College | Caffeinated

Title edit: Five Reasons Students Should Use Social Media OTHER THAN FACEBOOK.

To be honest, this post is going to ring truer for students of advertising, PR, marketing, communications, journalism, human resources, and the like, than dental students (what up, roommate). But everyone can learn something from it.

5. Own Your Online Name

Statistics show that about 80% of employers admit to searching potential employees on the Internet. Smart people in HR and recruiting, like Paul DeBettignies, says the other 20% are lying. Let’s face it, you don’t want that Xanga or LiveJournal from your, errmm, ‘rebellious’ pre-teens coming back to screw you when you’re 22.

What to do? Get a profile on some social networks. Think LinkedIn, Twitter, Brazen Careerist, Flickr (send your mobile photos from your phone. Hell, there’s probably an app for that), YouTube, and more. Get yourself a domain name for a few bucks (or a few- I have this and colbygergen.com). Still worried? Do a free Pipl.com for yourself, your usernames, etc. Paul taught me that and I discovered a few profiles I didn’t know were out there. Nor did I want them out there.

4. Meet Awesome Students From… Anywhere

We’re lucky to be growing up in an increasingly location-independent culture. I can Skype with future PR All-Star Mikinzie Stuart in Western Michigan while Google Waving with fashion guru Kion Sanders wherever he happens to be at the moment, Facebook chat super-connector Evan Roberts, all while at lunch in Columbia with Samantha Ogborn, Zack Luye and Justin Scott. Hold on a sec… allow me to pick those names up off the ground.

What to do? Put yourself out there. You’re never going to be friends with everyone, but focus on becoming good friends with some awesome people. There are people out there that share your passions. Find them.

3. Learn About Whatever You Want

Honestly, my college program needs to catch up. I want to focus on new media in my Strategic Communication studies, but Mizzou just doesn’t have the curriculum or faculty to support that. They’re great in other areas, so it’s awesome I get to learn that stuff, but I had to turn elsewhere for my education.

What to do? Start with Alltop.com. Find the area(s) you’re interested in and make your own online magazine rack. Start using Google Reader. Talk to people you meet that are doing or studying the same thing and ask them. People love sharing great content.

2. Get Ahead of the Curve

The social media space is still pretty barren when it comes to students. Start learning how to use it properly now, and that’s one thing you’ll do better than 90% of your competition when you graduate. Pepsi decided to drop their Super Bowl spending ($33 mil last year) and focus it on social media. Follow the money.

What to do? Make a plan and dive in. The water is fine. Be yourself- there are going to be people that like you and will show you the ropes.

1. Network Your Face, Arm, Torso, and Leg Off

It’s been preached to us for the past five, maybe ten years – “Network your ass off!” Well, social media is one REALLY FRIGGIN’ HUGE NETWORK. Your network is no longer confined to who your friends’ parents know, or your ex-babysitter’s uncle who knows a guy. Your network is unlimited. How’s that for a service plan, AT&T? Yeah, suck it Luke Wilson. You’re getting annoying.

What to do? Take advantage of the opportunity you have right now. Network. Build relationships. Find mentors that fit you like a glove, because it doesn’t matter if they’re in Timbuktu or Peru (thanks, 2nd grade).

So there are the top five reasons students should use social media. Obviously there are more than five, but I want to go to bed. Did I leave anything off the list? Is there something you would add, take away, or change? Students that are using social media- what’s the number 1 reason you tell other students to use it?

If you’re a student (or anybody, actually) reading this and have questions or wonder what’s the next step, leave a comment or shoot me an e-mail and I’d be glad to help or connect you with someone that can.

Shameless plug: at the end of every post this month, I’m putting a call to action to vote for Pepsi Refresh projects. Specifically mine, obviously. You can vote for an idea once every day and have 10 votes each day. That means you can vote for my idea, or others, but preferably mine, up to 28 times.

Quick note: This is something I’ve thought about for awhile. I know some Community Managers, they’re my friends and I look up to them. They’re intelligent people. Hell, I’d be a Community Manager. To be cliché, I’m not trying to hate the player. I’m hating the game.

It annoys me that more and more brands are adding a Community Manager to their payroll. They shouldn’t need one. Instead, they should be investing in new product development, improved customer service, or *gasp* a better marketing scheme that encourages a community to manage itself. Yes, that means giving up control. You’re foolish if you think you have that much control in the new media landscape, anyways.

Products and services don’t need to hire Community Managers. They already have them. Use your brand evangelists- the unpaid fans of yours that like you for you (I use “you” in the sense of product/service/brand). They are the best people to lead your community. They already are leading your community. For free.

Agencies and firms don’t need to hire Community Managers. They already have them. Actually, they usually have tons of them. Look at Fast Horse. Nobody is their ‘Community Manager’, but Mike Keliher, George Fiddler, and others have done an excellent job at managing their community. Same goes for the people over at Brains on Fire. People that love working in a strong community will take it upon themselves to manage that community. You’re already paying them. They’re already a part of your community.

Take away the Community Manager. The community will still exist. The community will take care of itself, because that’s what a community does.

Focus on building a community strong enough to manage itself. Don’t focus on hiring a community hitman – an outsider. That dilutes the word “community”.

You don’t need a community manager. You need a strong community. A strong community is it’s own community manager.

Shameless plug: at the end of every post this month, I’m putting a call to action to vote for Pepsi Refresh projects. Specifically mine, obviously. You can vote for an idea once every day and have 10 votes each day. That means you can vote for my idea, or others, but preferably mine, up to 28 times.

photo credit Flickr user eva101

If you’re too lazy to read, just vote here. That has the technical details. This post is the ‘why’- why do I want to do this? Why do I think this is important.

My Dream

I have a lot of passions in life. Some more passionate passions than other passions, but all are passions nonetheless (passions!). Three of which are teaching, the power of social media, and helping others. Let’s remove the commas for a moment- teaching the power of social media and helping others. Oh, I also love good friends, meeting awesome people, and epic road trips.

Let’s do an epic road trip with good friends where we teach the power of social media to awesome people who are helping others.

I want to apply my ongoing education of social media marketing/PR strategy to local non-profit organizations (ones lacking a supporting national body). Social media holds a lot of power for social change, especially on the local level. I want to teach these organizations how to harness that power to improve participation, raise more funds, and increase awareness. Additionally, my friends and I will promote these organizations through our personal networks, shoot and produce a promotional video for them to use, and maintain contact with them should they ever need more assistance. This isn’t a one-time thing. It’s a commitment to change.

This was a no brainer for me. I started mulling this idea sometime around last October. Something about candy corn, I guess. It was simmering on my mind, wondering how it would get out, when I read about the Pepsi Refresh Project (summary- they’re giving money to good people who want to make good things happen). My dream met an escape, and the rest is, and hopefully will be, history.

Our Opportunity

Through a $50,000 grant from the Refresh Project, I can make my dream a reality. However, I can’t do this alone. I need your help. I need your friends’ help. I need your mother’s sixth cousin’s mailcarrier’s help. I’m not an organization with a following. I’m a kid with a pipe dream. A pipe dream to improve one of America’s most valuable resources- local non-profit organizations.

How can you help? VOTE EVERY DAY. Tell your friends to VOTE EVERY DAY.

Every day you get 10 votes. You can vote for 10 different ideas (no voting for one idea 10 times). Obviously, I’m writing this post to encourage, neigh, plead you to vote for my idea. Even if you think this idea sucks, vote for something. I’m not the only one with a dream. If mine doesn’t come true, someone else’s will. You can be a part of that.

But seriously, vote for my idea, please. If you have any questions or hesitations about it, post them in the comments. I am working on a page for this idea where I will lay out the specifics, and answer the questions you ask. If you have an idea on how to improve this idea, let me know. Interested in helping somehow? Let me know.

Helping Communities

The reality is, it’s a shitty time to be a localized, non-profit organization. Volunteers are lacking. Donations are down. Technology is moving so fast that it’s impossible for an ill-equipped organization to keep up.

This isn’t a plan that could be accomplished by simply sending the organizations Macbooks and video cameras. That’s like giving a landscaper the tools to build a house and expecting a nice little summer home. I want to be hands on with this project. We will spend time with the people of each organization and develop a social media strategy that’s specific to their needs.

The three key goals of every plan will be as follows: 1) improve community participation, 2) raise more funds, and 3) increase awareness. Some organizations will need help in other areas, some might be fine with participation but lack funding. Whatever each organization needs, we will tailor a strategy around that.

The Ultimate Goal

Change the way that communities interact with their local non-profit organizations. Set the standard, and an example, of change for local non-profits. Help great people to continue doing great things.

If you haven’t already, VOTE HERE. If you voted today, bookmark that and come back to it everyday. Like I said, I’m working on a special page to put up in the navigation bar, so please comment with any suggestions, criticisms, ideas, hesitations. If you are interested in helping, in any capacity, let me know in the comments.

Thank you.

I felt like I found the golden ticket!

While back in Minnesota, I was able to spend an afternoon at Fast Horse Inc., a boutique marketing agency in Minneapolis. This place is fantastic. Workspace: open. Comfy chairs, recliners, tables, bowls of candy, cupcakes, large windows (formerly garage doors). Everything tailored for open communication. People: awesome. Hard-working and hilarious, dedicated and laid-back. They got their work done, but had a great time doing it.

They even let me write a blog post for them. Naturally, I wrote about Lady GaGa. Head over to the Idea Peepshow and check it out!

I’d like to thank George Fiddler for allowing me to shadow him, taking me out to lunch, and showing me the ropes. I’d also like thank Fast Horse President, Jorg Pierach, for taking some time to sit down and talk with me about his agency and the industry as a whole. Finally, I’d like to thank the entire Fast Horse crew for a memorable experience. I truly did feel like I was Charlie touring the Charlie Factory. Minus oompa-loompas.

*photo credit Flickr user Hot Rod Homepage under CC license