Small Business – Joseph A Federico

The Social Media Merry-Go-Round

May 24, 2021May 24, 2021
by josephafederico

–Joseph A. Federico, CEO of Anchors To Dusk Publishing & Media

Some say social media isn’t for them and others have a false and preconceived notion that by simply having a conversation about marketing, that said conversation would quickly degrade into one about advertising and dollar spend. Let me stop right there and say that is absolutely incorrect.

So, what is social media? Why are we fascinated — to the point of being obsessed — with accumulating likes, shares and pins? When and how did this start? And more importantly, where is it going?

We’re not going to dissect the story in its entirety…I’ll save that for a paid consultation or weekend retreat (Yes, I offer those, too…). But for now, I’ll gently dive right in and offer the abridged version.

You’ve heard of Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg. And by now, all these years later, who hasn’t? Facebook — one of the most popular social platforms to-date — started off as a “social” platform that was created to allow college students to communicate with one another, to share campus happenings and build virtual communities with the same cause.

It wasn’t until 2005 — around the time I dove head first into the publishing and marketing scene — that Zuckerberg and his crew had expanded the platform and began allowing the general population to reap its benefits. Wait, benefits? Yes. Facebook opened the floodgates and invited ordinary people to become more actively “social” and encouraged them to “peacock” …to show off and let their proverbial freak flags fly.

Sure, social media may have originally been created for/used to allow people to paint organic portraits of themselves or how perfect home life may have been, or even to allow loved ones to stay in touch…but that was just the beginning. The beast that we now know as social media today evolved at record speed. And most people still to this day, don’t know how to properly navigate through this landscape.

To be on social media is to have access to a special power, to be able to take control of your narrative, to tell the story that’s hidden deep inside of you on your own terms. It’s also up to you to tell the world about your business and how it’s owned and operated. It’s a gift.

Let’s go back even further than Facebook’s inception, and dissect an even more unforgiving platform called Friendster…and Hot Or Not before that. Those social arenas held the basic functionalities of the now-Facebook: Chat, Liking, Sharing…but on a much smaller scale.

Friendster allowed users to request and nurture virtual friendships with strangers across the country. I don’t believe it even had a blog or article section at the time or allowed for organic self-expression. It was a simple tool that allowed people to become “friends” with others, plain and simple.

Now Hot Or Not, that platform’s main objective was to get people to rate others’ looks and decide whether or not someone was attractive. Think of it as a platform where influencers gathered, but they weren’t selling products or signing-up to become brand ambassadors. Platform users were essentially selling themselves…for ratings. Think of Hot Or Not as the grandfather to modern dating applications, such as…well…the list is truly too long and boring to even mention.

Now that a number of years have gone by, we’re facing the dawning of a new age of social media. One of the first rules you have to follow is this: Organic content is now and forever will be king. Long gone are the days when a company would post a coupon, for instance, online and hope consumers would purchase their product or take advantage of said sale. The future is not in sales…it’s in how a brand makes a customer or client feel.

Which brings me to my next point… It’s time to integrate nostalgia marketing into every facet of your social media campaign. Think about how you felt when you purchased your own pack of gum with the allowance you saved up as a teenager. What kind of gum was it? What flavor? Where were you when you popped that first piece into your mouth? Who was around you?

See what I’m getting at? I’m attempting to evoke emotion and to set you up — the proverbial customer — to purchase a product. The landscape within the digital marketing world is changing due to the global pandemic. We want to be comforted and coddled and not to have to think about the detrimental news we see on our social platforms or hear about on television. We want to be happy and it’s up to large brands and corporations to deliver that to us. We deserve that much.

It will be interesting to see how social media will evolve in the next 5, 10, or 20 years and how society will adapt to an entirely new set of rules and regulations. I know that I, for one, am counting down the days.

(Article originally published in The Global Achievers, March 2021)

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Potential Social Media Suicide

November 22, 2019November 22, 2019
by josephafederico

Potential Social Media Suicide: My reaction to Arielle Pardes’ “I Am Immeasurable: My Life Online – Without All the Metrics”

I’m sitting here, on my “off” day today – a day after a partner’s holiday party, a long yet productive work week, one where I hustled my ass off to close a contract with an amazing talent – and finally had time to peruse an issue of WIRED…from March 2019!

If you’d read my article from last week, you’d know that yes, I’m still a slow reader. I don’t have as much time as I’d like built into my schedule for creative synapses to get a workout with such activities as reading, or let’s say, for instance, working on (three!) novels. It’s reality, and I have no choice to be alright with that…for now.

I digress…

So, I’m extremely engrossed in the ever-changing world of social media, and am attempting to situate myself as the “Social Media Guy,” that as I began to type this up, I caught myself before I added a slew of pound symbols to words I’d normally identify as keywords on social media platforms. Need more sleep, much?

Jumping right in, I was mortified at first when I began reading an article by Ariel Pardes. Oh Jesus, girl, why would you want to go silent on social media? was my first thought. So, without further ado, I’m going to share a snippet of said piece, then add my two cents to close this thought out.

Pardes boldly starts out by saying, “Social Media is a death carousel, and by the start of the new year, I wanted off. National policy and news stories continued to be steered by the tweets and retweets of @realDonaldTrump. A photo of an egg had surpassed 30 million likes on Instagram. Children were eating laundry detergent and setting themselves on fire in exchange for followers. The phrase ‘late-stage capitalism’ was appearing everywhere.”

I rolled my eyes immediately, but then, similarly to the women in the meme where on one side, she offers a grotesque face, then on the other side, her eyes widen in contemplation, I was suckered in. Okay, missy, what have you got to offer?

First off, Pardes isn’t the first journalist, or even social media manager for that matter, to threaten to leave social for good. From March to this month, now November, social media content has gotten even worse. Starting with laundry detergent (Okay, that was gross…but if it was a marketing stunt, even I have to admit there was something clever there, and those little squares do look tasty… Oh please, as if you hadn’t thought about it before!) to detrimentally expensive political content that’s being questioned daily, social media content is easy to get caught up in and sometimes, is hard to hop off on a high note.

Pardes continues, “So I purged. Not the social media accounts, but the numerical machinery powering them. Likes. Retweets. Views. Followers. Subscribers. The metrics by which the words, photos, videos – what’s known, in toto, as content – are made valuable. I installed a series of browser extensions that promised to leave the content intact but expunge those boldface, sexy, ubiquitous numbers that cluttered and dominated my feeds.”

I’ve been taught, and self-taught, and educated on the fact that content requires to reap likes, retweets, views, followers, and yes, even subscribers. To this day, I tell clients, “It’s not about the numbers, but…it’s about the numbers. You feel me?” Then I proceed to offer explanation on how my team and I plan on attacking an evolved voice and grow a persona from the ground up.

However, there is something so say about the notion of simply sharing content – unfiltered, organic, personal content – for the sake of sharing content…not to get likes, retweets, views, followers, or even a paid partnership. That’s a refreshing idea to mull over, don’t you think? If we simply lived our lives on social the way we so desperately think we live them from day-to-day, we’d be much happier.

But, then how would capitalism work and run its course? The Kardashian-Jenner crews of the world would be nothing, because although I think they, and other celebrities, linked-up with smart managers and run tight business models, there’s no substance once the iron curtain gets peeled back.

And let’s be honest, do we really want to hear blasé opinions and see makeup-less appendages not holding cans of popular beverages? No. The world of social media would fall to ruins within days.

I digress again…

So, Pardes, right… She manages to explain how she dropped the numbers and says, “My guide to denumeration was Benjamin Grosser, an artist and assistant professor of new media at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Grosser builds little UX hacks for liberating Facebook, Twitter and Instagram from the hegemony of hearts, notifications, and follows. Install one of his extensions, log on, and you’ll find the room looks the same – but the curtains and crown molding have disappeared.”

So, is Grosser the “great and powerful” OZ in this situation?

Personally, I don’t buy it. We live for justification. And, admittedly, so do I. We’re too deep down the rabbit hole.

Please like and share this article. It will help me to sleep better tonight.

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Launch Your Small Business This Fall

November 18, 2019November 18, 2019
by josephafederico

So, here I sit in my humble little apartment in Morristown, staring outside at (what’s left of) the leaves and baking homemade pumpkin bread. The work weeks seems to get longer and longer, as do the days around the northern hemisphere during this time of year, and I have to fight off the urge to crash in my pajama set from J.Crew all day and sip holiday-flavored beverages from Starbucks.

Alright, let’s be honest, for those of you who know me (which I hope is a lot more after interacting with this article), I can’t sit still for the life of me. So, although, yes, I am trying my hand at being a bit domestic today, here I am, tapping away at an inspirational article about small business.

I had picked up Entrepreneur’s Startups this past April at the Atlantic City Airport as I was headed to the Carolinas to visit with family for the Easter holiday. The usual was packed in my carry-on bag: earbuds, all of my unfinished manuscripts, several pens, a change of clothes in case my luggage got lost, and horror-genred books. What I didn’t have was any reading material that pushed me, really forced me to look into the (sometimes harsh) mirror of entrepreneurship. I was on a journey to explore the unknown…facts I didn’t know about the world of small business.

And although the fact of the matter is, admittedly, I’m a slow reader, I truly did soak up all the trade secrets and have been applying them to my own experience (or sometimes, lack thereof) from Entrepreneur’s Startups. Which leads me to my next trick: sharing them with you, my amazing and eager readers.

For the sake of saving some time, I decided to jump right in and offer some of my own advice, starting with the section of the magazine entitled, “Start Your Own Business: This is When to Launch,” and it may be found on page 30 of the publication, just in case you’re following along.

The editors start off with a bold statement. They say, “Starting a business doesn’t have to be an all-or nothing commitment. The key is to map out a plan that puts your company on track to succeed.” Now, I must say that yes, you should have all your I’s dotted and T’s crossed before thrusting yourself into entrepreneurship; be sure to have investors lined-up should you require that assistance, and assure your finances are in order should your endeavor head south for whatever reason. However, I disagree with the statement that your business venture “doesn’t have to be an all-or nothing commitment.”

I’m sure you’ve spent months or years agonizing over the “the next big thing,” right? Choosing logo colors and writing out business plans are half the fun, but executing a small business is no small feat. I suggest applying the “ride or die” method to your dream. Use proper caution, but head right to the top floor.

Within the middle of the page is expert advice offered by the editorial team and business expert Arnold Sanow. They say, “Does all work and no play make entrepreneurship no fun? Some entrepreneurs who run part-time businesses based on hobbies, such as crafts or cooking, find that going full-time takes all the fun out of the venture.”

Business expert Arnold Sanow states, “Going full-time turns an adventure into a job.” Well yes, I do agree that entrepreneurship may not be for everyone. However, I must say that your business venture must, must, must start with a passion of yours. What sparks your soul? Are you a professional that feels stuck in a dead-end job?

Those are some questions you must ask yourself before deciding to take your passion project full-time. Over the years, I have met the most passionate people who have taken their crafting business, for instance, or their spice of life in the culinary arts, and brought their dreams to life. Now, again, that’s not to say they haven’t faced some form of trial or tribulation to the road of success, but it’s worth it in the end.

“If the road to success is meant for everyone, then I don’t want it,” is one of my personal inspirational statements. And truthfully, I loop back with myself from time to time and assure I’m following my truth.

One of the statements that I wholly agree with is the following: “There are a number of investigative factors to consider, such as the competition in your industry, the economy in your area, the demographic breakdown of your client base, and the availability of potential customers. If you are thinking of opening an upscale beauty salon, for example, evaluate the number of affluent women in the area and the fees they are willing to pay.”

In Morristown alone, there are approximately 7-9 marketing and public relations agencies. However, after heavily researching my location and observing the needs of my potential target demographic, I found out that each of the agencies, although labeled as “marketing and public relations,” offers something completely different from one another. And the kicker was that none of them offered social media and persona building services. That’s when I took a leap of faith and jumped from part to full-time. I felt I was satisfying a need people and/or companies didn’t know they needed.

Now, toward the end of the article in Entrepreneur’s Startups, the editors state, “If you’ve got your heart set on a business that traditionally requires a full-time commitment, think creatively: There may be ways to make it work on a part-time basis. For instance, instead of a restaurant, consider a catering business. You’ll still get to create menus and interact with customers, but your work can be done during evenings and weekends.”

Again, I do agree with the “take it slow” method when necessary, however, I suggest adjusting your daily commitments against how much passion you’re willing to put into making your dream a reality. Ask the questions, commit to a schedule and launch.

Have any questions or comment regarding the article? Not sure where to start when it comes to small business ventures? Being in the social media and marketing industry for over 12 years, Joseph A. Federico is the go-to agent for all of your small business needs. Contact him today by clicking here, or head to JosephAFederico.com.

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Spiritual Guidance by Maricela Duarte

January 20, 2019January 20, 2019
by josephafederico

The next guest blogger on JosephAFederico.com is my friend, Maricela Duarte. Continue below to read her fascinating story and be sure to contact her for a spiritual follow-up!

My childhood was normal to say the least. You know, everyone has stories of imaginary friends and tall tales of events that happened during sleepovers. Well, my events never took place over at someone’s Halloween party. I had always been somewhat of the ‘odd’ or ‘different’ child in our family.

I remember the earliest experience being around the age of 3. I was in our small apartment living room and I remember it being a bit dark; a sofa and a window was right behind it to my left, and to my right was the front door. I remember playing with a green tennis ball on the floor, and then I saw a quick shadow followed by some low whispers. I also remember being interested in Armageddon. Every morning, I’d ask my mom if a day would be the ‘end of the world,’ then run outside and stare up at the sky as if something were going to happen.

A few years later, our family moved into a home in Pico Rivera, California, and that is where everything for me began. No day or night was quiet for me; there was ALWAYS something or someone around trying to get my attention. From silhouettes of men in brown robes, to women in white dresses crossing between walls in our bedroom, and even small creatures hanging off my bed at night and scattering on the floor… no night was inactive.

Although those events were not frightening, I would bring it to my mother’s attention to which she would order us to clean out the storage from underneath our beds, because she was then certain the crawling creatures were mice. I lived with all of those apparitions for about a year or so when one night, I was completely frightened of what showed up to greet me.

I remember I woke up in the middle of the night to use the restroom. We had the type of light in the hallway that would have to be turned on from the opposite end (not closest to our bedroom). I tried waking up my twin to ask her to join me, so that I would not be alone, but she insisted that she didn’t have to pee, and I would just have to make the tumultuous journey down the hall alone. Holding my breath, and knowing something was waiting for me, I slowly walked out of our bedroom and started making my way down the long hall.

Nothing was off at first, taking another unsteady step closer to the light switch. I started noticing two red eyes starring right at me from our bay window in our living room. I thought to myself that it may be outside of the window. I took another few steps, and as I got closer to the living room area, to my amazement, I noticed that the eyes were on top of my parents record player INSIDE our home in front of the bay window. That’s where I froze.

This thing was possibly the size of a medium-sized small dog breed, with gray skin and ugly-looking paws. It was squatting down, looking straight at me with nothing but what looked like a smirk on its face. I never made it to that light switch, but instead ran straight into the bathroom and quickly locked the door, sat in our bathroom for about what felt like a lifetime (more like 45 minutes).

I waited until I sensed that this thing had backed up away from the door, although I knew it wasn’t out of the house. Once again, I held my breath and counted to three before throwing open the bathroom door and booking it straight for my bedroom. I turned my head right before entering my room where I saw this thing on the floor with that same disgusting smirk again.

After that night, what I thought was a curse to live with just became harder and harder to deal with. Since I had no one to show me how to set boundaries, and when to allow entities to come into contact with me, life was full of ups and downs. I acted-out a lot during this time of my young life, and was angry all the time, probably because I never really slept.

I tried to talk to my parents about everything, but just ended up keeping it to myself after the constant ‘it was just a dream’ excuses. Being of the old world, my parents stuck to many old habits of lecturing and scolding. For example, if we misbehaved, they would tell us that our “Guardian Angel had left us and the Devil would be pulling at our feet tonight,” so, that just added to my fear.

After the event with the gargoyle-like creature, that is when I started feeling the frequency of Spirit. The voices were still far off, and it always sounded like someone had the television on in a back room at just the right volume to know the television was on, but not loud enough to hear it.

The energy was always intense, and sometimes, I found myself getting completely dizzy and falling over. I would get constant visions of the past rushing through my head, especially around the older side of town. Once we moved to Colorado, things calmed down a little. But, being that we were only 12 when we moved out there, little did I know the ghosts that waited for me in good ‘ol Denver.

I always wondered why my childhood home had such an overpowering energy to it, and that was answered by Mrs. Moreno, a beautiful neighbor we had growing-up in Cali. One summer, when we went back to visit some family, she sat down with us and spoke about growing-up in the neighborhood of Pico Rivera. The story was that before our home was built, there stood the last church of Pico Rivera as property of Mexico, before it was purchased by the United States. That immediately explained the women in white dresses and the men in brown robes.

Fast forward to my teenage life. The home we moved into was built around the 1940s, but we feel that the ground itself was haunted. I would constantly get scratching at my bedroom window, my bedroom lights would always be flipped on in the middle of the night, thundering/banging on my front door in the middle of the night, as well as orbs flying inside and outside our home. My twin sister once followed an orb outside in the middle of the night, trying to see whatever this thing was! She, of course, found absolutely nothing.

When my husband (then-boyfriend) and I moved into our first apartment together; that’s when my Guides really started to push me into awareness. I fell onto dark times then, self-medicating myself with marijuana and excessive drinking, because then, I had a reason to hear the voices… I just chalked it up to the drugs.

Needless to say, I’ve been clean a little over ten years now, and have been working on helping to understand what is really out past the veil that we cannot see with our own two eyes. I strive to help others start their healing process through council and Reiki, and I use my gifts. I’m now grateful for them and find it amazing to see the things and hear the things and sense the things that are all around us all the time.

I can now teach my kids and so many others, how to set proper boundaries, not just try keeping away negative forces, but also keeping away negative people and situations. Meditating and speaking to myself is part of my normal life now, and it keeps me sane. I still get a few nightly visitors, but all in all, I have grown to a point where I can set the proper intentions and lay down the law for anything that tries to come into my home.

Now, I have created my own business to help others spiritually by clearing homes, spaces and people, that have unexplained activities and/or attachments. I bring in many different tools and allies, and follow my Angels’ guidance and intuitions using many forms of plants, flowers, oils, smudges and so much more.

I truly believe that I was given this gift in order to receive the experiences that I did, and use it to help others.

If you would like to reach me, you can find me on Instagram @m.d.traditionalllc, or by email, at mdtraditional@gmail.com. Our web page is www.beyondmediums.com for any paranormal issues you find yourself having.

For more information or to be Joseph A. Federico’s next guest blogger, click here.