Social Media – Problem Solver or Productivity Killer?

Things are starting to get interesting here at the Brazen Careerist office (my living room). We're pitching the company to investors nearly every other day; we're days away from launching the site, and we're doing consulting to help with cash flow.

I've never been this busy in my life, and I'm having a blast. The first few months of the start-up were tough. We didn't really know what we were doing. I mean, we had a basic idea and we had a lot of good discussions, but if we had gone out searching for money back then, we would have been stumped by questions that now seem simple to answer. I'm glad we went slow and learned how to work as a team.

On top of that, I wasn't totally sure of my role in the company. I have a degree in accounting and I used to work as a Financial Consultant at IBM, but I'm certainly not a CPA or hard core accountant. But now I remember what drew me to accounting in the first place – top level financial analysis.

I've realized that my value lies there (at least for now)–I'm the financial guy. I'll go to a pitch with Penelope and rely on my trusty three-year financial plan to help me explain how we derived each number and what those numbers mean to the long term business plan of Brazen Careerist, Inc.

Long story short we're smack dab in the middle of turning the imaginary corner where you go from seed funded early stage start-up to angel backed (fingers-crossed) full-fledged company with employees, structure, and maybe even an office!

But as this happens, as we become busier and busier, I've noticed that a lot of the social media and web 2.0 tools I use are becoming more of a chore then a help. In fact, I'm starting to think that most social media services are nothing more than fancy looking productivity killers.

So I've made a strategic decision. The only social media I will actively use from here on out are blogs. Why? I love reading what smart people have to say on their blogs. Reading the right blog is actually very productive because it gets you thinking, and when you start thinking, who knows what great ideas can come to mind. And one of my favorite things to do is synthesize the information I read on other blogs and share my thoughts with the community.

This doesn't mean I'm going to kill everything else. Facebook is a must. The ability to keep up with old friends, flip through old college pictures, and write a quick non-professional blurb about myself is great. But the games and applications have to go.

I'll keep LinkedIn as well. LinkedIn is a living resume for me, rather than a network to stalk people on. Out of my 78 connections, I asked maybe two of them to connect with me. But I love when people ask me to connect. I'm able to learn a little more about them, think about ways we may be able to work together, and I don't have to do any of the work.

So that's it: blogs, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Twitter, MySpace and all the others are out. My preferences seem to be on par with what mainstream America is choosing, too. Twitter, and all the other Silicon Valley start-ups have a long way to go before a huge percentage of the population is using them, and MySpace is just a site to go to if you love spam.

Sure, the 600,000 Tech Crunch readers are trying anything and everything to keep up with the trends. But most of us don't have the time to use any more social media. So, unless you have nothing better to do, figure out what tools are most important to you and use them. Get rid of the ones you're using simply for the sake of using them. You'll get a lot more important work done.

Thinking Inside the Box: California Dreamin'

This may come as a surprise to anyone who actually reads the mindless rants I put on paper (e-paper?) every week, but I fancy myself a bit of a journalist. As you may have gathered from my bio, I'm a lifelong gamer, and my love of video games and their culture led me to start writing for a couple websites not all that long ago. Last week, one of the sites flew me out to San Francisco to cover the Game Developers' Conference, and now I wonder how I'm ever going to go back to work again.

Before I get to the joys of playing and writing about video games for a week, let me go into the negatives. Why, you ask? Because I'm a cynic you silly goose! You really should know that by now.

First off, it rains in San Francisco… a lot, as in, every day. I did not know this the first day I was there, and spent my time wandering around a city I did not know soaked to the bone. Thankfully, I didn't come down with a case of Martian Death Flu and spend the rest of the week in a quarantined room with doctors in clean suits taking blood samples and saying things like, "Well this is new."

Aside from that, the conference was in San Francisco but I was actually staying with friends in Oakland. Now, I have nothing against the city, but we all have preconceived notions of places we've never been, and when it comes to Oakland mine include getting shot and mugged, just hopefully not at the same time. Really, the only thing worse than being shot and mugged simultaneously is having season tickets to the Raiders.

Everything turned out alright though, and I left Oakland with more respect than when I found it. I even rode the buses and subways and the worst thing that happened to me was that I almost fell down during a couple sudden stops. However, I do need some hand sanitizer after holding onto those bars…

Now then, the conference itself was sheer bliss. I was working 14-16 hour days, but they were the best 14-16 hour days I've ever had. I was running from appointment to appointment, seeing all the latest and greatest gaming has to offer and furiously scribbling notes along the way. In the evenings, I was hanging out at studio parties that featured open bars and a lot of happy people, life couldn't get much better.

It was around Day 3 that the epiphany hit.

"Wait a minute," I said to myself as I stopped cold while walking down the street, causing a six-person pileup behind me, "this feeling…this is the feeling that people who love their jobs have every single day."

Suddenly, I couldn't wait to go to my next event, regardless of what was being presented. My feet that had been aching for days suddenly didn't hurt anymore. I was tired, but it was the best kind of tired, the kind where you know that you're going to get up tomorrow and do it all over again, but you can't wait for tomorrow to come.

I don't get that feeling at my regular job. All I know is that every morning when I get up I silently hope that somehow, someway Ed McMahon has found me and is waiting with that big cardboard check that I didn't even register to win. Someday I'm hijacking that Prize Patrol van, and fleeing with its giant cardboard contents as far as the roads will take me.

Either that, or I wait for some random contact I made somewhere along the way to send me that special email, the one that offers me the job of my dreams, starting tomorrow, with relocation expenses covered and a salary that would make the Queen of England look like a pauper. Then I'd be the one parading around with a jeweled crown and scepter and using words like ragamuffin and urchin.

For now though, I am the ragamuffin, and I must accept my place in life. Other people love their jobs, I merely survive mine. Maybe someday I'll get that feeling of happiness again, but in the meantime I'll just keep "paying my dues," whatever that's supposed to mean.

Is Ed McMahon reading this?

The New Loyalty

Many times when the topic of Millennials in the workforce comes up, I hear sentiments about Millennials not being loyal. People are quick to point to our so-called demanding nature, general lack of engagement and inclination to job hop as prime examples that illustrate the point. Maybe it's just me, but I've always scoffed at this notion that we aren't loyal.

In my mind, it is not a question of loyalty, but one of priority.

Let's make no bones about it: a corporation's top priority is essentially to make money and please their shareholders – for them, the "bottom line" is priority one. Corporations are trying to make as much money as they can, and within the bounds of ethics. That is completely understandable.

However, for decades I feel corporations have sort of been lucking out, because an entry-level employee's top priority was almost always to find an organization where they could find stability, cover their loans, and provide for, or begin to build, their young families. It's a sweeping generalization, but for a long time the element of choice was very limited. It resulted in employees securing an employment opportunity, and steadfastly holding onto it.

Generations of Americans knew that if they switched jobs, they'd likely have to start climbing the corporate ladder all over again, and in the grand scheme of things, that would only set them back. Corporate America saw these generations as loyal, but it was loyalty by default – there simply weren't better alternatives.

As we know, the age of digital interconnectivity has broken down all sorts of walls, and the above example is no exception. Priorities have changed. Corporations still want to maximize the bottom line, but entry-level employees are no longer seeking stability. Our parents provided for us and made great sacrifices to do so. We know, because we've seen it first hand. Those sacrifices have given us the luxury to look beyond the bottom line.

We can move home, we've been able to avoid steep debt, and we know our time here is finite. We can access a thousand job listings online that we qualify for, so if we hate our job, we'll eventually find a better one. What we're really seeking is quality of life. This was not always a plausible top priority, but in today's day and age, it is. This is the new loyalty.

Is my old housemate from junior year disloyal? He left a Big 4 accounting firm after only a year on the job to become a firefighter. He was disillusioned. I'd argue he is far more loyal than those that work jobs they dislike, only to be promoted to a new job they dislike, in an endless pursuit of the almighty dollar.

Loyalty to yourself and your loved ones – making the best of the time we have here – is the new top priority. If that means latching onto an entry-level job and staying with that organization until the day you retire in order to make ends meet and provide for your loved ones, then that is what it means. But more often than not, this is simply not the case for Millennials, and corporate America is slowly adjusting.

It may sound idealistic to those supporting families, but if you place yourself in the shoes of a 23 year old, with modest student loans and no dependents, maybe it isn't so crazy to value your time over your money. It is very likely that past generations share the exact same priorities that Millennials have, but had much less ability to act on them when they entered the workforce.

If corporate America wants to view Generation Y as disloyal, then they will, but if you ask me, we're as loyal as any generation to come before us. It's just that quality of life is what we value the most. We all define that differently, but that is the new loyalty, and more than any generation to come before us, we have the opportunity to make it our top priority.

How to Improve Your Strengths if Everyone Else Sees Weakness

The hardest part about having an odd strength is that most people won't recognize the good you can bring to the table. And quite honestly, in some cases, you can't offer anything. But that doesn't mean your strength isn't important.

It's a difficult challenge to embrace your strong-points when they lie in a very unique place. It sometimes seems like everyone else only sees weakness. But if you want to truly be happy with yourself and what you do, you have to stay true to what you're good at.

Here are a few ways to make that happen.

Just be yourself, whoever that may be

A good example of this is the artistic mind. Artists need a lot of endurance to deal with people's lack of understanding. And if they're good at what they do, they learn to embrace the fact that being different is what makes them so special.

Unfortunately, in corporate America eccentricity is not a strong point. Odd behavior is often frowned upon, and consequently, we adapt to fit the mold.

Though the workforce is beginning to change, "conservative" still wins in most corporate environments. And it's okay to conform. We all need to pay our bills. What's important to remember is who we are before and after work.

Be true to yourself in whatever arena you play in. You'll never get the work you're good at by acting like anybody else.

Know when to get out of a bad situation

Whether it's a job, an organization or a circle of friends, never forget who comes first. If you're in a negative situation that you know won't change, get out and find something better.

I often talk with people who are utterly unhappy with their jobs. Most of the time, it's because they're just not being used to the best of their abilities at work. I don't know anything professionally that's more frustrating.

Finding a new job is a full-time commitment. And the transition into a new position can be a huge blow. You may end up lower on the totem pole than you were before and your pay may substantially drop. But if you're looking for a job that's best suited to your strengths, you'll take the leap and hope for the best.

Start networking in new places

Start networking with people who share your personal strength. Contribute insights, build new relationships and get better at what you do. If you do it right, you can't lose.

For a couple reasons social media is probably the best place to start:

1) People with peculiar strengths are hard to seek out locally

2) If you're self-conscious about your strengths, you're likely to be an introvert

Blogging is the best platform to meet people with similar strengths. For every career niche, there's a sphere of bloggers out there who are trading their insights with one another. But don't stop there.

Check out 43things.com, a social network based around people helping people meet their goals. What better way to network with people trying to develop their strengths?

The platform is easy to use. Just sign up, start listing goals and search for people who are striving for similar things. Once you've built some relationships, you can share milestones and pump each other while you're attempting to reach them.

Blogs That Launch Careers – Three Examples

If you've seriously considered blogging, you have probably come across lists and reasons why a well-maintained blog can be good for your career. The online exposure can lead to new job opportunities and there are numerous examples of people who have advanced in their careers or even changed careers because of blogging. Employee Evolution is a case in point.

For me, there's something extremely satisfying about coming across a case in point or proof of concept. In blogging and virtually any other endeavor, ideas are the easy part. But the implementation, perseverance and business savvy required to move from concept to finished product are where the real challenges arise. So when it comes to blogs, I'm really impressed by individuals who start their own small operations and create something significant enough to capture the ever-expanding blogosphere's attention.

Millennials around the world are championing this model and using blogs to raise their visibility and launch exciting careers. We're certainly not the only generation doing it, but we are the first to have the opportunity to start our careers online. Blogs provide the opportunity to become a recognized expert pretty quickly. They accelerate the pace of networking and allow you to be evaluated based on your individual qualities. Conventional approaches to becoming established often take a lot longer. More simply put: it takes years to climb the corporate ladder, but your blog's readership can explode in fewer than 12 months.

Case in point: the three millennial bloggers briefly profiled below. Although there are other comparable success stories, I've taken a special interest in these bloggers over time and have followed their successes. I learn so much from this stuff and I welcome comments with similar stories.

Samantha Brett - AskSam
In 2005, Brett published "Luv'n Txt: The Secrets of Text Appeal," a book about technology and dating. It was so well received that she decided to approach the Sydney Morning Herald with the idea for a column. On Valentine's Day 2006, Brett's blog Ask Sam launched. It started receiving tens of thousands of page hits and hundreds of daily comments almost instantly. Brett quickly became Australia's go-to-guru for relationship and dating advice. This visibility recently earned her an endorsement opportunity with Impulse True Love perfume. Since the launch of her blog, she has also published a second book and appears frequently in the Australian media.

Jon Ostrower – FlightBlogger
Last March, Ostrower, 24, started blogging about aviation. Flying had always been a passion and readers of his blog, FlightBlogger, quickly picked up on his affinity for the subject and detailed understanding of the flight industry. After just six months, FlightBlogger had accumulated almost 400,000 visitors and a loyal audience. It had become so popular that the aviation news and jobs Web site Flight Global brought Ostrower on board so that he could blog full-time. As I type, Ostrower is blogging away at the Singapore Airshow, typical of the assignments he gets in his new job.

Brian Stelter – TV Decoder
Stelter is probably the most well known on this list. His transformation from anonymous college freshman blogger to New York Times journalist has been well documented in the media. In 2004, Stelter launched CableNewser, which quickly became a staple for anyone who pays attention to the TV news business. After a few months, he began talks with Mediabistro.com and eventually joined the site. The blog was renamed TVNewser and Stelter started blogging for cash. He continued working on the blog until he graduated, establishing a solid reputation as a journalist and TV news expert. Nowadays, Stelter can be found writing and blogging for the New York Times, where he has worked since graduating from college in 2007.