Mutt Media | Daily Bone 5.29.09 Top 10 Tips for marketing yourself online. Tip #9: Get them talking!

Mutt Media Tip #9

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

9. While you do want to be stringent about monitoring your social networking sites for undesirable photos and questionable alliances, we should never forget what they are for – networking! By all means, use your contacts. Ask them to post a link about you. Your audience will increase exponentially (see earlier post and the viral networking Faberge illustration).

Provide your friends with a link to your Blog (you should set this up asap as we discussed earlier this month – see Tip #4). There are several sites that are really user-friendly including WordPress and Blogger that make it very easy for you to set this up.

Make sure your posts are relevant and blog often. If people find you interesting, they will come back and voila! You can amass a following and get viral marketing to work for you. Remember, fresh and interesting content is the most important thing! And what’s more interesting than you?

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Mutt Media | Daily Bone 5.28.09 Follow up to Craigslist post from 5.11.09

Talk about online marketing…just wanted to follow up my earlier post from May 11, 2009 where I discussed some questionable after-effects from connections made through the Craigslist.org website.

As a result of lots of backlash, the powers-that-be at Craislist have decided to replace their “Erotic Services” ads with a new category title in an effort to better camouflage would-be prostitutes selling their wares. In this vein, they have doubled the price for a first-time ad from $5 to $10. At first glance the images of the women advertising appear less blatantly sexual but according to a short piece written by Andy Geller for the New York Post, State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo predicts these efforts will prove to be “half baked”.

These changes come on the heels of pending lawsuits and various violent crimes committed as a result of connections made on the service. Let’s wait and see, I say.

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Mutt Media | The Daily Bone 5.22.09 Marketing Yourself Online Tip #7: Check out the Competiton!

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

Mutt Media Tip #7

7. Check out your competition!

Go online and take a look at your competitors. Look at the functionality of their website. Look at their skill-sets and what they have to offer.

Are your skills in line with today’s job market? Never before has there been an opportunity such as we have today to actually know our competition in the job market! Use this to your advantage and acquire the skills necessary to give you that competitive edge and make yourself stand out.

Try to take your skill set to the next level and ensure that you will be able to provide a prospective employer with this added incentive to hire you over the next person, giving them more BANG! for their hiring bucks.

Have a great weekend!

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© 2009 Mutt Media NY LLC All Rights Reserved

Mutt Media | Daily Bone 5.18.09 | Top 10 Tips for marketing yourself online. Tip #4: Start Blogging!

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

Mutt Media Tip #4

4. Start blogging! Create a Blog about your professional life and area of expertise. This can be a great way to reach a wide audience. If your Blog is written correctly Search Engines will pick it up. This can be an extremely beneficial tool in extending your reach to a wider audience and get people talking about you.

Just remember, content is key! Make sure your posts are in your voice, authentic and written by you. Research your material whenever possible and check your facts if you are presenting yourself as some kind of authority on a subject. Give proper credit where due. This applies to all images and authors of other material you may be embellishing upon.

There is nothing wrong with linking to other blogs and websites; in fact, this can help you! The web is built on the premise of many people and their ideas being interwoven, so when applicable, this is a common and useful practice. To ensure your visitors will return to your blog, keep the content fresh, and blog often. Make it easy and enjoyable and your visitors will hopefully share the link and spread the word.

Remember, “If you build it, they will come” (Field of Dreams! – see what I mean by proper credit? I can’t take credit for writing that line!). So build your blog and populate it with content that is relevant. You never know who will read it and recognize your inner genius!

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Mutt Media | The Daily Bone 5.15.09 | 10 Tips For Marketing Yourself Online – Tip #3: Format your résumé properly

Mutt Media Tip #3

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

3. When creating your résumé, be mindful that not everyone is working off of the same software you are. What looks perfect on your screen or when you print at home, may come out quite different if your prospective employer has an older version of the same software or a different software altogether.

You’ve seen these files – margins are wrong, indents are off and the overall alignment just doesn’t look right. Sometimes you can even lose your font! Your best bet is to save the file in both a .DOC format as well as a .PDF. PDF documents cannot be altered after they are saved and will come out just the way you intended. If you absolutely must save your document in .DOC (Word) format, use a universally accepted font such as Ariel, Helvetica or Times New Roman. This will ensure a higher likelihood of compatibility once your document is received.

Needless to say (I hope!), make sure you spell check your document and use proper and consistent punctuation throughout. Don’t blow it before you even get the interview!

Mutt Media | The Daily Bone 5.14.09 10 Tips For Marketing Yourself Online – Tip #2: Create a New Email Account

Mutt Media Tip #2

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

2. Create a new email address specifically for your job search. Do away with addresses like Sexygirl222@xxx.com or anything too cutesy or infantile. This is a professional contact address and your email address may reveal a side of you that is not appropriate. This will only work to your disadvantage. Stick to your name, which is unique and will assist in people remembering who you are. If you have a common name like Smith, you may consider selecting something catchy and smart that reflects the business you are in or that will make an impression (consider perfectassistant@xxx.com or greathire@xxx.com).

You can get a new email account for free in a wide variety of places, such as gmail or aol, so what are you waiting for? Start reshaping your online image and put forth the best YOU possible!

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Mutt Media | Daily Bone 5.11.09 | Craigslist – Does this online community really come in peace?

Mutt Media NY asks, "Craigslist: Symbol of Peace?"

Recently, we have heard about some unsavory news stemming from the ‘connections’ people are making on the popular site Craigslist.org. The most visible has been the case of Philip Markoff, a medical student attending Boston University who has been accused of killing a masseuse when she showed up to render her advertised services. Markoff has also been charged in the assault and robbery of a woman in a different incident that occured in Rhode Island, as well as robbing another just days before the murder. (source: Metro.us click here)

In Newsday on May 9th, I read about a woman named Margary Tannenbaum from Hauppauge, NY who was arrested and charged with aggravated harrassment for her attempt to exact revenge on her 9 year old neighbor. In this case, the neighbor was in a conflict with Tannenbaum’s daughter (also 9). It’s unclear what this conflict was, but this mother somehow convinced herself that it was appropriate to place an ad on Craigslist that advertised, “Looking for a good time? w4m 21″. For the uninitiated, that’s shorthand for women for men – 21 years old. When men responded to the email address contained in the ad, they were directed to call the 9 year old victim’s house. The ad supposedly netted 22 calls. Tannenbaum has been released on bail and will be arraigned this summer.

George Weber photographer: Dan Brinzac

In March of this year, news radio reporter George Weber was killed in Brooklyn by John Katehis, a 16 year old he solicited on Craigslist, supposedly for rough sex.

In 2007, a Minnesota man was sentenced to life in prision when he was found guilty of murdering Katherine Ann Olson who responded to his ad on Craigslist for a babysitter.

I went on Craigslist this morning (as I’ve done countless times before) and, in the interest of full disclosure, I have used the service in the past. I’ve sold a car and done some hiring – all with great success. This morning I went in search of something entirely different…..I wanted to take a closer look at their “About Us”. This led me to their FAQ page (click here) which, to my surprise – contains a purple peace sign within their tab container.

This strikes me as ironic, given the recent press and the call to action by several states and their Attorney Generals. The following quote first appeared in an article in the LA Times Business section just today….”This is the world’s oldest profession using the world’s newest technology,” South Carolina Atty. Gen. Henry McMaster said in an interview. Last week, he warned Craigslist that it would be “subject to criminal investigation and prosecution” if the erotic services section wasn’t removed by May 15.

There is a recurring theme here and the words of every parent, grandparent and caretaker are ringing in my head. “Don’t take candy from/talk to strangers”….remember that one? Given the world we live in today and the fact that we make many legitimate online connections that result in mutually-beneficial, sometimes profitable relationships, provides a counter-point to the “Don’t take candy” admonishment. Common sense must rule here….don’t put yourself into a potentially dangerous situation from which you cannot escape.

What do you think? Is it the responsibility of Craigslist to protect it’s visitors and screen it’s advertisers? I think this is a tricky question. It could be the buyer or the seller who becomes dangerous. How can anyone predict who will be the victim? Please share your thoughts.

Just so you don’t think I am picking on Craigslist…I am posting a story I just read a moment ago on a terrible story out of England. Click here to read about a couple whose online life resulted in real life tragedy.

You can just click on “Leave a Comment” below or send your email to feedback@muttmedia.net. Your feedback may appear on this page, so be forewarned!

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Mutt Media | The Daily Bone 5.6.09 | Teen Sexting

Click here for Katie Couric CBS piece on Sexting from YouTube

Last night’s episode of Law & Order SVU shed some light on a rapidly-growing occurance and one that I don’t think is going away anytime soon….teens and text messaging or as it has been coined, “Sexting”.

Sexting has received a lot of press in the last couple of months. I’m attaching here a short clip of Katie Couric covering it on CBS. Loosely defined, it is the transmission of nude or semi-nude photos using the text message or MMS feature on your cell phone or PDA. There are laws on the books that specifically prohibit the dissemination of pictures of this kind of children who are underage and authorities all over our country are using these Child Pornography laws to prosecute teenagers. The laws do not distinguish whether or not these photos are consentual in nature and currently, by the letter of these laws, teenagers can and will be prosecuted.

If convicted, they can be branded as Sex Offenders under Megan’s Law which would require these teens to register with local authorities. Information about their whereabouts can and is published for all of their community to see. This is a stigma that can follow them for the rest of their lives.

I think we can all agree that the laws in place haven’t caught up to technology. Poor judgment and decision-making are a natural part of growing up. Our children are in the (un?)fortunate position of acting as the “crash test dummies” in our new age of technology. Like it or not, they are paving the way for their children, who will, in all likelihood – be much more aware of their online image and more adept at controlling their personal information.

We are all learning that that our momentary lapses in judgment can often come back to bite us and we should really be guiding our children to guard their images carefully. No small task, to be sure. It’s a lesson in personal responsibility.

Here’s an interesting footnote – two teens in Pennsylvania have turned the tables with the help of their parents. At a slumber party they took pictures of each other in their underwear. Pennsylvania District Attorney George Skumanic Jr. offererd them a deal to help them avoid prosecution. Before agreeing to this deal, they filed suit alleging that their civil rights were being violated.

Please share your thoughts – I welcome them. Just click on the link below where it says “Leave a Comment”or send me an email (which I may publish here – full disclosure!) feedback@muttmedia.net

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Mutt Media | The Daily Bone – Clean Up Your Online Life & Mel Robbins Interview Clip

I wanted to talk about keeping your online profile “up to snuff” as they say. I’ve done talks on this and cannot stress it enough. Are you applying for college or an internship or a new job? CLEAN UP YOUR ONLINE LIFE!!

I take it for granted that everyone knows this but the sad fact is, that our kids are not as “plugged in” as we’d like to think. Parents – take heed and pass this along.

We are all being watched, surveyed and judged and the sooner we wrap our collective arms around that, the better. I am attaching a clip of an interview I did earlier this month on the Mel Robbins show. I was asked to come on as the Expert in Social Media – pros ‘n cons. If you take a few moments to listen, you will find out that while the world is at our fingertips and we have access to unlimited information, pedulum swings both ways.

That means that you can’t lie about your age (your middle school class picture is probably on Facebook posted by someone else who tagged you), your work history etc. It also means that your prospective employer may not have the same sense of adventure or humor that you did when you bungee-jumped naked in Martha’s Vineyard. Get it?

Take a listen and learn a lesson.

This has been your Daily Bone. Mel Robbins Interview April 09

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