World of Social Media
Alumnus Josh Beaty visits Liberty to share knowledge
Diamonds are said to be a girl’s best friend, and in a way, Liberty University alumnus Josh Beaty makes his living on them.
Beaty, the director of social media and community for Diamond Candles in Raleigh, N.C., visited his alma mater Thursday, Feb. 28 to share some of the secrets of his trade with Liberty’s chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA).
Bling — Each candle has a ring. Photo provided
The “World of Social Media” event, which was held on the third floor of DeMoss, was open to PRSSA members as well as the public.
According to Kristen Gorsuch, the president of Liberty’s PRSSA chapter, Beaty gave Liberty public relations students an opportunity to learn how to “effectively utilize social media and keep up with trends.”
During his address, Beaty revealed some of the best websites to attract customers, manage the company’s social media outlets and analyze the successfulness of his efforts — including desk.com and mention.net.
“Students will benefit from the wisdom that Josh (Beaty) can share from his past and present successes in attracting attention to a thriving business,” Gorsuch said.
After graduating from Liberty in 2008 and completing a master’s degree from Liberty in 2012, Beaty now oversees all of his company’s involvement in various social media, including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Diamond Candles boasts nearly 250,000 likes on Facebook and has nearly 25,000 followers on Twitter.
Beaty explained the value of effectively meeting the needs of customers through social media, while surrounded by a display of colorful rings and candles.
Each scented candle made by Diamond Candles contains one ring worth $10, $100, $1,000 or $5,000 buried beneath the wax, and the excitement of the PRSSA members reached a peak as Beaty announced that each person would receive either a candle or a ring to take home.
According to Beaty, Diamond Candles has experienced substantial growth in its first few years of doing business, due in part to the company’s social media efforts.
As PRSSA members sampled the scents of their free candles after the event, Beaty said that the most important piece of advice that he hoped people would remember from his talk was that people should work for a company that they have a passion for.
The reason Beaty has a passion for managing Diamond Candles’ social media is not hard to figure out when he views videos and pictures of customers pulling out a ring from the middle of a wax-filled candle. For Diamond Candles and many other businesses, connecting with customers is what his job is all about.