Posts Tagged ‘Seth Godin’

Suggested Books on Culture, Marketing and Technology

Thursday, April 24th, 2008
After becoming inspired by a few of the books recommended by Tara Hunt on her blog HorsePigCow.com, I've decided it's finally time for me to offer up a few of my own. So whether you're just getting started in the marketing and "new media" space or already familiar with the likes of Seth Godin , Chris Anderson and Malcolm Gladwell , take a minute to browse through my suggested books. I'll be adjusting this list over time as I discover new books worth talking about.

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Mitch Joel on Entrepreneurship, Your Personal Brand and Finding Balance

Tuesday, April 15th, 2008
[display_podcast] Entrepreneur Mitch Joel has been hailed the "Rock Star of Digital Marketing" by Canada's Marketing Magazine and was named one of the most influential authorities on Blog Marketing in the world. He is currently President of the award-winning digital marketing agency Twist Image. He regularly captivates audiences as a speaker on the digital landscape, as well as a blogger/podcaster at Six Pixels of Separation.

Show Notes

Mitch started his career in the magazine industry, where he became one of—if not the first—to publish magazine content online. He later went on to join search engine mamma.com, and then on to Airborne Entertainment, a company at the forefront of mobile content which later sold for over $150 million. After a short stint at a PR agency, Mitch co-launched Distort Entertainment, a record label which signed the award winning Alexisonfire and City And Colour. During this time, Mitch met his future business partners and went on to found the marketing agency Twist Image , which has come to be known as a the marketing agency that understands the interactive space and digital landscape. The 60-person agency in Montreal will soon be expanding to Toronto. Mitch and I also discussed the idea of your "personal brand" in the digital space. You are being Googled. Do you know whats coming up? Go to Google and search your name, or set up Google Alerts to keep track. Recommended Reading:

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Add an Interactive Side to Your Resume

Saturday, April 12th, 2008
Seth Godin raised some eyebrows when he took a stand against the use of traditional resumes in a recent blog post :
"I think if you're remarkable, amazing or just plain spectacular, you probably shouldn't have a resume at all... How about three extraordinary letters of recommendation from people the employer knows or respects? Or a sophisticated project they can see or touch? Or a reputation that precedes you? Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that they have no choice but to follow up?"
Here's my take—if you're looking for a job right out of college, it can sometimes be pretty tough to get by the HR barrier without a resume. But why not have both a paper resume and these other things? Why not use your paper resume as a launching pad to an interactive space that shows the real you—all that stuff that you could never cram onto a one-page sheet of paper? The very first line on your resume—before you list that great internship or the amazing study abroad program you took part in—should be your personal URL. If you don't have any sort of personal site or blog, go to name cheap right now and buy your name (it costs less than $10). Or show your future employer that you have an opinion on your industry by starting a free blog with WordPress or Blogger . This is your chance to show what you're really about. Ask a previous employer or professor if they will write a recommendation for you on LinkedIn , and link to this from your site. And if you're going into a creative career, you've probably compiled more than a few projects that you could display in an online portfolio. If you lack the technical know-how to create a website from scratch, there are programs that make it easier for you to get started (and if you're still in school, you can probably access these for free) from Dream Weaver and Adobe GoLive to Apple's iWeb . Of course, if you're willing to take the time to learn a bit of code, the possibilities are limitless. Another option is to create what Christopher Penn has dubbed the Social Media Resume , a more interactive resume that let's employers get to know you on a deeper level. Someday, having a personal website will be as natural for graduating college students as having a phone number. But for now, if you take advantage of this opportunity, you're ahead of the crowd—which means you stand out. It worked for me anyway.

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Building Your Personal Brand On and Offline – Advice From Christopher S. Penn

Sunday, March 30th, 2008
[display_podcast] Christopher S. Penn has been paving the way for companies in new media since he started the award winning Financial Aid Podcast for the Student Loan Network and co-founded Podcamp, the new media community unconference, with Chris Brogan. He blogs at christopherspenn.com, twitters regularly (great stuff, I might add—a good follow) and co-hosts a fantastic weekly podcast with John Wall called Marketing Over Coffee (which I have recommended in the past).

Show Notes

  • - Chris Anderson, author of The Long Tail, summed it up when he said, "Your brand isn't what you say it is, it's what Google says it is." This can be applied to your personal brand as well, so it's time to start thinking about protecting your online reputation .
  • - When it comes to new media, there is no substitute for getting out there and playing with new tools. Do it yourself if you truly want to understand it.
  • - Go to conferences like PodCamp and BarCamp (unconference are free, which makes them ideal for students who have time but no budget).
  • - Create an account on LinkedIn (or your "resume on steroids," as Chris puts it). This will allow you to provide more details about yourself than a typical resume. Go out and ask relevant people to add recommendations/testimonials to your LinkedIn profile to build your personal brand.
  • - Read Chris's comments about commitment, motivation and consistency over at Mitch Joel's blog, Six Pixels of Separation.
  • - Keep a calendar and update it regularly—ask yourself, "What do I need to accomplish today?"
Books and ideas Chris recommends, depending on personal weaknesses you want to improve on:
  • - What Sticks, by Rex Briggs and Greg Stuart—for those looking for advice on how to distill ideas down into something that is usable and memorable.
  • - Seth Godin's Books—for those looking for ideas and inspiration on how to become a better marketer.
  • - Study Art, particularly paintings and photography. The principles that are important to marketing (capturing attention, for example) have been studied for years in art.

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The Dip – From College to Career

Saturday, January 12th, 2008
Seth Godin is a best-selling business and marketing author and blogger. He's known for stating the obvious in a way that gives us a kick in the butt and gets us motivated. I just finished The Dip. I thought this would be a good introduction to Godin because it was short enough to download the audio book on my iPod and listen to the entire thing during the course of my commute to and from the office. I wish I'd read this book last summer, when I went through my own personal dip. I went from the comfort and familiarity of my college life to flat broke in a new city, working as an intern with the hopes of it turning into a real job and missing my friends, my family, my boyfriend. I met other recent grads who didn't last the summer in Chicago. They couldn't take the challenge of something so new and unstable, so they went home to live with their parents until they could figure out the next step in their lives. I'm so glad I didn't give up and go home. Starting over—transitioning from college to career—can be a bit tricky at first. We become accustomed to our bubble that is college, so when we realize that we have to completely reestablish ourselves (for those of us who relocate this applies to both career and personal life), it can be a bit shocking. We have to put in our time and figure out what the hell we are doing. We are the juniors. If you're in a new job, you may have to work harder than your more experienced coworkers as you learn the basic of the company and how it functions. If you're in a new city, you may have to go out of your way to be social, even on evenings when you really just want to stay home, so you can begin to establish new friendships. And if you need some additional inspiration while you're at it, just ask Seth.

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