NST's Young Influential Teresa Siles

She’s young. She’s influential. She’s NST’s very own Teresa Siles! Recently named a Young Influential by the San Diego Daily Transcript, Teresa was recognized for her knowledge in social media and her efforts to ensure our agency plays a leading role in the industry.

Teresa joined NST more than 10 years ago as an intern and worked her way up to become a vice president of the firm. In fact, she’s the youngest vice president in NST’s history! Through the years, Teresa has developed a well-deserved reputation of being a leader in public relations and social media. She is creative and is constantly pushing not only her clients, but also her colleagues, to try new things and stay on the edge of change.

In addition to managing client accounts, Teresa leads NST’s social media practice. In 2009, she created the San Diego Social Media Symposium, which is now an annual one-day conference that brings together leaders in public relations, marketing, academia and the business community from across Southern California to talk about social media and how it is impacting our respective industries. The most recent symposium was held March 1, 2012 and drew more than 200 attendees.

Teresa is also a two-time graduate of WOMM-U or “Word of Mouth Marketing University,” and received her bachelor’s degree from San Diego State University (SDSU).

In her spare time, Teresa also finds time to give back. She leads a monthly social media workshop for SCORE San Diego, and serves on the marketing committee for LEAD San Diego and the advisory committee for the Digital and Social Media Collaborative at SDSU. As if all this was not enough, Teresa has also recently returned to SDSU as a student in its Executive MBA Program.

Please join me in recognizing Teresa for all her hard work and dedication not only to the profession and her clients, but also to NST and her colleagues. She is a true influential leader.

With all the social media platforms available, what approach will work best for your company and your brand?

Our suggestion?  Do your research.

Nuffer, Smith, Tucker hosts a reoccurring social media workshop for small business owners through SCORE San Diego.  The next workshop will be on Tuesday, August 18 at National University in Carlsbad.  Nuffer, Smith, Tucker President Bill Trumpfheller and Social Media Director Teresa Siles lead the Internet Marketing 303 – Social Media for Small Businesses workshop and provide insight about how social media can help small businesses, why companies should engage in social media, and the best platforms for small businesses.

Anyone can become involved in social media but your company needs a strategy for how to use the different platforms to attract new customers and to engage with your current clients. Bill and Teresa use small business case studies as examples of the right way to reach out to your consumers on Facebook, Twitter, and blogs.  You will learn the pros and cons of being online and, based on the information that Bill and Teresa provide, can determine whether your business is ready to engage in social media

Avoiding social media doesn’t mean that people aren’t talking about your company – it just means you are not participating in the discussion.  You need to know what is being said – even if, as Teresa suggested in a previous blog, you are just listening for now.  But once you decide to engage, be sure you have a strategy – so start doing your research now.

For more information about the Social Media for Small Businesses workshop, contact SCORE San Diego at 619/557-7272 or visit their Web site: www.score-sandiego.org.

For even more information about the social media workshop, check out the following interviews we have done with the local San Diego media:

Bill Trumpfheller and SCORE San Diego president Monty Dickinson discuss the social media workshop with George Chamberlin on KOGO’s Money in the Morning.

Teresa Siles and Monty Dickinson talk about the social media workshop on San Diego’s CW 6 morning news program.

The San Diego News Network covered the first social media workshop held on July 31.