SMC of SLC

It is the SMC of SLC’s pleasure to highlight member Josh “Shua” Peters: social media strategist, amateur artist, and  *major* horror movie fan. Josh is also the brand new co-author of the book Twittfaced. Josh describes himself as a “very analytical, strategic, and detail-oriented person.” Read on to learn even more about Josh. (Oh, and the next time you see him at a SMC of SLC meeting, feel free to ask about his numerous tattoos! He’s happy to spill the goods.)

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SMC: First up: please explain the quotes in your name: Josh “Shua” Peters. Inquiring minds wanna know!

JSP: “Shua” is the nickname I’ve gone by for a long, long time. It’s pronounced SH-WA (like the upside down E).

SMC: Cool. Give us the skinny on you as an interesting individual and Utahn.
What were you like as a teen versus five years ago versus today?

JSP: I don’t know if I’m interesting, but I definitely have a story. As a teen I was your average, awkward Wyoming kid in who didn’t know how to talk to girls (Still struggle with that at times!). I was trying to be a good son, but also had a mad desire to be a punk rocker. In college, I transformed into said punk rocker. But I had no musical talent, so I became friends with all the punk bands, dancing on stage and helping with security.

Yet even with sporting a 9-inch Mohawk, I was able to impress my professors with my grades and work ethic enough to nab departmental scholarships every semester.

I moved back to Utah about eight years ago. (I was born and raised here until ninth grade, then my family moved to Wyoming.) Once back, I calmed down the crazy hair somewhat – but then later had no choice because it started falling out. At least I had some good times with it while it was there!

I found myself doing menial jobs, which I hated. One day I decided that complaining wasn’t going to get me anywhere. So I started reading, learning, and returned to school, to create a future for myself. I’m not yet where I’d like to be, but I’m steadily working on getting there. Earlier this year I finished the University of San Francisco’s Master Certificate in Internet Marketing. A future goal: to own a house with a yard!

SMC: You’re obviously a creative guy. How/why did you channel your energy into social media?

JSP: I got started in social media back about three years ago when I was working on a startup called RoyalAnts (a social events calendar platform that isn’t dead; it’s just on the back burner for the moment). I began looking at how we could market the site with a very limited ($0.00) budget. To get up to speed, I started doing a minimum of two hours of research a day. I read everything I could get my hands on, attended webinars, and created guidelines around each platform I encountered.

At one point, about two years ago, I spent over 16 hours a day – for several weeks straight – immersing myself in social media. I blew through all the vacation time at my day job just so I could grasp the concepts I was seeing. Soon I began offering advice to friends, and advising on and auditing company plans. I nabbed my first big client earlier this year.

SMC: On your “shuaism” blog (pronounced SH-WA-ISM), you label yourself as a “social media strategist.” How did you earn that title — beyond setting up Facebook and Twitter accounts?

JSP: Well, that’s really all I did … that’s all it takes to be strategist, don’t you know? Just kidding! I now have extensive experience working on social media plans and strategies for companies – from single-owner startups to huge companies such as Symantec.

SMC: So, social media strategist…and now new co-author of the book Twittfaced. Word on the street is that there’s a cool (ironic?) story about how Twitter helped you to get Twittfaced published. Spill!

JSP: Well, my co-author Jacob Morgan and I wrote an e-book about social media, which we released for free on Twitter. Knowledge of the book spread, thanks to some awesome Twitter friends. One day I got an email from a publisher asking if it was ok to share the book with their new authors. I said yes. About an hour later, I got another email saying that the owner of the company loved the e-book and wanted to know if we were interested in writing a full book for publication. That’s the inside scoop on Twittfaced.

SMC: Interesting! But why write a book focused solely on Twitter? Is it your favorite social media tool?

JSP: Actually, only one chapter deals with Twitter. Twittfaced is a guidebook for understanding and maximizing social media in general. But Twitter is pretty much my favorite social media tool.

SMC: Josh, you just ponied up for the SMC of SLC’s 2010 Board – serving as the club’s membership director. What do you see as the club’s chief benefit to members? How do you plan to help grow the membership and the club’s reputation within the greater Salt Lake City business community?

JSP: I think the networking aspect is the biggest benefit of being a part of the Social Media Club of Salt Lake City. It’s a great place to meet people and exchange ideas. I hope to help grow the membership by helping to create and put on killer events.

SMC: That’s inspiring, Josh! Please leave us with a take-away, if you would: Sum up, in just one sentence, why social media blows your mind.

JSP: Social media blows my mind because of how powerful and flexible it is; you can accomplish just about anything online with it.

**Find Josh here:
Shuaism
Twitter
Facebook
LinkedIn

Sheri Bell-Rehwoldt is a freelance writer, editor, and social media trainer/marketer. Catch her online at www.Bell-Rehwoldt.com, http://www.facebook.com/SheriBellRehwoldt, and http://www.linkedin.com/in/sbrehwoldt