Justin G. Roy

When I started charging people for my time, I found a much better level of conversation and connection – and referrals went through the roof. Why? The person writing the check VALUED MY EXPERTISE, paid attention, took notes, implemented the strategy we outlined and saw results (read: real ROI).

A recent (well, a few weeks ago) post by Chris Brogan was sent to me by my good friend, Barbara Talisman and we had a nice email exchange about the post and the topics covered. Brogan discusses strategies for asking for the sale and being a salesman (not the pushy and old-fashioned or the always-be-closing mentality) over giving everything away for free.

The article took me for a few reads to fully understand not only the message but how the message relates to myself. One paragraph in particular hit a cord (or whatever you want to say):

A few years ago, I was getting taken out to a lot of “free lunches” so that others could “pick my brain.” One day, it dawned on me: this lunch isn’t free. It’s costing me time. My information isn’t free. It’s taken me years to get it, and the people using this information are making material gain from the advice I give.

Those of you who know me, know my almost inability to say no. Trust me, it’s not as good of a quality as you might think.

Now I do think there is a huge difference between having lunch to connect or network versus a lunch where somebody meets to ask how they can use social media to brand their service or product. In fact, I do love both instances but did tend to feel used after a pick-your-brain lunch (funny how those people turn up later using your strategies but never give you credit). Ok, that parenthesis sounded bitter – sorry!

So here I sit. One part of me says to share the knowledge and information and heck, it will educate more of the world on the proper way (yes, I do think there are too many “consultants” doing it incorrectly) to use the internet to market, engage with their customers, and brand themselves (not just build followers on Facebook). The other part that just paid a lawyer for advice says heck no.

I know quite a few people who constantly operate at the first mentioned, thinking the more information they give away the more power and success they will obtain. However, I also hear on the side from the grapevine that those same people are not respected from either side of the table.

I am not claiming Holy Mary here; I used to be a free consultant years ago. I admit it.

So what’s the difference here, you ask. Not sure but would you take advice on a financial strategy from a free consultant over one who charges what they are worth (because they have proved they are worth money)?

Thoughts?

Could I be any more behind? Sorry!

So back in March the Worcester Business Journal published a very nice article highlighting yours truly on my position with Nichols College as their Director of Social Media.

Social what?

Trust me, it’s more than being on Facebook all day. It’s online branding, online marketing, digital communications, digital applications, and social networking. I am responsible for making sure the college is found online and dominates the competition. Though I am aware my outlook and strategy here is more inline with the corporate world I truly belive higher education needs to think of themselves more as a brand.

How do we brand ourselves? Who is our competition?

Well, I will say this – the concentration is filling the first three pages of search engines with at least 18 keywords and key phrases in 18 months. (I think my favorite numbers are 3 and 18)

How will I do this? Oh, a number of ways. Subscribe to this blog (look to the right on the sidebar – or scroll up and look to the right) by email or simply use the RSS feed to find out.

What? Give away my secrets?

If you just thought that (or said it out loud) prepare to rethink 2010. It’s not the internet age anymore, it’s the age of open source, open communication, and sharing. I’ll let you know what I am doing, where I am positing and going. Mimic it if you want. Contact me with any questions (hint – click contact tab)

Oh, wait, I veered way off subject here. So here is the link to the Worcester Business Journal (WBJ) article.

Click here to read the article.

Day 1. First day of work at Nichols College. First day of academia. Done.

First off, I want to thank everybody who sent me text messages, tweets, direct messages, Facebook messages, commented on my status, or poked (ok, nobody poked) me during the past 24 hours wishing me luck on not only my first day but on my career in the academia world.

Also, I wanted to answer a few popular questions I received today:

Is it exactly what I thought it would be?
I don’t think I can answer that question yet; I had too much fun today filling out paperwork (that, actually, was not sarcastic) and setting up/playing with all the new technology and equipment Nichols is supplying me. I will say this, they did not cut any corners and are more than willing to accomodate whatever is necessary for social media.

What’s it like?
Tough question, still too new. So far, it seems like a combination of corporate and nonprofit. HA, I think I just described College/University in general. Everybody has been extremely nice and willing to help.

What does your office look like?
4 walls. Floor. Ceiling. Closet. Multiple locks on the door (might be overprotective, but better safe than sorry). Desks and chairs.

Over the next few weeks, I hope to get some plants, pictures for the wall, and other cool-looking gadgets.  

Will you still be tweeting and on Facebook?
Does a bear you-know-what in the woods?

How’s your Dad? (really only one person asked this, but I think it was in response to the earlier posts about the road trip with him)
Dad is good. He told my Mom last night (she took tally – guess how many) that he did not think I would wake up in time, over-sleep my alarm (yes, he said both), and Coley would have to wake me up. To make it more realistic (so you can get his voice in your head), he starts sentences like these with “Ya know,” then pause, then the statement.

In efforts to help my Mother from hearing “Ya know, I bet you Justin did not wake up on time” or “Ya know, he is probably still sleeping” or “Ya know, what if his car did not start” I called him in the morning to let him know I was awake and almost on campus. I sure hope it helped!

Back onto my day. It went extremely well, and I am pretty darn excited to be part of a progressive college. In the past couple of weeks, we have decided upon even more “social media” strategies, communities to be part up (some upcoming ones, still mostly silent but huge potential), etc. I might even say it’s starting to give me a goose-bump rush with what is coming!!!

Well, that’s it for me tonight, but I will keep you posted more on what we are doing at Nichols as the days continue and as we make some progress in designs.

Cheers to all and I hope you all had a wonderful day!

As I sit here at Coley’s house (one of my best friends) in Worcester, MA, I realize I only have 16 hours left until I arrive on campus and begin the next step in my career. academia.

The web, or where I have worked the past 14 years:

• Food Service
• Retail
• Fortune 100
• Start Up & Entrepreneur
• and now academia

All I am missing is Nonprofit, however as you all know, I have been extremely active in volunteering, matching volunteers to opportunities, and getting free training and consulting for nonprofits.

So I suppose it’s natural for me to be a bit nervous going into a new industry, though the position is similar to everything I have been doing: Marketing. Funny thing is, I did not set out in College to go the marketing route and here I find myself semi-obsessed with the service.

However, I do pride myself on bring a mix of traditional and new. Huh?

Well, traditional media and marketing will never disappear. I know this is different from what most might think or assume I might say.

Social Media is simply another way, avenue, and strategy to market your brand to your consumers. Rather than billboards and articles, we have forums and blogs. Rather than focus groups and test markets, we have social networks and engagement trials. When you work with the traditional marketing strategy the energies and collaborations are endless and challenge another to raise the bar.

That’s what I like to do. Strategize on both, raise the bar, and emerge out of the shadows.

940 Miles

( Click here to read Day One to MA – 260 Miles )

( Click here to read Day Two to MA – 760 Miles )

As I write this post, I cannot help but feel both saddened, joy, excited, and just about every other emotion possible. The trip out to Massachusetts with my Father was wonderful, it was very difficult to leave Chicago where I have met and befriended so many great people, it’s exciting to start a new chapter in my life, and I am looking forward to spreading the social media love on the Nichols Campus.

There is only one answer to the above. Grab another cup of coffee and poke some friends on Facebook.

Last night my Dad fooled with the alarm clock for about 10 minutes, making sure it would not wake him up in the morning (as it did on Day Two). He was semi-successful; I forgot to turn my cell phone alarm off. Needless to say, we woke up early and I had to make up some excuse (rather than admit I forgot to turn it off) and referenced technology, the internet, and twitter in my long drawn-out reason why it went off. I think he believed it, or took the same road as I – smile and nod.

Either way, we were up early. I turned on my laptop to post Day Two, check Twitter and email and all of a sudden, I hear the shower turn on – remember we have not purchased flip-flops (see Day One for that story) to this point. Ready? The reason was that it did not matter when he is around everybody else, but since he is going to see my Mother today he wanted to smell nice and look good. After more than 30 years of marriage, he still wants to look good for my Mom, and his eyes light up when he talks about her. From the age of 12 to 18, I thought this was gross but now as an adult (or self-proclaimed adult) I think it’s truly a blessing when two people remain so much in love as these two (this trip was also the longest they have been apart in a long time).

I know, you might be thinking this is not the same Father I have been writing about. To that I say, you are correct but it is the same man; the same man who cracks me up and makes me ponder, is also a loving human being.

Our travels today took us through the rest of New York, into Massachusetts, through some mountains, past frozen ice (well, I suppose all ice is frozen) and into Western, MA ending in Wilbraham. Home of Friendly’s, the Peach Festival, and a Stop Light. Wait; there is a general store too.

When I turned off the highway (we took Route 90 the entire way), I realized that my Father had not slammed his foot down thinking there was a brake on the passenger side of the truck. If you have ever driven with a parent, you know what I am talking about; if you do not know what I am talking about, then you are the parent that does this. As usual, I realized too early. 920 miles of easy riding led us into 20 miles of comments such as:

“You know, there could be cops out.”
“I think the speed limit is 30, but remember that is just the limit.”

And such motions as:

Taking a deep breath in when somebody taps his or her brakes half a mile away and I do not.
Slamming his right foot on the floor.

Perhaps Dad thought I wanted to lose more hair out of stress? Maybe he thought a good way to end the trip was to remind me of when I was 16 and he was teaching me how to drive?

Either way, I did not have to pay any fees for the damage his foot made to the floor.

We pull into the driveway and open the back door. Phew, nothing broke, nothing fell out, but not much had shifted forward (there was not much space for anything to move). We unpacked the truck under supervision of my Mother who unfortunately thought I had to return it that night and was slave-driving us. Not a bad thing, however, since she got us to unpack the entire truck (slash dump it in the garage) and return the truck in just 3 hours. Thanks, Mom!

All said, again, it was a wonderful trip and I am glad I opted to move myself and happy my father came out to drive with me. It was an extremely peaceful and relaxing [920 miles, not 940] trip where the opportunity to have quiet time, thinking time, planning my next move time, and a lot of laughs and learning was amazing. I almost wish I moved from California to Massachusetts just to make the trip last longer.

760 Miles

( If you have not read Day One to MA post, click here! )

Tonight marks the end of Day 2 on my journey to Massachusetts. For those of you just tuning in, I was offered a position and accepted with Nichols College in Dudley, MA as their [first] Director of Social Media. Among the typical social media activities, I will also be working with staff and faculty in training each department to work together online in spreading the word about the Nichols brand, reaching out to the online world, and ensuring we can all be found online. Additionally, I will begin working with students, teaching them the intricacies of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, online branding, social media and marketing strategies.

Onto the day. Well, I slept in a bit and woke up at about 9am, then again, I went to bed after 2am (yes, there were a lot of updated profiles with new pictures – don’t shake your head, we know you do the same thing – and tweets that had some great advice and articles on social media programs and measurable.

Within 15 minutes, I was laughing. Guess at whom. Dad.

We ordered breakfast, for him was pancakes and sausage links and for me was the continental breakfast (just give me coffee and a bagel). When the pancakes came, they came with whipped butter. Granted we all know and have seen whipped butter, but a certain somebody went into a 3-minute rant about what does whipped butter mean. Then he looks on the package and discovers it is 52% whipped butter and asks me what the other 48% is. Before I could answer, which leads me to believe this was a rhetorical question; he told me that he thinks the 48% is made with truck grease.

First lesson – check the butter on Dad’s plate before he sees it.

Pancake meal went well; Dad was happy because there were a couple of huge pancakes so it passed his professional inspection. With only three bites left to go, Dad stopped because (a man who is skinny and in shape) he was concerned about his weight. Only three more bites…..after slathering it with real butter and maple syrup.

We set out on the road, making our way through the rest of Ohio, right across the top tip of Pennsylvania, and into New York.

Quite a few people commented on my last post (through comments, private messages on Facebook, and tweets on twitter) on the Day One story about the gas level (check it out here if you have not already). Well, in response to these remarks, I decided to see how far I could push this (aka – use my pokin’ stick); my good friend Maura Wall-Hernandez will appreciate this.

I let the gas level get real close to empty; we were at the line right above empty. I swear he lost more hair right in front of me. Sorry, Mom.

Eventually I did get gas, and I found out my father does not close the door to the truck completely when I get out of the truck, just in case I left the keys in the ignition, manually locked mine and his doors (without him seeing), and closed them. At first, you might laugh and wonder (as I did) why pretend to close the door, but I thought it was a classic parental move. It’s not that he does not trust me, or think I have common sense but more so he is looking after me and has the knowledge of how I get when I multi-task (looking at my phone and texting, tweeting, talking, and pumping gas), I can multi-task, just not well.

As I type this, I realize that tomorrow we will be landing in Wilbraham, MA, both my hometown and where my parents continue to live. I will be unloading the truck into their garage, and will eventually take clothes and essentials towards Nichols towards the end of next week, to my best friend Coley’s house (he was so gracious to let me stay there until I find an apartment).

Tomorrow marks the end of the road trip to Massachusetts and begins the last week before being on Campus.

Tomorrow marks the end of the road trip with my father; I feel extremely lucky that I do not need a road trip to feel or get close to him.

Don’t worry, his quotes and sayings will never end, and since I have committed to keeping this blog alive with different happenings in my life, projects I am working on, programs we are writing (social media related – both ROI related and relationship measurable), and other thoughts and tips, I just know you’ll see more!

I’ll leave you with a few final notes:

• My dad can go to bed with the lights on – his eyelids turn the lights off.
• We did not get flip-flops. Nuff said.
• Dad is a “rubber neck” like me. He has to always be looking at everything on the road, side of the road, and in other cars that are passing or being passed.
• We both check the alarm clock multiple times, both the time set and to make sure we turned the alarm on.

(I will write about the drive tomorrow, in the night. Stay tuned!)

260 Miles West

Sitting here in a hotel in Fremont, OH. It’s quiet. One of those, sigh of relief, let me think about things, where are the taxi cabs beeping but I am so glad they are not here, kind of quiet.

My day started at 8am (yes, I set the alarm clock) after a full night of tossing and turning wondering if the 16’ Truck was large enough and how I was going to tetris-move and fit everything.

Rewind a bit…..

Southwest Airlines flew into Chicago at 7:05pm with a certain passenger who has not flown in over 25 years, a passenger who wondered why the bags of peanuts still look the same, a passenger who called a “few” times to go over what do to at the airport (walk to security, do not look suspicious, everything in the bin, walk through, go to gate, get on plane, sit down, get up when land, walk to baggage number 1), and a passenger who I call Dad. This was his first time to Chicago as well; to help me move and he really wanted to see my condominium before it sold.

At 7:06pm, I arrived at Midway Airport to pick up said father at the agreed upon location (baggage #1). I waited. Then I waited some more. Dad went to baggage # 7; but don’t worry there was a pay phone nearby (he is the last person I know who still uses a pay phone), allowing him to call my mother to tell her where he was, and she told him (again) where to go.

Finally we get on the Orange Line and head to Clark and Lake, where we walk a few blocks (in what I would consider warmer weather for Chicago, but Dad tended to disagree) to Smith & Wollensky for a few steaks and French fries (courtesy of a gift card I received from a former client – Thank You again, Terry).

After dinner, we take the train (this killed me – the restaurant was only a bit over 2 miles away – we could/should have walked) back home, where Dad walked around to “professionally assess the situation” of my packing, organizing and amount of “things” I have decided to bring with me (everything).

Fast forward back to the morning….

We wake up, take Frank The Tank (the dog) out for a quick morning walk, then off to get the Truck with many thanks to Evan for driving us (I wanted to walk, of course, the 3ish miles there) us to the Budget Rental location. Start loading at 10am and end at about 3pm. We held the contents inside as we shut the door, it is packed to the max. Sorry, no pictures of the inside available right now, but will post when I arrive in Wilbraham.

In the middle here, I did receive a very generous lunch from Ramon DeLeon of Dominos, there was Pizza, Coke, and Lava Cakes (delivered right when I needed it the most too!). Nobody does it like Ramon, period.

On the highway by 3:30.

Now, for the next 260 miles, I got to know a bit about my father, and I will highlight some of the funnier sayings (no, I am not trying to compete with that guy who runs a twitter account all about “stuff” his Dad say’s) and lessons learned thus far (these are in no particular order):

• My father, for some reason, needs flip-flops for the bath tub/shower. I asked why, and about 7 minutes later, I regretted that question. Good thing I mastered the smile and nod at such an early age.
• My father thinks eating three Filet O’ Fish sandwiches is a complete meal. From a fast food joint.
• My father thinks 68mph in a 70mph zone is excessively fast. He then told me that the Speed Limit meant it was just the limit and I could drive anywhere below that. Again, read the first bullet here – smile and nod.
• When my gas tank hits ½ full – he thinks it means ½ empty and we should get gas asap. When I pass a service station, he lets me know about it; even 5 miles later, he reminds me that I had passed it. 7 minutes later, he says there is a chance we could run out of gas. 8 minutes later, I voted myself to walk to get gas and leave Dad with the truck. 11 minutes later, I was praying for the truck to run out of gas.
• Truckers are the nicest people on the road – as long as you are also driving a truck over 16 feet
• Folks – when driving on the highway, be aware of whom you slam on your breaks in front of to sneak in last-minute on an off ramp: 16’ Truck packed full does not stop that fast. You are lucky I have cat-like reflexes Mr. I-Want-To-Cut-In-Line-At-The-Off-Ramp.

Well, I think that will be all for now. Nevertheless, I want to leave you with a few last thoughts:

I love my Father, no matter what I said above; he is extremely supportive, always there for me when I need it (and when I think I do not), and a kind and gentle person.

I will miss Chicago more than you will ever know. However, I am looking forward to returning to MA for many reasons. Luckily, for those who are still reading, we can all communicate online.

Tomorrow I hope to cover 500 miles; I would go for 650 miles, but my Father also thought it was strange that I drive for 5 hours without needing to get out of the car, stretch, move, etc. I told him that when something needs to get done, gosh darn it, I will get ‘er done. (seriously, 4 minutes after that, I regretted even suggesting this)

(I will write about the drive tomorrow, in the night. Stay tuned!)