Tons of small businesses are constantly missing out on sales because they aren’t able to accept credit cards and many...
May 2011
1 post
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A farewell to coffee shop offices
I’m the type of person who likes to finish what I’ve started - so I’m a little disappointed in myself for quitting 15 coffee shops in 15 days, only a few days in. However, I’ve learned that it’s not really practical to run a growing business out of random coffee shops - especially if you have low tolerance for people talking loudly, random internet failures, bad music...
April 2011
6 posts
4 tags
NOLA Coffee Shop Session: Day 3
Today I’m at Sound Cafe in the Marigny. I had an amazing hummus and cucumber salad but I forgot to take a picture of it because I was so excited to eat it. The vibe is pretty laid back here and the space is super cute.
There’s even this little nook in the wall that I’m not sure what it’s for but I REALLY want to climb in it.
I love working from the Marigny because it...
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My Latest Blog: What Social Media Metrics Should... →
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Coffee Shop Work Session Day 2: Mojo's on Magazine
Mojo’s is pretty close to my house so getting here and parking was pretty easy. Today I’m having a cappuccino and and almond croissant. The weather is BEAUTIFUL again and they’ve got the doors open.
It’s overall pretty cute in here but I’m wearing headphones because I can’t stand the annoying grunge rock and there are some men talking loudly about philosophy...
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Coffee Shop Work Session Day 1: The Orange Couch
Today I’m at the Orange Couch in the Marigny.
It’s a really pretty day and all of the doors are open and there’s tons of natural light flowing through…really great calm vibe for working.
I really enjoy the cappuccino here normally but today I had an iced chai and a feta, spinach and tomato quiche (not on my new Ayurveda eating plan).
My only complaint would be...
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15 days, 15 coffee shops
New Orleans is a city full of amazing, charming, locally owned coffee shops. Over the next 15 work days (probs not all in a row because I’ve got a conference next week), I’m going to work from one of these coffee shops and post a few tidbits.
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The Art of the 30 Minute Meeting - in 5 Bullet...
Set an agenda in advance with no more than 3 key goals that you want to get accomplished in that meeting.
Stay on topic - stick to the three goals and discuss only information relevant to these goals and to the parties present at the meeting.
Don’t write everything down. Write down action items and important deliverables only. Focus on the conversation!
Meetings are not brainstorming...
March 2011
2 posts
5 tags
CMA Presentation
CMA prezzo
View more presentations from Megan Hargroder.
CMA 2011!
On my way to NYC for the College Media Advisers Convention/UNconvention on Monday.
Really looking forward to seeing my friend and mentor Paul Conley and meeting my speaker-in-crime, Joe Greek.
Woot!
February 2011
2 posts
5 tags
The New Rules of Branding Your Business Online →
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why i did this
Why did I think it was a good idea to quit my job at 24 and go out on my own, start a company and expect to be successful? Am I being overly-idealistic? Audacious, even?
I’ve been reading Aileen Bennett, Kelly Cutrone and Suze Orman and I feel so inspired by these women who just GO FOR IT.
With everything I’ve read about having a successful career, though, there has been a singular...
December 2010
1 post
Launch
excited to get started!