Life After College

From my perspective, it seems that college students either dread graduation and want to stay another year, or they cannot wait to get out on their own as soon as possible. For me, I was the latter. I felt this way because I knew what type of job I wanted, I was confident in my skills, I knew the right people to help me along the way, and I was ready to start my own life.

The only thing holding me back from being completely stoked about graduating early as I did was the economy. Although the odds are against recent college graduates today, I was ready to take on the challenge. I turned a potentially negative situation into a positive one.

Since graduation three weeks ago, I have been keeping myself very busy. My particular interest, and an area in which I would like to secure a career, is social media marketing. In order to learn the in's and out's of this niche industry, I am networking like crazy and learning how to use Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google, and Blogger. Updating these sites on a daily basis has become my full time job. Now, that may seem pointless if I am not making money from it, but I see it otherwise. I am learning how to use social media and studying how businesses use it for relationship marketing, and I am also meeting some amazing people along the way. I am looking to secure a job around the Boston area, and have found everyone around there to be more than willing to help me out, whether it is giving me some tips, conducting an informal phone interview with me, meeting up, networking me with someone else in the field, or giving me job leads.

Although I do not have a job as of yet, I am completely fine with that because I am learning so much about the field I want to get into. I find this more than worth the time. My next step will be to attend various events in the Boston area including Tweet Ups and other social networking events. Getting my name out there, building good relationships, and generating tons of content are the three major things I have learned thus far and have made those an imperative for me to achieve each and every day. I know that with hard work and dedication, I will secure my dream job very soon.

Joining the Realm of Social Media

During college, I only used Facebook as a social media outlet. However, after studying various topics of marketing in college courses, and speaking with some amazing people in the field, I have become fascinated and passionate about the social media aspect of marketing.

Being involved in social media and getting 'found' online requires a great amount of time and effort. Since about three weeks ago, I have now enhanced my Facebook and have developed a Twitter account. I have learned how to work on Twitter and to network with others through it. I also created a LinkedIn account where I have reconnected with former colleagues, employers, and classmates. This site also allowed me to integrate all of my social media into one platform. I then uploaded my video resume onto YouTube, and plan on making a much more interactive and personal one in the upcoming week. This video has been promoted on both my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts, and I have several views already. In addition, I have created a blog and made a resolution to create at least three blogs per week.

After all this, I then searched for my name on Google. Originally, I only had about two links for my name on Google, and they were on the bottom of the screen. Now, I have 2.5 pages of links just about me! I found this incredible. If someone searches for me on Google now, there is a Google profile which I created that discusses a little more about me.

I have now learned that getting involved in all of these social sites is a great way to get found, but getting found is as easy as getting forgotten. You must constantly update your content to be remembered. This requires adding new Tweets at least a few times a day, developing several blogs a week, and updating your LinkedIn profile. In addition to that, I am beginning to create my own website that will integrate all of my social media outlets into one comprehensive site, and it will also display my passions, ideas, etc.

Networking is the new way to get 'found,' and even to get a job. Having those personal connections and keeping in contact with them is so essential today. I am very thankful to those who have helped me along the way to develop all of this. I hope you find this information valuable and can help you develop your social platform and network like I have. Good luck to you all! Thanks for reading!

Generation Y's view on Social Media

Generation Y is unlike any other generation today. They like information at their fingertips, having cutting-edge technology, and do not like to be advertised to. Being a Gen Y'er myself, I am going to discuss what I have observed about the effectiveness of social media for this generation.

Social media allows us to connect with friends, relatives, co-workers, and even famous people or large corporations. People are exposed to over 3,000 ads per DAY! One may wonder how so many advertisements to an already saturated generation can be effective. Social media is the answer! But, it must be done right. I first viewed social media advertising on Facebook. Personally, I find these ads to be ineffective because they are not flashy and are not a topic of interest for people logging into Facebook. However, giving people the option to interact with a company, star, professional, etc. is a whole other realm of niche advertising. 

I think the emergence of Twitter was the perfect outlet for this need. Twitter has allowed Generation Y to view what stars and companies are doing in real-time, all the time. When someone admires a favorite music artist they are able to see artist updates, interact and engage with them. Engagement is one of the most important aspects of marketing, as it relates to the AIDA model. The ability to comment or re-tweet their message allows Gen Y further interaction than ever before, social media ENGAGED! The same goes for a person communicating with a business. Companies can disseminate information regarding new products, services, events, community involvement, etc. so consumers can easily see what they are doing. 

Traditional media outlets do not capture Gen Y much anymore, so there is little chance we would reference back to newspapers, magazines and even some television for the latest and greatest information. The internet transmits this same information quicker and more efficiently. Radio has been replaced by iPods and radio advertisements by satellite radio. The emergence of TiVo, On Demand, and other television services provide consumers with shows or movies, uninterrupted by advertisements.

It is clear that social media is how to engage Gen Y. With the development of the iPhone and other smart devices, Gen Y can be completely hooked up to their social media sites 24/7. Personally, I have an iPhone with applications for Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and You Tube. This allows me to view messages from all of these outlets, even when I am not at a computer. I find it very valuable to get information when and where I want it. I do not have the time to listen to news broadcasts or read newspapers, so getting a simple message from Twitter linking me to the web site, or  seeing a Facebook update from a company lets me know the news is there if I want it.

So what am I suggesting? It is critical for all companies, stars, professionals, etc. to be deeply involved in social media if they want to capture Generation Y's interest... and keep it. Our age group wants to interact with you, but in a way that fits our needs. Don't assume we will be reading a particular magazines or watching a particular show anymore because there are many other ways we get this information now, social media in particular. Contacting us through social media outlets in a timely manner with quick tid-bits of important information is a highly effective and interesting way to get us engaged.