Today: The importance of owning your own domain name, and suggestions for alternative website names.

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What happens when someone Googles you?

Seems like an innocent question, right? But go ahead and ask 10 random friends and see what they say.

- Some are confident and know that the top results are their own website, or a LinkedIn page or Facebook.
- Others have a popular name, and thus can’t quite make it to the frontpage.
- Some have positive results come up, such as a listing at a conference or something with the college alumni, but nothing special.
- For the unlucky, an unflattering photo or comment appears near the top of the list.
- And for some segment of people nothing comes up, and they don’t care.

As I’ve talked about many times, it’s easy for someone like me, living in New York City and completely immersed in all things media, to have a distorted view on a topic like this. Not only do I have a blog and a podcast and a book, but I actively own websites and purposely try to make sure my results rank high.

Just the fact that you are listening to my podcast or reading a blog like The Hopkinson Report, means that you probably have a certain degree of knowledge about your results, and are probably proactive in controlling it.

And yes, there are plenty of people that don’t know and don’t care.

However, there are maybe millions more that WANT to have a presence on the web, but don’t know how to get started. If that’s you, I’m going to show you how at the end of this post. But first off, here are…

4 reasons WHY you should own your own domain

(Listen to the podcast to hear me dig deeper on each of these topics)

1) Rank higher in search
If you’re establishing a personal brand or starting a business, you’re going to want to own your own domain. While major sites like LinkedIn and Facebook will bubble to the top for newly established people on the web, Google’s algorithm weighs exact searches heavily. So if your name is John Doe and someone types John Doe and you own JohnDoe.com and it is a legitimate site with good content on it, eventually that will bubble up to the top.

Ironically, I am a bad example of this. If you Google Jim Hopkinson, in most cases The Hopkinson Report.com shows up before JimHopkinson.com. The reason for this is that this site was established in 2008, and has hundreds of links back and forth to major sites like Wired, and tons of content. Meanwhile, I launched JimHopkinson.com within the last six months. But if you’re starting from scratch it might work differently for you.

2) Hide negative search results
It’s not always easy to remove that drunk photo from college that comes up in a search, but by registering your own name, you can make efforts to try and make sure that your domain comes up ahead of it.

3) It’s crucial for job seekers
Every job seeker should have their own domain. According to the NY Times article Social Media History Becomes a New Job Hurdle, “75 percent of recruiters are required by their companies to do online research of candidates, and 70 percent of recruiters in the United States report that they have rejected candidates because of information online.”

4) Reserve your name or children’s name for later use
Even if you don’t have plans for yourself or a business now, you might want to reserve your name so no one else gets it. Also, many parents are registering their children’s names, whether to put up some baby photos and videos, or just have it set aside if they become the next Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

But what if your name is already taken?

IE, Your name is John Smith and JohnSmith.com was snagged long ago. Never fear. Here are…

7 suggestions for alternate website names:

(Listen to the podcast to hear me dig deeper on each of these topics)

1. Use another domain extension
Option: Register JohnDoe.net, JohnDoe.co, JohnDoe.org, etc.
Pros: Address remains short and easy to read.
Cons: You may need to constantly remind people that it is not the most common .com address. Be aware of what actually does live at the .com address, as at least some people will go there accidentally.

2. Add a middle name or initial
Option: Register JohnTDoe.com or JohnThomasDoe.com.
Pros: It uses the common .com extension and works if people are familiar with your middle name.
Cons: It’s a little more unwieldy and harder to remember.

3. Add a clever modifier to the name
Option: Register TheJohnDoe.com, YouveGotJohn.com, OriginalJohnDoe.com, TheRealJohnDoe.
Pros: Very “Twitter Celebrity-esque and works for some people.
Cons: Harder to remember, feels forced, and tells everyone you couldn’t get the domain you wanted.

4. Add an internet based word to it
Option: Register JohnDoeOnline.com, JohnDoeWebsite.com, etc.
Pros: Pretty straightforward and keeps your name as you want it.
Cons: Harder to remember.

5. Create a new word or company name
Option: Register DesignFroggle.com, DesignForSocialChange.com, etc.
Pros: Using a fun or generic word worked for Amazon, Google, and Yahoo. Just as easy to promote your company as yourself.
Cons: Harder to find unique names vs. back in the 90s. You still won’t own your name.

6. Tie your name to your location
Option: Register JohnDoeNYC.com, JohnDoeInSeattle.com, etc.
Pros: Ties your name and brand to a specific part of the country.
Cons: You can never move.

7. Tie your name to your profession
Option: Register JohnDoeDesign.com, ArchitectJohn.com, etc.
Pros: Ties your name and brand to your specific industry.
Cons: You can never change jobs.

3 things NOT to do

1. Use dashes
Option: Register John-Doe.com
Pros: Straightforward.
Cons: It’s one thing to see this written, it’s another to say it. Every time you tell someone your website, you’ll need to say “John Dash Doe.”

2. Use Numbers
Option: Register Website4JohnDoe99.com
Pros: Nothing.
Cons: Again with saying it out loud… you’ll need to say “The word website, the number four, john doe, the number ninety-nine.” You can do better than that.

3. Try and be really clever
Option: Register J0hnDoe or JohnDoh! or YouveGotSexyJohnny
Pros: You are clever for 1 minute.
Cons: People will be annoyed for a lifetime.

So how do you make that first step?

It’s easy to think about hiring a designer or installing WordPress or planning a huge web presence. But if you’re just getting started, you just want a simple landing page, or you just want something for companies to find while you are job seeking, here is my suggestion:

1. Buy your domain GoDaddy.com
2. Set up a free about me landing page
3. Redirect the url (yourname.com) to the landing page.

That way you look a little more professional and can put jimhopkinson.com on your resume and business cards and not about.me/jimhopkinson

This is incredibly simple, takes less than 10 minutes, and can be up and running in an hour, so I tell people.
Get Your Name Today!

And to make this simple, I created a website called, you guessed it,

www.GetYourNameToday.com

Two quick caveats
1. As of this post post on May 9, 2012 I’m still putting the final touches on the site and on the video tutorial, so depending on when you read this, it still might be a bit of a work in progress. But it’s about 95% done and functional, so check it out and let me know what you think. You can click the contact link on the header and send me an email, or hit me up on Twitter: @HopkinsonReport

2. I want to give full disclosure that I am a member of GoDaddy’s affiliate program, which means I earn a small commission if you sign up by clicking the link on the site. This does not in any way affect or increase the cost of your domain — think of it as a small ‘thank you’ if you found the information I presented here valuable and time-saving for you.

So don’t wait another minute to grab your domain because someone might snag it from you… Get Your Name Today.

Losing your job can be a traumatic experience. What you do in the first 60 minutes can have a huge effect on how you handle it.

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It’s the relationship equivalent of “We need to talk.”

You stroll into the office on a Friday morning that seems like every other, upgrading to a large coffee to push away the headache from last night’s extra glass of wine at dinner. You comment on some reality show drama to your co-workers, then head for your desk to start the day.

However, your boss catches you just as you’re about to sit down, surprising you with the innocuous request:

“Can you step into my office for a moment? I need to chat with you about something.”

Ten minutes later your world is crashing around you. You know that your supervisor specifically explained the situation – it was as if they were reading off a script – but your brain couldn’t process all the buzzwords like “hierarchy restructuring” and “corporate reorganization” and “economic budget constraints” because your mind was racing trying to process the one truth that was abundantly clear:

You’ve lost your job. What you do in the first 60 minutes is crucial.

Here is a 6-step action checklist:

1) Control your emotions

Everyone reacts differently in a crisis situation. In fact, emotions when losing your job are similar to unceremoniously getting dumped by your boyfriend or girlfriend: anger, confusion, disbelief, sadness, fear, and self-doubt.

We’ll start with the obvious and say that while angrily throwing chairs around might make you feel good in the moment, it’s going to reflect badly on your integrity down the line. Likewise for bursting into tears. Although it may be difficult, you’ve got to spring into action and think logistically.

Resist the urge to press for more details… Is this about my performance? What can I do to change this? What if I take a pay cut or vow to work harder?

In reality, all of these things have been considered already and the decision has been made. There’s nothing you can do about it, so focus on actions moving forward.

2) Evaluate your timeline

In cases with high-level executives or when sensitive company information is at stake, someone from Human Resources – and possibly security – may instantly appear to confiscate your ID and escort you out of the building.

In other examples, you’ll be asked to stay on staff for a few more days, allowing you to have a “soft exit,” wrapping up projects with existing clients and transferring knowledge to whoever will be taking over your job (always an awkward transition).

Determining which scenario is happening to you will dictate how quickly you need to do the rest of your tasks.

3) Back up your files

What a company fears most (besides the chair-throwing incident) is a disgruntled employee stealing private company information. To be clear, a scenario where a laid off salesperson grabs their “Rolodex” of client names with the intention of luring them away is both illegal and unethical.

Further complicating things in the digital age are the myriad of passwords that employees have for company servers or social media sites. With access to a company’s brand page on Facebook or Twitter, an angry employee can spread his displeasure to millions within minutes.

According to the 2008 FBI/Computer Security Institute Computer Crime and Security Survey, losses due to attacks from inside the company happened 49% of the time, resulting in an average loss per respondent of $288,618.

Again, I want to emphasize that I am not advocating taking any company property that doesn’t belong to you. The fact is, most employment contracts specify that everything you do and create while at the company is legally theirs. No questions asked.

However, what about retrieving personal information from your work computer? Is it a good practice to keep your work files and personal files completely separate from each other? Of course. But some people may not have a computer of their own. So if the only place the seating chart spreadsheet for your upcoming wedding resides is on your company laptop, your boss will usually understand.

In the middle can be a gray area. What if you work at a non-profit and there are photos of you at a charity event that you hosted for the company? What if you work at an advertising agency and edited an award-winning video, and want to use that in your portfolio? The relationship you have with your employer will dictate how these questions are answered.

4) Inform the people that work for you

When I was most recently laid off, it was very important to me that the four employees that I managed hear the news directly from me. They surely knew that something was up when they received an urgent request to drop everything for a meeting, and the news came as a shock to them. However, they felt better that they were able to hear the entire story first-hand, and then be able to ask questions.

5) Get everything in writing

There’s a good chance that the company is way ahead of you in terms of the details of your departure. Consider all of the possible elements:
• Determining your last day
• Receipt of your last paycheck
• Claiming unused vacation time
• Severance pay
• Bonus eligibility
• Continuation of health benefits
• Retirement savings accounts
• Unemployment assistance

There’s no way that you can process everything at once, so be sure they give you everything in writing. Do not sign anything until you’ve had time to go through all the details and ask any questions.

6) Control the message

This is one of the most important steps in the process, but one that few people consider. In the new economy, people are becoming their own media companies.

Even if they have a full-time job, they “market” and “advertise” themselves as they craft their own personal brand on Facebook, Twitter, online video, and photos.

What they need to do in this case is also be their own publicist.

It’s a sad fact that any kind of office turmoil will immediately be followed by office gossip. Human nature dictates that there will be some people thrilled to be the first person to inform everyone, “Did you hear the news? Joe and Sue just got fired!”

Rarely are all the facts correct as the gossip spreads, and the sentiment at best is “Poor Joe, he must be devastated” and at worst “I bet it was because he failed on his latest project.”

What follows is the outline of an email that I sent to employees in my department that I was close to, and the intention behind it.

“Hello, by now you’re probably aware that my job was eliminated this morning during the reorganization.”

[This addresses the situation, emphasizes the fact that it was a result of the restructure and not performance-based, and gives people words to repeat].

“However, I will be here through the end of the week to help with the transition. During this time, you don’t have to “tip-toe” around the issue so feel free to stop by.”

[When something like this happens in an office, people don’t know how to react. In my case, I immediately saw how awkward everyone was, as they didn’t know whether to avoid me or to console me. I broke the ice by telling them I was fine and this made sense to them since I cooperating during the transition].

“In fact, rather than feel sorry for me, you’ll probably want to wipe the smile off of my face since I’m actually really excited. As you know, I have a myriad of side projects including my book, my blog, and speaking opportunities. I’ve already started researching working remotely from Buenos Aires.”

[Is this bragging a bit and putting a PR spin on the story? Yes. However, the reason it works is that it was 100% true. People knew of my side interests, I had already started developing a plan to quit my job in the next 6 months, and I ended up keeping my promise – I was working from a café in South America exactly 6 weeks later.]

If done right, the sentiment can turn from “That poor person lost their job” to “Hmmm, I kind of wish I didn’t have to work either.”

The gossip crowd loves when someone is blindsided by news, so another alternative would be to say “I knew with this economy no job was safe, so fortunately I’ve kept my resume up to date, I have a wide range of professional contacts, and I’ve already started planning out companies that I am going to reach out to.” By doing so, you’re showing that you are being proactive about the news.

The final step I took was emailing a group of employees, vendors, and contacts outside of my immediate department. For me, this included the editor in chief of both Wired Magazine and Wired.com, the close staff I worked with in the San Francisco office, and all the various mentors and fantastic coworkers I had worked with in this large company over the past 5 years.

I quickly detailed the situation, said what a privilege it was working with them, and gave them helpful information on who to contact for my old obligations, and how to keep in touch with me in the future. Again, it really helps if this was true. I really did enjoy my 5 years there, and made a lot of good friends. High-level executives don’t like to be caught by surprise with information, so they appreciate being told the facts right away and being in the know. Everyone can be gracious when things are going well, but taking the high road when situations change shows your true character should your paths cross again.

By following these action items, not only can you avoid burning bridges, but you can actually build some on the way out. That’s a good thing for any kind of relationship.

People talk a lot about their real-world career, but sometimes it’s the part-time jobs of youth that define you as a person.

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What do you do for a living?

When you’re asked that question in “real life,” you rarely start with your current job and go all the way back to your very first part time jobs. But in a way, what you did for money as a teen, be it babysitting, lifeguarding, or cleaning out your Dad’s garage, can have a profound effect on your life.

OK, so the jobs I list below aren’t really THAT crappy (it made for a better headline), but they weren’t always glorious either. However, they did teach me some valuable life lessons.

As always, listen to the podcast for the full show. Highlights below:

The Job: Paperboy
Lesson Learned:
- Consistency (If you didn’t deliver every single day, someone was not going to be happy)
- Delayed gratification (Friends want to play baseball? Not till your route is done)
- Value of money (You mean the harder I work, the more money I’ll have for arcade video games? Ah, I get it now)
- Stay away from large German Shepherds (Seriously. I was chased and bitten several times)

The Job: Dishwasher
Lesson Learned:
I NEVER want to be a dishwasher.

Sometimes it’s just important to learn what you DON’T want to do

The Job: Working in a Warehouse (Part 1)
Lesson Learned:
There was an industrial park near my house growing up, and I had jobs packing orders. The first was for four time Boston Marathon winner Bill Rodgers. I learned that sometimes even fame isn’t enough (creditors showed up one day and bolted the headquarters shut), and that GoreTex was a cool invention.

*Note — in the podcast and above I imply that his business was shut down. Turns out that his Faneuil Hall Store has been open since 1977. However, something went down that day… the details are just sketchy (hey, it was 26 years ago!)

The Job: Working in a Warehouse (Part 2)
Lesson Learned:
The second job was at a place called The Gatepost. All the items we shipped were women’s clothes, they went to a women’s clothing store, and every employee was a woman. Except one: The owner Mike. He took me under his wing and taught me two important life lessons: autonomy and trust.

In the first case, noticing that I was surrounded by mountains of pink t-shirts, Guess jeans, and ESPRIT bags, he reached into his wallet, took $20 of his own money, and told me to go to the mall and buy any posters I wanted to put up in the warehouse. While I can’t remember the specifics (I’m guessing Van Halen, Larry Bird, and a Porsche 944), the freedom of controlling my workspace was exhilarating.

The second thing he did raised the bar even higher. Five of the stores were at least an hour from the warehouse, so delivery trucks brought the weekly stock to these locations. But the sixth store was just a few exits down the highway.

First, Mike taught me one of life’s greatest lessons: How to drive a 5-speed. We started out in the warehouse parking lot on his giant Isuzu Trooper II. I’d get going as quickly as I could through first, second, and third gear, slamming on the brakes as the guardrail at the end of the industrial park approached rapidly.

Next, he sat calmly in the passenger seat (no doubt suppressing his terror) and allowed me to drive the shipment to the store with him, uttering confidence-building tips as this green 17-year-old revved his engine and darted out into traffic.

Lastly, one day he just said ‘you’re ready’ and tossed me the keys, kicking me out of the nest and onto the southeast expressway at rush hour.

The Job: Cleaning the bar on campus as a freshman
Lesson Learned:
1) A little greasy, dirty, hard work never killed anyone
2) The job was at the highest payscale on campus
3) That pay could be dramatically increased when mopping up dozens of dropped items of drunk seniors – who were fond of a game called ‘quarters.’

The Job: Working in a Warehouse (Part 3)
Lesson Learned:
I learned four valuable lessons from four people.

First there was the warehouse manager Mike. One winter break I showed up to work, excited to stay on campus for the week and work there full-time. But Mike was surprised to see me, and said he never actually promised me any work. While sweating it out, he paused and said, ‘Well, I guess since you’re an Eagle Scout, I can find some stuff for you to do.’ I had forgotten that I had listed Eagle Scout on my resume, and that he told me his sons were in scouting and working their way toward the highest award. Lesson? You never know what kind of connection will help you in your career.

Next there was Don, a warehouse lifer who was always amazingly upbeat and positive. Every single day he had a new joke for me. Every. Single. Day. They weren’t always funny. They were quite often distasteful. But every company needs a Don.

Also there was Brian, which was a really interesting situation. He was a really nice guy, pretty quiet, and hard working. Picture him as your every day, middle America worker. Showed up at 9, had lunch at noon, punched out at 5, and drove down the street to the bar for a few beers before heading home. What made it interesting, was that this was a bar very close to campus, and often our paths crossed. What I learned from Brian is to be humble and treat others with respect.

Here I was at 19 years old, in the prime of my life, getting a college education, and ordering a round of shots at the bar, surrounded by drunken fraternity brothers and loud sorority girls. And I bet a lot of them were thinking, ‘Ha, look at these poor townies, what losers.’ And right next to me was Brian, keeping to himself, just wanting to enjoy his beer before going home, probably thinking, ‘look at all these spoiled rotten kids, I wish they would leave my bar and go back to their shiny dorm rooms.’

Whenever I was in this situation, I always took the time to separate from my friends and go over and talk to him, knowing how hard he worked, and showing that our age difference and situation didn’t make me any better than him.

Last but not least was Al. Also a warehouse lifer, he was the complete opposite of Don. As an energetic 19 year old, I burst into the warehouse each afternoon for my 3 hours of part time work before heading back to campus to study or catch the end of happy hour.

One day Al pulled me aside and told me, in so many words, that I was ‘working too fast.’ In other words, I was pulling the orders faster than he could pack them, which made the shipments pile up and Al look bad. It was an awkward position to be put in, but I slowed down my productivity a bit. But eventually, I couldn’t keep up the charade. Being slow and unhappy was his problem. All I could control was myself.

I learned awhile later that Al had been fired for ‘accidentally’ running over his foot with a forklift and then filing a bogus workman’s comp claim. You can’t control the ‘Al’ in your company.

Jim interviews designer Shaun Sanders to learn the key to building amazing infographics.

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Today I speak with Shaun Sanders, a graphic designer specializing in infographics. I met Shaun through our mutual friend Alexis Ohanian, who hired Shaun to produce some awesome infographics for Hipmunk.

Listen to the podcast for the full interview, but here are the highlights, thoughts, and things that we discussed:

Definition of infographics
I view infographics as another option in a marketer’s social media arsenal. Surprisingly, there are a lot of people that don’t know what the term means when I told them my plans for doing one.

The easiest, old school comparison I make is like the USA Today “Snapshots” that would appear in the newspaper, using cartoon-esque images to represent data. You know, like the quantity of pasta consumed:

Shaun jumps in to give me us a more purist definition: Data visualization
The key: Crossing data visualization with fun, color, and additional elements

“Infographics work because most people will look at them vs sending them a long text article. Because it comes across as fun cartoon, they are more likely to check it out, as well embed it and share it on Facebook.”

What the average person might not know about infographics
- How they help website traffic
- How they can build ‘link juice’ around certain keywords
- Example of How long could you survive chained to a Bunk Bed with a Velociraptor?

What is the advantage of an infographic over a video in an attempt to create something viral?
- Better bang for the buck
- No time constraints like a video
Example: Foursquare had a great one at the end of 2010
Example: Taking a complicated topic and explaining it visually WTF is HTML 5 and why should we care?

The thing that sets Shaun apart
- He can create the infographic
- Does all illustrations
- Most importantly, he does all the research
* As a student, he is used to writing papers with research that can withstand a professor’s prying eyes
* Has taken 3 statistics classes such as advanced business statistics
* All of this is fresh in his mind

‘I would rather spend the time to make sure everything checks out, than to have 1 tiny error ruin the entire integrity of the graphic’

Case study: How to make an infographic to support the Salary Tutor book launch – a 10 step evolution:

Step 1: Determine Timing
My initial email to Shaun was July 24, and we hoped to have it complete by the week of 8/8.
We ended up working on it a bit longer to make sure we had it perfected.

Step 2: Provide direction
I outlined the following as my goals:

The 3 big picture topics are:
* Current state of the economy
* Getting a raise in your current job
* People that are leaving for new jobs

A few sub-topics that I think are real button-pushers:
* The disparity between men and women’s pay
* Does weight and looks have anything to do with income
* Anything social media related (Facebook has youngest workforce; social media skills matter, does HR google you and check your FB page for drunk photos) etc

I set up a Google doc to share links from stories containing a lot of the research to get him on his way

Step 3: Decide on payment
Shaun was at a slight deficit since, well, it WAS about salary negotiation, but he read the book so we were on the same level. Shaun charges an hourly rate, which includes all the hours worked on the three stages (ideation and research, custom illustration, creation). We settled on a budget range we were both comfortable with.

Step 4: Organize the data
- Shaun goes through all the research and tries to distill it down to a one page Word doc
- During this process, he discovers data which must be interesting, but also able to be represented graphically
- What he starts with is never what he ends up with
- Shaun got real excited when he found this much data

Step 5: First pass
Shaun started with a vertical layout, with the primary focus being happiness vs salary level
This is an important step, just getting things down and free flowing the graphics to see how lays out. You can design in your head all you want, but like an author that just starts writing, you need to get in the flow.

Step 6: Getting to the Eureka moment
At some point, Shaun hits the eureka moment when the research is done, the graphics come together, and he just starts moving forward with the direction he knows it will take. In this case, he knew the focus was going to be on the timeline.

He showed it to me in paper form for approval of this primary direction, which I approved.

Shaun tells me one of the most difficult things to deal with in infographics are “outliers” in data, and how he deals with it.

Step 7: The first “final” candidate is sent
- Good news bad news. Jim loves the majority, bottom is great.
- But not the top. Felt it was off topic. How does Shaun handle it?

Step 8: Almost there
- Right topics, 3 out of 4 looks are right
- Jim debates dropping the “weight” stats due to potential user pushback, but Shaun convinces him to stay the course
- We talk over a new way to represent it

Step 9: The Final product
The final product, as seen on SalaryTutor.com/infographic

Step 10: Spread the word
We are releasing this post before putting it out into the wild, so unfortunately I can’t tell you how it did in advance. Check back and I can give an update in a later podcast. Here is a rough plan of where we plan to ‘seed’ it:
- Submit to reddit
- Post on Facebook of my personal account and book account
- Tweet on my personal account and book account
- Email my “100 super influencers” that have my book
- Submit to coolinfographics.com
- Send to salary sites
- Embed in blog posts

Contact Shaun at his website, ShaunSanders.com

Jim interviews Michelle Ward, aka The When I Grow Up Coach, who explains exactly what a life coach is, and how she helps creatives going through career transitions.

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What the heck is a “Life Coach” and why would I need one? Well, this week Jim interviews certified life coach Michelle Ward, also known as The When I Grow Up Coach, to find out her journey and answer those questions.

Summary of Topics covered:

- Michelle’s lifelong passion for theater and entertainment, leading to a cameo on Saturday Night Live and (off, off) Broadway
- Her transition away from the arts and into a “grown up” job
- The intense, unmistakable moment that she knew she could not work at her full-time job another day
- Her transition and training as a certified life coach, leading to helping more than 100 creative people devise the career they think they can’t have
- How she has expanded her business from 1:1 coaching to group sessions and workshops
- The development of “Operation Creative Career Cheer,” a 50-page illustrated rhyming career change workbook
- Yes, a rhyming career change workbook. I told you she was in theater, right?

We also discuss
- How she uses social media and referrals to get clients
- Who should go to a life coach, and how they will benefit
- Macro trends of people overwhelmed at work and wanting to get out of the cubicle
- How are millennials approaching their career differently than others
- How do they measure the ROI of a lifecoach
- Examples of success stories, from Israel to Japan to Minnesota

Learn more:
When I Grow Up Coach Website | Facebook | Twitter | What is coaching?

You’ve got to adapt in a rapidly changing world to keep up. Here are the 7 most valuable skills you can have.

Download the podcast from iTunes, or play it below:

As always trying to bring you the marketing trends that matter.
But what good is knowing the marketing trends if you can’t take advantage of them?

This is the digital age folks, and you need to be constantly adapting. The advice I’m going to give you in this week’s podcast is the same whether you’re a graduating college senior or 20-something starting in their new job and asking me what’s important, OR, if you’re in your 30s or heaven forbid 40s like me and want to make sure your skills are current.

So what I’ll tell you all is KEEP LEARNING.

Get out there and take a class – heck, if you can, TEACH a class. I’ve had the honor of teaching a social media class at NYU each fall and I have to say two things:
1) Preparing my lectures really focuses me on knowing the latest information
2) My students were so great and they ended up teaching me so many great things

But if you’re going to take a class, in my opinion, here are the 7 most valuable new media skills you can learn, listed by increasing level of difficulty:

Note: Shorter bullet points are listed here, while I elaborate more fully in the podcast itself.

1. Blogging
Starting a blog is easy. Maintaining a blog is hard. But you’ll never get that far if you don’t get started with post #1. If you’re just starting out, head over to a free service like Tumblr. Whether you simply pick a topic you’re passionate about and just start writing, or lay out a well-planned business strategy with a launch date, getting in the habit of blogging will help you in many areas.

It provides an outlet for creative thoughts, helps people find you or your business on the web, and makes you a better writer and communicator.

Resource: Problogger.net is a great site for those just starting out

2. WordPress
If Blogging 101 starts out on Tumblr or another free service, then jumping to WordPress is like entering your sophomore year. With 25 million accounts, WordPress is the leading platform for bloggers. Sure, it’s also simple to jump in and start writing a post, but a true skill to have is knowing the ins and outs. From customizing your own theme, to adding widgets, moderating comments, tracking analytics, installing plug-ins, optimizing for search engines, and tagging and categorizing posts, there’s a lot more you can learn.

3. Reporting and Analytics
Speaking of analytics, long time listeners know this is one I like to emphasize often. No matter what your industry, dig into the analytics. Whether it’s web page views, email open and click rates, commerce purchases, shopping cart abandon rates, or time spent with video, knowing the numbers behind the numbers will be valuable.

Resource: THR Episode 132: How a ‘Be All, End All’ spreadsheet can help your business and your career

4. Public speaking
Strong public speaking skills can help you in all aspects of life from wedding toasts and impromptu speeches to interpersonal skills. Now, I’m not saying you necessarily have to be on stage in front of hundreds of people. If you’re a very shy person and have trouble expressing yourself, even breaking out of that shell just a little will help with day to day necessities like meetings with coworkers.

What are the things keeping you from being a better speaker?
- Is it opportunity? Ask your boss to research a project and present your findings to a group.
- Do you rely on Powerpoint as a crutch? Force yourself to use fewer slides — especially text-heavy ones — and talk around bold photos.
- Have an annoying tic like jiggling your pocket change or saying um? Videotape yourself or ask a trusted friend to evaluate you. Do it anyway, as you might THINK you don’t do something annoying but you do.
- Want to learn from the best? Watch a few TED talks. These speakers are usually the ‘rock stars’ of their industry, and have honed their message over years of presentations before getting to present at this conference.

Here’s a tip.
A good friend of mine and speaking instructor taught me about the “W” formation. If you’re on stage with a wireless mic and moving around, thank about hitting all the points of a W. Be at the front left of the stage, say some words, make eye contact. Then regress back to a point and engage a different part of the audience. Then move to center stage to make a point (the middle part of the W), and connect with the people there. Regress back to the back right of the stage, then work your way up to the top right of the W and engage with the right half of the audience. The key here is to make it look smooth and effortless.

Resource: Toastmasters, TED Talks

5. Photoshop / InDesign / Illustrator
If I had to do it all over again, I would be a designer. As it is now, I “know enough Photoshop to be dangerous” and try desperately to know my limitations. Still, I find myself saying “oh, that graphic should only take 15 minutes” and mocking up crude versions of what I think something should look at.

I seem to know a ton of designers, have many designer friends, and in the past have even seemed to gravitate toward designers in my dating life. I have so much respect for them, because it’s something that I wish I could do better, but cannot.

Still, it doesn’t mean that you can’t get decent at design yourself, if only to better communicate when you need to get your thoughts across to the pros. And if you ARE someone that wields a mighty (tablet) pen, more power to you. Newsletter design, web design, banner design, Powerpoint graphics, eBook design, mobile design, iPad design… in the digital world, there seems to always be a demand for your services.

The same holds true for photography. Yes, anyone can pick up a point and shoot and take a great photo these days, but knowing lighting, cropping, angles and so forth can turn your blog from a hobby into a work of art.

Resource: online videos, courses, friends

6. Video editing and production
Video is still experiencing massive growth on the web, and it’s not slowing down. We’ve gone from large video cameras with temperamental tapes in them to sub $200 HD Flip cameras to every new smart phone adding video capability. So while making the leap from photos to Photoshop is somewhat steep, going from videos to quality video production is a lot higher hill to climb.

Right now there I see a huge chasm between those that take a straight stream of video and post it on the web, vs someone taking the time to capture good audio, have great lighting, add in graphics and transitions, and edit the video so that it flows.

You want to be schooled on how to effectively record audio and edit video? Check out any of the videos by Hopkinson Report favorite Pomplamoose:

You want 1 reason why you should learn video editing? I did a post called Best Earbud Headphones for the iPhone, a Marketing and Technology Test where I tried to get the post to the frontpage of Google. By the next week, the article was on page 5. But the video I did with it? Right on page 1.

Resource: online videos, courses, friends

7. Tablets, apps, and mobile development
The final skill, and probably the most specialized and hardest to learn, is becoming a programmer. Sure, there are modern languages and software development kits that help templatize the process and make things a bit easier, but having the chops to sling code is a special skill. And my thinking is that nowhere else is this more in demand than mobile development.

If you’re an expert developer for the iPad, iPhone, or Android, I can assume you can pretty much name your price right now. Or why would you, when you can build a cool game and market it yourself like Matt Rix did.

So now you’re thinking, what if I just don’t have the skills to be a programmer? Well, look around at all the other fields surrounding mobile. Maybe you can design for the iPad. Or be THE go-to person for amazing eBook covers. Perhaps you’re a writer and can create a handy guide to be read on the iPhone. Or blog about the Android vs iOS battle.

Maybe your thing is to market or project manage an iPhone application project. Or be a thinktank for ideas for a game or utility. As a researcher, you can analyze the state of the mobile industry. And for commerce, set up an affiliate website to sell the most popular cases for the next iPad or iPhone. Look at past Hopkinson Report guest Rana Sobhany, who took one look at the iPad and realized she could turn it into a DJ platform.

Face is, there will be big demand here, so start with what you can handle and evolve.

Recap
If you’re in new media, looking to break out of your current situation, here are the 7 key skills you should pursue:
1. Blogging
2. WordPress
3. Reporting
4. Public speaking
5. Photoshop
6. Video editing
7. Tablets, Apps, Mobile development

I’ve had a few good bosses in my life. Let’s take a quick look back at some good examples.

Download the podcast from iTunes, or play it below:

I talk a decent amount about career advice on the blog, such as resumes, interviewing, salary negotiation, and internships. But one key factor is the importance of a good manager.

My original topic today was going to be the BMW Magazine app on the iPad, — and I do feel there’s a great story there how car makers can reach consumers via the Apple tablet — but the story needed a lot more research.

So pressed for time, I thought about a story or two I could tell on the podcast. But that got me to thinking about cars and bosses.

A good manager is like a good set of tires
Sometimes people really underestimate tires. It’s more fun to talk about how a car looks, the 0-60 time, the 300 watt stereo, or the 405 horsepower. But tires play a HUGE part in the enjoyment, and safety of a vehicle. They control ride, handling, steering, braking, cornering, acceleration, and traction.

If your tires are old or balding, it can ruin a lot of other good things on car. Just being a few pounds over- or under-inflated can be a serious hazard.

The same goes for your boss, although it’s perfectly ok for him to be getting old or starting to bald (hey!!!).

What I’m saying is, a boss that isn’t very good can make even the best job suck, and a really bad boss can permeate everything you do and make you hate your job. They can stall your career, prevent you from getting raises and advancing, and create office politics.

In story one on the podcast, I pause 30 seconds for a shameless suck up to my current bosses. As recent readers know, I have a broken arm. This happened while on my (deservedly earned) 7 business days of vacation, so I was out of work during that. But then add time missed during my subsequent 2 surgeries, leaving for appointments, coming in late after physical therapy, and working at about half speed. Even though I was working remotely, jumping on conference calls while on buses, and consistently on email, tack on nearly an additional 10 business days — that’s a lot of missed office time.

Not ONCE has anyone said anything besides “do whatever you need to in order to get better.” From my immediate boss, to our department VP, to coworkers, to the President of Conde Nast Digital (who I saw in the elevator and who is also a competitive athlete and biker), nothing but concern and well-wishes. I am thankful that these people have my back.

The other four stories I cover:

- The New York Move
My VP at ESPN had to make some hard decisions when moving the team from Seattle to New York. Also listen how he handled the “coaching” of his employees during the free-reigning late 90s dotcom era like Jim’s childhood Boston Celtics teams.

The Startup Guru / Bartender / Softball King
Has one of YOUR bosses ever served you drinks, hit the game-winning home run, and kick started the second half of your career?

The Female Assassin
Hear how a quiet supervisor reacts like a violent Grizzly defending her cubs when an employee is attacked by an outsider.

Shin Yoshino/Getty Images

The Scoutmaster
A fatherly figure saves Jim’s college party plans and prevents a poor, dark, winter.

What are some of the things a manager needs to do to have their employees backs?
1. Filter and disseminate information
2. Have a grasp of email etiquette
a. On vs off the record, forwarding, proper CC: and BCC:
3. Gives credit in public, criticizes in private
4. Steer their careers, ask them about next steps
5. Protect and defend against other departments
a. Too much work, annoying employees, giving credit

Ask yourself this:
- As an employee, take a look up the chain of command. For the most part, will your supervisors be there for you?
- If you’re a manager, are you doing everything you can to instill confidence in your employees?

Thanks for reading

Follow me twitter.com/hopkinsonreport

Do you have “computer skills” listed on your resume? Get rid of it, it’s obsolete! I explain in this week’s podcast, or the blog post below.

Download the podcast from iTunes, or play it below:

Over the weekend, I met with a person I’m mentoring. She went to the same college as I did, found me through our alumni network, and wanted to talk about her next job and look over her resume.

One of the things that I saw on there that was interesting, was a section called ‘Computer Skills.’

I went through each of the items and called her on it:
- Adobe Bridge Software?
What is that? Is it important? No. Take it off.
- iMac basic programming?
You mean, you used an iMac computer and did some things? She nodded hesitantly. I asked her, do you REALLY know how to program? She shook her head no. Gone.
- Datanet and Filemaker?
OK, so you used these programs to maintain some files. But are you an expert at it and did you really use them all the time? Not really.
- Google Apps
I don’t mind that it’s on there, but she already used it earlier in the resume, so that one gets removed as well.
- Lastly, Microsoft Office
You graduated in 2008 with a Bachelor of Science degree. You live in New York City. You speak French and Italian.  You’ve managed to send me your resume converted into a PDF. Proving you know Office is pretty much understood.

So that got me to wondering.

For anyone that graduated with a Bachelors degree from the year 2000 and beyond, is the ‘computer skills’ section of your resume completely obsolete?

And if the answer is yes, what goes in its place?

To answer that, we have to go old school for a minute. This is when having myself as your Generation X host comes in handy.

Need I remind you, I graduated in 1991, when there were NO cell phones, NO internet, NO email, and Photoshop 2.0 had just been released. For those keeping score, the concept of Photoshop layers wouldn’t be invented for 5 more years, and they’re basically up to version 12 now.

In my junior year Microsoft Windows 3.0 had just been released, along with Office version 1.0.

Social media? Ha!  Mark Zuckerberg was 7.

So as someone that legitimately graduated with a degree in Computer Information Systems, putting a ‘Computer Skills’ section on your resume really meant something.

When I started doing most of the hiring for the multimedia startup I worked for in 1994, it was a real challenge to determine which people had true computer skills, and which had played a few hundred games of Solitaire on their computer and claimed they knew Windows.

Thus, I came up with a computer test that I gave during interviews to see how people shaped up. It became legendary around the office, as no candidate had ever received a perfect score.

What’s interesting is back then, typing speed was a huge differentiator. You could sit in the conference room with someone in their brand new suit and listen to them smoothly talk about their tech skills, but when you sat them down in front of a keyboard and asked them to drill down into a subdirectory and alt-tab to another open application, you knew right away.

Dug into the archives and actually found my resume from 12 years ago:

Computer skills on my 1998 resume:
HTML, JavaScript, Macromedia Director, Flash, & Dreamweaver, Adobe Photoshop & Premiere, Allaire HomeSite, Netscape Navigator, Microsoft Internet Explorer, SoundForge, InstallShield, Active Movie (MPEG), Video for Windows (AVI), Microsoft Office

Quite the list, right? Several of those are still relevant, but can you imagine listing a web browser as a computer skill these days? No.

Now it’s 2010, and I’m here to argue that ‘computer skills’ are obsolete, and what is more important are ‘social media skills.’ So how do I propose you address this new category?

Here are 7 things you can do to create a modern social media resume:

1) Your resume should be in the following formats:
- Created in Word or a graphics design program. Please, divert from the template at least a little bit… change the font, add some color, something.
- Save it in PDF format. This should be how you distribute it.
- Have a version that is able to be embedded in an email. If someone can’t get attachments, you may lose your chance. Note that you’ll need to go through and re-format bullets, lines, colors, italics and sizes, and replace with caps, asterisks, and spacing.
- Updated and accurate on LinkedIn.com

2) Depending on your job, you might need to list out skills. But if that’s the case, it’s probably not ‘computer skills.’
- If you’re listing things that I call ‘lots of letters’ such as C++, HTML, CSS, PHP, Java, SQL … those should be under programming languages or coding skills.
- If you’re listing programs such as SPSS and MPlus, those are market research skills, not generic computer skills

3) Integrate these skills into your resume bullet points.
- When you say that you ‘Concatenated the quarterly earnings report into multi-tabbed color-coded pivot tables in Excel,’ they’re going to assume you can find your way around a spreadsheet
- When you say you’ve created more than 50 animated banner ads, adhering to client and company specifications and optimized them for the corporate ad server, they get the point that you know Photoshop
- If you’re a sales rep and use salesforce.com or some similar program, put that under a bullet point and not out on it’s own

4) Really emphasize it
- This might be best in a cover letter or during an interview, but if you really really are an expert, feel free to have a little fun with it. Say that you’re so obsessed with Excel, that you also used that multi-tabbed, color-coded, pivot table spreadsheet template to plan your wedding.
- Or if you’re a book editor, say that you spend 20-30 hours per week using Microsoft Word’s ‘track changes’ feature to easily communicate and collaborate with authors what suggestions you have for them

5) Replace ‘Computer Skills’ with ‘Social Media Skills’
The key here is that if you list it, you better back it up. If you do it correctly, however, it can have a great effect. I can picture the following entry on a modern resume:

Social Media Skills
- Skilled in using web-based technologies to transform and broadcast media monologues into social media dialogues
- Fostered the creation and exchange of user-generated content to build value and brand loyalty for my company and reach influential consumers
- Actively maintain a personal Facebook account with more than 500 networking connections, providing a 2-way multimedia conversation: Facebook.com/yourname
- Build a loyal group of 1,300 Twitter fans in just 18 months, providing value, learning from industry experts, and staying current with technology: Twitter.com/yourname
- Explore the latest geolocation technology with Foursquare, connecting with online friends in the real world: foursquare.com/yourname
- Created an online video project using Final Cut Pro for my Team In Training charity group, spreading the word virally and totaling 3,300 hits: youtube.com/yourname
- Embraced my love for photography by uploading more than 400 photos on Flickr, including licensing some for distribution under creative commons; ‘Central Park at Dawn’ photo has been used on 11 blogs and has 124 comments

6) Prove it in a portfolio
I feel that nearly every job-seeker out there – not just marketing or creatives – can benefit by putting together a portfolio.
- Were you just the lowly entry-level person checking names at the door at the big corporate gala? Well, I’m sure that event had a slick-looking invite or web page that you could print out to serve as a talking point for your contribution.
- Are you trying for your next accounting job in the finance department? Bring along one of your well-organized spreadsheets, showing how neatly you organize your numbers and graphs (changing any private company data)
- Bragging about your Powerpoint prowess? Throw in several example slides from your last few projects, using it as a talking point for why you chose the layout, the font, and the imagery

7) Prove it digitally
- It has the chance to backfire, but a well-produced video introduction will also go a long way to distinguish yourself from the competition (How NOT to do it below).

- The resume of the future will take place on the web. If you don’t own your name as a URL, grab it right now. Name taken? Try YourNameResume.com
Check out this as great example from Rohit Bhargava.
- Better yet, have you ever spoken at an event, done a podcast, or given a great presentation? Communication skills are paramount in the business world. If you can prove it, you can nail it.
- Are you a designer? How about presenting your resume or your latest project as a colorful Infographic?

(Graphic copyright JeffMcNeill via Flickr)
- Lastly, I’m proud that two of my former interns recently used a portfolio on the iPad during an interview to showcase what they’ve done. It shows they’re up on the latest technology, and it looked tremendous.

So to sum up, go ahead and drop that heading of ‘Computer Skills’ from your resume and do one or more of the following:

1. Create your resume in multiple formats
2. If you do have a lot of specific skills, they can probably filed under programming skills or design skills or another category
3. Integrate these skills into your resume bullet points
4. If you’re a true expert and are going to list it, really emphasize it
5. Replace ‘Computer Skills’ with ‘Social Media Skills’
6. Prove it in a portfolio
7. Prove it digitally

Doing so well set yourself apart in the digital age. Good luck.

The latest addition of WIRED magazine app on the iPad is out. You like Will Ferrell? Well, there are exclusive videos of him – only on the iPad, so be sure to check it out. As always, thanks for reading/listening.

Do you set goals at the end of every year? Not cliched, forgettable “I need to lose 5 pounds” goals. But real, tangible, goals?  Do you write them down? And do they matter? Let’s find out.

This week I did things a little differently. Rather than interview a guest, and rather than meticulously write out a blog post, I ranted for a bit unscripted. And I liked it.  So until I post the full transcript, the best way to hear this week’s topic is to listen to the podcast:

Download the podcast from iTunes, or play it below:

In the meantime, I’ll expand just a bit on the outline that I followed:

1) How to get your dream job

Damn, it’s almost painful when I just calculated that my intern is 17 years my junior. We have a funny ongoing meme, where I’ll be trying to impart some worldly knowledge (or pop culture reference), and the theme becomes “This is how it USED to be.”

Examples include how we didn’t have cell phones in college, tales of printing out COBOL programming code on the green and white striped dot matrix printer paper, how I had an MP3 player NOT made by Apple.

Case in point: describing just about everything from the movie Singles… the grunge movement, living in Seattle, Cameron Crowe, Kyra Sedgwick (before The Closer), Matt Dillon (brother of the guy on Entourage). Can I blame her? The movie came out in 1992, when she was SIX.

So speaking of Seattle, I realize that I often tell the story of “How I got a dream job in sports.” It was one of the turning points in my life, as I set a goal, moved 3,000 miles away from home, and got a gig at ESPN.com.

But it hit me… that was now ELEVEN years ago. You can’t live in the past. You can’t keep telling the same old story. And that’s why it’s more important than ever to keep setting NEW goals. And that’s what this podcast is about.

But… I realized something else I could do. Instead of just waxing poetic and being generic and saying “When I was younger I set a goal and went after my dream job,” what would be truly valuable, would not be to FORGET the story, but rather, to detail the exact steps I took to make it happen.

To outline a rough (old man) tutorial on what specific steps someone starting their career could use to find something they truly enjoy. So that’s what I cover in the podcast as a personal study.

Here is the outline I followed:

The Process
Plan ahead (CD-ROM vs. Internet)
Find your passion
Research your target (Where do I want to work)
Find a connection (Friend of a friend of a friend)
Demonstrate skill (Especially if global and new)
Persistence (Follow up)
Keep learning (New skill = reason to follow up)
Don’t listen to naysayers
Push your limits and take risks (‘I’ll actually be IN Seattle’)
Crush it (Prepare so that there’s no way you won’t succeed)

The Interview
1.    Impress (suit vs. casual)
2.    Adapt (No manager)
3.    Be the demo (Griffey game)
4.    Solve the puzzle (Interview question)
5.    Don’t be TOO convincing (Pageant)
6.    Make it so they CAN’T refuse

Then I take a minute to tie this scenario back to marketing and business goals.

What made everything above possible? Setting Goals.

2) Is goal-setting a myth, or a legend?

I recently set up a year-end lunch with my intern, and gave her ‘homework’ to prepare. I asked her to create a presentation (speaking skills are one of the most valuable business skills you can have) discussing the following:

- What are 5 things she wants to learn at the beginning of next year
- Where does she want to be in terms of title, salary, and responsibility in the next 6 months
- What are 5 personal goals she wants to achieve (take a class, learn a language, travel more, etc)
- Where does she want to be in terms of title, salary, and responsibility in the next 5 years
- What have I done well as a manager and what can I improve upon
- What are some ideas for Wired for 2010

I started to tell my intern about the popular Harvard study about goal-setting. It goes as follows:

[Credit: Summary was taken from Lifemastering.com]

In the book What They Don’t Teach You in the Harvard Business School, Mark McCormack tells a study conducted on students in the 1979 Harvard MBA program. In that year, the students were asked, “Have you set clear, written goals for your future and made plans to accomplish them?” Only three percent of the graduates had written goals and plans; 13 percent had goals, but they were not in writing; and a whopping 84 percent had no specific goals at all.

Ten years later, the members of the class were interviewed again, and the findings, while somewhat predictable, were nonetheless astonishing. The 13 percent of the class who had goals were earning, on average, twice as much as the 84 percent who had no goals at all. And what about the three percent who had clear, written goals? They were earning, on average, ten times as much as the other 97 percent put together.

I had definitely heard the study quoted several times, although sometimes it is told with Yale as the school.

But here’s where it gets interesting.

I came across the blog of Sid Savara.

Fact or Fiction? The Truth About The Harvard Written Goal Study

It turns out that he had written a similar post as the one I’m doing right now, but in his research, he discovered no evidence that this famous study ever happened!

He couldn’t find any definitive sources, but what he did find was a Fast Company article called “If Your Goal Is Success, Don’t Consult These Gurus” that interviewed members of the Yale 1953 class and were unable to find evidence to substantiate the story.  He also found an official stance from Yale:  There was no relevant record, nor did anyone recall the purported study of the Class of 1953, or any other class.

So where does this leave us?

To me, as we end the year, let’s just say it’s a little like Santa Claus. Sometimes having definitive PROOF isn’t always the most important thing … it’s whether or not you BELIEVE.  So take a few minutes, write down those plans for 2010, and enjoy the holidays.

And remember, please take the Hopkinson Report survey.

Thanks!

What do a new car purchase, choosing a career, and marketing have in common?

Download the podcast from iTunes, or play it below:

When I was 22, I was fresh out of college and the country was mired in the worst recession since… well, since the one we’re in right now. Jobs were so scarce that I took an hourly retail job at Staples. While I was there, I worked with a guy that made 2 lasting impressions on me about cars and careers.

When the work schedule came out and I realized that I was stuck working another Friday night until closing, but he had the night off, I asked him how that always happened. He said it’s easy, “I just told them when I was hired that I played in a band, and that we practice on Friday nights, so I couldn’t work them.”

It was so simple a concept that I could only shake my head and laugh at how right he was. I didn’t even play an instrument at the time, but years later I picked up the drums and found myself in a bona fide group. While I don’t think I used it quite so blatantly to avoid work, for three years I never worked past 5:30 on a Monday night (practice), and a few times a month I took off early — and rolled in late the next day — because of gigs.

But the employee also did something in my eyes that was so wrong it dumbfounded me to the point where it bordered on anger. One weekend he got in an a car accident. Thankfully, he walked away completely unharmed, but his car was totaled. That Wednesday, he showed me the $8,000 check from the insurance company.

Let me set the stage here and flashback to a 22 year old marketing guy for those new to the program…
- I love cars and everything about them
- I had the deep-dive analytical research brain that you see in action now
- I was dirt poor and making $6 an hour
- I was driving a rusted out, 1975 Dodge Dart

The concept of having eight grand to put toward any car would have sent me into a giddy, 3 week research cocoon.

So when he walked in on Thursday – the very next day – to say he had bought a car, I couldn’t believe it.

“Sure, I’ll show you.”

We walked out into the parking lot and he pointed out the brand new, light blue, 1991 Toyota Tercel 2-door.

I stammered… “A Tercel? That’s what you bought??? How? Why?”

He replied, “I dunno, my dad and I just went to a dealer, they had this model there that was the same amount as my check, so we did the deal and I drove it home that night. I don’t love the color, but it’s ok.”

My head nearly exploded. Who could possibly buy a car in one night? How could you buy a car in a color you don’t like? How could you walk onto a lot and take the first thing you see without comparing it to others? You bought this particular car because the cost of it happened to be the same as the check you were holding? And what kind of self-respecting 25 year old guy in a band has no further car aspirations than a Toyota Tercel Sedan???

In looking back, the problem I had was that he let the solution come to him, vs. him seeking out a solution.

The advice I’m going to give you is the same for car shopping, career progression, and marketing communication.

CARS
Right now my parents – in their late 60s – are in need of a car, and it’s been incredibly frustrating for me to try to help them without being by their side (they live 4 hours away and my schedule hasn’t let me visit them recently). They are visiting various dealerships, and although salespeople are working within their price range, the staff is clearly trying to sell them what they have, not what they want.

What I’m urging — pleading — my parents to do, is to first just drive the 5-10 models that I recommended after a lot of research, then once they let me know which ones they like or hate, then we can focus on the right deal.

Can you believe that one of the salespeople tried to pull the “this deal is only good for tonight” routine? Really? My parents walked away, and shocking — the guy called back the next day with a lower price. I told my Dad to lead with the following… “Wait, I’m confused. You told me yesterday it was a one day deal, but now you’re giving me a better deal and this isn’t the case? So are you saying you lied to me last night? Or how do I interpret this?”

My point to them is this… do your research, drive some cars, get your butts in the seats, and determine what you like and dislike first, and then I’ll help do all the work negotiating and getting down to finding the perfect car at the perfect price.

CAREER
The same goes for your career. I see a lot of people starting their job search at what is available on Monster.com or Hotjobs, which is just like walking into the dealer. You can narrow down the general specs, and certainly you can get lucky, but you’re risking that you’re going to be influenced by what is available, not by what you want.

I can honestly say that in my last two positions, the first thing I did was research the industry, the companies, the location, and positions that I wanted to work for before I ever checked if a job was available. I literally targeted only 4-5 companies that I truly wanted to work for, then I stopped at nothing to find a networking connection to those companies.

You might say that with this economy you don’t have that luxury, and that I was fortunate to be at the right place at the right time, and of course to some degree that is correct. There are many people that have been out of work for months, and are willing to take the first thing that comes along. Kind of like how I ended up at Staples. But I also think having that singular focus and controlling your destiny will put you ahead of other people that stumble into the job by accident.

MARKETING
By now you can probably guess how this ties into marketing. The old adage that marketers need to deliver the right message at the right time is as true as always. Simply blasting your branding message out for anyone to see in hopes that you hit the right target is certainly not the best use of your budget.

It’s no secret how Google became a multi-billion dollar company through their search algorithm. If I’m a car dealership, I can spend a lot of money advertising the latest Chevy Equinox or Honda Accord to the watchers of Grey’s Anatomy or How I Met Your Mother in hopes that one of those viewers is in the market for that type of vehicle. But if I buy Google keywords and someone searches “Used 2006 Volkswagen Passat GL Wagon,” you can be pretty sure that the person is in buying mode.

The same thing goes for the continued trend in social media marketing. Putting an ad banner for the 3rd generation Toyota Prius throughout Yahoo is good. Targeting it to their cars section is better. Doing an integrated buy in Wired Magazine and Wired.com, where research has shown that the readers are thought-leaders that influence decisions and recommend purchases to others is even more intelligent. And taking the last step by creating a Facebook page where 37,000 fans can interact and be part of the conversation around your product?

That’s just brilliant. As brilliant as telling your boss you just joined a band.

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