Digital Media Now for Yogis at Riffs Acoustic Music & Yoga Yard on June 2nd, 2013

The last Digital Media Now for Yogis was at Bird Rock Yoga in May and it was a great success. I’m always excited to teach fellow yoga and fitness pros about the power of social media and how to use it to grow a business fueled by a passion for yoga and fitness. I’ve had many people tell me that they wished they could have attended my last workshop. Well here is your chance! Another Digital Media Now for Yogis and Fitness Pros is coming up very soon at Riffs Acoustic Music and Yoga Yard in La Jolla. This workshop is open to everyone, not just fitness instructors. The examples will be tailored toward fitness and yoga but any business owner can attend and learn about social media tools.

Workshop Topic:  Personal Branding on Social Media- With an abundance of digital technologies available to us, it’s easy to become overwhelmed when creating your own marketing strategy. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to navigate digital marketing and social media tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to attract more clients, grow your business and be a valuable resource in your industry.

• Date: Sunday June 2nd, 2013
• Time: 2pm-4pm
• Cost: $39 Early Bird (Before May 25th), $49 Regular Price
• Location: Riffs Acoustic Music and Yoga Yard- 5510 La Jolla Blvd La Jolla, CA 92037
• Register: Click HERE to sign up and reserve your spot

Takeaways:

• Actionable content and tips you can implement immediately to start marketing yourself as a yoga professional
• Knowledge on how to serve as a trusted subject matter expert and resource in yoga
• Understanding on how to use Social Media tools to create a compelling brand

It is recommended that attendees bring a laptop. If a laptop isn’t available, please bring a notepad and pen. Also if you attended a previous Digital Media Now for Yogis workshop you are encouraged to return as the material has been updated to reflect the continuously changing landscape of social media. You will definitely learn something new!

If you run a yoga teacher training program and are interested in having this valuable program as part of your training, please let me know and I’m happy to discuss more details with you. I look forward to seeing you at Riffs in a few weeks and remember to reserve your spot by registering in advance HERE.

Something cool that I want to share about our workshop location is that Riffs is not only a yoga studio, but it’s a music shop. They have uniquely designed their shop so there’s a large outside area where yoga classes can take place accompanied by live music! They have also created an indoor yoga studio right in their backyard. Everything about the space projects positive energy and with a location just steps away from the beach we can all step outside to enjoy the sunset after our time together. This workshop is not to be missed!

~NAMASTE~

Marketing Melodie Speaks: Veterinary Specialty Hospital Symposium

I’m always honored to speak and teach social media to professionals who are eager to learn and continue their education in order to be more successful in both growing their business and connecting with their customers. This Sunday, May 19th, 2013 I have the pleasure of teaching social media to a new audience. I’m hosting a social media workshop that’s part of the 3rd Annual Veterinary Specialty Hospital Symposium called: Social Media Branding for your Veterinary Business.

The audience will be comprised of professionals in the veterinary industry who work tirelessly to help our animal friends. The event is located at the University of San Diego campus and is open to anyone who works in the industry or who may be interested in the topics presented to veterinarians.  I have presented and hosted events at USD before. The campus is beautiful so I’m happy to return. You can still register here. 

I look forward to speaking in front of this group because I know they are all passionate about what they do and because it makes me happy to see so many industries understanding and embracing social media. If you are interested in having me speak at your next event, please contact me via my speaking page for rates and availability. More recently I have been presenting to Fitness and Yoga professionals since I’ve combined my passions for marketing and yoga into my career but I am open to speaking to any group interested in learning about the benefits of social media and how using it strategically can businesses grow and connect with customers.

Adventures of Flying in San Diego + Sony Walkman Winner!

Positive karma is amazing. As I announce my winner of the Sony Walkman W, I also get to share new Sony products that I received and an amazing adventure I had thanks to both Sony and Klout! To pay it forward I hosted a contest to give away a Social Media/ Fitness Swag Bag. Since the contest was launched around Earth Day and I wanted to both learn and share more tips for going green, I asked the question: “How are you going green?” as the ticket to entry for the contest. I learned so many new tips that I’ll be compiling in a future post so thanks to everyone for participating. And now to announce the lucky winner…CONGRATS TO:

JEFF SMITH! Winner of the Sony Walkman W and Social Media/Fitness Swag Bag

Now you’re probably wondering about the rest of this blog title, Adventures of Flying in San Diego?! Yes, last Friday I literally flew! Here’s how it all went down and how I ended up in the air. Klout perks have won me over in the past. I’ve received so many goodies from them and last summer they sent me on a weekend getaway at the world class resort, Terranea. This time Klout invited me to Sony’s Digital Imaging Workshop.

I enjoy capturing memories by taking photos but I’m certainly not a photographer in any way. So when Sony invited me to their Digital Imaging Workshop at the gorgeous Estancia Resort in La Jolla to learn how to take better photos and video while also offering me the new Sony Nex, plus the Sony Action Cam to practice on and take home, I was beyond grateful and all in! We started the afternoon by getting acquainted and enjoying a nice lunch at the Estancia. There were media folks, photographers and other online influencers.

After lunch, we were ready to learn. The best part of the workshop was getting all of our goodies though. It really felt like Christmas in April .

The best way to learn is by doing, so immediately after the workshop we took a walking tour of the resort to practice our photography skills. There were so many vibrant colors from nature, beautiful architecture and plenty of sunshine for us to practice our shots. The tour was nice and relaxing, but our day didn’t end here.

Sony and Klout were very smart to plan more adventures for us that would allow us to practice our newfound photography skills. I felt like I was on a very exciting school field trip as we a hoped on a bus to the Birch Aquarium. The Birch Aquarium offers one of my favorite viewpoints in San Diego so I spent a little time getting different shots of the view. I also practiced getting the perfect panoramic shot. Next I toured the aquarium and captured so many great photos  of sea life.  Our time here was limited though because we had to hop back on the bus and head to the Torrey Pines Glider Port.

This stop was an absolute thrill and once in a lifetime opportunity. I first signed a 20 page waiver….never a good feeling knowing there is a reason for such a long waiver. Then I was strapped into my equipment and seconds later I was lifting off! I felt my heart skip a beat an then quickly starting elevating higher and higher. I felt like I was in a dream while flying in San Diego and as soon as we got a little more stable up in the air, I began to calm down and was able to enjoy the beautiful view from an angle I’ve never seen before. It was an amazing experience and I captured it all on film with my Sony Action Cam! The videos came out so crystal clear and in such good quality despite my shaky hands. My only hang up with the Sony Action Cam is that I can’t actually see what I’m filming or review the footage on the actual video camera. I understand it’s intended to be small but I would like to have even a small screen to review the video on the spot. Regardless, it’s still awesome.  Check out the video, you’ll feel like you’re flying too!

After flying in San Diego, things settled down a bit as we made our way back to the Estancia to wind down with happy hour and get ready to test our food photography skills with a gourmet five course dinner. I’ve admitted before that I’m absolutely addicted to cooking shows and food porn. I take tons of food photos  but I really never understood the best way to make it look professional. I learned about different lighting strategies, angles, plating techniques and how to make my food look even better. By the end of dinner, I was stuffed, exhausted and very happy with my new tech toys and an amazing story to tell about flying in San Diego!

 A huge thank you once again goes out to both Klout for inviting me and Sony for setting up our day to remember! If you’re interested in having me attend, promote or feature your event on Marketing Melodie, please feel free to contact me. I’m open to any opportunities and adventures that are a fit for my lifestyle and will often write a blog post about it to share and document my experiences.

Celebrate Earth Day with 5 Ways to Go Green while Marketing your Business

Happy Earth Day everyone! I love celebrating a day that honors the place where we all live. In 2012 I celebrated Earth Day by sharing 12 ways to go green at work. My go green tips even got me featured on NBC San Diego. This year I attended the San Diego Earth Fair at one of my favorite places in San Diego, Balboa Park. The idea to write this post came to me while I was at the event.

There were tons of vendors and businesses showcasing their goods and services in hopes to attract new customers. Some vendors did a great job capturing the essence of creating a more sustainable environment on earth day and others were still producing a lot of waste with their marketing and promotional campaigns. My goal for this post is that everyone reading this will learn at least 1 go green tip they can implement into their marketing strategy which at the same time will help us keep our earth a wonderful place to live.

1. Go green promotional items- Many businesses have gotten really smart with their swag and rather than giving away useless tchotchke items they are giving out products that are actually useful. I recommend that if you are going to spend money on giveaways, spend a little extra on things that will be used over and over again so that your logo and business is constantly getting exposure. These items include reusable shopping bags and refillable water bottles. Not only are these things that will last, but they also encourage people to go green.

2.  Accept digital coupons- Rather than creating paper waste by requiring people to print out coupons for your business, accept digital coupons. You can do this by emailing coupons or having a link to them on your website, then encouraging people to redeem the discount you’re offering simply by showing it on their phone. More and more people are getting smart phones and at the same time, less people are buying printers. The easiest way to implement a digital coupon is to have a coupon code associated with the deal. This way when a customer comes in to redeem the digital coupon, all the employee has to do is type in the code. Having a code also helps cut down on any confusion as to what  ”Foursquare Check in deal” is or a “Yelp Deal” is when the customer is redeeming your offer.

3. Make print material small and have a call to action- I was sad to see how much print materials was being passed out at the Earth Fair this year at Balboa Park. Brochures and flyers often go straight to the trash. Sometimes printing marketing material is still necessary. You may be an event and want to give out coupons or a discount code for your website, flyers to an upcoming event or business cards so people can connect with you again. My recommendations for cutting down on paper waste with print marketing material is to make it small and give an incentive to someone receiving the print material to connect with you online. Make sure to include your website and your social networks on all print material. When connecting people to your social media, include the icon of the network and the actual URL of your sites so people don’t have to search for your page. You can also encourage people to connect with you to receive a discount or promotion. Think, call to action to get your customers online every time you create a piece of print material.

4. Create digital content- Every time you create digital content, you reduce the need for print material. Have downloadable material on your website such as brochures, white papers and e-books. Even blog posts! Most digital content will take time to create but cost little to no money to produce (versus expensive printing costs) so not only are you helping the environment, you’re also saving money!

5. Create a photo op- The old saying, a picture is worth a thousand words works for this tip. People love looking at photos. They’re a digital souvenir so if you’re able to create a photo op that also captures your logo or something that represents your business, then you’re not only creating a marketing opportunity for your business, but you’re also creating memories for your customers. This can be done by having a photo booth that will email the photos taken in the booth, having your logo on a back drop where people are taking photos (think red carpet photos) or having something at your event worth taking a photo of. Check out the photo I took of the Raptor Institute’s booth at Balboa Park’s Earth Fair. This was definitely the most popular booth I saw with everyone waiting to take photos. The little owl you see there (common barn owl) is real and perching right in front of the organization’s logo/sign so the mobs of people who took photos of that owl, also captured the organization’s name and logo.

If you found any of these tips valuable, please share this post so more businesses know how to green their marketing! Also let me know in the comments if you have any other tips for going green either at work or while marketing your business.

Thank You San Diego for an Amazing Foursquare Day Celebration #4SqDaySD

Foursquare Day San Diego is just wrapping up and the 2013 event was bigger and better than ever! The true spirit of Foursquare was definitely in the air. I have been hosting Foursquare Day events for the past 3 years. This year I partnered with @DowntownRob, Stephanie from i.d.e.a, Melonie from Fandom Marketing and the Social Media Club.

The night started out with Foursquare Education by my friends over at Matters of Grey, Chaunce Dolan and Andy Morales. Matters of Grey is the best resource on the web for finding out about how to unlock Foursquare Badges! They taught us everything we needed to know about Foursquare. I definitely learned new tips on how to use Foursquare on a personal level and for business. If you missed the Foursquare Education portion of the event, no worries. You can find all the slides here.

After learning, we worked up a big appetite just in time to start the Foursquare Day Crawl! The idea behind the Foursquare Crawl was to get people checking in throughout the night and rewarding them for doing so. We walked over to Po Pazzo, checked in and started the night started off with mouthwatering appetizers.

The next check in on the Foursquare Day Crawl was Zia’s Bistro. Everyone enjoyed a nice glass of wine and more delicious  appetizers.

Our last check in was Cafe Zucchero. They generously awarded us with any dessert from their dozens of choices for checking in. Their desserts are delectable. If I’m ever in the mood for dessert, I will definitely be coming back here! We also had a nice area reserved for us in the back to relax, mingle and enjoy the rest of the night.

Throughout the evening I got to catch up with my social media friends, met some awesome new connections, gave away limited Foursquare Day 2013 water bottles and made people winners by giving out gift cards to various restaurants in San Diego. It was an amazing night with the best company.

A special thank you goes out to the Bussalachi Family Restaurants for their extremely generous food, wine and dessert contribution to our event. They had superb customer service at every location and all of f their food was spectacular. Our partnership with them couldn’t have been made possible without our friends Stephanie, Gary and Beth from the i.d.e.a team.

Also, thank you to Dining Out San Diego and Islands Restaurants for donating raffle prizes. Last but not least, thank you to every single person who attended the event to celebrate Foursquare Day! This geek holiday is made possible by social media and all of the savvy people who use it so thank you San Diego for an amazing Foursquare Day celebration! See you next year on 4/16!

 

More Foursquare Day San Diego photos are posted on the Marketing Melodie Facebook page.

Digital Media Now for Yogis is back at Bird Rock Yoga on May 4th, 2013

I’m excited to be hosting the first Digital Media Now for Yogis Workshop of 2013 in just a few weeks at the lovely Bird Rock Yoga in Pacific Beach. This is a gorgeous studio in an amazing environment, just steps away from the ocean! Many people have asked me when the next Digital Media Now for Yogis was happening since my 2 events last year at La Jolla Yoga Center and Chula Vista Yoga Center. Well, I’m happy to say that your next opportunity to attend and learn how to grow your yoga business is on May 4th, 2013 from 12:30pm-2:30pm. All the details and how to register are below.

Workshop Topic:  Personal Branding on Social Media- With an abundance of digital technologies available to us, it’s easy to become overwhelmed when creating your own marketing strategy. In this workshop, you’ll learn how to navigate digital marketing and social media tools such as blogs, Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to attract more clients, grow your business and be a valuable resource in your industry.

• Date: Saturday May 4th, 2013
• Time: 12:30pm-2:30pm
• Cost: $39, $29 if you are a graduate of Bird Rock Yoga’s Teacher Training program
• Location: Bird Rock Yoga- 910 Grand Avenue Suite 206, San Diego, CA 92109
• Register: Click HERE to sign up and reserve your spot 

Takeaways:

• Actionable content and tips you can implement immediately to start marketing yourself as a yoga professional
• Knowledge on how to serve as a trusted subject matter expert and resource in yoga
• Understanding on how to use Social Media tools to create a compelling brand

About Melodie: Melodie Tao is a Marketing Consultant, Educator and an International Professional Speaker specializing in Digital Marketing and Social Media. She is also a Certified Yoga Instructor who has completed over 200 hours training. Combing her two passions for Marketing and Yoga, her mission is to empower others with knowledge on how to live their passion as a Yoga and Fitness professional. Her expertise will help you make money from your business through optimizing your brand and online presence while maintaining your true integrity as a Yogi.

It is recommended that attendees bring a laptop. If a laptop isn’t available, please bring a notepad and pen. Also if you attended a previous Digital Media Now for Yogis event you are encouraged to return as the workshop has been updated to reflect the continuously changing landscape of social media. You will definitely learn something new!

I recently published a post sharing my actionable steps on manifesting wealth and abundance through my passions. This workshop is putting me one step closer. If you run a yoga teacher training program and are interested in having this valuable program as part of your training, please let me know and I’m happy to discuss more details with you. I look forward to seeing you at Bird Rock Yoga in a few weeks and remember to reserve your spot by registering in advance HERE.

~NAMASTE~

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