X

Meet Sara Lopez, New Media Star

<p><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2010&sol;01&sol;13768&lowbar;214362599748&lowbar;180065444748&lowbar;2915569&lowbar;7512503&lowbar;n&period;jpg"><img class&equals;"alignleft size-medium wp-image-1238" style&equals;"margin&colon; 8px 10px&semi;" title&equals;"13768&lowbar;214362599748&lowbar;180065444748&lowbar;2915569&lowbar;7512503&lowbar;n" alt&equals;"" src&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;collegecareerlife&period;net&sol;wp-content&sol;uploads&sol;2010&sol;01&sol;13768&lowbar;214362599748&lowbar;180065444748&lowbar;2915569&lowbar;7512503&lowbar;n-300x225&period;jpg" width&equals;"300" height&equals;"225" &sol;><&sol;a>Do you love social media&quest; If so&comma; Sara Lopez may have your dream job&period; I asked Sara some questions about her job as 8th Continent Soymilk&&num;8217&semi;s new media spokesperson&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>How did you get your job as a new media spokesperson&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>My passion with social media and online marketing started when I was hosting and organizing art&sol; poetry events around town and I had to utilize the internet to increase attendance&period; From there&comma; I knew that was what I wanted to do&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>In my senior year of college I interned at an amazing marketing firm in Toledo&comma; Ohio&period; After interning&comma; I was an Account Coordinator and also was a Business Development Associate&comma; but that never really allowed me to fully invest myself in my passion&period; One day I got a call from the CEO of the marketing firm that I had interned at and he said he had the perfect job for me- a social media job where I would be the brand ambassador for 8<sup>th<&sol;sup> Continent Soymilk&period; Being a vegetarian and lactose intolerant&comma; I knew 8<sup>th<&sol;sup> Continent Soymilk because it was&comma; and still is&comma; my favorite soymilk&period; I made a 7-minute video that had everything from me speaking Spanish to dancing on desks&comma; to one of my favorite Rock n’ Roll songs&period; The tattoos&comma; the red faux-hawk&comma; everything that would normally make a corporation hesitant to commit to me were the same things that made the people at 8<sup>th<&sol;sup> Continent fall in love with me&period; I was chosen out of about 11 different submissions and from there I used my online skills&comma; my video editing experience and my ridiculously outgoing personality to become successful at my job&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong> What are your primary responsibilities&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>My primary responsibility is to listen to and engage with soy fans&period;  I also raise awareness about the benefits of soymilk and in particular&comma; 8<sup>th<&sol;sup> Continent soymilk&period; The social interaction aspect of my job has got to be one of the most important attributes&period; Marketing and social media is now a two-way communication experience&period; If one of my readers&sol; friends online&comma; tell me that they have feedback or that they want to try 8<sup>th<&sol;sup> Continent for the first time&comma; I send them a special link for a coupon&period;  I also  have the ability to take their feedback and share it directly with the people at 8<sup>th<&sol;sup> Continent so they can get their voice heard&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong> Which social media outlets do you use&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I try to use the inclusive social media networks as opposed to the exclusive ones&period; I have a fan page on Facebook&comma; a Twitter account&comma; an account on Brightkite&comma; Youtube&comma; Flickr&comma; Foursquare&comma; Gowalla&comma; Whrrl&comma; Dailybooth&period; Pretty much if you name it&comma; I am probably on it at least once a day&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What do you enjoy most about the job&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The relationships I have built online&period;  I have always been the person that loves to meet new people and experience new things&period; And&comma; through this job I have been able to meet all types of personalities from all over the US&period; Although it is my job to promote online&comma; I still build a very tight-knit relationship with the other people I interact with&period; For example&comma; I was on a three-month road trip that was called the <em>8<sup>th<&sol;sup> Continent Soymilk Taste of Life Tour<&sol;em>&period;  I went around to the coolest events and places in the US &&num;8211&semi; like Burning Man and The House On the Rock&period; In the middle of my road trip my fiancé and I split up&period; You can imagine how devastating this can be alone and in the middle of a three-month trip&period; My online friends really helped me through that time in my life with &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;You deserve better”s and &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;His loss”s &period;  Since I developed these relationships online we have helped each other through heartache and congratulate each other on accomplishments&period; We have truly become friends&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Are there any downsides to the position&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Sometimes I get calluses from typing so much&comma; which is something lotion can tackle&period; Besides that&comma; I am hard-pressed to pinpoint any downsides&period; Of course there are always the average challenges of finding enough time in the day to accomplish all that you would want to get done&period; But when you love your job&comma; filling your hours with work feels more like fun activities instead of &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;work”&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>What personality traits make a successful social media spokesperson&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The biggest thing I have learned from working as a social media spokesperson is that you just can’t take yourself too seriously&period; You really do have to have a sense of humor about things because you are not writing for a newspaper nor are you a journalist&period; You have been hired as a spokesperson to endorse a brand because of your personality and your belief in the product&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong>Any advice for aspiring new media stars&quest;<&sol;strong><&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>You must be true to yourself&period; Do not present yourself as anyone except for the true you because you are linking your name to a personality the entire world could potentially witness&period; Also&comma; I cannot stress the importance of networking&excl; A &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;re-tweet” from the right person could open an entire new world of audiences&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><&excl;--Digiprove&lowbar;Start--><span style&equals;"vertical-align&colon; middle&semi; display&colon; inline-table&semi; padding&colon; 3px&semi; line-height&colon; normal&semi; border&colon; 0px&semi;" title&equals;"certified 14 January 2010 20&colon;38&colon;15 UTC by Digiprove certificate P6336"><a style&equals;"text-decoration&colon; none&semi;" href&equals;"http&colon;&sol;&sol;www&period;digiprove&period;com&sol;show&lowbar;certificate&period;aspx&quest;id&equals;P6336" target&equals;"&lowbar;blank" rel&equals;"noopener" class&equals;"broken&lowbar;link"><span style&equals;"font-family&colon; Tahoma&comma; MS Sans Serif&semi; font-size&colon; 9px&semi; color&colon; &num;636363&semi; border&colon; 0px&semi; float&colon; none&semi; display&colon; inline&semi; text-decoration&colon; none&semi; letter-spacing&colon; normal&semi;" onmouseover&equals;"this&period;style&period;color&equals;'&num;A35353'&semi;" onmouseout&equals;"this&period;style&period;color&equals;'&num;636363'&semi;"> Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010<&sol;span><&sol;a><&excl;--C6D9892798C7E1A72F786E0E71AD92D21962D5968E48558F359F1DA72CCEB7BF--><&sol;span><&excl;--Digiprove&lowbar;End--><&sol;p>&NewLine;

Andrea: