Mind Soup

JCI Beirut hosted me on Wednesday March 2, 2016 to conduct a hands-on training about Social Media Strategy at Berytech Beirut Digital District. In this workshop, where more than 50 people from different backgrounds (students, fresh graduates and professionals) attended, I explained how to create a social media strategy for business. The points discussed included examples of brands that do not have a proper strategy, defining social media goals, the sales cycle, asset mapping, defining the audience and creating personas, choosing channels, voice & tone, posting frequency & time, crisis management, and understanding Facebook's algorithm. The session was followed by a Q&A session. I was really overwhelmed by the positive feedback from the attendees after the session especially that several ha said that they learned so many new things that they have not learned when they took expensive workshops or companies. It had been almost two years since I had given a public so...

I was invited to speak at the 4th Arabian Social Media Forum in Kuwait last week. I spoke about some case studies that reflected the state of social media in the Middle East. In my presentation, I discussed successful campaigns from Lebanon, UAE, KSA, Jordan and Egypt. I have also included examples of bad conduct from brands and celebrities on social media, in addition to examples of really bad (ugly) examples of social media customer service from Lebanon and Kuwait. Some key takeaways from the presentation: A simple campaign can go viral for a long time if implemented properly. (# MyDubai ) Negative content spreads much faster than positive content. Campaigns that use negative content in a smart way can take advantage of this with a smaller advertising budget. (Ugliest Couch campaign) You must know and study your demographic before you launch an online campaign. (Samsung Levant's Secret Valentine) With a small budget, small businesses can hugely increase their sales wh...

I was invited last month to speak about the state of entrepreneurship in Lebanon at the Lebanon SME Congress by eBusinessLebanon. Below is my presentation from the conference. Is entrepreneurship in Lebanon really what it is hyped up to be? Don't believe all the fluff, this is what start-ups, accelerators and crowd-funding really like in Lebanon! A clever presentTion by mohamad hijazi of cloud961 at lebanon sme congress yes SOME entrepreneurs have a big mouth and are simply ignorant — Maan Barazy (@maanbarazy) December 18, 2014

Linkedin is the premiere social network for business, yet most people do not know how to use it effectively. Cloud961 Magazine's Editor in Chief, Mohammad Hijazi, will be giving a seminar for entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs about using Linkedin to promote their start-ups, find investors, partners and employees and build a solid connection base. This seminar is part of Global Entrepreneurship week that is taking place on November 17-23 and is FREE OF CHARGE . Date: November 20, 2014 Time: 6:00pm - 8:00pm Location: Coworking +961, Sursock Palace ( View Map ) Get your ticket on ihjoz now before they run out again! About Mohammad Hijazi Mohammad Hijazi runs the Online Collaborative, a non-profit initiative that aims to promote awareness about technology and social media, and is the organizing entity of The Social Media Awards which took place last year in Beirut and launching in several Arab countries this year. In addition, he is the Editor in Chief of Cloud...

With an extensive background in computer science and information technology as well as the entertainment, music and mobile industries, Elie Habib and Eddy Maroun crossed paths and founded Anghami, a platform providing access to over five million international and Arabic songs through a convenient, user-friendly application allowing users to stream all the music they want on their mobile. Anghami has agreements with over 4,000 record labels, thus granting users access to the widest variety of content in the region. The mobile application is available for download on different smartphones, including iPhone, Android, Windows Phone, Blackberry, and Nokia devices. The company offers a free, ad-supported version of the app, which allows usage only with an Internet connection. Anghami+, the premium ad-free application, allows users to stream an unlimited number of songs and to access playlists when offline. Anghami has partnered up with MBC and added songs from popular shows lik...

Omar Christidis is the Founder and CEO of ArabNet, the leading events and media company focused on the Arab web and mobile industry. ArabNet organizes the leading conferences for the digital sector in the MENA region, including the ArabNet Digital Summit, the premier international gathering for Arab digital professionals and entrepreneurs. The Summit was held for the fourth time in Dubai in June 2013 and brought together more than 800 attendees from 35 countries and received more than 9,100 tweets and 42,800 hits on the live-steam.   In 2012, Omar was selected by GulfNews Magazine as one of its “30 under 30" list. He is a graduate of Yale University and the Co-Founder of the Yale Arab Alumni Association.   At the last ArabNet Beirut, the issue of language of the conference was raised. Why do you think it is better for the conference to be conducted in English in both Dubai and Beirut? ArabNet Beirut and the Digital Summit are held in English because of the signific...

For a while now, Al Jadeed (one of Lebanon's controversial television stations) have been copying Lebanese bloggers' content and pasting it as is on their website without asking for permission. Some can argue that Al Jadeed is helping out the bloggers by giving them more exposure but this is not the case here. The second a website or a blog has advertising banners on it, it becomes a commercial website that aims to make money through impressions and clicks on those ads. Additionally, since AlJadeed.tv is a website for a commercial TV station that promotes its shows, there is not doubt that it is a commercial website.  When such a website copies bloggers' content, it aims to increase traffic to their pages and hence increase profits from ads. Bloggers have a hard time creating original content and copying their content without consent is unethical to begin with. Would Al Jadeed be happy if another television aired one of their popular shows without their consent an...

Read the full magazine here . I was recently interviewed by Youmna Naufal  for  ECONEWS  magazine by The Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture. A version of the interview below appeared in print in the June 2014 edition. Named the Social Media Consultant of Lebanon, Mohammad Hijazi is a young man who, like many, has mastered the art of social media. In his words, social media is no longer just a tool to communicate or connect with people that we know. Its opportunities have become much wider. People can now get acquainted with professionals in their fields, get exposure for their work, get funding for their start-ups, find jobs and even meet new people with similar interests or hobbies. In Lebanon, there is a thriving community of well-educated and interesting members who are worth connecting with on a professional or personal basis. However, he believes only a portion of the Lebanese are aware and knowledgeable enough about proper ways of using social med...

Many businesses have finally started to realize the importance of social media for their success, but few have relied so heavily on it in Lebanon to promote their concept. A perfect example of this would be Pizza Cups, an all-homemade catering business with a fresh, delicious idea that was launched solely on social media platforms. To know more about Pizza Cups and its social media strategy, I interviewed Wassim El Haddad, co-founder, about this innovation. El Haddad has been working in social media for the past year in Cleartag, while co-founding Pizza Cups with Khajag Apelian and currently handles the communication matters of the brand as they get ready to open their new outlet and expand. What is Pizza Cups and how did you come up with the concept? Pizza Cups are cup-shaped pizzas prepared with fresh quality ingredients and baked with care and dedication. They're available in different savory and sweet flavors, with different crust choices. The starting point of...

Earlier this month, I was invited to speak at the 3rd Arabian Social Media Forum hosted by Promedia in Kuwait about the state of e-commerce in the Middle East. My presentation from that talk was featured in the Business section and Retail section on SlideShare . Check it out below. You can also read more about the state of e-commerce in Lebanon in Cloud961 's 7th Issue ( pdf  | online ).

During their second anniversary ceremony, Lebanese Memes honored some Lebanese people who they believe are contributing positively towards a change in Lebanon. The honor list also included: Late Actress Amalia Abi Saleh, Comedian Nemr Abou Nassar, Movie Director Sam Andraos, Crepaway's Mario Thoumy, Virgin Radio's Naji Cherabieh, Women in Front's Joelle Rezkallah and For Lebanon's Najy Sfeir. I would like to thank Lebanese Memes for this great honor and to everyone who has supported me and my work for Online Collaborative , The Social Media Awards and Cloud 961 .

As the “edutainment reality” TV program  Stars of Science  prepares for its sixth season, the program’s creator, Qatar Foundation for Education, Science and Community Development (QF), has revealed that a total of  28,000  young Arabs were inspired to submit their inventions over the first five seasons. Launched in 2009,  Stars of Science  was designed as a platform for the next generation of Arab innovators to develop its ca pacities in science and technology. Season 1 Winner, Bassam Jalgha from Lebanon Of the 28,000 applicants,  80  of the most talented and entrepreneurial spirits were selected to participate in the TV program, and were supported by an international team of experts in developing their projects from concept to commercialization. His Excellency Sheikh Abdulla bin Ali Al-Thani, Ph.D., President of Hamad bin Khalifa University commented: “Through  Stars of Science , we are empowering some of the brig...