Getting in touch

Hello!

(Scroll down to read my blog posts – although sorry there haven’t been many updates recently!)

Recently, I set up a company that specialises in social media for startups. We do social media management, strategy, training and outreach for new companies who are yet to find their perfect in-house social media changemaker.

This is a great moment for me and it’s going really well so far. Check out our website – http://lmwlabs.com – to find out more about our products and services, or email me on jessica@lmwlabs.com to set up a conversation.

If you’d like me to help out with social media training, strategy or management for your brand, NGO or anything else interesting – I’m still able to work with you on this, too! Email jessica.m.riches@gmail.com if you’d like to talk. My personal website – http://jessicariches.com – might help you out there.

As always, you can hear and see the day-to-day of my life on Twitter and on Instagram, and find out the latest in my working life on my LinkedIn profile.

Peace, love and hashtags!

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The HashKey – A Fun Side Project

Being a consultant is fun. You’ve got some time to work on projects that cater to your favourite obsessions outside of your paid client work. And you can make those projects pretty crazy ones, all in the name of experimentation.

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The HashKey is the latest fun experiment I’ve been involved in. Masterminded by my boyfriend, probably as some huge romantic gesture to keep me engaged, I’m really just a figurehead as a ‘social media fan’, but it’s been a blast so far nonetheless. (My hands are so famous now!)

We received a ridiculous amount of press, agency and influencer attention in the first few days we went live, as we knew we would; this product is peak social media sharing ammunition. It’s just interesting to see whether that level of conversation converts to getting this thing funded!

Watch my starring role in the Kickstarter video here!

 

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Teaching Some Experts How To Be A Social Media Experts (Without Making It A Full Time Job)

A few weeks back I spoke at an epic old venue down by the river about the thoroughly modern subject of Social Media. (Obvs. I mean what else did you expect from me at this stage?)

I was speaking to a room full of experts, women who are spokespeople about their professional specialism. I was there to teach them about how to increase their profiles online – but as these are busy women, I focused my talk on how to fit building up a social media profile into your daily routine.

I love doing talks and public or private training sessions about building up a social media profile. If you’d like me to help out with a social media training session for you or your organisation, get in touch! jessica.m.riches@gmail.com

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In a day and age where everyone is seen as a publisher because of social media, lots of people get very worried that committing to building up a social media following will involve having to create lots of their own, original content. This is obviously ideal if you have the time and genuinely have reams of wisdom to share – but it isn’t necessary, if you’re new to social media and just want to find a way to fit it into your life or working life. Continue reading →

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The Glitter Side of Things

I talk a lot about Twitter on my blog. I talk a lot about Twitter in life, actually. But this blog is called Twitter and Glitter for a reason. Not because, at the tender age of 20, I ran a fantastic night in Soho’s Escape (a venue that is now long gone and resigned to our blurriest memories) that involved everyone wearing wigs and covering themselves in sparkle. But because I really do love glitter.

Glitter makes an outfit. It never breaks an outfit. It gives you cheekbones or a pout or eyes that pop, depending on where you choose to put it. You find it the next day, and the next week, and the next month, and it makes you smile because you know you had a great time.

I recently found someone as obsessed with glitter as I am. Probably more so, actually. She’s an inspirational lady and this year quit her long-term job in events to launch a website that supports independent fashion designers. And glitter.

Screen shot 2014-12-15 at 13.30.01 Continue reading →

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Let’s Get Ethical

Short update – last week I took part in a small roundtable with the CIPR (Chartered Institute of PR for those not in-the-know – I wasn’t…) to advise them on their social media and technology ethics policy.

I’ll be honest – I think most people in the room had thought about this a lot more deeply than I had in the past, as they were mainly lawyers and academics. That said, it was a fascinating afternoon, and incredibly productive.

The main conclusion I personally drew was that social media doesn’t have the same need for an ethical conduct as other disciplines, because of it’s incredibly public, consumer-empowering nature. If a brand, individual or organisation does anything that breaches a ‘code of conduct’ – purposefully or otherwise – they are likely to be found out, sooner or later.

Thank God for accountability, right?!

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Do Ello Have A Mega Growth Hacking Strategy Or What?

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You’ve definitely seen Ello by now – with people desperately begging for invites, or boasting that they have loads to give away.

But how has Ello become so ubiquitous so quickly?

According to the limited resources available online, founder Paul Budnitz says that the network’s been in use for around 100 of his collective’s artist and designer friends for over a year – they only started sending invites outside of this in April. They have no ambition to be Facebook.

Despite the rapid uptake and belief in the hype, there’s a sceptical tone in the air around Ello. How can they take on Facebook when they’re shunning advertising? The premium model they’re talking about can only go so far.

The founders say they still own the majority of the company, and they say they’re not actually interested in taking on Facebook.

However, they raised substantial VC funds ($435,000) just before this mega-spike says otherwise. Investors don’t invest without a business model that promises return.

So how have they got to the stage where they were getting sign-ups at the rate of 31,000 per hour?

Continue reading →

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Oh Hi There Generation Z

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Generation Y have come of age – even the youngest are in higher education or have jobs.

This means that there’s a new generation in town – the younger crowd who are coming into their own and becoming the new ‘cool kids’, trendsetters and taste-makers as their older counterparts venture into real life. Generation Z are under 17 and still at school, so trends, early adoption and collective behaviour can exhibit itself more clearly.

Unlike the generation before them, Generation Z aren’t approaching adulthood at a time of flux and development.

Generation Y remember that there ever was not an Internet, and were conscious and aware of the transition they were making into digital communication. It’s second nature for them. However, Generation Z cannot truly remember a time without the internet and social media.

Following on from my last look at Generation Y, I wrote this for OnePoll about the biggest differences between these generations.

Continue reading →

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