Communication Is Not Just a Buzz Word

Poor communication practices can lead to the biggest downfalls.

Is there really much more to say on that topic?   Well, for communication's sake, I suppose there is.

Think of your most successful projects. 
I can almost guarantee that each of them were on a team of people that were working towards a common goal for a variety of reasons (a bonus, a good grade, a steady paycheck, accolades, etc).  You were probably surrounded by a group of people that were responsible, accountable, and communicative.  When they spoke, you trusted the words that came out of their mouths.

Think of your least successful projects. 
I am almost positive that each of them were on a team of people that were not focused, didn't care, wanted to avoid the work for a variety of reasons (hated the job, didn't care about the class, felt they weren't paid enough, no reward, etc). You were probably surrounded by a group of people that were hard to track down, always missed their deadlines, pawned things off on other things, and weren't communicative. There also might be a lot of distrust on the team.


Work Environments Matter
You could have the greatest employee on your hand that is capable, willing, and able to get the job done.  If they are surrounded by a group of people that have no interest, you'll lose that employee (and this is regardless of age).  Communication is the key to this.  By giving your employees the necessary tools to communicate and encouraging them to use these tools by not only being excited about them, but using them yourself, is vital.


Morale is an Easy Thing to Miss
When coworkers are bickering more and more, or when projects start to slip, these are signs of an unhappy staff.   You can do all kinds of things to make your staff happy - free coffee, time off, bonuses, acknowledgment - but those are all band aids to a bigger problem.   If processes were streamlined, if deadlines were met, if accomplishments were praised and noticed these would be things that make people happy on a day to day basis.

One of the easiest things to do, might be to respond in a timely matter to employee emails.  Even if it's a simple, "Thanks, I'll get back to you on this"  at least the issue has been acknowledged. 

Another tip could be to show interest in a particular method your employee/team member is using to accomplish a task.  Maybe they keep a to do list on their desk for the week, or they are always smiling while on the phone with customers, these little things are worth noticing and mentioning.

A huge thing to remember, is if you are not pleased with something, don't ignore that either.  Quick constructive feedback is better than bottling it up and unleashing months later with a number of problems.  The employee is not a mind reader for your happiness or your unhappiness.  Communicate effectively and in a timely manner.

Remember, you and your employees or team members are out for the common goal of making the company be all it can be.

Someone's Hindsight Can be Your Foresight

This post is part of a blog series on Brazen Careerist being sponsored by JobSTART101.  They asked Brazen members to answer the question:  What do I wish I knew before I started working?  Here's my response ...

I wrote this post, "Things I Wish I Had known" in January of 2010 as one of my first posts on The Social Chameleons.  I'd like to think that I've come a long way since not only writing this post, but since graduating college.  Below is a portion of the original post, but I'll add a few more fresh takes at the bottom.

"There were a few of these "What I wish I had known when starting my career" posts floating around twitter, and some of them were helpful, some of them had stuff everyone always says. It got me thinking about what were things I wish I had known at any point. This is what I've come up with in general and in no particular order.

I wish I had known:

• where I wanted to live after graduating from college. No one ever says that to you while you're looking for schools and that connections will be very important.

• that entry level jobs after college probably won't pay you as much as you paid for yearly tuition at a University. For me Syracuse University at the time was costing about $35,000 a year to attend (now its up around $50,000), and I most definitely did not make that my first year out of college. 

• that I can travel the world and get paid for it at an earlier age. People make it seem like the world is a really hard place to get out into, and it really isn't. With today's technology you are now more connected than ever before by using Facebook and Skype. And once you're out of America the world is actually much smaller than you'd think. Getting around is easier, people are generally friendlier, and the opportunities are endless. If you're working vs. traveling it's a great way to spend your 20s and avoiding the rat race of home. 

• that I'd need a specific skill. The jobs I've held have been amazing, and I now have a wide range of useful skills, but to actually sit down and say that I know Sales, or Marketing, or teaching really well would have come in handy years ago. I've had to learn everything on the fly because I didn't focus enough on academics when I had the chance. 

• how to do HTML at an earlier age. The amount of jobs out there today related to computers, computer science, software design, and more is insane. Always time to learn I suppose, but at most it could be now is a hobby. "

In the 11 months since this post was written I've come up with a few things in addition when thinking about what I wish I had known about the real world before I started working.

• That at the age of 21, I might not be taken seriously by the older workers in the company.  You have to work extra hard to seem professional and shake off age stereotypes that are given to you.
• That it might take me a few industries (not just jobs) to figure out what I'm good at, and that's ok. 
• That even the simplest of connections I made in college - whether it was from classes, study groups, activities, or jobs - the people you come in contact with will resurface time and time again, and your weakest connections may be your biggest opportunities.  Don't burn any bridges. 

This list continues to change and evolve as life goes on, but it's important to know that I don't have regrets and probably wouldn't change anything even if I had the chance.   But hindsight is always 20/20 right? 

What things would you add to this list?   Or if you're still in college, what are some things you'll do differently?

Leveraging a College Degree

From the time you can speak, people are trying to teach you things.  You go through your formative years hearing, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"  And because you're so young you only know what people have said to you as your average job vocabulary, "I want to be a nurse!  I want to be a teacher!  I want to be a doctor!" You get into middle school and you start hearing this college word more and more.  You really start thinking about what you want to do, and if you're lucky your middle and high schools are preparing you and teaching you all of the potential industries to go into.  You think you have an idea so you pick a college and the biggest decision after that is narrowing your major.  Your major is everything.  It's what defines you, right? It's what outlines your path in life, correct?


I'm not so sure. 

I'm someone who went in thinking, "I just need to make it to college, I'll figure the rest out later," because no one else in my family had made it that far. I remember that first week as a new psych major, when I learned that my long time friend and new freshman year roommate was a "Music Industry Major" and I was blown away that that was actually an option.  I was so unprepared.

When I realized that I didn't want to spend 10 years in painful research mode, I switched to an English & Textual Studies major because hey, I like to read.   When I couldn't hack all the literary theory behind it all, I switched to being a Speech Communication major.   It was all about communication, pr, leadership, public speaking - and it was a jack of all trades kind of major that I already had a bunch of credits in.   It's pretty safe to say that for 4 years I was just taking classes that were interesting, made me well rounded, and were hopefully easy.

Getting the Most out of Your Degree
Your degree doesn't define you.  Whether you have a 3.8 or a 3.0 won't matter 1 year out of college.  If you're the average person, (not a career academic), don't waste away your college years agonizing over getting that perfect A.  If you get an A- or a B+, or even a D in some classes, most people won't know or care. 

What matters is the experiences and activities you have and do during that 4 year time span.  That degree just proves that you're educated.  It's a pass into the working world to be a professional, make money, have more opportunities.  When you have internships, student activity leadership roles, jobs, or volunteering extras on your resume I am 100% of the time going to pick that person over someone with a 4.0 to work for me.  You bring more to the table, you (ideally) know how to talk to people and interact in sales/marketing/networking situations.

The degree & the major attached to it is only a small part of the full package.

A major is a guideline.  Steers you into some specialties or gives businesses a framework of where you're coming from. I was a person who had 3 majors in college that had absolutely nothing to do with her first job.  Funny part about this story?  I had no idea what a Music Industry major was that first week in college, but I went on to work for the #1 Talent Agency in the world, and worked hard to work for one of the biggest music agents in the entire business.  How did I get my foot in the door?  Well, it was all because my internships/student activities were music related.

So just remember, picking a college major IS important, but you're not stuck in that area for the rest of your life.  Enjoy your 4 years, join groups, get internships, learn more about yourself that way.  When you graduate let your major be the last thing that interests people.

What's In a Name? Branding, Re-Branding, New Logos... Bah.

Tommy Boy:  But the “Callahan” factory’s been in my family for years, you just can’t shut it down!

Zalinksy: Son, you gotta look at it from my point of view.  Callahan’s a premium name.  That’s what I’m buying.  I can make the parts in one of my factories, put ‘em in a Callahan box, and sell ‘em in my stores at a premium price.  Why keep your factory going when all I want is the goddamned box?

 A scene from the movie Tommy Boy, discussing the importance of a name in business.  

In upstate New York (I'm not sure about elsewhere) there were quite a few changes in the 80s/90s with drugstores being owned and operated by a few different people.  From being Carl's Drugstore to then Faye's Drugstore, to then Eckerd Drugs, and then some of those Eckerd's being bought out in the area by Rite Aid, it was tough to keep up with whatever your local pharmacy's name was.   My mother, to this day still calls the local Eckerds, "Carl's" & "Faye's" from time to time.  I know they existed as different entities for awhile, but I don't know how long either of those two companies were around before I was born. To my mother these store names are cemented in her memory as the stores she grew up with.

I'm noticing it even more now too with the Tops buyout of P&C, two northeast grocery store chains.  People still say, "Hey, I'm going to go grab some stuff over at P&C, do you need anything?"  Even though it's been Tops for months.   Changing a name is not an easy task. 

Branding & Re-Branding

Buyouts and mergers happen all the time. Re-branding, new logos, different slogans are all a part of staying fresh and keeping up with the times.  It is important to know your audience and act accordingly because people identify with those images and words.  They trust your company because of those things in conjunction with customer service or the good times they've had at your establishment.    There's a lot to be said for, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." That cannot be more evident than with the recent GAP logo debacle where after a terrible new design of their classic logo, people were up in arms and within only 2-3 days, Gap scrapped the logo and went back to what was tried and true.

Tradition

I wrote about reconnecting with your college self the other day because this week is Syracuse University's Homecoming.  Homecomings happen all across America, generally in the fall and centered around a football game. Homecoming is usually a school's biggest tradition if only because it is something that every student and alumni can take part in.   Sure, there will always be bigger events on campus, but no one event outside of Homecoming can appeal to every single one of your students. The one thing that each individual has in common, is that they're all at this establishment together & for a common goal of experience & education.  Homecoming centers around that simple idea, and is the easiest kind of branded event you can have.

I don't know when it happened, maybe while I was away from the country, but my Alma Matter re-branded Homecoming to be "Orange Central."  A name that I had seen in mailings and quickly wrote off as something happening on campus for students that didn't concern Alumni.  The name meant nothing to me.  

Maybe I am destined to be like my mother as she continues after all these years to call a drugstore by it's former company name because it's so ingrained in her memory, and I will call this "Orange Central" Homecoming for the rest of my life.  For this Alumni, it wasn't broken and there was no need to fix this particular tradition.  A name was everything.

 

Reconnect With Your College Self

There is one tradition that almost every high school and college across this country takes part in.  It may occur at different times of the year, and may or may not revolve around a sporting event, but it's the same no matter where you come from.   It doesn't matter if you moved 15 minutes away from where you group up or went to school, or if you moved 15 hours away.   There is always that wonderful feeling of Homecoming.  The word itself even gives off a happy feeling because it makes you think of just that - a place you once called Home.  That particular word makes you identify with your roots.

Homecoming is a ritual that gives a person the chance to reconnect with a time in their life that was full of promise, full of possibility.  It's an act that allows old friends or long lost connections to once again meet and enjoy each other's company and catch up.

There's a feeling of nostalgia that happens, and makes a person take stock of their life. January 1st is not the only time in the course of a year to make plans and start fresh.  Homecoming is a perfect time to look around and remember who you were and what you had planned for yourself when you were 18 and thought you knew everything about the world.


Would your 18 year old self be happy with the modern day version?

When you started college where did you see your life going?  What groups were you actively involved in?  What were the classes that shaped your existence?  Did you think you would be where you are and what you're doing at this very moment?

It's weird, but in the 6.5 years I've been out of school, I've come full circle - almost literally.  I majored in speech communication, but went off to NYC and worked in music.  Traveled Asia for another 2.5 years and now have found myself back in Syracuse, which was the city it all started in.  As Homecoming is next weekend, and my friends will be returning, it'll be odd that this is home for me and a vacation for them.  However, the sentiment is still the same as this is a time of reflection, reconnection, & re-evaluation.  My Alma Matter may have changed the actual word of "Homecoming" to something that carries very little weight & meaning and borders on nonsensical, but the idea of coming home is alive and well with its Alumni.  Because of the connections, the network, and the opportunities available, my 18 year old self is pretty OK with where things are right now.

How about you?   

Twitter Chats, Ugh! - 10 Ways to Avoid Being Annoyed

Or so they say. 

There are over 200 active twitter chats that are well attended by tweeters who undoubtedly annoy their followers at certain times.  As of next week I'll be moderating 3 chats per week on Twitter - #CmgrChat, #HFChat, #MoveChat.   For the first on that list I use my personal account, @JPedde, and its entirely to talk with other people across the country (and some foreign countries) that are in a similar profession as me in social media.

The latter two I use my work account @RelocationAlly for, and they are work related topics that provide resources for potential clients, customers, or industry professionals.  They have their purposes and using my work account for two of them helps break it up a bit so I'm not bombing my personal account with crazy tweets.   However, I do participate in a few chats for fun that provide personal enrichment, exposure, and learning in #u30pro, #jobhuntchat, #smmeasure.   They all provide amazing opportunities to meet more people, further my career, and help others grow in theirs.  The result is a network I am incredibly thankful for and proud of. 

Twitter chats are an excellent way to create, join, or be a part of a community.  With 30% of Americans moving every year it is tough to find a physical place to stay in long enough to develop good relationships. People are moving out of their local neighborhood or office communities into online ones where they can share with more like minded people, at a much faster rate.

To me, and you may feel free to disagree, that is the entire point of twitter. 

If we are friends, that's what Facebook and real life is for.  If we're friends, I want to know more about you, I want to see pictures, and videos, talk on the phone, and hear funny stories that take more than 140 characters to get into and yes, even your tweets.   Twitter is a great place to meet these new friends, but it's tough when some people use twitter for work primarily.  It's not the greatest tool for Instant Messaging - try Skype or GChat.

People use Twitter for a variety of reasons and they boil down to work, play, or a combination of both.  I use Twitter primarily for work and to showcase a professional side of myself.  For the most part, unless I'm hanging out at home, I try not to be on it on the weekends.  Blurring those lines between work and play and constantly watching my tweets, is tough.  I am no stranger to the occasional Saturday Football Game Day Drinking Twittering, or the Friday Night Out with The Guys & Having a Few Beers tweets (yes, that's my idea of a perfect Friday night...don't judge). And yes, I will go through and delete tweets that don't paint me in a good professional light.

There's also a flipside to this. 

Twitter chats are annoying to some, but so is College Football, The US Open, Wimbledon, The Masters, the damn Superbowl, and everyone who live tweets a new episode of Glee, MadMen, Dexter, and every other show on TV that I love.  There might just be nothing more annoying in this world than people who are tweeting out plot points or quotes from a tv show DURING the show.   In a world where everyone waits til the next day to watch their Tivos or Hulu, you are ruining happiness for so, so many people.  Sure, definitely post your "Oh that was such a great episode," or "Wow I can't WAIT until next week!!" tweets, but "Wow, I can't believe blah blah is going to have blah blah's baby on this show!"  is just downright mean.

What it boils down to, is of course everyone has different tastes.  So while I will probably tweet a ton during College Basketball season, hopefully my followers stick with me as I stick through them and their crazy tweets through chats, sports, and entertainment.  It's a balance. We don't like every single thing about our friends, and it's no different on twitter.  The fun of twitter, is that you always have the choice to turn it off.

Tips to Avoid Annoyance

1. Tweetdeck offers these WONDERFUL filters.   Put in "#NFL" "#HFChat" "Foursquare" and watch the serenity return to your life. 
2. Unfollow the tweeter.  
3. Don't want to unfollow someone you like?  Ignore their tweets.  Scroll through. 
4. Can't ignore? Really need to unfollow?  It's ok.  Put them on a list.  Put the list in a separate column that you check later on.  Still interact with your favorite person who just tweets too darn much. (*Note, this will make it impossible to DM back and forth).
5. Join in to their conversation.  Pick up a new interest or hobby.  There are fantastic resources on Twitter for virtually everything.  Enrich your life. Learn how to do your job better. 
6. Turn Twitter off for 1 hour.  Walk away for the day.  Unplugging is good for you.
7.  Follow More People. The more people you follow, the less your annoying High-Volume-Tweeter-Friends will be noticed.  More people to follow will drown out the noise in your "All Friends" feed. 
8. Turn of the "All Friends" Feed. Organize everyone you follow into lists. Ignore your "High-Volume-Tweeter" List during high volume times. 
9. Unfollow the High-Volume-Tweeter for the hour/day, re-follow post tweeting activity.
10. Stay with your favorite tweeter.  Love them despite their high volume ways.  Make fun of them for it.  It's ok.  They're aware of their activity. 

Do you have any other suggestions on how to avoid high-volume-tweeter-friend overload?

Does 9:00am Sharp Define You as a Worker?

I am not a morning person.  Never have been, never will be.  I am one of those lucky people that have what's known in psychology circles as a 27 hour circadian rhythm.  Which essentially means that while most people have a 24 hour internal clock, and waking up is fairly easy in "normal" morning hours,  I do not and find mornings incredibly difficult.

My Confession (As a Case Study)
In my 6 years since college graduation my work start times have been 10am, 8:30am, 9:40am, and now 9am.  I generally have a 10-15 min late policy everywhere I go (assuming that there are no meetings, phone calls, or scheduled events).  Doesn't matter if I'm walking to work, taking a subway, a cab, or driving myself, if there's nothing pressing happening in the first hour of my eventual work day, I am going to be late b/c I don't see the need to rush.  I work to live, not live to work.  It's not planned, and I would love to be better about it, but sometimes understanding yourself and your limitations is good.  A point for clarification:  I'm never late for a scheduled meeting or event, and in fact will probably show up 15 minutes early.

Does This Make Someone a Bad Employee?
Well, that answer depends doesn't it?  Lets look at these other questions first: 

• Is the employee out the door at 4:50pm, or 5:01pm?  
• Does he/she take a full 60 minutes for lunch?  
• Does he/she goof off and take multiple coffee breaks throughout the day?  
• Does he/she take a 15 minute cigarette break?  
• Does he/she leave often to pick kids up from someplace?
• Does he/she have constant appointments during work hours?
• Is their work suffering?
• Are they missing meetings and important scheduled tasks?

Many of those questions are law given mandates.  In New York State, depending on your specific job, there are laws that state a paid minimum of 30 minutes and a break of up to 20 minutes.  So If I chose to come in 15 minutes late, but still take a 60 minute lunch break, that would be acceptable in the grand scheme of an 8 hour work day - in theory.  The smoke/coffee break of 15 minutes would also be acceptable if I made up the time later.   If I had constant appointments - well, no one would be allowed to inquire b/c what if it were a health matter?  That's not a place of employment's business unless it is affecting your work.  If I'm going to get my hair done during company time and its not a lunch hour, then that's probably an issue.

So lets say an employee is doing none of those things.  They work through lunches, or take quick jaunts outside to get some fresh air, and stay late past the 5pm end time.  They are for all intents and purposes, operating within the guidelines and all the work is finished, or planned to be finished in the next working day.  However, this employee continuously comes in 15-20 min late on most days.   Does that make an employee bad?  Undesirable? Un-hirable?  

There's that age old saying... if you're early you're on time, if you're on time you're late, and if you're late don't even bother.  That sentiment is incredibly, incredibly important to live by.  If you have a meeting with your boss, your partner, your team, or joe blow - you should always be early and ready to go before the meeting.  Hit the ground running.  If you're chronically late, you show lack of enthusiasm, lack of professionalism, and lack of commitment.  Is there the occasional 'stuck in traffic,' or 'I got lost?' Sure.  Accidents happen.

However on a daily basis, take a look at the body of work from an employee.  If you notice them slaving away during the 1-3pm hours, if you notice that they bring their coffee in the morning, and never go out to get it, and if you notice emails and work being done after the 5pm hour, maybe you should be commending them for thinking ahead and working hard.   Of course, if they chose to leave at 5pm on the dot, and come in late, AND take 60 minutes - maybe they are deserving of a meeting to discuss some bad habits.

If You're On Site Do You Get Bonus Points?
Many people work from home and are sometimes more productive there because there are fewer distractions.  Personally, I view it as a nice break and a reward for doing good work, but I need an office 95% of the time.  Helps keep you on task, focused.  On a bad weather day, or a day when you're feeling terrible, the ability to work from home is a nice option if you're still focusing on the work.

But if you can't be seen by the boss, and you're out of sight, are you out of mind?  Will you get passed over for things? Will the lazy employee who shows up on time be picked first for a promotion because they were perceived as committed?

In today's world with the ability to work remotely, laptops, iPads, iPhones, wifi connections at coffee shops and hotels - is there a need for someone to be in the office at their desk at 8:59am every day of the week?  Does this change your perception?

 

Women in Technology? Surely, There's No Such Thing.

I've always been at ease standing around a group of guys discussing a variety of topics from politics to sports to their hilarious dating habits.  And.. oh my gawd...even technology.  I know model numbers of gadgets, and  what geeky computer terms mean, and how to put together an OK website (though admittedly, my HTML knowledge is lacking).   I even have a start-up company that's launching online hopefully by the end of 2010.

Am I standing in a crowd of 1?   No.  I can name dozens of girls I've met on Twitter and even a few in real life that are just as geeky, if not geekier than me.  In fact, I love calling them friends because honestly, I don't have much in common with girls who only enjoy shoes, purses and makeup (not to say that I don't dress up, but you see where I'm going).  So I guess that's why I'm a little surprised that Tuesday seemed to provide an avalanche of articles discussing women in technology.  I've never thought about it as an issue.


First it was the Tech Crunch article, Why No Women Want To Be On A “Women In Tech” Panel,
which was a little weird.  My first reaction at reading the title was, "I'd LOVE to be on a Women in Tech Panel!"   But it obviously goes more in depth than what the title suggests.

Then there was the Mashable article, Why We Need to Reframe the "Women in Tech" Debate. And I found this to be 100% refreshing.  It was more positive saying that there are so many women out there but that there needs to be some kind of community where we could go for resources. 

And finally my friend, Kate Holloway, wrote Marginalizing and stereotyping is good marketing strategy… right? Where she discusses a post written poorly by Leslie Sobon about landing the geeky guy.


The funny thing about this all, is I myself wrote a blog post just earlier that morning before seeing all of these about how I won't learn to make coffee to fulfill the gender stereotype that that's what women do in an office.

What's the Solution?
Do I think women need to band together?  Eh.  Do I think we should constantly call attention to not having women in technology?  Eh. I don't think it has anything to do with adult women right now.  I think it has everything to do with how we teach our children. Does little Suzie need to play with a doll?   Ooooor should she play with this fancy new computer and see how it all functions?   Is she taught that it's OK to take business classes in high school?  Is she empowered to run with her idea as an entrepreneur in college?  Does she have the confidence necessary to pull off an idea?

Look, we all know that having intelligent, drama free women involved in anything makes everything better.  I am still convinced if there had been more women involved in the Apple iPad naming decisions that disgusting name never would have gone through - so maybe there is a need for pumping up tech to girls at an early age not to just girls, but to little boys as well for learning to play nice with the girls.

Communities for Women
I get so bored when I go to women only events - girls nights, women's luncheons, networking events.  I feel like I'm being cheated out of an equal dynamic.  Sure, the communities are nice, but they're usually so full of emotions and patting each other on the back that I lose all interest.

Forbes has a section of their website dedicated to women and recently it came up with the Top 100 Blogs for women.  I had high hopes for this, thinking that since it was a business site it would be pretty inclusive. Some of these blogs are Grade A quality Amazingness, but they're so stereotypical with mommy blogs and feelings, and relationships - Oprah, Martha Stewart.   Who needs it? I think out of the list of 100 there might have been 5-10 that were OK?

There's nothing more annoying than solidifying old gender roles.  Stop saying that there aren't any women in technology when there are. And stop pointing them out like it's some kind of magic trick when you find one.

Coffee, Creme + 2 Sugars, Thanks, Doll.

I've had that said to me before when I was in college waaay back as an intern about 8 years ago. I've also had that said to me while working after college in an actual paying professional office job. 

Personally, I love the words doll, broad, chick, babe, whatever - I love them when my friends say them in funny conversations.  I do NOT love them when I'm in an office setting and I could probably run professional circles around someone. 

Let's put aside the obvious sexism here with those words, because I'm no where near being a raging feminist.  In fact, 90% of my friends are dudes, I would MUCH rather go see a basketball game than spend a day at the mall, and I'm pretty sure I have more USB cords lying around my room for phones and cameras than I do shoes.  Spending that much time around guys has made me care less about the words being used.

What does this have to do with coffee? 
Everything. 

In my 6-10 years of participating in office cultures through paying jobs and internships, coffee is a staple.  Not everyone drinks it, but it's very much in the routine of most.  I am no stranger to this act myself.   It kickstarts my day and keeps me focused and awake.   However, in those 6-10 years I am pretty sure, and almost confident, that I have never seen a guy in any office make a pot of coffee. 

I realize this is a WILD generalization and I'm sure guys the world over make coffee in their offices - I have just never witnessed it.   In my casual observations it has almost always been the women who either A) sit closest to the machine or B) the women in the HR department.  We had a male chef at work once, and he made coffee, but that's in his job description so I don't count it.

I have never learned to make coffee. 

I get the concept -- you get a coffee filter, throw it in a machine, add some crushed up coffee beans, and let it drip.   But I never know how much, I never know if I want it strong or weak, and I never know how to account for multiple cups and the variations on taste.    I don't want to know.  It's too much pressure making it for someone else when coffee is THIS important to how an office/person functions.

Why? 

It may seem stupid, but if I don't know how to make coffee when some guy inevitably points to me and says, "Hey go make some coffee,"  I can look back at him and say, "Ah sorry, not very good at making the ol' coffee thing, but I can show you were it all is if you'd like to make a cup for yourself."

In my mind, this levels the playing field.  I already have to deal with the fact that I'm younger than most so anywhere I can cut corners and add some points for my skills is good.  We have weird gender roles in our society and while I consider things to be pretty much equal these days, for some reason making coffee gets assigned to the women.  If I don't know how to do it, then that's one less stereotype I can be assigned.  The idea of walking into a room holding a tray of coffees, creme and sugar, just knocks me down a step or two in the credibility scale when I'm a professional on the rise.

The culture of going to get coffee from the local coffee shop seems to be much more equal with those who go to get it, and those who often pay for others.  The only problem with this equal method is that it gets expensive.

It's pretty safe to say, that I won't be learning how to make a pot of coffee anytime soon. 

Where'd the Common Sense Go?

Ok, two stories have come to light this week.   The first being this gigantic Price Chopper Fail story that has been written about pretty much everywhere (including here yesterday) in the past two days with absolutely no signs of slowing down.  And the second being this one I just came across from @JessicaMalnik about a hotel ousting two guests during their stay because of a negative review on TripAdvisor.


Have people lost their damned minds? 

Poor customer service has been around for ages - just take a look at the whole Dominos disaster of yesteryear, or Capri Sun, or Nestle, or BP.  But GOOD customer service has also been around for ages.   Just because there's this new-fangled contraption called the interwebs out there does not mean that good ol' fashioned rules & common sense go out the window.  

As a Community Manager I took this opportunity to write about good Customer Service on my company's blog.  It outlines the basic steps of listening to your customers, anticipating their wants, going above and beyond to make sure that they'll come back to you, and managing negativity by acknowledging a problem.  The best part is that most of this is probably free, if not close to free. 


None of this is any different whether it is offline or online.  


Where does the difference lie then?  

The difference is the public sphere.  Every typed word you place on line will be there forever and ever.   You're immortal in your words.   Now, will you be remembered?  Probably not in most cases, but if someone DID remember you for something, it can be found. 

So with that kind of legacy do you want negative things out there?  No.   Are they going to happen?  Yes.   It's how you deal with them that showcases you, your poise, your talents, your ability to problem solve, and how you handle yourself in a sticky situation.   There are no rule books, but there sure as hell are communication standards. 


The lesson to be learned from all of this - people are going to post positive and negative things about you and/or your company online.  You can't go after a customer's job by going to their employer to tattle on them (Price Chopper), and you can't kick people out of their hotel room for saying something on line that doesn't portray you in the best light (Golden Beach Hotel).

It is just a backwards way of thinking if you expect people to not publish their opinions on line these days.  People want to express their opinions and the internet has given them the vehicle to do so as often and as public as they want.  In this great country of ours where we have the Freedom of Speech, simply saying you *shouldn't* place something on line just is not an argument that will stand these days.  Instead of wishing these things didn't happen, own up to them and use them to make a better business.  Your customers are the lifeblood of your company.  Why would you mistreat them?

What CAN You Do?
You CAN bring back common sense.  Bring back that golden rule of do unto others that you want done unto you.   

You CAN expect that the internet is a small place and people are far more connected than you can imagine.  You never know who is connected to whom and will take your seemingly simple act and sent it all ablaze online.  

You CAN get upset that someone talks negatively about you/your business.  You can also wait 15 minutes and cool down and think things through before doing something that will cause you to be an internet laughing stock.  You can also consult your higher level executives before making a mistake.

What you CAN do is ask the disgruntled party to talk privately.  Ask them HOW you can make it better.  Do you have to take their suggestions?  No.   No one customer is the authority on how you should run your business, but it makes THAT customer feel better and not incite a world wide campaign against your company. 

What you cannot do is get upset that these things are happening publicly & online.  That's the point, isn't it?  

Price Chopper's Fail in Social Media & Customer Service

I might have just caused a bit of a stir on line.  I might have taken an hour out of my day to spread a story that for a few reasons just entirely hit a nerve with me - which is saying something because it usually takes a lot for me to get angry.  An awful lot to be honest.  I am a social media marketing professional, and I like to think that people are learning from previous social media mistakes.  Look at Dominoes or Nestle for example. Clearly this is not the case.

A Case of Terrible Customer Service Using Social Media
After reading this Tumblr  today, I am outraged.   The gist?    Last week a person (Random Customer X) decided to tweet that Price Chopper (a north east chain grocery store) was not Wegmans (another north east chain grocery store) and showed a picture.  This was a private twitter account and did not bash anything, just merely stated an opinion of liking one store over another.   The PR person for Price Chopper responded to us both because I had agreed with Random Customer X's initial tweet, as did a few others.  I responded to this random PR person that I never found the stores to be particularly clean and also preferred Wegmans but since I had not been in quite some time, maybe I would try again.  Random Customer X stayed true to his/her opinion saying that he/she just did not prefer the store because of it's lack of cleanliness.   

What happened after is where it starts becoming a social media nightmare.  Price Chopper contacted Random Customer X's supervisor as well as seemingly random executives at the customer's place of employment!   They stated that this customer was negative and should be dealt with and could jeopardize relations between the two companies - which I am unclear at this time if there are actually relations between the two companies, but there may be.   Basically, read the above link for specifics.

The Backlash
By now, maybe more than one hour later, this story has spread throughout twitter and facebook and been ReTweeted well over 150 times, and there are 25+ comments and growing on the above Tumblr.  Chris Brogan (Author of Trust Agents) even sent out a tweet saying that the company should have handled it better.  

It's a case for social media.  And the gross misuse of power that it gives anyone.  Someone was listening, engaging, paying attention - fantastic!   However someone went above and beyond and well over the line.  If someone has a negative complaint you handle it more effectively.   Which is why...

It's a case for customer service.   If someone was in your store yelling at the top of their lungs that they hated your facility, what would you do with them?  Probably ask them to leave, but you wouldn't inquire where they worked as long as they left peacefully and the police didn't need to be involved, right?   Only when the police arrive and arrest you do those details get leaked.    So why would it be any different online?

And the question here, is why - if that person and I both said negative things to the same PR person - did that employer get called over mine?  Not that I'm asking for it, but just leads to think that maybe there's some kind of grudge. I'm not going to get into a conspiracy situation here, but it's more just curious.   Maybe I responded better than Random Customer X by saying I would at least go into the store.  I don't know and never will.

What's Next?
At the end of the day, Price Chopper responded in one of the worst ways you could ever think of.  Will this Random Customer X ever return to Price Chopper?  Probably not.   Will I ever return to Price Chopper, most definitely not. Are there now hundreds if not thousands of people out there reading these blogs and tweets that were first introduced to this store negatively?  Yes. Are there more pressing issues in the world than a poor misuse of social media?  Of course.   I only wish I tweeted half as much about the Pakistan Floods for a friend as much as I did about this today, but at this moment - the idea of a company getting away with nearly costing someone their job in the time of a recession is just unacceptable.


You are allowed to create a social media policy for your company and ask your employees to follow it. 


You are not allowed to create a social media policy for your customers!  It is the most basic form of free speech one has.   

Are College Classes Useful In Life?

It's funny when life comes full circle.

When in college "they" make you take a certain number of classes to fill requirements for graduation.  Some of those classes are pretty interesting, some are very pointed and direct and will benefit your career, and others are just complete filler.  They are those classes you took because they might be fun, or interesting, or a way to round out your schedule so you didn't have Friday classes. But did you EVER think that they'd be.... useful?

College Majors
At Syracuse University as a Speech Communication major in the Visual & Performing Arts college, I needed 120 credits to graduate.  Like any good little college bound high school student, I came in with maybe 9 or so AP/Community College credits, so it afforded me the ability to take a few semesters light.  After switching majors 3 times in 4 years because I didn't know what I wanted to do, I wound up in a degree that was kind of a jack of all trades mish-mash of stuff that would allow me to graduate on time - PR, Marketing, Public Speaking, Statistics, Rhetorical Thought, Leadership, etc.

Second Thought Classes
I had a lot of options and took classes on nonverbal communication, small group communication, ethics in communication, rhetoric of horror movies, etc.   I chose each and every one of them because I thought they were mildly interesting, potentially easy and common sense based, or just fit into my schedule.  I had 3 jobs in college, and ran the university wide programming board that was given $250,000 to handle.  Academics weren't necessarily my focus at the time - I just wanted easy A's (which I rarely got) from classes that wouldn't take up too much of my time.  

Post-Grad Uses
When I graduated I abandoned all of that and went to go work in the Music Industry.  Didn't use my major once, and pretty much assumed I never would.

I then went onto teach English in South Korea where I realized that my training in nonverbal communication would come in extremely handy.

And now, as a Community Manager, every single aspect of my major has come rushing back in a waterfall of useful memories.  All of those communication classes that I thought were just interesting, have demonstrated themselves to be life savers in assessing a situation and knowing how to handle it in the workplace.  Even that awful statistics class has helped me to read analytics a little bit more clearly.

An Investment
It took 6 years for my major to come in handy.  At no point did I ever think that I shouldn't have gone to college and gotten a degree (because the network I have from Syracuse has paid for itself time and time again), but it's always nice when you can look back on things you learned years ago and recall them clear as day and apply them to what you're currently doing.   

So don't ever write off a class you took as something that wasn't useful, because it is all relative and what you make of it later that counts.  And this is coming from a girl who took weight training, yoga, snorkeling, and wine appreciation all in one semester.  Even the boring requirements can make you a better conversationalist on a variety of topics.

You'll never be able to predict where you'll be in the future, what could have come in handy, and how something you're doing currently will play into that, but it all adds to your story.  And you learned more than you think you did during those filler classes way back when.

Online You vs Real Life You

I'm on twitter.   I tweet about tons of things - job searching, relocation, social media, networking, Apple, traveling, Asia, South Korea, Syracuse University, College Basketball, my new start up company Eat Your Serial, and current events.    That's a lot of subjects, right?  Right.

I'm on facebook.  You won't receive a blue hyperlink here, sorry.  I have that locked up as tight as I can get it because I joined at that perfect age of 21 and have 1800+ idiotic photos tagged of me doing what 20 somethings do.  Not to mention 50+ videos where I'm making a large fool of myself.  It's a place of inside jokes, funny conversations, poking fun with my closest friends about every topic and mundane detail of our lives.  Even if we are friends on there not everything is going to make sense. 

I'm on Linked In.   I use the wisdom I've accrued in my 27 years to discuss professional topics with other professionals in professional networking groups.  I learn more about my crafts through discussions with other people.   I'm on Brazen Careerist for the same thing.

I'm on You Tube.  It's a mix mash of my videos of concerts, funny nights out, being out in Korea, and most recently a few video web logs. 


What am I getting at?

Well, it's simple.   Each place is a place to exist for different reasons.  They have different purposes, different networks, & different results.  To only exist on one network would be like reading one chapter of a book and knowing how it ends.  There's no way to get a good sense of someone on one network alone.

Anyone who is job searching, or using social media to get ahead, has to have multiple profiles to increase exposure.  Find the specific niche sites that your industry may use as well to get noticed.


Should You Put it all Out There?

No.
 


Why? 
There's a few common sentiments/sayings out there that work well:

1) Don't reveal too much, there's fun in the mysterious
2) If I can get the milk for free, why should I buy the cow?  

And there's a lot to be said for both.   If you give out 15 bullet points on one job, or if you have gigantic long paragraphs detailing your experiences on LinkedIn you'll hold the attention of no one.  Or if you offer your services to everyone for free, you'll never get paid for your work.  

There are perfect balances.  Be short and succinct where you need to be... offer tips and suggestions, but don't outline an entire project for someone without being a consultant.   Obviously this differs from case to case, but overall you don't ever want to come on too strong or with too much because it will never end well for you. 


Does Being on Every Platform = The Real You?

No.  You should have some consistency across all of your platforms, especially if you're job searching.  Make sure that you're looking for the same things on each site, your keywords all match up, and that your resumes are perfectly related to the description.  

For everything else, your online profiles may help you keep your different networks up to date and provide ways for you to showcase your work.   But never mistake an online persona for a real life persona.   What I mean by that - is just because you write well, and post pictures, and discuss a few topics does not mean that is who you are.   You exist in the real world and you should keep some things to yourself.  Anything that could get you fired, or anything you have to think twice about updating is probably a good thing to just leave off of any profile at any time. 

Also don't entirely take everything you read seriously from a twitter friend or a new on line acquaintance.  You need to develop relationships the old fashioned way too, with plenty of face to face time.  Non-verbal communication is very important to any relationship on any level.

Every hobby, sporting event, and minute of our lives can be tweeted about, posted around, and shared in some digital space. However none of that replaces good regular communication.  The age old phrase behind assume goes well here too - "Never Assume anything... it makes an Ass out of U and ME."  So don't always go by what you read - engage in conversations.

Work Slash Life

One of the biggest buzz words of the past 5-10 years is the "Work / Life Balance" concept.  It's a different concept in every country, but there's always some kind of expectation that there will be a separation between working and time for the usual life activities.   Potentially a nice balance of the two.

In America in the 1950's the man of the family worked 9-5, Monday - Friday, and had weekends off.  The woman of the house stayed home to take care of the house and family.  Somewhere along the way with the advance of technology, the women's movement, and the general growth of life and chasing that elusive "American Dream" our boundaries have started to blur.  We no longer work 9-5, and we no longer take vacations that don't include working.  Many people nowadays, with the advent of social media, don't even have offices and have location independent professions, so it gets even tougher to distinguish life from work.


Constant Connectivity
I lived in Asia for 2.5 years, and in that time I observed a few things.  Yes, they're crazy about phones.  South Koreans log more phone minutes and texting than any other country in the world.  I had teenage students who regularly told me that they'd log texts in the thousands every month.  And yes, they're insane about technology overall - Koreans have the fastest internet speeds of any other country in the world and most are no where close to catching up anytime soon.  On the subway (there wasn't a single place in the whole country that wasn't connected, & dropped calls are things that just never happen) you'd see people streaming live TV on their phones.  Something like Apple's FaceTime isn't a new concept - the Koreans have had that on their Samsung and LG phones for ages.  

But one thing I noticed, is that with all the connectedness, they still have this weird American 1950s lifestyle.  Although the man of the house doesn't work 9-5,  he works 7am - midnight.  The woman of the house most of the time doesn't work.  She stays at home, raises her kids.  They don't have home offices in their apartments (houses don't generally exist there), because the home is just that - home.  My teenage students often times told of only seeing their fathers once a week.   Vacations happen twice a year at the exact same time as everyone else.  A week in July, a week in December - if you're lucky. 

Lines seemingly do not blur in Asia - they're actually very divided.  However, it's not a balance, it's work above all consuming time.


On the Flip Side...
...there's America, with our blackberries and our iPhones.  We don't have the same 7am-midnight work schedules, most families have both a working mother and a working father, and we take our vacations when we want to and most get between 10-15 days paid vacation every year to do as they please.  We may not have the highest numbers like South Koreans for texting and internet speeds, but we also never unplug. 

Our companies are constantly able to reach us at anytime.  While on vacation we check emails to monitor what's happening back in the office, and we try to make it easier for when we return.    Our attention is constantly split, and we no longer focus on one task at hand - be it work or life.

We no longer have communities in our neighborhoods, we have them at the office.  We've made a shift from knowing the person who lives next door, to attending birthday parties and weddings for those we work with.  Our coworkers are our friends because we all spend so much time in our offices.  Even our children are overextended and socialize with playgroups, sports teams, and after school extra-curriculars instead of playing neighborhood games. 

Throw into the mix the online communities we are creating and participating in as social media evolves and develops and it gets even further away from the home. 


So Which is Better?

Working long hours, but when you're done, you're done?

or

Working shorter hours, getting more perks, & being constantly attached to mobile devices 24 hours a day? 


 

 

Eat Your Serial.

I rarely plug anything on this blog.  I like to think of this as a space more of my commentary and advice about goings on in the job searching world, Gen Y circles, and social media stuffs. You know - that whole "branding" thing that's all the rage these days.  But as this is my personal blog afterall, from time to time I think it would be ok to actually let you know about something I'm actually doing.  And if it isn't... well, not sure what to tell ya.   What's the thing I really need to share with you?   It's the little start-up that could called Eat Your Serial.



Did you click on that link?  Were you curious?  Could you NOT wait for me to explain?  Excellent. 

Were you hedging your bets and expecting me to explain it here first?   You lazy sonofa.... 

Well, the lazy ones win - because that link only brings you to a giant "COMING SOON!" sign.  And that doesn't necessarily help you, does it?


What IS it?
Eat Your Serial is a new web start-up company, that will be launched this fall.  The overall goal of the site is to promote authors - and do it at no cost to the author themselves.  Yes, we're talking free promotion for anyone that can write a coherent and entertaining story in any genre - fiction or non-fiction.

We recently held our first public event in New York City at Paladar on the Lower East Side, and it was a raging success.  It was a bit of a fundraiser for us as we are a startup, but mostly we just held a party to tell people about what we were.  We gave away door prizes, had two kegs of Brooklyn Ale, and about 60 people showed up to show their support.

How Do You Become Involved?
If you're a writer we want you.  Always and Forever.   Anyone who has a book that they're trying to promote, or if they want deadlines to get their book finished - we're perfect for you.  Each week a new chapter gets published on line, and by the end of 12 weeks, or 20 weeks, or whenever you finish - you have this finished book with a built in audience who will want to buy your book from EYS' site.  AND the best part is, you're free to shop it around to publishers after that!

I'm pretty stoked about this project.  Has potential to really launch some amazing writers that might not have had a shot otherwise.  We're pretty active on the blog, twitter, and facebook, so get at us there too.

Want to Support This Idea?  (The Answer is YES!)
The BIG thing, is that we ARE on kickstarter.com and providing some pretty nifty rewards if you donate to us and get us... um... started.   But don't take my word for it... our video explains it all, and kickstarter.com is the ONLY place you can see it and it's awesomeness. 

How to Avoid Committing Career Suicide [Guest Post]

I'm pleased to showcase the very wise, and talented Jessica Malnik as my newest guest blogger.  I am always interested in having guests post on this here blog, so please get in touch with me if you'd like to do so. 

 

 Jessica Malnik is a Gen Y blogger and social media enthusiast.  For her social media, technology, and workplace ramblings, please visit her blog.

No matter what your job is, there will always be times where you need to make sacrifices. That’s what separates the “exceptional employees” from the pack. Or in some cases, the employed from the unemployed. That being said there are some ways to avoid career suicide. 

 

 

1. Don’t put on a big show when you quit a job!
Unless you have been living under a rock recently, I assume you have heard about the JetBlue flight attendant, who went crazy, started cursing on the PA system and then grabbed a few cold ones and slid down the emergency slide. While many of us have surely dreamed about leaving our job in a dramatic manner, this is probably the worst way to go out.

 

Let me explain why. Unless you have exceptional savings or a family member or friend to support you for the rest of your life, you are going to have to find another job again. A spectacular exit, which in Steven Slater’s case resulted in his arrest, is NOT going to bode well for you on a job application or interview.

 

 

2. Don’t complain about busy work.
There will always be parts of your job that aren’t so great. Every one has to pitch in and do grunt work from time to time. So, put on a happy face and just get the work done already. Also, treat this work like you would any other project. Complaining about the work won’t look favorable in front of your boss and coworkers’ eyes. Don’t let this be the reason to be passed over for that big promotion.

 

 

3. Don’t be the office gossip.
Socializing with your coworkers is so important. You want to be friendly and approachable. But, you also don’t want to be a gossip. For instance, it’s NEVER a good idea to spread rumors about coworkers or share way too much personal information with coworkers.

 

#FF Yourself.

No, I did not just swear at you.   #FF stands for "Follow Friday" which is something that I understand has been around as long as Twitter itself.  Each day of the week has it's own hashtag generally be it #musicmonday or #traveltuesday and so on and so forth.   But there are a number of people out there who question Friday's validity and usefulness.  Does it indeed help you gain more followers or find people to follow that you might not have otherwise?   I think so.

How It Works
Well, you simply tweet out a person's twitter handle, or a group of people and just add #FF.  The rest of the twitter world sees it.  They decide if they want to follow.   People have different methods for doing this too - tweet out one person and why,  tweet out a group of people with no explanation, or a themed group.

Why People Complain That's Pointless
Many argue that it's just wasted energy.  Patting each other on the back, sending out the same groups of people every week, or just lumping everyone in together with no rhyme or reason seems futile. 

But is it really pointless?  I don't think so.  Even if you send out one lump group of people, maybe they check each other out and your network grows that much more.  Or maybe looking at your twitter profile and having 10 tweets of nothing but groups just makes it all blend together.  It's all up to interpretation.  I suppose if you're #FFing the same people every week the message becomes a little diluted as well.

How I Make it Work
I love getting #FF'ed.  Who doesn't?  Once a week someone tells you that they like you, admire your work, or enjoy your twitter friendship.  They're telling THEIR network about YOU.  It's free promotion.  What is so wrong with that?  As someone who tries to constantly meet new people, I find this to be a pretty valid practice and one that I hope continues.  Do I have a strategy?  You betcha.

Each week I think about the people that I've come in contact with.  People that have inspired me, taught me something, made me laugh, or that are new in my twitter life.  Periodically throughout the day I send out a tweet with one specific person and why.   As an example lately, I've been pumping up my friend @nicknewt.  I met him in real life first a few months ago through mutual friends, but each and everyday he tweets some of the most hilarious stuff.  He's big into tv, movies, and comic books, and is good at twitter conversing - refers to himself as a curmudgeon.  In the past few weeks, his followers have grown.  It's that simple (and no, I don't take credit for that, but it doesn't hurt).  

I also tend to group together some of my favorite local social media people as well - since we tend to run in the same circles.  Syracuse is surprisingly a hotbed for social media activity and I really think that it'll only get better in the upcoming year just knowing some of the projects that are lined up (Intrigued? You should be.).

So go ahead and throw out a couple of #FF's for people this Friday.  You'll make someone's day - and you'll help Twitter folk become that much more connected - and that's really the whole point, right?

Why I Don't "Like" Anything Anymore

Last week I had one of "those" days.   Not a bad day... in fact, it is quite the opposite.  Went to a pretty great social media panel discussion on Thursday, networked, learned, you know - the usual.   I got back to the office and was fairly caught up on some projects and got to start projects I've been meaning to get to.   So what had me so in a funk?   Facebook.   That behemoth, Facebook.

I wrote about how Facebook broke My Heart awhile back, but I stuck with it.  Mainly because I have entirely way too much content from some of the best years of my life there, and I wouldn't be able to connect with some friends if I wasn't on.  I have cleared off my profile for the most part - save for some tv shows - but I do not want to be connected to any "community" pages.

I do not need my information to be shared all over the place.  End of story.   But then this happened...

Thursday this article was published telling of how 100 million Facebook users information was leaked and published online. 

I find myself 100% torn on Facebook.  The marketer in me sees it as a potential phenomenal marketing tool being that 500 million people use Facebook internationally.  The Gen Y early adopter of Facebook in me sees it as a site that has lost its way and is almost unusable because it once was a place that touted privacy and networks.


Is there a happy medium? 

I'm not so sure.  

As far as marketing goes, it's a goldmine for some.  People put all of this information out there to be reaped and used and studied.   As someone who owns 3 facebook pages, I love using it and I've seen mild success with some and not so much with others.  Also I am not convinced that Facebook is a good B2B marketing tool.   I understand how it can be but what if your customers are businesses and your 2nd tier customers are average everyday folks?  Who's the priority?  How do you clarify your mission when you need both equally? Two pages?  

As far as the former-facebook lover, I don't want to be marketed to, I don't want to be advertised to, and I have no desire to start liking every single thing in the world that will clog up up newsfeed and not allow me to see what's going on with my friends and family.   I would also like it if Farmville and all those games would just go away and Facebook went back to being a site where I could live in my own perfectly made community of posting inappropriate pictures, postings, and videos. 



Where do you land on Facebook?   Since the big change up this year have you carried on as normal?  Have you deleted all your information and use the site sparingly?  Something else?   I honestly don't know how to proceed.   How do you feel about being marketed to, or doing the marketing?

All Online Profiles are NOT Created Equal.

People, people, people.   You don't even need to read the rest of the post.  Hell, I might not even write more after this next sentence.... 


Just because you CAN link all of your online profiles does NOT mean that you should.  



Alright - well, if I need to clarify,  I will.

There are hundreds of tools out there that simplify your life.  For example, Tweetdeck allows you to post to twitter, facebook, foursquare, linkedin.   That's pretty great right?   Yes.

There are programs that allow you to send your tweets to Facebook if you use "#fb" in your tweet.  Linkedin does the same if you use "in."  And so on and so forth.

Having the choice to select specific tweets is more than ok.  Sometimes it's very useful and somewhat necessary to save time.   But don't abuse the privilege. 

What does that mean?

It means, each platform has a specific audience and a purpose.  Facebook tends to be your pre-social media friends, twitter are your new professional connections and interests, and LinkedIn is where your professional network exists.  Some people blur the lines of all, and while I don't generally recommend that, I get how it can be hard not to.

Regardless of how you use everything - The first and foremost rule is -> Do Not.  Do Not.  Do NOT Link Twitter & Linkedin updates.   

But why?

Well, because Linked In is for all intents and purposes your go to online resume.  It should showcase you in the best possible light.   Provide a little background into your career, your current situation, and your goals.   A status update should only happen about once a day, at most, and it should be something very specific to your overall goal/adding value to your current industry.  Something that demonstrates you might be an industry leader.

Twitter on the other hand is meant for engagement.  Conversation and discussion happens freely in 140 character tweets throughout the day.  You send messages (@'s) to your followers, and sometimes you tweet out random things about your day, "Saw Inception today!  What a crazy thought provoking movie.  What did you think?"    While that's a fairly decent tweet to chat it up with those you know, no one on Linked In should be bothering with that. 

You forget that LinkedIn is full of recruiters, and people that could potentially hook you up with a job - even if you're not actively looking.   You want to remain "personally mysterious."  Think of it like a first date - you don't want to be all crazy and show all of your quirks and intricacies for a first impression, right?   You want to save some for a second date. 

So do everyone a favor.  Unlink LinkedIn and Twitter.  Unlink Twitter and Facebook.  Be yourself around your old facebook friends, share pictures, be normal.  Rock Twitter with a lot of content.  Be impressive and hold back a bit on Linked In.   That's how you play the game.     

Rock Your Career in 30 Seconds

Man, it has been a week! And it seems like everyone is knocking 'em outta the park too. Perhaps the biggest thing to happen so far though, was Brazen Careerist's new "Rock Your Career in 30 Seconds" video series.

First - What is Brazen Careerist?
Brazen is a lot of things, but mainly it is one of the best communities on the internet. Think of LinkedIn, if LinkedIn were more focused on creating community, had better managed groups, and had an incredibly focused, young, fresh, talented group of people behind everything. Brazen is a great place to make connections for almost any industry, a place for Gen Y and Gen X to co-exist peacefully and professionally, and for some great professional development opportunities.

One of the things I like most about it, is when you need something, if you've connected with enough people - they're a very helpful bunch. It's a great place to find a job, find out how to get a job, and find out how to keep and get better at your job. For me, it kind of makes working that much more fun. Besides the work aspects, there are also groups for interests and hobbies as well.


Now - What is this video series all about?

It is exactly what it sounds like --> 30 seconds of all sorts of people with a quick surefire tip that they've learned throughout their career in order to help you with yours. As of this week the first seven were put up on Brazen's brand new YouTube Channel, and those first seven include yours truly, as well as a post by Dan Schwabel and Guy Kawasaki, amongst other incredible Brazen Careerist Community Members. I know I had fun making mine and hope it helps someone get a jump on whatever their working on. My tip is all about following up, but there's some other great videos to watch as well.


Keep Checking Back
Brazen will be adding new videos all the time, and they will be full of great tips from regular everyday people that are rockstars making it all work. You can also find them on Facebook and Twitter for all sorts of great conversation and advice.