The Millennium Marketer

When Obama came into office, many Americans and non-Americans celebrated. But these are proving to be tough times nationally and across borders. Let’s not forget the swine flu pandemic, the temper tantrums of North Korea dictator Pyongyang and the effects of the American economy Americans and non-Americans.

Despite all of these things, the Obama administration continues to pour money and invest in political agendas such as science, a national health care plan, financial bailouts that have long term, uncertain ROI during a time where money supply is short and interest rates are low.
True, a former lawyer is no businessman, but it seems that we need to have business-minded people working in government. People who can work in a non-profit world but also understand how to work a balance sheet.

While I consider myself fairly liberal as a resident of the SF Bay Area, I think Obama may be thinking of too many ways to spend money that we don’t have, instead of developing programs that pull on current and limited resources. He needs to think more like an entrepreneur and less like a large corporation.
That means:
- evaluating resources.
Today I heard on the radio that Obama is creating urgency around the healthcare issue. Is he acting with business sense or acting rashly?

In terms of the health care system, are there any current running health care programs that serve those who need health care but do not have access to it? And are there existing programs that advocate for preventative healthcare? This is what the government should support rather than a overhaul and development of a national healthcare system. We may admire our neighbors to the North for their national healthcare (anyway, it’s targeted at getting people to stay healthy, not treating sick people) but we’re just letting politics get in the way. And we are a tax-minimizing country as well.

- Talent. Obama’s cabinet has talent, but where is a certified public accountant when you need one? A CFO?

How else could the government be more efficient? Chime in with your thoughts.

I got this e-mail campaign sent to my mailbox. It was a little weird. Do you want me to Fan your Facebook page so I have a chance to win money? Or because I am really a fan of your company?
Back to basics: Social Media is about groundswell support, not top-down marketing management.

What could they have done instead? It depends, but let’s say the goal is to share information so that they position themselves as not just the “Job Shop” but also the Job Experts.

They could…
encourage their employees to pro-actively work inside of Twitter with a goal to do outreach to their Twitter community, maybe by offering useful advice on jobs that are available.

They could create the Facebook Fan group so that people can share their tips and tricks on job hunting, and Job Shop could post their helpful hints on how to work with temp agencies (including themselves).

Bonus: You should get a more engaged community and it’s less likely that someone will join your “Fan Page,” take the money and run and forget about it.
OK, I get it though. If someone joins your Fan page, then maybe their friends will see their status. But you certainly won’t get advocates rooting for you, which is a double plus.