Mutt Media | Daily Bone 6.11.09 Tip #10 Do your homework!!

Mutt Media Tip #10

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

10. Finally, it has never been easier to research your target employer. Once you have dazzled them with your résumé, Blog and get that interview – BE PREPARED!

Aside from your physical appearance, communication skills and experience, be informed about your potential employer.

Go to your preferred search engine and look up the person who will be interviewing you! Have they been quoted in an article or press release? Are they on a networking site where you can see their work history and background? Get to know the person and the Company as best you can. Who have their Clients been? What is their philosophy?

Look at the Company Website and Blog and find out who they are. This will go a long way toward making a lasting impression and shows you’ve done your homework.

When the time comes during your interview (and it usually does) when you are asked if YOU have any questions, be prepared! Look carefully at the research you’ve done in preparation and ask an informed question – whether it be about the direction of their business or some recent changes made within the company. Just show them that you’ve kept up with your industry and specifically – with Company XYZ. This will go a really long way. Trust me.

Mutt Media | the Daily Bone 6.10.09 Do some Twitter Citizens yield too much power?

A few weeks ago, Twitter made an announcement that they were becoming involved in a proposed new reality TV series that centered around the micro-blogging platform.

The premise of the show was people using Twitter to track down celebrities. For anyone not familiar, there are many celebrities who use the site – and quite often I might add.

These include Rainn Wilson (The Office), Demi & Ashton (please don’t ask, “Demi & Ashton who?”), Kim Kardashian, John Mayer and the list goes on and on. Some have well over a million followers, so it’s fair to say they can have a huge influence. And they use their accounts to tweet often. Well, someone, possibly a publicist – may be tweeting on their behalf (even though I think that’s a big no-no).

Anyway, back to my point. Ashton & Demi were not on board with the reality TV concept. How can you blame them when you look at the proposed premise of the show? Celebrity stalkers via Twitter? Talk about biting the hand that feeds you.

Twitter backed off the reality TV concept – for now. But here’s another concept…the very population that helped to put Twitter on the map and bring it mainstream would/should/will be alienated should such a project come to fruition. So here’s a case of the tail wagging the dog

Does this give the celebrity population the right to dictate the business model that the Twitter “executives” envision for their company? I am torn between feeling that celebrities (who, incidentally have shrewdly embraced this technology as a free modality to aid in their self-promotion [not that there's anything wrong with that]) are feeling that this is a one way street.

Just log on and check out one of these celebrities. Millions of followers but some not following many themselves. That is to say, they are very interested in talking at – but not really listening to – their fans. This does not go for all of them.

But I forgive Rainn for not following me back. He makes me laugh with every one of his tweets.

Oh, and follow MM on Twitter to hear from me at all hours of the day

Here’s a great clip from Larry King’s show. He interviews Kutcher and Sean Combs, who says here that you Tweet because you have something to say. Agreed.

Mutt Media | Daily Bone 6.2.09 Ever hear of a "jobvite"?

Read an interesting article in the New York Times on Sunday 5.31.09 called, “Finding New Employees, Via Social Networks”. You can click on the link to read the full article but to sum it up, Julie Weed tells the story of Alan Kennedy, a 54 year old man who found himself unemployed. Kennedy is now working at Hubspot, thanks to some social networking and Facebook.

I’ve spoken here before about how Facebook profiles can be used FOR and work AGAINST you during your job search. Cleaning up your account for your job search is paramount but once that’s done you can begin to take advantage of some third party applications that are designed to assist you in your search using social networking.

Jobvite & Appirio are two companies that an employer may seek out to fill positions. Keep in mind that these cater to the Company, not the individual.

Go check out how they work and how they can affect your job search!

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Mutt Media | Daily Bone 5.27.09 Using Social Media sites for your job search

Another Mutt Media Tip

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

Ok….so this was not an original one of our Top 10 Tips but it well could’ve and probably should have been.

Considering the extent to which social media and micro blogging can reach, these mediums can and should be used to let your network of contacts know that you are in the market for work and what you can offer.

Remember that you can be exposed to not only your contacts, but to your contacts’ contacts too, depending upon their account settings. Like a virus, word will spread that you are available for employment or internship. I may not be looking to hire, but think of it like the old Faberge Organic Shampoo (with pure wheat germ oil ‘n honey!) commercials….(yes, I am dating myself) where the girl was so enamored of her shampoo that she told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on and so on…..take a look if you’d like a stroll down memory lane.

This is a great example of viral marketing in it’s most basic form and the principle can be applied online to your job search efforts. Visibility is key and as you know – once it’s out there, it’s out there. So go ahead, post your unemployed “status” on Facebook or Tweet away to your heart’s content. It can only help.

Oh, and provide an online link to your resume that will contain your contact information…you never know whose virtual desktop it will land on!

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© 2009 Mutt Media NY LLC All Rights Reserved

Mutt Media | Daily Bone 5.13.09 Ten Tips for marketing yourself online. Tip #1 Clean Up Your Act!

Another Tip from Mutt Media NY

Several months ago I published a document for a lecture I gave at an event that circulated and got some attention (radio, Twitter, etc). This document is called 10 Tips for Marketing Yourself Online. This list was conceived as a tool to help those in search of a new job, whether they are currently unemployed or just looking to do something new.

I thought I would use this forum to share these tips. Hope you find them helpful.

Mutt Media Tip #1

1. Clean up your online act! Take a moment and “Google” yourself. You may be surprised at what you find. You should be aware that potential employers can and will do this as an extension of their due diligence on a prospective employee.

This guideline does not only apply to those in search of work. Anyone who is looking to make a move of any significance – whether professionally, personally or scholastically needs to know that these searches are now standard operating procedure when checking out any applicant. This includes College Admission staff, so to all of you high school students who have social networking accounts, this applies to you, too….maybe even moreso.

Ask yourself if the images posted by you or your “friends” are really ones that you want on the Internet for all to see. I cannot stress this enough! Your pages may look fine but what about your contacts that may have tagged you in a photo that paints you in an unprofessional light? For the time being, take the account down or go through and make appropriate edits – often. Consider YouTube. Your favorites?? Are they videos you are proud to affiliate yourself with or do they “dumb” you down?

Leave no stone unturned and treat your image like a valuable marketing tool because guess what? It is.

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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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© 2009 Mutt Media NY LLC All Rights Reserved

Mutt Media | The Daily Bone 5.5.09 | New Kindle announced tomorrow – Does this further advance the demise of the newspaper & other printed periodicals?

Image Courtesy of Amazon.com

Click here for demo of the recently released Kindle 2 courtesy of Amazon

The Wall Street Journal has announced that the new Kindle will be introduced to the market tomorrow. Tomorrow there will be a full-court-press demonstration of the product and marks it’s formal debut.

We’ve been witnessing the decline and deterioration of certain businesses with the onslaught of increased internet use and our collective desire to “go green”. This, along with the recent economic downturn and loss of print advertising revenue has precipitated many magazine closings.

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When consumers can get content online, why pick up a printed publication? There are many reasons to support these new technologies and concerns about our environment shouldn’t be discounted. I wholeheartedly support the reduction of our carbon footprint and minimizing waste, fuel consumption and the like, however there is something to be said for the tactile enjoyment we get out of our daily routine of drinking a cup of coffee or tea while reading our favorite newspaper. I get that, even though I’ve long thought that the New York Times is way too big and cumbersome, especially on a crowded train.

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Consider this. By the time you read your newspaper, the news it delivers is already hours-old. On your electronic device of choice, you have access to news items that specifically interest you – as outlined in your preferences and is as current as possible. As a result of this new-found, real-time news reporting, I wonder if the integrity of what is being reported is the same. How can news items be as effectively sourced and verified? This is an important consideration. In their haste to disseminate the news and beat all competition to the so-called punch, public figure privacy has suffered and yes, I think some jounalistic editorial liberties have been taken.

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My apologies for going off on a rant (thanks, Dennis Miller) but I think it’s a legitimate debate. But back to the Kindle…I’m interested to hear if any of you own one and what you think – about the product itself or any of the issues I’ve raised here. Leave a comment or send me an email at feedback@muttmedia.net

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