Social Networking Tip of the Week: What Su.pr can do for you

There are all sorts of sites you can go to and paste in a link, then have it "shortened" so it looks like this: http://su.pr/2TMnFh. This is great for updating your status to Twitter and other places where word-count matters; with only 140 characters, every one of those matters so people actually have a clue what you're directing them to or telling them about.

But http://su.pr/ has some advantages that others don't. For one, you can link it to some of your accounts, so you could post to Twitter right from there. For another, it gives you a good idea on when to schedule an update based on traffic to various sites. If you post an update on a Friday night, for example, it's a lot more likely to get lost on Twitter, because everybody with an iPhone is also posting an update then. It's easy for someone to login on a Monday morning and see dozens of updates, and that's when your update is most likely to get ignored, missed, or skimmed, and so any links you post get lost.

But the best part of Su.pr? It's run through StumbleUpon, so any links you shorten automatically get submitted there. If you don't know StumbleUpon, it's a place where you submit links and they get "broadcast" to the Stumble program that allows people to just happen upon your site (get it? Stumble?), people can review and rate the link, and basically, just a lot more people might see it.

Judging by Google Analytics, StumbleUpon and Su.pr have really helped my website get out there, and if any body happens upon my site and is a casting agent...that's a really good thing!

Link Happy:

• Su.pr - http://su.pr/


• StumbleUpon - http://www.stumbleupon.com/


• Twitter - http://twitter.com/laurienlandry

Social Networking Tip of the Week: What Su.pr can do for you

Pix from the Wild Night of Holiness, Celebrities, and Goof Balls

Here's a few pictures from the night we got hassled at the parking lot, sat next to Nicole Richie, and saw the big J.C. breaking it down on stage. Tim was the camera man, so he unfortunately is playing the role of "Sir Not Appearing In This Film."

Free candy bar on November 1st to who ever guesses that reference and posts it on my Facebook: www.facebook.com/laurielandry

Pix from the Wild Night of Holiness, Celebrities, and Goof Balls

What do Nicole Richie, Girls Gone Wild, and Dancing Jesus have in common?...

...the Playhouse Hollywood, of course! Fridays are their Dirty Sexy House nights, jam-packed with two DJ areas rockin' the beats simultaneously, one in the main section and one in the VIP area.

But you came here for the dirty sexy scoop on what happened, so here it is: Hollywood newcomers Laurie, Tim and Melissa decided to tear up the town, and after an incredibly tasty (and shockingly inexpensive!) meal at Palms Thai restaurant on Hollywood Blvd, as well as a few drinks and carousing at Katana in West Hollywood, took a drive over to the Playhouse, a nightspot that just opened it's doors in July. Traffic was typical Friday night fare in downtown Hollywood: not fun. Luckily, on the way to the club, a bright light shone from the street as we entered a McDonald's parking lot to get some McNuggets and Flurries, and -- quite literally -- Jesus was there, arms up-raised, and thus did the traffic part and many good blessings were bestowed upon our cholesterol-laden foods. Quite the biblical moment.

And so the journey continued, and lo and behold, there was a parking spot opening up not 200 yards from the door into the club!

The two lovely gents who were about to get in there car and drive off to their roach-infested apartment to play Playstation because they couldn't pick up any "hawt chix" at the club decided it'd be funny to demand a toll of the two ladies in the front seat (Tim was minding to his Reese's Flurry in the back seat): "You can have the spot if you put down your top." You see, they thought they were cool using a double entendre, because we were in a convertible. How clever.

My response was something to the effect of: "Why don't you just leave and give us the spot?" Seemed easy enough for them to do.

Undeterred, the guys said it again: "Just put down your tops." And it was at that moment that a cop strolled over, and asked very nicely of these two upstanding citizens (who were clearly too messed up to drive), "Why don't you two come over on the sidewalk for a sec?"

Oh, the humor doesn't end there, but it probably did for those two dudes. And that would be the Girls Gone Wild reference, in case you're keeping score.

After finding parking elsewhere, the three of us strolled into the club, and thanks to some connections, we got a tour of the control booth (two words: technologically awesome!) and got seated in the VIP area. That's where we saw Nicole Richie bustin' the moves with an entourage of hip-looking cats (sorry for the 70s slang), and honestly, the DJs had this place going fierce. They had some of the "typical" modern hip-hop stuff going on, but their mixing skills and their occasional blocks of 80s songs ("Hungry Like the Wolf," "The Humpty Dance," and several others) definitely kicked it up a notch.

And that's when the Heavens parted once again, and Jesus -- the same Jesus who'd led us to the Holy Mecca that is McDonald's late on a Friday when you're starving and have very little cash -- appeared on the main stage and was going all Holy Trinity on the place. Holy Trinity being:

1. Raising the roof,
2. The Mom shuffle (you know the one your Mom does at weddings, where her arms are positioned like she's about to do the chicken dance), and
3. A very, very poor rendition of The Carlton.

Ah, Hollywood: my #1 new source for comedy...you know, ever since they cancelled Wonder Showzen.


Link Happy:

• Playhouse - http://www.playhousehollywood.com/
• Palms Thai restaurant - http://www.palmsthai.com/
• Katana restaurant - http://www.katanala.com/
• Nicole Richie on Twitter - http://twitter.com/nicolerichie
• Wonder Showzen Official MTV Page (full episodes!) - http://www.mtv.com/shows/wonder_showzen/series.jhtml

What do Nicole Richie, Girls Gone Wild, and Dancing Jesus have in common?...

Social Networking Tip of the Week: LinkedIn Links

Use LinkedIn? I sure do (click the LinkedIn button over on the right to check out some of my connections); it's a great way to contact with the folks behind the camera in the industry, as well as friends, coworkers, former employers, and potential future employers.

Well, if you use it, here's a sweet little tip that's come up in several sources, including Laura Roeder's site:

"When entering in your links, such as My Website, My Company, or My Blog, don't actually select those generic titles. Instead, select "Other" in the drop-down box, and type in a descriptive title before the link." So, instead of "My Website," you'd put in "Laurie Landry.com" or whatever your site is called.

This is an awesome way to put a relevant and descriptive link on your LinkedIn page, which is always weighted pretty highly in the various search engines.


Link Happy:

• Laura Roeder's Social Marketing - http://www.lauraroeder.com/

Social Networking Tip of the Week: LinkedIn Links

Expanding horizons!

Social networking is a big deal, something we (Laurie and Tim) have learned quite a bit about in the past few months from all manner of sources. One thing that was hard to come by, however, was information specifically targeted at increasing online/social network exposure for an actress. Sure, there's tons of places that will tell you "Social networking for an artist is probably the key to success, if any one such 'key' actually exists," but they don't really tell you the how's of it. Again, not in any targeted manner.

Then, a good friend of ours -- Jim (whose music has often been a great friend at work!) -- pointed me to Laura Roeder's site(s) and...well, the floodgates opened. There's lots of great info to be had, and I'm very thankful Jim's a guru of social marketing, because without him, we wouldn't be as far along as we are. And without people like Laura Roeder, crazy new networking ideas wouldn't be the bread and butter that is Social Media Strategy.

Anyway, part of what I'm getting at is that I'm now on LinkedIn and Twitter. But it's way cooler for me to have put together a big story around that. Perhaps more importantly, maybe it's worth expanding the horizons of this blog: not only to do a little social networking promotion for my site, Laurie Landry, but also to show a clear path on how that social networking is done, and what it leads to. Expect to see some really cool stuff very soon!


Link Happy:

• Laura Roeder's Social Media Marketing - http://www.lauraroeder.com/
• Jimbalaya - http://jimbalaya.us/
• James Chevalier - http://jameschevalier.us/

Expanding horizons!