The Millennium Marketer

This week was blurry. The sky went up in ash on Friday night and I woke up to find my car covered in something. I spent Thursday accompanying a friend in ER (for an appendectomy), and spending time in ER, I saw/heard a few things that can remind us not to take our health for granted–especially bloggers who are said to be at a higher risk from computer strain.

A few things that I saw or heard at ER:
1. An old woman howling and crying from the pain in her ribs
2. A middle-aged man bleeding from the middle of his forehead
3. A young man tied to a machine and obviously disoriented with no idea where he was!

The people that I know are so well equipped. A desktop or laptop computer, a good job, friends, family…
It seems like a good time as any to be thankful for being healthy, alive and safe.
If you are at a computer screen most of the day, check out this read with some good health tips

Gas prices are at an all time high, vacation is going local, the housing market is facing bubble deflation, the war in Iraq hasn’t ended, but despite all of this, some pop music may suggest that there is still an overall optimism in the US. This is by no means a well researched conclusion, but simply a personal life observation.

This morning while at the DMV, I read a few case studies in the Li and Bernoff’s Groundswell (yes still reading it right now) about people who have successfully dissented against companies and organizations.

These seeds planted connected me to the suggestions made by a couple of popular songs on the alternative radio station, which targets a rough group of high schoolers to people in their mid 30s. It’s not the first time that pop culture dictates the zeitgeist. Take the Punk era of the 1970s and 80s, or the Beatles in the 60s.

Now, take a look at a ‘08 song called “Handlebars” by the Flobots, which suggests that the average person can do anything they choose to do with just a little imagination.

Look at me/Look at me/Just called to say that it’s good to be/ALIVE In such a small world/All curled up with a book to read/I can make money open up a thrift store/I can make a living off a magazine/I can design an engine sixty four/Miles to a gallon of gasoline/I can make new antibiotics/I can make computers survive aquatic conditions/I know how to run a business

Social media is really empowering the Groundswell way beyond the needs of marketers and consumers. It may be blatantly obvious, but it is influencing culture in subtle ways. Social media is creating decentralized organizations, promoting democratization where consumers will demand more services and have the need to feel in control. Beyond this, there is the ability to start a business and age is no barrier. Box.net founder, Aaron Levie, is 23, Sumaya Kazi is 25, Zuckerberg is the same age as my sister–24! (Edit: just because all these people are on the same line doesn’t mean they are alike. They are all entrepreneurs and all very different people!)

Also, there are many others like Trisha Okubo who stand on their soapboxes, and provide a community service answering the old question, “What should I wear?” This means it’s not companies and fashion shows dictating what “real people” should wear.

And most of all, if we are dissatisfied with a company or a product, we don’t like something we can “start a riot,” says a Three Days Grace song:

If you feel so empty/So used up, so let down/If you feel so angry/So ripped off so stepped on/You’re not the only one/Refusing to back down/You’re not the only one/So get up…Let’s start a riot

Organizations that are still operating on traditional business models where there are rules and restrictions and the need to control rather than empower your customers need to take heed. If this kind of mentality is pervasive in youth through traditional means of pop culture and music, your customers are going to demand that your organizations are transparent internally, and that you have a culture that they can admire.

Any other songs that you’ve noticed show this spirit of “I can do anything”? Feel free to comment! This could be the start of a new Muxtape called Social Media Zeitgeist!

It’s a question I get often–should I go after an MBA? Like anything else in marketing and business, it’s important to stick to your objectives.

If you’re going after an MBA program, or are thinking about going after one, here are three little morsels of advice from a veteran a year out from the MBA program.

1) Think about what you love to do. I believe that passion comes from the inside and it is developed from youth. I’ve always liked creating something and it didn’t matter what form it would come in: origami, word crafting, drawings, and ideas that solve problems. I thought that the MBA program would make me more of a quantitative finance type, and yes I did learn a lot about this, but it didn’t change who I am.

2) Don’t let class formats, teachers or classmates constrain your thinking. Stay informed. Of course, you have to balance team projects with your ego, but sometimes class formats and course syllabi ask for a lot of time and responsibility. In between operations management, finance, statistics homework problems, I didn’t find a lot of time for anything else. But it’s important to take some time to read the news and step outside of the educational realm. Just to illustrate how important this is, social media was staring me in the face at the time, but I was not 100% aware of it, because teachers recommended reading Forbes and the Wall Street Journal. Both are good publications, but they are a far cry from social media to be sure.

This goes back to knowing what you love. If you have a passion, chase it down. On the other end of the spectrum, if you’re in the MBA program to explore, then definitely take the time to listen to your classmates and get thoughts on their past experiences. MBAs do not do this enough and can present themselves with too much bravado. It’s easy to forget that we are people and we are in school to learn from each other.

3) Temptations are fierce: Know when to listen and when to reject. Sometimes people will say things that you don’t like, but accept the feedback and consider it. Be prepared to think critically, go with the flow and know when your instincts are correct. When you have three months to complete a client-oriented project, people say a lot of things under fire and under stress that they would not say otherwise. Appreciate this because it will make for some bonding moments later!

Networking is often said to be the key elements of an MBA program, so to that end, learn to prioritize and have some discipline. Sometimes you have to know when is the right time to party/network with classmates and when is the right time to study!

One last word on entitlement. In the eyes of the employer, you are not entitled to that salary that you think you deserve after the MBA program. I have heard from MBA alumni that it is still a tough sell when your previous work experience pre-MBA program highlights you in a different way from the coursework that you have worked into your skills portfolio. Help others to help you.

Consider how much this investment is worth to you, and maybe you will need a few more years before reaching the point of having another life experience such as this. Just don’t put it off if you think it is time. You may not get another chance!

I’ve always been good with foreigners, and was very well known in my college years to be the welcome wagon, give you a tour of campus and the best places in downtown San Jose, and whatnot.

But this is kinda silly, because I see a HUGE opportunity to now welcome digital immigrants.
I owned my first Mac when I was 9 years old (Thanks Dad!) so I guess that qualifies me as a Digital Native. As for Digital Immigrants, that is all you who are wondering “what is social media and what do I with it?”

The first rule of learning about social media is to be open minded. You can’t learn anything if your thought is “Well, that’s not how they did it years ago.”

OK, I agree social media is a HUGE buzz word, and maybe you really don’t have time to get involved. I admit, it is also a very addictive medium because it’s interactive.

But we all have to learn to innovate, and that also means playing nice with the late adopters. There’s apparently this entire market of people who are now familiar with the web when it first emerged in the 90s, and are curious about social media, but are absolutely confused about where to start. Ironically, I write a blog, so I’m not exactly sure how Digital Immigrants will find this post, but if you are curious about what is a:
“blog”
“Twitter”
“Cloud Computing”
… read on. Let’s see if we can make this a good jumping off point for you.
(more…)

At the Web 2.0 keynote sessions this morning, Dan Lyons (Fake Steve Jobs) offered his perspective on why he started the Fake Steve Jobs blog.

And while not many would really care about this, I should preface this by explaining the respect I have for journalists. When I was 9 years old, I decided I would grow up to write for the San Jose Mercury News, and although that didn’t happen, I worked for a local newspaper for a while. It just didn’t seem sustainable with eco-issues and quickly changing innovation ahead of us.

I should also mention that right now, I am sitting in the Web 2.0 blogtropol.us lounge and just feeling a little bit nervous. There are two very prominent members of traditional media sitting at the same roundtable as I, which for me, is a little bit awkward even though we are all writers. In short, I am feeling a little bit starstruck.

“What did you all think of this morning’s keynote?” Neither one of them attended but the answer was gruff. OK, so what, do I really care what they thought about it?

For me, the point was clear that even though it’s obvious that media is changing from a unilateral model to a bilateral model, where you “take a magazine and put it online, all of us are forming a group and we entertain ourselves,” it was still interesting to hear what he had to say about the changing media.

For those who didn’t see the keynote, Lyons was different from the rest, much like his blog. He used to humor to stand out, and I was glad to hear the message he had to offer. It was good to learn that at least some journalists were taking advantage of the “fear” of the unknown, the challenges of being a media person, and trying to seize it as an opportunity. I met an old skool journalist last night who was willing to learn, but it look like it is a bit discouraging out there.

I’m glad to know from Lyons that the outlook is good, and that journalists still have a chance to be journalists, even if the media is different.

That’s good news, because if it weren’t for journalists, then I wouldn’t be here in the first place.