Motlow Smyrna Expects 1,300 New Tennessee Promise Students next Fall

By Kenya Anderson

Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer

SMYRNA, Tenn. -- Motlow Smyrna’s faculty, administrators and staff are standing by to assist the more than 1,300 Tennessee Promise students who are expected to arrive next fall, according to Tennessee Promise Director Jonathan Graham.

Tennessee Promise has had a dramatic impact on Motlow’s enrollment since it was launched in 2015. The total number of students at all four Motlow campuses has increased from 5,294 in 2015 to 6,913 in 2018.

The increase in new Tennessee Promise students is evident to those who work on the Motlow Smyrna campus. A third building is under construction, and the parking lot now extends to Motlow College Boulevard.

 Graham said Tennessee Promise has also given Motlow more exposure, especially in Rutherford County. More students are now aware of Motlow and the programs it offers.

Tennessee Promise was introduced in 2015 by former Gov.  Bill Haslam. The goal of the program is to give all Tennesseans the opportunity to receive a degree from a community college or technical college tuition-free. This program has made it possible for most high school students to obtain a degree.

“For students, it’s not a question of how I will go to college, but where I will go,” Graham noted.

To qualify for a Tennessee Promise scholarship, high school seniors must first apply at www.tnpromise.gov. After they are accepted into the program, they have to complete a number of steps by certain deadlines. Those steps include completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, applying to their college of choice, completing eight community service hours, attending two mandatory meetings at their high school, and attending orientation.

Graham noted that the community service hours are met by volunteering at a nonprofit organization. A good place to earn community service hours is the United Way. The organization hosts events throughout the year and partners with other nonprofits.

Another way students can earn their community service hours is to team up with faculty at Motlow. Greg Upham and Kevin Fitch are professors who offer students volunteer opportunities. Community service hours must be completed by July 1 for students planning to enroll at Motlow this Fall 2019.

Tennessee Promise students volunteer with Professor Kevin Fitch

Another requirement is that students must to attend a mandatory meetings at their high school. At the meeting, students meet with their mentors to make sure that they are on track and have the chance to ask questions. Once in college, students no longer have to attend mandatory meetings, nor do they have to renew their Tennessee Promise application every year.

“Before classes start, students need to attend orientation,” Graham continued. “The sooner they attend orientation, the better.”

Mentors from the community volunteer with Tennessee Promise and serve as guides for the students. Mentors help keep students on track, comparing notes on goals and answering questions. Anyone in the community can volunteer to be a mentor. Mentors must go through training and stay in touch with their assigned students. Some of those mentors include professors on Motlow’s four campuses.

One such mentor is Professor Debra Stockdale, who teaches speech and mass communications.

“Having two sons myself and seeing all that went into starting college, I wanted to help,” said Stockdale.

Once enrolled in college, students have fewer requirements. They don’t have to reapply for the Tennessee Promise yearly, but they must complete their FAFSA by the deadline. Students must remain full time, maintain a 2.0 GPA, and complete eight community service hours each semester.

For more information about resources that are available through Tennessee Promise, visit www.tnpromise.gov.

How to Use Social Media to Benefit Your Business

By Kenya Anderson

Motlow Buzz Contributing Writer

With the social media now a part of our daily lives, it is important to know how to use it to boost your business and brand.

A few months ago, I was hired as a social media manager for a hair stylist. Before I started, I naively thought it would be easy to do. Post a couple of pictures here and there, respond to a few comments, keep customers updated on what’s happening, but it is much more than that. It’s knowing when to post, what to post, and how to make sure you are posting the right information. In this article, I will provide you with some tips on building your business with social media.

Make a business page:

The first step you need to take is to make your business its own page. One mistake people make is that they only use their personal page to promote. This can be okay when you first are getting your feet wet, but if you plan on expanding, your business should have its own page. Use your business page to share what you do, add hours, post pictures, interact and promote! Future customers can ask questions, and current ones can leave reviews.  Not only that, but it’s much more professional. Keep your business a business.

For help on how to set up a business page, you can visit www.fitsmallbusiness.com or www.socialmediaexaminer.com.

Using Hashtags:

Using hashtags on your posts is an important and easy way to reach more people. With social media, a hashtag might be all someone needs to find you. If you create one with your business name, which you certainly should, you can receive more exposure. If it is shared with someone and they repost the hashtags

Someone could find a post with the hashtag, search it, and find all your posts, showing them the goods and services you provide.

Not only should you use your own, but include hashtags related to your business. This will help people who are looking for a specific product or service find those who offer it. Hashtags should be both broad and specific. Include one with your city and surrounding cities, what it is you do, and what specific things you’ve done on that post. So, say you do nails in Murfreesboro. Your post should include something along the lines of #nailart #Murfreesboronailstylist #nailstylist #ombrenails.

For more information and examples on hashtags, you can visit https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-use-hashtags/.

Know your peak times:

Posting on social media can sometimes be a hit or miss. When you first start posting, you can use general peak times. After you start posting though, you will be able to see what time of day works best for you and your followers. 

To get started, www.Oberlo.com shares their research on the best peak times for each social media website. For Instagram, it’s 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., then 7 to 9 p.m. For Facebook, it’s 1 to 4 p.m. For Twitter, it’s 12 to 1 p.m.

You can visit the website to get see more details and charts at https://www.oberlo.com/blog/best-time-post-social-media.

Know how often to post:

It is very annoying when you’re trying to scroll through social media and see the same post again and again. Don’t be that business. Knowing what time to post doesn’t mean posting 1,000 times at once, nor does it mean only one post at that time. You should always posting stuff about your business to keep everyone informed, just do it in moderation. With over posting, you can be annoying and lose followers, but not posting enough can be bad as well. It’s not going to help you if someone goes to your page and doesn’t see anything recent. They will move on to someone who keeps people updated.

www.ClearPivot.com did a small experiment to see how often a post is shared and gave their recommendations on how often a day you should post. To see this information, you can visit https://www.clearpivot.com/blog/is-there-such-a-thing-as-over-posting-on-social-media.

Involve people you know:

When you first get your business up and running, you just might need people you know to help spread the word. Invite them to your business page. Customers can share what their experience was like on the page and share it on their pages. That by itself will have people coming to check out what you do, and possibly follow you.

People like to support their friend’s and families’ businesses. One way to do that is by referring other people to them. When they are sharing a business page, they are able to do that. People that they follow then go and check out the page and often follow them. With one of the pages I was managing, a few shares from her friends and family helped her gain about five followers in a day.

Make it relevant, but interesting:

When making a post, offer information about your business, but don’t just sell to people. You might want to share an article or two every once in a while about why something you do is so beneficial or what’s new in your industry. Share more about yourself, how you started, and why you do what you do.

For more ways to make interesting posts, you can read http://blog.hirerabbit.com/11-things-you-should-be-doing-with-your-facebook-business-page/.

Customer interaction:

With any business, customer interaction is key! Use social media to build on that. When people are looking for someone to do something, and they see that the owner or boss responds to people, it will make them feel better.  Answer questions in a timely matter, invite them to share their experiences or suggestions, and make them feel welcome and not just like a source of income. This can help build credibility with people.

Make your business like a family. Introduce your employees and tell visitors about their accomplishments in the field. Make customers feel like they matter by posting things like voting polls, surveys, and giveaways.

For more tips on customer interaction, visit https://freshsparks.com/using-social-media-for-customer-service/.

Paid Ads:

Depending on how much you are willing to spend for marketing, you might be interested in paying for ads on social media. This, of course, will reach more people than just word of mouth. Choose the site (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, etc.) that will best reach your target audience.  But just because people see an ad, doesn’t mean they will click on it. For more pros and cons of this, visit www.socialmediatoday.com for a list of potential places to advertise.

Stay tuned for more of my insights and experience, and don’t forget to follow me on Twitter @KaysMarketing.