Alternative Social Sites

A friend recently brought my attention to two social sites that I had not yet seen or heard anything about:

www.ning.com

This could be the Facebook "alternative", in that it allows users to create a free profile, gather groups of "friends," (anyone they know who also subscribes to the site), and interact with them via the web. It provides users with similar capabilities - allows you to create events, invite specific "friends" within groups as you choose, post comments, participate in discussion boards, etc. Ning takes what started as a way for college kids to connect with one another and orient themselves to their new environment away from home (Facebook), and puts a business/marketing spin on it. Ning allows users to create networks within their networks (very "Google+" -esque) and send direct-to-email mailings to specific groups, run branded ads, sell merchandise directly to a specified group of users. It seems like a great way to communicate internally with coworkers, externally with clients and soon-to-be clients, and sell, sell, sell! It is a platform for building additional revenue and monitoring customer relationships. Being a new tool, I think Ning will face some difficulties breaking into the mainstream. People of all walks of life are comfortable with Facebook and other mainstream sites, and don't want to leave those calm waters to try something new. I'll be watching this one to see if it catches on.

www.ryze.com

The LinkedIn "alternative". It doesn't look like it's quite fully developed from the website (I can't get a feel for how it differs from LinkedIn), but I'm curious - has anyone been successful with, or tried this?

Check 'em out! Are there any other social "alternative" sites that you know of?

From Gecko to Caveman

At DQ earlier this week, I was blown away as I realized just how effective Geico's caveman marketing campaign has been. I went out with my boyfriend to get an after-dinner treat, and the man behind us in line had a physical appearance, which to be frank, was not even close to the spitting image of the neanderthal from the commercials. In fact, the only attributes that were remotely close to the caveman were his long-ish hair and casual clothes. Yet, immediately when I saw him, my mind went to the caveman in a TV commercial during which neither Geico nor car insurance were even mentioned. All that played was the song, "Let Me Be Myself" by Three Doors Down and a loop reel of the caveman running in slow motion towards the camera. What an awesome thing, Geico. I applaud you.

My memory brought me back to an image of your all-too-well-known icon and a catchy song that will be stuck in my head (again) for the next week. All this, because some guy in line behind me at Dairy Queen had long hair. If every long-haired man in jeans and a t-shirt made me think of Geico, I can't imagine what it's doing to the rest of the world. Geico is the fastest growing consumer auto insurance company in the U.S. with over 9 million auto policyholders. With results like that, the marketing gurus working for Geico have got to be wondering: "What recession?" From Gecko to Caveman, someone's doing something right over there at Geico.

"Viral Marketing"

"Viral Marketing" is a scary phrase. People hear "viral" and think they'll contract a disease if they get involved. So, they tune out. How do we immunize so that we can go about our business of spreading the "disease" of our good name, brand, and products? Educate.

Wikipedia defines "Viral Marketing" as:
"A marketing technique that use pre-existing social networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of pathological and computer viruses. It can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet."

Twitter is one of the fastest-growing tools for viral marketing today. It enables individuals to share their lives, beliefs, thoughts, and work with people they've never met in an instant. That's a powerful thing. There's a lot of skepticism around Twitter, as there is around Wikipedia, since anyone can post anything to the sites. Yes, it's true that you can't trust everything you read on the internet. But, for the most part, people want to help others, not hinder them. Unlike Wikipedia, however, Twitter gives users a personal brand, by which they can build the trust of their followers. When I began using Twitter, I followed only the brand names that I already knew and trusted - CNN, Time, Digg, my family, my close friends, celebrities I respect. The more I participated in conversations on Twitter, the more I was exposed to other people, who I don't "know" per se, but who I've spoken with over the web and learned to trust information from. We tweet and retweet each other, and our networks have expanded as they have recommended their friends and followers to me, and I to them. Now, I have over 400 followers reading my thoughts, commenting on articles I've read or written, providing constant feedback of my work and my ideas. A business could do a lot with a system like that.

"Viral Marketing" in my own words is one person sharing a good idea with another person, who shares that idea with another two people, each of whom share it with another two people, and so on and so forth. That idea spreads rapidly this way, through trust relationships. For marketers, this is a beautiful thing, but viral marketing is difficult to track and measure results of a campaign. How can we realize the results of a word-of-mouth marketing campaign if it's all done in people's homes over dinner table conversation, or at coffee shops? There are tools out there that can do some of the measuring for us, for a hefty fee. There are surveys that we can pass on, asking our prospective clients how they heard about our ideas. But, our current clients are more likely to pass the idea on if there's something in it for them - an incentive.

JumpReach is a viral marketing tool that allows you to encourage your existing customers to share your ideas with their contacts (using incentives), makes it easy for them to do so, and tracks the results of your word-of-mouth marketing campaign, so you can easily see that the money you put into it was well worth it. We want your campaign to work. We want the business that you draw from that campaign to pay for our relatively inexpensive tool and much more. We are excited and passionate about this tool and what it can do for you; we are after hearts and minds, not just eyeballs. We want you to take a look at what we have to offer, and we want you to see how great it is, how affordable it is, how unique and valuable it is. We want your feedback about how we can make JumpReach better for you and your campaign. Follow/DM JumpReach on Twitter @JumpReach or check out www.jumpreach.com for more information about this amazing new tool that could transform your marketing dollars spent into dollars earned.

"The Game"

Sophomore year I decided to major in philosophy. I took an introductory course with my soon-to-be college advisor, who was inspiring and passionate about her subject. She had a way of explaining the material and prompting discussion that made me want to do the reading and participate in class discussions. But I had further motivation for my hard work in the class - a game.

Katherine, a friend and sorority sister of mine, sat beside me and we quickly befriended two boys who sat nearby. Early in the semester, the four of us began playing "the game" and as a result, we became the star students and key contributors to class discussion. I don't remember whose idea it was originally, but "the game" became a fascination for us.

Just before each class, we agreed on a word to incorporate into discussion, as well as chose a score-keeper for the day. Throughout the hour, each time the word was used without giggles, the user received a point. The scorekeeper deducted points for laughing and awarded extra points if the professor used the "word of the day" during your turn. After using the word, you had to wait for someone else in the group to use it before you could take another turn. This kept the game interactive and moving.

We selected words based on how they sounded, how challenging it would be for us to incorporated them into the discussion (and it was meant to be a challenge), and how often we used the words on a regular basis in our daily lives (the less frequent, the better). We used: "terrifying," "tiger," "quintessential," and "oblong," among others.

My favorite use of the word of the day was when we used "tiger". The class was discussing applied ethics. To support her main point (I don't remember now what that was), Katherine gave an example that compared human interaction to the relationship between a tiger and an antelope. The example was drawn out and awarded Katherine and all four of us lots of points for the day, since that one example stayed alive for a good 30 minutes of class-time.

"The game" was something that kept us motivated and entertained through sometimes slow-moving subject matter. I still wonder if our professor knew...

I Used To Think...

that all married people loved each other. that the best things in life are expensive. that healthy foods are healthy in any portion. that good, hardworking people have no trouble finding employment. that bad things don't happen to good people. that God works in mysterious ways. that grandparents are always nice. that the home team is going to win. that "gay" means happy. that effort is appreciated. that people always try to be good, even if they sometimes fail. that when something is broken, you replace it or hire someone to fix it. that the cranberry juice at the grocery store is made from cranberries. that my friends and I would grow up to be astronauts and ballerinas and firefighters.

"Investigative Reporting"

I was recently offered a position as an Investigator for the United States Investigation Services, a former US Government agency, which was privatized in 1996, and performs roughly 90% of background checks on new government hires. As a recent grad who's been looking for work in the Public Relations/Marketing industry, it often comes as a surprise to people when I tell them that this is the way I'm launching my career. Allow me to explain.

As an investigator, I'll be traveling all over the DC Metro area conducting interviews of family, friends and former employers and co-workers of people aiming for positions in government, or where a clearance is needed. I'll also be visiting courts and collecting all the information I need in order to present a detailed report that will give an adjudicator the required knowledge to make judgments regarding our nation's security, and potential risks to it.

It may seem a far stretch, but in actuality, I'll be performing a task similar to what journalists do, but with more at stake. Based on what I find in my investigation, and what I write in my reports, people will either be getting hired or losing their candidacy for a job; they'll either get past the security system, or they'll hit a roadblock. What I'll be doing has tremendous impact on United States security.

It's an important job, and I'm enthusiastic and energetic to get started with my training so that I can get out there in the field and start working. USIS is an exciting place to be working these days. The company is undergoing a lot of change, including a transition to a new brand, that of Altegrity, as it switches hands. The website already has a new look and I'm sure I can look forward to some interesting and innovative thoughts in the way of marketing there.

Gen Y's Undeserved Reputation

"Generation Y", the population of nearly 70 million 20-somethings born in the mid-1980's and later, the "Millennials" are the fasted growing segment of today's workforce. Yet, Gen-Y has somehow formed a terrible reputation for itself. Young people today are known for being arrogant, attention-craving, and entitled. How did this reputation form? I do not know. And I wish it were not so.

As a member of this "plugged-in", ambitious generation, I too was coddled by overprotective parents who wanted nothing more than for me to have a healthy, successful life without making the mistakes that they did in theirs, nor having to struggle as they did. Instead of getting a paper route at age 15, we were sent to summer camps and joined soccer teams and school orchestras and did volunteer work in our communities. Instead of starting our professional lives at age 15, we, as a generation, generally were not expected to think about a career until 18, when it was "time to go to college". My parent's generation was much more focused, as far as careers go, than mine; my grandparent's generation even more so. When graduation from high school came, and money was tight, families seriously considered the pros and cons of sending their child to college. If the kid didn't have a good idea of what they would use their college degree for after the fact, then the kid didn't go to college. They went to work. The purpose of a college degree was to prepare oneself for the working world.

What I'm finding out now is that college did not prepare me for the working world at all. When I entered the College of William and Mary as a freshman, I had no clue what I wanted to study when I got there, or what I wanted to do for a living after school. I didn't know who I was, really. College helped me to explore myself, and find out what I'm truly passionate about. As I was trying to decide on a major, adult mentors in my life gave me this advice: "Major in something you love. Don't worry about how you will use that in your profession. Most likely, you'll go on to grad school anyway, and you can focus on your career goals then. Don't waste this great opportunity to learn about something you're passionate about now." How I wish I did not take that advice.

Alas, I did. I became a philosophy major, or as I like to think, I got a degree in something that covers all bases. I learned to think deeply about a myriad of subjects. Since I was having such a hard time deciding on just one subject to focus on, philosophy allowed me to explore them all. I took classes in the philosophy of language, the philosophy of science, social and political philosophy, ethics. Philosophy professors and students engaged in discussions about current events, while we read great literature by brilliant minds such as Plato, Aristotle, Descartes, Locke, Hobbes, and Kant. I enjoyed it, mostly. And I consider myself a well-educated young adult, with a true appreciation for learning and profound thought.

My recent graduation from college and thus deposit into the vast world of job-seekers has proved rather difficult, without a professional background in my education. I'm not only lacking that experience, but I also lack professional work experience in my fields of interest. My personality, interests and passions do not point me in the direction of professing philosophy at a college or university, and my internship experiences while I was in college were at an investment bank. Although a great working experience and environment, in which I learned new skills and met fantastic and enthusiastic hard-working people, through that two-summer long internship, I also learned that I do not wish to pursue a career in investment banking.

So what now? It's a buyer's job market, and there are plenty of laid off workers who have years of experience, glowing recommendations from previous employers, and are willing to take jobs for which they are overqualified, just because those jobs are available. Employers are happy to have proven, experienced workers on their staff, working for entry-level salaries. They seem nervous about considering Gen-Y people for their open positions because of this reputation that the Gen-Ys have for needing constant attention and close watching over, and guidance, while feeling entitled to immediate professional respect, high salaries and paid vacations. If I really thought that all "Millennials" fit that description, I would understand their hesitation. But, as an active entry-level job-seeker in Generation Y, I am offended by this large-scale generalization.

Generation Ys have a lot to offer businesses. We understand our fellow Gen-Ys, who are fast becoming the largest target audience and buyers for the majority of businesses. We quickly adapt to new technologies, and are constantly looking for new solutions that make life easier, effective and more productive. We are confident and ambitious, achievement- and team-oriented. We are not beyond asking for help, and as far as I can tell, that and those listed above are good qualities to have.

Here's my plea for help: I wish more Generation X's would take on a role as mentors to young adults, share their experiences and sentiments, so as to increase understanding and communication between the generations, and to break down that "bad rap" of Y's in the minds of X's everywhere...

The Power of Twitter

Twitter's applications and value become more and more apparent to me daily. My first impression of this new social media tool was "This is nonsense. No one cares that you ate a grilled cheese sandwich at 2:32 on June 16th and even included a link to a photo for it." I joined Twitter just to scope it out, see what all the hype is about. At first, I used it in such a way that my prophesy was a self-fulfilling one. I followed my friends and a few news syndicates. I learned very little in real-time, other than the second when my buddy had found some new, time-wasting youtube video. The more I explored Twitter, the more I learned of its applicability and the more I liked using it.

I started by following all the people on the list of Twitter-recommended followers. A few followed back, but mostly, it was ineffective as far as keeping me interested and getting my own tweets seen. Then, I started running some searches for things that interested me: music, marketing, PR, health, food, wine, philosophy, school, careers, networking, etc. I looked through seemingly endless lists of tweets on those or related subjects, as people had used hashtags (#) to document them for this exact purpose. And so, I learned the value of the hashtag. I started following some of the people who had posted tweets that caught my eye, and before I knew it, I was off and running with quite a few more followers.

This became a continual process for me. Every day, I make a point of running another search for a topic of interest, and following a few more people. It may be a slow process, but it's one that I am enjoying, and it's setting off all kinds of fireworks in my mind. Now, I have a dashboard application that unobtrusively shows me incoming new tweets in the corner of my screen, without interrupting whatever I'm working on. I am learning about all sorts of different things that I never would have had access to or time to dig up otherwise. I am contributing to conversations and getting my own questions answered, or at least discussed.

Recently, I've become a "Twitter Strategy Intern" for Careerealism.com, an online career resource center. As an intern, I'm working as part of a virtual team to promote Careerealism, and to give job-seekers, like myself, a little bit of hope and guidance in a lonely, desolate job market. In the past six months, Twitter has changed my life, and the way I communicate with strangers. It is set up so that it feels personal and intimate, yet I'm talking to people I've never met, who live all over the world. Twitter is empowering.

I recently came across EventManagerBlog with a video post called "Tweetcamp '09 and Unconferences", and it really got me thinking about the possibilities that Twitter opens up. Can you imagine going to an industry conference, where a speaker stands up at the podium, behind him a large projection screen showing a Twitter feed. Everyone at the conference has their iPhones and Blackberry's in hand, typing away to contribute to a larger conversation, and to give immediate responses to what the speaker is saying. This conference has become an educational forum, a discussion, and increased the efficiency of what can be done there. As they say, "Two heads are better than one." Well, imagine what 400 heads, all with extensive industry knowledge and experience, could do. Twitter is a powerful tool, and it is at everyone's fingertips, if they choose to let it be.

Got Joy?

The covers move beside me and I feel myself being jerked from a peaceful sleep. Annoyed, I slowly open my eyes into slits to glare at the creature that has disturbed me. It's still asleep, but morning is upon us. That won't be the last rustling. I slowly stand, stretch my arms, arch my back, make my hairs stand up so that cool, fresh air rushes in to my skin. As I walk past the food and water on the floor, I feel a pang of hunger from within, and stop for a small snack. Then, I find a cozy place to doze uninterrupted until it rises.

These people make so much noise when they move around, it is impossible to miss one. She gets up and stumbles to the bathroom, clanging around, running water, brushing teeth. I watch her walk past and downstairs, and slowly follow her, watching, watching. She goes to the desk first, as always, sits at the computer for a few minutes. Like an alarm clock ringing, the beast within her growls and she gets up and heads to the refrigerator. When I see her pull out a brand new gallon of milk, my mood lightens. Nervousness and excitement are upon me at once as I watch her slowly remove the blue plastic piece that allows her access to the milk. I am sitting on the floor at her feet now, attentively looking up in anticipation. I do my best to make myself known without seeming overanxious. I ask politely, "Mine?" She looks down at me, smiles, says good morning, and tosses the plastic to me.

Joy! The object of my desire is in my possession. I toss it, hold it, watch it, run with it, stalk it, pounce on it. The person is back at her desk. I daintily carry my prize to her and lie down at her feet with it, gazing up at her longingly. She looks down. My muscles tense, ready to protect. I see her hand move toward me. My head is close to the ground now. She reaches for my piece and grabs it. My heart is racing. She flings it away from her, and I go flying with it. My body moves with this little piece of plastic. I can't control my movements until it is back in my possession. I allow my heart rate to slow as I make my way back to her, toy in teeth.

Meeting Goals That I've Never Set

I read an article today that inspired me to think hard about what I have improved about myself in the past month, in the past six months, and in the past year. This article asks you to be honest with yourself - have you set realistic goals for self-improvement, and have you met them? Or are you going through the motions of life, living day-to-day, and not thinking about such things at all?

By setting goals, and writing them down, you're more likely to achieve those goals. We've all heard this before. Yet, often when I set goals, I neglect my own self-improvement. I suppose I do, to some extent, make myself better, I grow as an individual and a professional, by achieving the goals I have set for myself. But, my focus has never been on myself, and my own personal development.

When I got to college, I decided to relax a bit, not involve myself in so many things as I did in high school, have a social life, and balance it with my schoolwork so that getting A's was not something I ever stressed about. As a result, I had an enjoyable college experience, I didn't always get the A, but I made great friends, and did some important things. I made a difference in the lives of the people who were closest to me, and in the lives of people I'd never met. I felt fulfilled by my life there. That is, in every area of life except my "career". I began my philosophy degree with a positive outlook, I enjoyed the few classes I had taken in the discipline before, and I looked forward to contemplating large and unanswerable questions further and learning how to answer them. What I didn't realize I would miss, however, by choosing a philosophy major, was everything else. I enjoy a variety of subjects, and I thought I was doing good for myself by picking a major that covers topics of all sorts. I took a Philosophy of Science course, and a Philosophy of Language course, and an Ancient Greek Philosophy course. I learned about all sorts of different disciplines by making philosophy my chosen subject. However, the manner in which I learned them was not my style.

As a philosophy major, one is required to think critically and analytically about questions that are impossible to answer correctly or incorrectly. You read and read and read these profound works that philosophers have written to try to answer these questions, and then you discuss in class how they haven't actually answered them at all. It may be a cynic's major, and a cynic I am not. I would have preferred a more "useful", practical major, as it turns out, that allowed me to think for myself, and get the answer correct occasionally, if not all the time.

Regardless, here I am now, a fresh graduate of the College of William and Mary, searching for employment in fields in which I have no prior experience, and competing with the rest of the largely unemployed world for those few spaces. Now is a good time to think about how I've improved, and to start setting goals for myself.

Here's where I think I've been in the last year or so:

- I have grown as an individual. Throughout college, I have learned to communicate with people in a way I was never able to do in high school. I have grown from someone who was buried in her books and her music, as an awkward high-schooler, into a well-balanced, informed adult.

- I have defined my religious, and political beliefs. I have moved out of my mother's Catholic house and found that the world makes more sense to me and I am a happier person without the guilt and threat of hell that Catholicism put upon me. I have become a listener of NPR and engaged in discussions with friends and family about political beliefs, and adapted my own ideology based upon what I've seen and heard.

- I have realized what is most important to me in life. I have ranked my priorities, my values, written them down, and acted accordingly to reflect where those values stand.

- I have striven to be kind and caring to everyone around me, and to be patient. I have made conscious efforts to stay positive, and to expect the best from people, but not to let disappointment take over when they don't always deliver.

- I have defined my strengths and my weaknesses, and I have asked my friends and family to help me with it. I have gotten them involved in my life, and my search for self-fulfillment, and happiness.

What will I aim for next? That's something to think about. These things listed above just happened. They were not planned out, they did not come about through thoughtful examination. It will be interesting to see what that extra thought does to accelerate my personal development, my self-improvement.

What has worked for you? Any suggestions?