A new beginning

I did a rough guesstimate and determined that I've attended roughly 14 schools in my life. I moved a lot. I was "the new kid" a lot. It helped shape who I am and I wouldn't change a thing about it.

On Tuesday, you can add number 15 to the list - The University of Colorado at Denver. I'm pursuing my MBA and hope it only takes me three years. Right now, I'm leaning toward getting a concentration in Business Strategy and/or Finance. Who knows whether or not that changes?!

It's another chapter in my life but this one is a little different. As an undergrad, I was like many other students in that I usually picked the "easy" class or the "cool" professor. But now, I get to take classes that I hope will teach me to be a better leader, or teach me how to do a certain skill. I won't look for the "easy A" or the "cool" professor.

I'm ready and I'm excited. I definitely plan on this being much tougher than undergrad.

Plus, since tomorrow will be my first day, it gives me an excuse to put The White Stripes' song 'We're Going to be Friends' on repeat.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az8UDe6UQGQ

Bad > OK

It was honestly one of the best lessons I learned in college. It wasn't on a test or in any text book. My marketing professor asked a simple question - What's the worst of these three types of jobs - a good job, an OK job, or a bad job?

It was a class filled with sophomore marketing majors so, not surprisingly, it was pretty close to unanimous; most people picked a bad job.

A good job is what everyone wants. A bad job is one you’ll either leave or will be so non-committal to it that you’ll be looking for a new job, at the minimum.

But an OK job? An OK job is a job that will keep you happy enough to stay committed to it, usually for far longer than you should. You won’t look for a new job nor will you quit it all together.

The real problem is an OK job has no real long-term benefits, which is the same as a bad job except that you’ll stick with an OK job for four or five years before you realize you’re wasting your time.

This got me to thinking (believe it or not I do this from time to time) that the boundaries of this lesson extend much further than this job example - What about an OK girlfriend (I’ve had a couple)? An OK subordinate? An OK apartment? An OK dentist or doctor? For sports fans, an OK QB or coach?

These are the worst situations possible because you’ll stick with them for far longer than a bad situation but you’ll end up delaying the inevitable for both - having to start from scratch after you’ve pulled the plug to try to find a “good” situation.

So the moral of all this - If you think something is OK (often referred to as “good enough”) then your alarm bells need to sound off immediately. Step out on a limb, turn it upside, take a chance on something else, add a whole new wrinkle, or quit it all together.

Just don’t settle for OK.

The Apple didn't fall far from the (marketing) tree

Social media marketing is obviously very new. But I'm pretty amazed at the number of people who seem to think that with social media's existence, the Marketing department suddenly has become the end-all for a company's success. That starting a blog, or a twitter account, or some social media marketing campaign will change the tide and revenue will go up with minimal cost and effort.

While I understand the importance of social media in today's marketing world, I also think it's important to not forget the reason for your company's existence - the product and/or service you provide.

Now I should preface this with the fact that I'm an "Apple fan boy" but they're a perfect example. Did you know Apple doesn't use any social media channels? Instead, they tell their story through their products (and obviously their commercials). Instead of creating too many marketing channels that could cause confusion or clutter things up, they stick to the basics.

Many companies try to tell a different, and better, story about their company through social media marketing, yet forget that their products/services are the things truly telling their story.

So are your social media channels telling the same stories that your products/services are telling?

Embrace change or become a victim of it

"The times are a-changin'" - Bob Dylan

I was pretty fortunate in that I had a father who has been using computers since I can remember. We had personal computers in our house since early elementary school. We were always early adopters of technology.

One of the best lessons my dad ever gave me was when I was in elementary school. I had just finished typing a one page paper and then the computer crashed, losing all of my work (since "always save your work" hadn't become common advice yet). I yelled and screamed at the computer. I swore I'd never use one again. I belittled technology and confidentially told my dad that pen and paper were much better methods than these "stupid computers".

My dad was calm but very firm with his message. He apologized on behalf of the computer and said he'd help me out with retyping my paper. Then he gave me a lesson - he told me to learn to embrace change. He said that computers had a chance to change the world as we know it. That if I don't learn to embrace change soon, I'll probably never embrace it and I'll always be behind the ball.

He explained that if I don't embrace change, that if I choose to stick my head in the sand and ignore it, that if I choose to drag my feet as much as possible, then there's a good chance I'll be a victim to change.

Yup, one unmemorable paper I typed in elementary school taught me an unforgettable lesson. One I still remember nearly every day.

Unfortunately, there's a lot of people that could still use this lesson.

The starting point of all achievement is desire

I’ve fought this whole “personal blog” thing for a while despite the fact I’m a marketer and everyone expects marketers to have a blog. That's not why I started this blog though, the reason I started it is because I firmly believe in personal branding instead of hoping people will understand who I am by reading my resume or my LinkedIn page or my business card.

So here it is – here’s my very own blog – it will be void of any fancy backgrounds, fonts, etc. I want it to be simple. I want people to judge me for my words, my thoughts, my projects, my pictures, my adventures, my stories, my lessons, and my life. Because that is what this blog will be. It’s not a blog that will just touch on marketing, or business, or any particular niche – it’ll be all over the place, so I’ll figure it out as I go along and that’s really about all I can promise (along with a grammar error every now and then).

I’m doing this because I believe our world is going through a digital revolution - one where blogs, twitter, and all the other social products/services will not only become normal, but will basically be required for everyday living and excelling in life and work. I believe companies - both large, small and in the middle - are no longer going to look at a flimsy and boring 8.5 x 11 piece of paper to judge who they should hire but will go to multiple URLs to really “get to know” their candidates, to hear their stories.  Plus I’m sure there are some family members and friends who might be interested in what I’m up to.

So with this as my first post I figured I could use this opportunity for my readers, if there are any, to get to know me and what all this blog will discuss. And since I like bullet lists, I figured this is a great opportunity to use some -

What will this blog talk about -

• Work projects – obviously voided of certain pieces of information for competitive/legal reasons but not voided of awesomeness and things not to do (that I probably did do)
• Great articles I read and feel like sharing – be prepared for a barrage of Seth Godin & Lifehacker…no seriously, you have no clue how loyal I am to both of these sources
• Sports – especially football and basketball
• My life experiences that I think relate to the business world – i.e. a place for me to vent and then “package” it as a case study for better business
• Other life experiences - the kind I post on here to try to make people jealous

What won’t this blog talk about?

• Religion and politics – You won’t read anything on this about either. I’m willing to have a conversation about these topics with friends but there’s a time and a place for these subjects. A “social” setting, whether physical or virtual, is neither the place nor the time.

Basically this is the blog of a young professional who works at Xerox as a marketing associate for a handful of LOBs and services (like how I just plugged myself?) who loves the life I have and my posts will show how I see my world around me. I’m not going to waste your time and pretend like I’m a subject matter expert in anything, because I’m not.  I’m very proud of all that I’ve accomplished in my youth but I also know I have a heck of a lot more to learn about everything.

So here it is, Blog Post #1.  And if you actually read this far into my first post, I really do appreciate it!