@JoelECarlson – Hello everyone on this snowy & gray day in Minneapolis. Today’s Twitterview is with @mrobin032009 (Monika Melsha), let begin.
@mrobin032009 – Good morning! Happy to be here & not on the roads yet!
Q – #1 So @mbrobin032009, lets learn a little bit about your background. Where did you grow up and where did you go to school after HS?
A: I grew up right here in the Twin Cities – South Mpls. & went across the river to St.Thomas for my B.A. in Marketing Mgmt
Q – #2 What or who influenced you to get into the field of marketing, and what kind of marketing have you done?
A: I actually changed my major to Mktg at CST when I found myself more engaged in the coursework. Good instructors were a big influence.
I started out a Computer Science or Quantitative Methods Major of all things
David Brennen was one of my instructors who you still see being interviewed occasionally since he has continued to be involved in SBA
I’ve worked in both financial services & retail marketing as well as Operations on the vendor Side & the client sides
I also worked in the health & fitness industry in parallel for many years.
Q – #3 Ah. So in addition to this work, you also do some blogging. What is your focus and what topics do you post about?
A: My blog is http://nightlightjourneys.blogspot.com/ & my focus is marketing, incl. books as well as experiences that occur day to day
Work, Life Balance creeps in since I’m a wife & mother to a 3 yr old as well. I communicate things that I hope people will relate to
I also love taking photographs, so I wrap those into my posts too
If I had to choose a genre it would be a reflective blog.
Q – #4 Fun! Let me ask you, do you think blogging will fade due to social media’s growth, or does it add to it?
A: Absolutely not. People are using blogging as an ongoing way to open up conversations w/ specific groups of people &/or customers
Companies are shifting efforts & part of that is doing less push marketing. Listening is key to understanding your target markets
Blogging is a fun alternative to traditional research methods to gather feedback & keep conversations going around relevant topics.
On a personal level, people who blog see themselves as more of a personal brand & choose to define their identity through writing.
Q – #5 Good arguments! Lets shift to you & your FAVS: restaurant, store, winter activity and blog.
A: Favorite restaurant right now is CRAVE West End. I also love Gianni’s. Stores: Trader Joes Ann Taylor, Gap
Winter activity – Watching my munchkin play in the fresh snow or snowshoeing if I find the time.
& favorite blog: http://thebrandbuilder.wordpress.com/
I follow so many wonderful blogs in my Google reader it’s hard to choose just one.
http://www.neurosciencemarketing.com/blog/ is another really interesting blog I’ve recently started reading
Q – #6 What social media platforms do you use, and what do you think of geo-location tools like @Foursquare & @Gowalla?
A: Besides Twitter, you’ll find me on LinkedIn & Facebook . I love youtube as well. I also recently started a blog on Tumblr
I don’t do foursquare yet – I’m trying to convince myself to try it, but am on the fence as you’ll see in my latest blog post.
I have downloaded the app onto my GalaxyS/Vibrant, but am not ready to let everyone know where/when I hang out. Privacy is an issue.
If I were a business owner, I’d be hoping that people like me changed their minds. There is a huge market for growth in geo tools
Q – #7 Good to have a plan. So to end, what’s 1 thought or mantra you’d like to leave with people today?
A: “Success is not forever & failure isn’t fatal” from Ken Blanchard’s “The Heart of a Leader “. You have to be open to fail to succeed.
@JoelECarlson – Good point! Thank you @mrobin032009 for your thought and comments today. Have a great morning and stay warm!
@mrobin032009 – It’s been fun – Looking forward to when you get @real_genevieve on board for a twitterview
Thanks for the opportunity!