Archive for category Work
Why I joined Myspace (again), and why you should too
Posted by MattHurst in Personal Branding, Social Media on August 10th, 2010
Everyday I tell my clients they need join the social media conversation, securing their business’ brand names even when they’re not sure of best practices (much less how to leverage them). As a social media evangelist I usually mention the benefits of using these tools to build their brand. So last month I decided to put my money where my mouth was and did something I never though I’d do again: I signed up for Myspace, years after quitting the social network.
Of course I didn’t always feel that way: over 4 years ago I wrote a guide of how to quit Myspace. At the time I had grown enamored with the emerging social networks and what was being called Web 2.0, so I created a one of a kind blog post explaining why I wanted to leave Myspace and detailing how I deleted my account. Since then I’ve joined hundreds more social media websites, become an online marketing professional, and embraced building my personal brand through public conversations rather than using private accounts. Indeed these days you’re more likely to hear about someone quitting Facebook over privacy concerns than signing up for Myspace.
Since then Myspace has changed. After signing-up I found some important changes, such as integrating Twitter to update my status. I’ve noticed significantly less spam in my message inbox, something which MySpace was notoriously annoying for during its heyday, possibly from all of their new spam controls. Myspace remains increasingly driven by content (musicians mostly), which makes it unique among the social networks.
Along with these changes in how the community functions have come some behavior changes among this audience: Read the rest of this entry »
Links with Your Coffee: News and Notes from Matthew Hurst
Posted by MattHurst in Ideas, Professional Networking, Work on June 16th, 2010
At IDEO’s Humanizing Social Media event in February 2010, we explored the implications of social media on interpersonal communication. Rather than perpetuating the discussion of case studies and e-commerce during Social Media Week, this social experiment left us questioning how the communications shifts have impacted the way we develop new friendships online. Our cellphones were left at the front door and we exchanged our clothes for a plain white t-shirt affixed with buttons which carried tags that describe ourselves, like “blogger” and “geek” in my own case.
It was an thought provoking exercise, and now I can finally share the results from this experiment with you. We had a great night at this event, so much that I was awarded the honor of “Person with whom you’d most like to stranded on a desert island with”! Look for yours truly to take a staring turn during the panel discussions, as captured in this video.
A little further news and notes not quite long enough to warrant a blog post of their own: Read the rest of this entry »
How to become a social media marketing professional (or at least how I got a job)
Posted by MattHurst in Personal Branding, Professional Networking on May 3rd, 2010
What can you do with a BA in Film Studies (or a minor in Philosophy for the matter)? Graduating into an otherwise uncertain job market can be scary; many of my classmates still weren’t sure how they could use their well-developed new media skills, much less where they might be employed. For me the answer seemed obvious: I went right back into school to study strategic communication.
Yet this time last year I graduated once again, with an internship lined up but without a clear direction for my own career. I could only dream of working as a social media pro, but my inexperience and overeducation seemed like insurmountable hurdles to post-graduate employment. Only recently was I finally able to find employment with a like-minded group of professionals who shared my passion for creating innovative websites and reinvigorating established brands through strategic online marketing.
Recently I heard from an old friend who wanted to break into online marketing and new media as well. Although I knew first hand of their knowledgeable understanding of online communication and social networks, their challenge was to demonstrate that knowledge to an potential employer. It’s the same reason why I went back into school to study communication, but in this business environment experience is valued more than education.
While I can’t speak for everyone, here’s what I think might help from my own experience:
- Create a resume website: ideally using your own name (like me), or else build your personal brand around a site you can make.
- Connect it with your social media profiles. Secure your name across platforms (even if your not sure how to use them yet).
Happy Birthday to me: Matthew Hurst and dot-com domains turn 25 years old
Today I celebrate my 25th birthday and the first anniversary of this website, which neatly coincides with the 25th anniversary of dot-com domains. In the year since I started writing this blog, so much in my life has changed:
- Graduated from American University with a Master’s degree in Public Communication.
- Created social media strategy for a non-profit, and raised funds my favorite cause through tactics on Facebook.
- Managed Twitter accounts and Facebook pages for entrepreneurs, local bloggers, and established brands.
- Found an internship through Twitter, learned about research and professional writing, and was called a “social media power-user” by my colleagues.
- Television transitioned from analog to digital, but I still watch most of my video online.
- Online retailers of music, video and applications became the biggest, and opinion leaders curated our online content.
- Moved from DC to NYC, and started to build my professional network.
- Blogged about my passion for tasty beers.
- Started working with a leading web design, SEO, and online marketing company.
- Met many more Matt Hursts on the internet, built my personal brand, and became a professional.
If I haven’t been keeping up with the blog as much lately, it’s because I’m finally applying the insights I’ve written about here through my new work. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish working as a social media and online marketing pro, so expect to hear more about those experiences soon. Until then, thank you for sharing this journey from student to professional along with me.
I’m LinkedIn, but why?
Posted by MattHurst in Professional Networking, Social Media, Work on December 1st, 2009
It has been said that 8 out of 10 job opportunities come from sources outside of those advertised. So it might be assumed that social networks, especially those centered around professional relationships like LinkedIn, would be ideal tools to find jobs and recruit new talent. Yet in the experiences of many job hunters, including myself, social networks like LinkedIn have yet to live up to this promise.
Social networks are a great tool for HR professionals and other job recruiters, making it easier than ever to search for employees with the right experience and skills. Besides Facebook and Twitter, social networks such as LinkedIn, Plaxo, Brazen Careerist, and Xing have become popular places to post resumes and connect with like minded professionals. Sometimes these professional networks have been known to generate new business opportunities, but for many job seekers these sites offer no greater a resource to find employment than Monster.com.
Part of the problem lies in how LinkedIn is used differently than other social networks. Once you’ve finished setting up your profile with your resume and begin to connect with other professionals, there is little else to do on the site. While LinkedIn has 50 million registered accounts, less than half are active at least monthly (according to Quantcast).
Besides expanding your network of connections, LinkedIn confines interaction between its users to those who are already connected. Even with the integration of Twitter into the LinkedIn platform, interactions between members of a network are largely limited to interpersonal discussion. By comparison to the open/public conversations that make Facebook and Twitter so popular, the end effect is to make discussion seem closed-off or private, further discouraging discovery and interaction between its members.
To be sure these social networks are becoming more popular as professionals look for meaningful ways to network online, or at least in a different (less personal) way than Facebook or Myspace promotes. According to a Pew report the median age of a LinkedIn user is 39, significantly older than Twitter (31) or Facebook (33). Perhaps this better explains why these communities interact differently; LinkedIn users might feel they are finished using the network once they’ve set up a profile, rather than integrating social media as part their everyday lives.
In my own job search, LinkedIn could be playing a pivotal role, although so far its just a supporting piece of the puzzle. To be sure I’ve written recommendations for colleagues, networked in groups like #PRStudChat, and reached out through mutual connections, all of which have expanded my network. So far LinkedIn has yet to land me any meaningful job opportunities, at least compared to board-based services like Mediabistro and Craigslist. Until LinkedIn can leverage of their social network to create opportunities, especially for individual users, its potential will continue to yield diminishing returns on investment for organizations.
Happy Birthday, the Internet!
This week is the 40th anniversary of the internet, when ARPAnet was created in 1969 almost no one could imagine a world of email evolving into Google and Wikipedia, much less Facebook. Last week New Media Strategies celebrated their 10th birthday as well, some small eternity of life on the internet; among good company like Google and Amazon this Word of Mouth marketing (WoMM) and online PR agency has thrived in two dotcom booms (and busts).
Coincidentally 2009 marks the first 10 years I’ve been using this network of computers we call the Internet, in many ways I could have never anticipated using. Yet somehow New Media Strategies knew where things were heading years in advance.
This summer I had the unique privilege to gain hands on experience at NMS as an intern/online analyst, learning first-hand what online brand promotion and protection mean today (and some ideas about the future). Working with corporate clients from both Fortune 500 companies and Non-profits alike, I learned how Word of Mouth marketing carries influence; I was called a “Social Media Power-User”. Working with NMS was different than any other internship I had heard of, especially since I was given all the same responsibilities they expected of their entry-level employees.
Most importantly I contributed valuable research and report writing along with my team members, using online communication as a sort of public focus-group style audit to measure opinion and perception, and on at least one occasion to avert a crisis. These experiences were my primary responsibility at NMS, and helped me understand how to identify (and sometimes create) discussion in many valuable and unexpected venues; in many cases the majority of conversation took place outside of Facebook, and most of it cannot be found using a simple Google search.
Working at New Media Strategies I also met great people, who I’m looking forward to recognizing for their work, as I will describe in upcoming case studies of our work with clients. In the meantime I would like to thank NMS for the unique opportunity they gave me, and to congratulate them on their first 10 years on the Internet.
Re:Cap(stone)
Posted by MattHurst in Non-Profit, Work on April 23rd, 2009
If you’ve been wondering what’s been keeping me from updating the blog lately, there need no be any mystery: this is the home stretch of final projects for school. Not the least of which is my masters degree Capstone Thesis paper.
Any one of these projects could warrant a blog post of it’s own, and I will be glad to share more about them after each is completed. In a meantime, here’s a little insight into what a Graduate student in communications can accomplish.
- Practicum: My team has been building a long-term strategic communications plan for Living Classrooms, a non-profit that serves communities in the DC-metro area with hands-on environmental education and workforce development; they call it “Learning By Doing”. This group does amazing work with young people who live in underprivileged areas, but one of the drawbacks of their success is having so many diverse programs it is difficult for newsmedia to make a clear focused story about what it is they do exactly.
One solution I have contributed, which fits the group’s communication strategy, is by making a Blog and Twitter for them to get the word out. I’ll cue you in on how we plan to help a non-profit grow as donors face a recession soon. - Management: We’ve been given a mock assignment in this class, responding to an RFP from the American Red Cross. Our group has been designing a complete response, including plans for a multi-city festival and a localization model for more than 700 chapters of the Red Cross. We’ll be competing with another group for the contract in an upcoming presentation, which I’ll try to share here.
- Social Marketing: Diabetes is not “Your Grandparent’s disease” any longer; it increasingly impacts younger people. I’ve conducted an environmental scan of the issue, and conducted original primary research through in-depth interviews with students. From there we’ve designed a comprehensive social marketing campaign, that doesn’t just change attitudes but people’s behaviors as well. I’ve already built a mock-up of the online network presence, which is key to our strategy.
- Seminar/Capstone: My thesis involves original research of a scholarly nature, but with real-world application to the problem of energy conservation. Although I am exploring an academic subject, exploring through case study and interviews how individuals are motivated to change their behaviors, I am writing it so that anyone can understand the issue. Hopefully my research will help me build the soapbox I need to come out of my degree with specialization in opinion leaders, agenda setting, and marketing as they apply to the salient public issues that brought me into PR.
I’ll be sure to tell you a little more about what I’ve learned… just as soon as I finish working through them of course. Stay tuned.
Et cetera, Etc.
Here’s a few updates to previous posts, and some news on my professional life:
- The Twitter Internship is soon to become simply An Internship. Last week I was happy to join New Media Strategies as their intern, starting in May 2009. I’m looking forward to learning more about how they use new media tools, including Twitter where I got their attention to begin with, to participate in online communities where they promote and protect brands for their clients. I think we’ll be a good fit together since we share the same inclination to try new online tools for ourselves so that we can understand any opportunities they offer for those we represent.
- I have signed up for summer semester at American University. The two last classes of my Graduate degree in Public Communication will be Crisis and Political Communications. And since they take place in the evening, it shouldn’t be any trouble for my internship.
- Rock the Vote, which I had previously applied for an internship, has begun to offer a fellowship program for young students like myself. This largely self-defined fellowship encourages individual innovation using social media to reach young people and engage them in civics. Although I probably will not be able to become part of their program because of my internship responsibilities, I hope to join their team and help out via Telecommuting over the course of their campaign. Ask me or tweet Chris Kennedy for an invitation if you’re interested in joining the program.
- To date I was able to raise $195 from 7 donors for People to People on Facebook. Although this did not reach my goal, it surpassed my expectations, and has raised the bar for non-profits like PTP online. I am proud of what I could contribute using these social media tools as an individual, and look forward to helping them in the future.
While some of these updates might warrant a post of their own, thanks for letting me be a little self-indulgent. If you’re dying to keep up on the latest as it happens, why not join me on Twitter already? After all, it did help me get this internship, etc…
The Twitter Internship?
Sure Twitter is great for getting feedback from your work and building relationships online, but what if Twitter actually helped generate work opportunities instead of just creating work for you? That is exactly the opening I discovered for myself, and all I had to do was make a comment on Twitter to find it.
In my search for a summer internship in DC, using Twitter has become indispensable for learning about the social media and PR firms I might apply to for work. Not only does it help me understand those communications companies on the cutting edge, but the participatory nature of Twitter helped a company find me. Before I knew it I had the inside-line on internships offered to me, even as no such positions are being publicly offered.
About 3 weeks ago I bookmarked the website for New Media Strategies, using a service which publicly shares my bookmarks through Twitter. I was surprised when NMS, who must have been following public discussion of their company using Twitter (as they would for any of their clients), replied almost immediately to my update on Twitter directly. I was impressed, and we started to follow each other on Twitter.
Almost a week later I had finished a short internship inquiry application, with the intent to discover any more job openings at NMS, but their website did not make it entirely clear where such applications might be sent. So I sent another message on Twitter directed towards NMS, inquiring about where to send my application, which replied to me a name and email address of the right HR rep for social media. Their employee was also polite enough to include their personal Twitter feed, giving me access to someone inside of their organization that could help keep track of my application.
After a few modifications to my resume and a new cover letter, I am happy to say my application has earned the attention of New Media Strategies. I am definitely excited in learning more about this possible internship, although I am still seeking and applying for positions around DC.
To me the most revealing aspect of this whole development is how new communication tools, like Twitter, mirror the process of networking in real life. While NMS took advantage of Twitter as a tool to monitor public opinion about their organization, it also gives individuals like myself powerful access to information that might otherwise have been achieved with a phone call or a fishing letter.
At the very least, the counselors at American University were impressed with the job offering I found outside of those being posted online. Perhaps a little initiative and novelty in communication might help me stand out from the rest of the job market in my internship applications for this summer.