Off the Record with BJ Murphy

Agree or disagree with political opinions, we're going to continue allowing both, because that's reflective of who our country is.

https://www.bjmurphy360.com/source/liberals-and-conservatives-are-neighbors-too

Spotlight on Kinston’s 17-Year-Old Entrepreneur

With the help of his family, 17-year-old Shane Swindell opened a business in the old K-Mart building on N. Queen Street, Kinston. The store is aptly named Shane’s Discount Outlet and provides quality pieces of merchandise at discounted prices. BJ and Zac sat down with Shane to discuss why he started the business, ideas for a social media marketing strategy, and the young entrepreneur’s business and academic aspirations.  

Key points

www.bjmurphy360.com

BJ and Zac sat down to catch up as well as recap the recent Social Media Masterminds meetup. They discuss Zac’s experience with TikTok and how he dared post a funny TikTok video to LinkedIn–yes, the professional site. Is BJ making progress towards his goal of mastering video? Tune in to find out.

Key points

www.bjmurphy360.com

What philosophies have driven BJ to get to where he is today? On November 18, 2019, he revealed this and more to students of East Carolina University. BJ talked about his own student days, his career journey and his sojourn into politics. Besides giving career advice and nuggets on entrepreneurship, BJ shared the story of how Neuse News came to be.

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www.bjmurphy360.com

It’s Okay to Get a Vocational Education at the Community College 

Magic Mile Media and Neuse News were at the 2019 Holly Jolly Holiday Show at the Kinston Community Center. Amidst the bustle, BJ and Zac took time out to record this podcast episode where they pondered the merits of internships, our community college system, and the four-year college degree. They also caught up on recent happenings in business and on social media.  

Key points

• Why students love visiting Additive America, Neuse News, and Magic Mile Media

• Magic Mile Media is partnering with Lenoir Community College to develop a livestreaming course 

• Being successful in social media for business requires much more than hashtags 

• Are you considering vocational education for your high schooler?

• Instagram has phased out the vanity metrics on likes… and not everyone’s happy

• What does it mean for Neuse News to transition from a project to a “legit” business?

• How BJ will respond to LinkedIn connections who insist on a salesy introduction

Call to Action 

Do you think we should encourage all high school students to get a four-year college degree? 

www.bjmurphy360.com

Dear high school students, 

It's OK to get a vocational education at your community college. In fact, there are many occupations that will pay you handsomely if you possess the right training and skill set. 

To your success, 

BJ  

www.bjmurphy360.com

LinkedIn and Facebook algorithms seem to prioritize native, organic content over reshared posts. Knowing which types of posts get more reach helps you choose how to repurpose or create content for various social media platforms. 

On this episode, BJ and Zac discuss what they’ve learned through trial and error, recent business developments, how they deal with haters on social media, and so much more.  

Key points

• What it takes to livestream a football game

• Why Zac started recording (and livestreaming) his 3D printing process

• How Neuse News is using the YouTube channel

• Selling versus telling stories: People don’t like to be sold to but they like to buy

• Should businesses send marketing campaigns via snail mail?

• The Neuse News email newsletter is free and ad-free

• Formatting video for IGTV

• Zac’s LinkedIn “algorithm test”

• Two Facebook hacks: native videos and watch parties

• BJ’s interesting experience with a hater

• Embracing the people who don’t like what you’re doing

www.bjmurphy360.com

The Facebook Journalism Project with Anna Ratti

Have you heard about the Facebook Journalism Project (FJP)? Facebook is partnering with local journalism entities across the country and providing them with grants to support projects aimed at building community through local news.

On this episode, BJ is joined by Anna Ratti, an intern student from East Carolina University. Using Q&A style, she gathers all the information needed to submit a Neuse News application for an FJP grant. 

Key points 

• What is the Facebook Journalism project and how did BJ hear of it? 

• Specific Neuse News activities that the Facebook Journalism grant award would fund

• Key players and resources needed to realize the Neuse News sub project

• Who will benefit from all this? 

• About community engagement and drawing upon diverse perspectives in the community 

• How will success and impact of the sub project be measured? 

• Plans to enhance organizational sustainability 

• Potential challenges and how they will be addressed

• Current audience numbers and demographics 

• Redefining how some local newspaper stories are covered

www.bjmurphy360.com

Recently, a local small business used social media to tell the world they were modifying their business hours. Though they recognized the power of social media to communicate an important change in business, it turned out they hadn’t been using the same channel to promote their business.

On this episode, Zac and BJ exchange notes on some of the best practices for posting on Facebook and LinkedIn. Whether you’ve been posting regularly on social or you’ve been wondering what to post, you’ll want to listen in.

www.bjmurphy360.com

Key points

· Leveraging social media for marketing

· There is no such thing as a perfect post–any post can go viral

· In business, it’s okay to be a copycat

· Develop a relationship with people before you try to get them to buy

· Why you shouldn’t use your personal Facebook profile for business

· How Zac uses YouTube ads

· A tip to make your video go viral

· Does it matter how the Facebook and LinkedIn algorithms work?

· An upcoming Social Media Masterminds meetup

· The idea of a four-hour workweek

Call to Action

For more conversations like this, join our Social Media Masterminds Facebook Group–a community of entrepreneurs and rising personal brands.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/173142680108872

Following the inaugural Social Media Masterminds Marketing Summit (SM3), the team at Magic Mile Media decided to relaunch the BJMurphy360 website, continue with regular meetups, and be intentional about building a content funnel.

Zac is a newcomer to Kinston and on this episode, he and BJ share perspectives on how local business owners can promote their businesses a bit better, and some of the dos and don’ts when it comes to social media.

www.bjmurphy360.com

Key points

· Key action points from the SM3 Summit

· Big Plans for the BJ Murphy360 podcast and content funnel

· Why Zac is establishing local connections

· How local businesses can rethink the allocation of their advertising budget

· The beard challenge #BeardTheBeej

· People are using social media to make buying decisions

· Disrupting the news business with a new approach

· How one business is killing it on social

· A key strategy to employ when managing social media accounts

· Why BJ will spend less time at the drawing board and more time at the doing board in 2020

Call to Action

Do you use social media for business? We’d love to hear from you. Send us a message to let us know how relevant or not social media is to your business’s marketing strategy.