Like everyone else I'm dealing with midterms this week. Generally speaking I'm not very concerned but I know that my Strategic Business Leadership midterm is going to be tough. Even though I'm prepared and have been engaged during class I know that our teacher is a strict and tough grader. In a weird way I enjoy that and want to impress him. At the same time, it's my last quarter of college and I just want to be done with it.
Most of my thoughts haven't been school related for the past few months and even more so now. I landed an internship in Chicago that I start June 12th. I walk in graduation here in Ohio June 9th. I finish the internship August 24 and then start at my first career job in Phoenix, Arizona September 10th. All my thoughts have been geared towards all of this.
1. Sub-leasing my Athens, Ohio apartment June through August since I'm not going to be here. I've had a few showings and another one this Friday the 27th. Hopefully, I can get someone to sign asap.
2. Finding an apartment that I can afford on financial aid and support myself over the summer in Chicago during the internship. The internship is my greatest success, even greater than my job offer in my young career. The only problem is that it's not paid. So I'm trying to sub-lease my Ohio apartment and find a Chicago sub-let at the same time.
3. On top of that, I'm browsing apartments in the Phoenix, Arizona area as I'll be relocating there in 4 months. I'm unfamiliar with the area and because I don't have a car my apartment search is limited to Old Scottsdale so that I will be able to walk and ride my bicycle to work.
4. Garage Sale: My sister lives in the suburbs of Chicago and is having a garage sale in July sometime. I'm going to sell a bunch of my stuff that has been in storage aka my sisters basement for the past couple years now. This will help me afford my living expenses in Chicago and most of all my relocation to Arizona.
5. Student Loans: Just taking a glance at what I owe in student loans is daunting. I know that I will have to defer my loans for the first couple years until I've saved up enough and I'm fully capable of supporting myself, allowing me to pay my student loans monthly payments.
I'm excited and nervous like most college graduates. I'm thrilled that I've already landed a job and a great internship but the hurdles I must overcome in the next couple months take some planning and risk-taking. The majority of my efforts are not on school as I now have more important things to worry about.
With one accomplishment comes several more tasks.
As ready as I am for the next step I'm also nervous.
So my teacher, who happens to have her own class BLOG wants her students to answer a few critical questions in regards to our class. But before we get to that the best way to explain my teacher would be with this....
1. Whats been the most interesting concept?
Wikis! It's something that I never looked into previously and it's something I am going to continue to research. I really do believe it's an underused medium especially within business's and I can see business's adopting this tool more often in the future. Most people know what social media is and how to use it to an extent. In reality most people don't know how to use social media to their advantage whether that be personally or professionally and that's where I feel I have a growing advantage over most others. Wikis is an additional concept that I hope I can bring to the table moving forward.
2. Most boring/ You could care less? Be honest.
The lecture on the history of technology could have been shortened up a bit. I think it's something that most of us have heard before in some manner. After browsing some of my classmates blogs I must agree that I would love if the class was a bit more hands on. The class is a bit of a learning curve for all of us, including you (the teacher), but hands on activities allows for all of us to learn and work together.
3. How do I think I'll be able to take what I'm learning here and apply it to the real world?
I'm taking lots of what I'm learning and already starting to apply it. I've already learned simple and easy things like screenshots and have started to use it in my more personal blog. I've also added new widgets to my blog after I've seen how to use them just from browsing other blogs as instructed to.
My personal blog has been active for 18 months at the end of April 2012 and I'll be over 28,000 hits in just a few days. One of my goals this summer is to get this blog off of Blogspot and on to it's own webpage. Additionally, I plan to start getting advertisers on my blog to get a little side income.
Professionally... I have lots of creative ideas on how to make myself stand out as an employee/entrepreneur, it's just learning how to set it all in motion. This class is helping me tune up on some skills as well as learn new ones.
Chris Brogan's book Social Media 101 talks a little bit about commenting. There are many great blogs but the authors of these blogs shouldn't let the lack of comments deter them from their writings. This being because most readers don't comment. This may be due to a time restriction or because they simply have nothing to add. Think about it like school, most students when attending class just don't voluntarily raise their hand to make a comment during class. That doesn't mean their not listening or that they are not interested. There will be people who do comment, but the majority of readers will not do so.
Readers may also be bookmarking the blog for them to come back to and make it easy for them to follow the blog. Additionally, readers may be "liking" or tagging the blog on additional social networking sites thus increasing the blogs popularity.
Here is a brief youtube overview of Chris Brogan's book Social Media 101.
In the spirit of commenting I thought I'd take a little time out of my day and comment on a few of my classmates blogs.
Wave At The Bus
Is a blog that has blown up. I actually stumbled across the blog on Yahoo news a couple months back. It's based on a father who decided to dress up in crazy costumes and stand in front of his house waving at his son who got on the school bus. His son at the time was a sophomore in high school and it was his first time riding the bus. The father never repeated a costume and did it for every single day of school his son had. The father also lost one of his legs in 1992 and he used that to his advantage in many of the costumes. For instance, he was a pirate with a parrot on his shoulder and had a peg leg.
In the midst of embarrassing his son he decided to start a blog as well. He documented his costume for the day along with a little story. Before he knew it he started receiving attention from media outlets and appeared in their local newspaper and then the local TV news. He's continued to grow with his blog and is now making money from something that was just supposed to be light hearted fun with his family.
The blog is wrote by him and updated often. He includes pictures, videos and occasionally links to other pages. He's reaped some success from his blog however the blog could still use some improvements.
For starters, he simply made a mistake in a recent post that needs to be fixed. Take a look.
As you can see two photos and some words have shifted to the right side of the page and actually run off of the page. A mistake like this is a simple mistake and one that shouldn't be made. It can easily be fixed and the posting shouldn't even be posted without proof reading.
The site has advertising and that is expected with the site having over 7 million hits. I like that the page hits is listed, I've always been a fan of this feature. I understand the yellow and black color scheme as it goes with a yellow school bus theme. With that said, I'm not a fan of the color scheme the way that it is. I also feel that the layout could be improved. When a blog starts making money and has ad listings I believe it's important to invest a little money to improve the overall quality of the site.
The blog does link to his Facebook page and it also features his Youtube video about the "Wave At The Bus" inside story. These are great features and helps him attract more attention to his blog. The Youtube video helps explain more about the blog to new visitors. It's a couple minutes long though and because of that I would still like to see a brief "About Me" section. New comers to the site are seeking clarity and an "About Me" section could provide just that.
Probably my favorite feature on the site is the link to the "Wave At The Bus" phone app. This is a key feature allowing millions of people to easily access his blog with the touch of a button on their phone.
The blog is a mix of personal and business. The blogs original intention was to be a purely personal-public blog. Now that the blog is producing money it's a mixture of a personal and business blog. Because there are ads on the site the writer must be semi-aware of what he says in that he doesn't offend any advertisers. Due to the nature of the blog that's probably not a big concern but it's still one to be aware of.
Overall, it's a fun blog to follow. The content is there and it's updated regularly. The dialogue is broken up with pictures and video and can almost always provide the reader with a laugh. The biggest question the blog is facing is, where do they go from here? Does the father/writer continue to dress up in crazy costumes or does he change it up. It will be interesting to see how the blog evolves.
Brogan talks about the several different types of social media platforms and how each vary but can also play off one-another. Some social media sites are definitely more useful than others, especially when it comes to business's. Brogan does a good job a categorizing the social media sites and makes it rather easy for the reader to understand. I particularly enjoyed how he went into talking about the differences between social profiles and business profiles.
In a growing technologically driven world it is important to not only recognize the difference between the two but also understand how to make each of them fit your needs. Focusing on the business profile, an organization really has an opportunity to implement creativity, organization, and communication internally and externally.
Wiki's are an underused medium within organizations. Wiki's allow organizations to capitalize is several areas within their business:
1. Improved Communication
2. Saved Time
3. Improved Training for New Hires
4. Saved Money
Wiki's improve communication because it allows for a rather unbiased collection of ideas. It allows for employees of all levels to have their voices heard. Some of the best ideas come from people who work in lower-level positions. The overall goal is to create the best organization possible. Wiki's create a team environment and encourages everyone to participate.
Time is money, cliche but true. Wiki's save employees time when it comes to having to teach fellow employees. Wiki's don't eliminate human interaction and that's not the point either. Wiki's provide a base knowledge and allows for employees to ask more educated questions. Wiki's are a starting point. Wiki's can save a few hours a day and days within weeks. This allows for more efficient work to be completed.
The improved training for new hires piggy backs saving time. We've all been there, been the new hire at a company whether it's a law firm or McDonald's. A new hire is excited but also nervous as they are coming into a new environment where they don't know much of anything. Wiki's can provide early education prior to the the new hire ever stepping through the doors.
The most important thing any business wants to do is save money and make money. Wiki's create smarter employees. Wiki's create and sustain the workings of a team. They save man hours when it comes to training new hires as well as cross-training. They provide a locked safe full of ideas and solutions that employees can go to for assistance.
Wiki's are an upgrade over traditional manuals. They are well worth the money. Organizations across the world spend tons of money on team building activities. Organizations spend money on outside consultants to improve their efficiency, collective efforts, organizational culture, and profits. Wiki's is a tool that can be used to improve all of the above.
With all that said Wiki's can be done the right way and the wrong way. I have an eclectic assortment of hobbies and one of them is basketball. Here is a Wiki about that very sport titled Basketball Wiki.
Granite this Wiki is a personal, non business site however there are many ways to improve the overall quality. One thing to keep in mind when building a Wiki or any kind of website is to be careful with a white background. A heavy white background can be harsh on the eyes when there is a lot of reading involved. The overall site itself isn't very aesthetically pleasing. It appears to be a bit unorganized as if it was whipped together overnight. It's definitely important to put a little thought into a wiki, especially when it's open to the public. Take a look yourself.
It's not to say that you can't have a white background, you just have to be careful when doing so. Often times it will look like this, which isn't very appealing. Additionally there are too many moving buttons whenever you hover over a tab. The site is simple where it needs to be more thought out and complicated where it should be simple. I think the creator was listening to much Kriss Kross while making this Wiki.
The Wiki has a little over 3000 hits on the site which really isn't that much. I'm not surprised by this as there also aren't any links to connect to other social networking sites to help promote the Wiki. I don't see anything linking to Twitter, Pinterest, Facebook.... nothing.
The topic being discussed is March Madness which is actually a bit outdated. It's important to note that a Wiki should be regularly updated. It doesn't have to be long posts but just staying current and fresh makes a big difference.
So if you ever want to know how NOT to do a Wiki, this is a great example.
Before going into the details on why I prefer one social networking site over another it's probably important that I air something out to my readers first. I am a professional model. With that said, my work ranges in the alternative, fetish, and tattoo communities. It's an industry that is dominated by female models, however I was determined to get my foot in the door my freshman year of college in Chicago. If you are unfamiliar with any of these terms you can do what the cool kids do these days..... Wikipedia It!
The first thing I had to do was create a name for myself as well as brand myself. For this I joined the site Model Mayhem.
Autumn of 2006 was my freshman year at Columbia College Chicago after taking a year off out of high school. At the time Model Mayhem was really popular for models, photographers, make-up artists, hair stylists etc. The site featured a forum, individual profiles, a search engine, and casting calls. The problem is that the site hasn't changed much from 2006 to now, in 2012.
I still have a profile on there in case someone contacts me. I don't log on very often though as I don't get much work from the site nor do I make many connections with others. The site provides a gathering place for a niche community. I have gotten work through the site and it's actually how I started getting jobs as an independent model. The problem is that the site doesn't create a "community" the way sites like Facebook and even Myspace did. The format actually reminds me of a dating site in that there isn't much inter-connectivity beyond a forum.
How Do You Create A Web-Based Community You Ask?
Having the ability to publicly follow members
Having the ability to publicly share content
Creating efficiency with an easy to use format
Having the ability to embed and or link on your additional social networking profiles to your page
Unless Model Mayhem overhauls their current format, I won't be returning as a major user of their site. Even if they were to overhaul the site I still may not become a major user unless many others began to sign up with Model Mayhem. The point for a user of a site like Model Mayhem is to connect and build working, profitable relationships with others. If there isn't a large, active member base then the site remains rather useless to someone like me.
I've made the transition from Model Mayhem to Fetlife.
Fetlife is very much like Facebook just with less chaos/ads and apps. It also differs in that it's specifically catered to the alternative and fetish communities. For someone like me who models in these industries this became the perfect, large platform to promote myself. Beyond the niche platform, Fetlife really provides at atmosphere that allows for web-based communities to form.
Members can link to other social networking sites they are apart of
Active groups for people to join
Events, classes, & parties across the world are posted
Model calls, photographer/videographer calls etc.
Over 1,300,000 active members
Fetlife I-Phone App
Most importantly Fetlife continues to make adjustments similar to how Facebook does. Additional features are periodically added, layout changes occur from time to time and the creators have the user in mind. I would like to see the search engine improve when it comes to locating other members by name if you don't remember exactly how they spell it. With that said, this is a minor complaint and Fetlife is always talking advice from members through email contact.
