Over the past month, I had the good fortune to have Kate Halabi, a high school senior intern, work alongside me during a very, very busy few weeks. While it was incredibly valuable (and fun!) to have such a bright, talented, and eager person working with me every day, it was also energizing to share the what, why and how of this constantly shifting industry.   As I think Kate learned, there’s a lot more that goes into successful online marketing campaigns than sitting around posting cute puppy pictures on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.  Here’s what Kate had to say about her internship:

“I’ve been working at as an intern at Sheed Communications for nearly a month now, and the time has flown by. I feel very fortunate to have had the chance to work with Nancy, who is dynamic, skilled, personable, and kind. Nancy introduced me to Google Analytics, Canva, Animoto, Hootsuite, MailChimp, TweetDeck, and several other useful social media management tools that she uses to run her business and support her clients.  

MailChimp has been especially interesting to look into, as it provides a platform for the marketing emails that I’ve so often received, but never really understood. The site allows you to design a sequence of professional-looking emails for those who subscribe to your email list. It provides a whole different perspective of social media and marketing than what I’m accustomed to as a consumer. 

I also analyzed the success of various social media posts in relation to others by digging into the mechanics of Facebook, and measured the reach of our clients’ newsletters by looking at open and click rates, URL clicks, and more. I’ve researched live streaming apps like Meerkat and Periscope, and created a promotional video using Animoto. I helped to coordinate a tweet chat and associated raffle, and set up filters in Google Analytics to ensure that the data we report to clients isn’t artificially inflated. Each of these projects gave me a better understanding of how the social media marketing world functions and how it helps entrepreneurs and small business grow their online platforms. 

I saw how Nancy stays current with the social media and marketing world when we attended a seminar at the Stamford Innovation Center. The event introduced best practices in the field, and discussed the ways in which the online world is shifting. It taught me the value of keeping abreast of developments in such a rapidly changing field. 

Nancy has taught me what a true entrepreneur is. She balances her time between work and family, transitioning from one to the other with ease. Nancy has designed her work to fit into other aspects of her life. Most of all, she does something she loves, and is very good at. Working for her has been a pleasure. Nancy sets an upbeat and relaxed, yet productive tone for her business. I have witnessed this firsthand, and she conveys the same energy to her colleagues, who work from all different locations. It takes someone excellent at communications to run a business with so many disparate parts so smoothly.”