January 2010

Friday Quick Hits: Grow Some Balls, Stay Young, and Cheers to New Opportunities!

January 29, 2010 · 40 comments

Well hello everyone, and welcome to another fabulous installment of Friday Quick Hits. How this works is simple: I take 20 minutes out of MY day to share with you some of the highlights from the blogging week that was, you take 2 minutes to read it (and maybe share a couple highlights of your own) and we all come out having learned a thing or two and maybe having a little fun. Without further ado, and since I’ve already wasted a minute with this intro, let’s go!

Up and Coming Bloggers Unite!

Srinivas Rao is rocking a great series over at his blog – each week he sits down for 20-30 minute interview with an “up and coming” blogger – this week he took some time to sit down with the often imitated but never duplicated Doniree – who I shared with you guys as one of my “Top Blogs to Follow in 2010“. Go check out the interview over at The Skool of Life – and stay tuned for an interview coming from yours truly next week!

Introducing a whole new “Mixx”

I had the pleasure of stopping by VentureMixx – the brand spankin’ new site from Tony Ruiz – and doing an interview with him where I talk about how much this blog has done for me over the past year, thoughts on community building, and what the future holds ahead of me. Check out my interview and go ahead and subscribe to VentureMixx, sure to be some amazing stuff ahead for Tony.

Stay classy and stay young

Lauren Novo over at Gen Y PRogress reminds us to “stay young” – which is something I happen to very much agree with. In this day and age of constantly being on the go, working hard, and busting our ass to get ahead, sometimes (often-times) we lose track of ourselves and doing the things we enjoy most. She sums it up by saying, “The way I see it, I have my whole life to be a “grown-up,” but there should always be time for fun as well”. Touche, Lauren…touche.

Grow some balls and leverage Social Media

Samantha Ogborn welcomes in the lovely Nicole Crimaldi (aka Ms. Career Girl) with a guest post titled “How to Use Social Media to Land Your First Job“. In it – she gives some great advice on leveraging your online presence and Social Media to helping you stand out above the rest in this tricky job market. This is something I can attest to having done and continue to do first-hand. Not to mention, hearing “grow some balls” from a female is just plain hilarious. WELL worth your time to check it out.

And that rounds out the highlights of the week…

On a more personal note

As most of you know by now, I lost my “nine to five” job this week. It was tough – it IS tough – but I am so incredibly excited for the opportunities ahead of me. I feel somewhat slighted, but more importantly I feel free to take on anything that comes my way. I cannot begin to thank all of you for ALL of the support both on the blog, Twitter, personal emails, you name it. This is the best damn community of people around, and I am honored to be able to call MANY (many) of you “friends”.

It’s going to be a fun journey ahead – I hope you’ll stick around and enjoy the ride with me…

What were some of your highlights from this week?

The “Well, shit…I lost my job, it sucks, but it sort of feels OK” post

January 28, 2010 · 437 comments

So today started like any other day. Woke up, checked my emails, had some coffee and a blueberry scone, took a shower, listened to Lady Gaga and a little Mike & Mike on the ride into work. You know – typical morning routine in the life of Matt “Chevy”.

But. Such is life. Things can change dramatically in a heartbeat.

Walked into work, had a meeting with my boss, and an hour later, walked out with two weeks severance and a “have a nice life”.

Yes, today, Thursday, January 28th, 2010, Matt Cheuvront has rejoined the ranks of the unemployed.

It’s weird…and those of you who have been there can probably relate. This is the first time I got “fired” and while it feels totally undeserved, I know that everything happens for a reason – and those of you who know me away from the blog know that what I was doing was never my passion – it wasn’t a “great fit” for me – but still good experience and I learned a lot from it (ALWAYS take something away from EVERY experience – can’t preach that enough). So my emotions are very mixed right now, as I write this. Shocked, upset, frustrated – but also relieved, optimistic, and excited about what the future may WILL bring.

I hold no grudges, and at this point can only look upward and onward. I’m fortunate enough to be doing a LOT of freelance work both now and in the foreseeable future, and I live in an absolutely amazing city filled with great people and opportunities. As always, in true Chevy style – I wanted to provide a few takeaways – things that hopefully some of you can relate and attest to, and might help you out if you’re in the same boat…

Three things I learned from getting laid off:

You may not know it’s coming: I had no idea this was going to happen – not at all, but I’ve also learned in my short time out in the career world, that you have to be prepared for anything. You have to be prepared to be expandable, because as secure as things may seem, they never TRULY are. Things change, priorities shift, and sometimes, you get caught in the crossfire.

It’s OK to be upset: I’m upset – I’m sitting here, writing this, two hours after being fired. The blogger and writer within said that this is something I need to write about, to vent, for closure, for support, and to look back on later and appreciate that every single thing happens for a reason – that it’s all a part of the journey. But it’s also OK, from time to time, to wear you emotions on your sleeve. You can’t see me right now, which is probably a good thing, but believe me, I’m a little broken down. The battle may have been lost, but not the war, right?

It’s not you, it’s THEM: OK, sometimes it might be you, but usually it’s them. Like I said, things change and sometimes you’re cut out of the mix – and that’s just the way it is. The cliche “Everything happens for a reason” saying is true. I believe it – I have to – and so should you. I know that it sucks ass to be here today – but I also know that it’s really opened up the door for a better tomorrow.

Today, I’m allowed to be a little upset. Tomorrow – it’s business as usual. Coffee, blueberry scone, Lady Gaga, “Friday Quick Hits” – I won’t miss a beat. But today I just wanted to share what was going on, because this community does mean a LOT (like, a lot a lot) to me – and if you’re out there in a similar position – keep hustling, you and I will both be better off soon.

Marketing Approach: Brand Recognition and the Gen Y Kids

January 26, 2010 · 145 comments

This is a guest post from the lovely and talented Lauren Fernandez - who’s making, believe it or not, her first stop here on Life Without Pants as a guest-writer. An Account Executive at Moroch, Lauren frequently writes about PR, community, and branding over at her blog, LAF. If you haven’t already connected with Lauren, you are really missing out. Check out her blog and say hello on Twitter today!

I honestly don’t know if you can market to a generation.

Stereotypes aside, we are all different. Gen Y is a product of their environment growing up. Moral teachings and how to view the world, entitlement and pop culture shaped Generation Y. So how do you reach the masses?

Brand recognition.

To this day, I know the Oscar Mayer commercial songs by heart. I associate food on the go with the brand because of Lunchables. It’s about owning the space that your brand is about – so if the topic comes up, your brand is the first one that comes to mind.

Not everyone can be Kodak, Amazon or Rainbow Brite – which have a built in audience already. Smaller corporations have to utilize the space – social or not – to determine who their consumers are. Demographics are shifting. Approaches are different. A blanket approach to generations just won’t work.

Grass roots marketing is an approach that should be integrated in the social scheme for brand recognition. Find your brand ambassadors – the ones who will talk about the product, their experience, and showcase it. Build up that foundation so others are curious about what the brand is up to.

So, how can you relate that back to brand recognition? Generation Y in itself trusts their friends and those around them. They crowdsource on social media sites to see what’s best. They turn to Yelp for restaurant recommendations. A grass roots social approach will help brand recognition and effectively market to those consumers that you want to hit.

So what do you think? Is it possible to market to a generation? How do you define demographics? Is brand recognition the true way to go?

100 Word Book Review: David Meerman Scott’s New Rules of Marketing & PR

January 25, 2010 · 124 comments

Readers Digest Version (100 words)

I read “New Rules” over course of a few hours on a Sunday morning – it’s an easy to digest, straight to the point read that hits hard on two major points: 1) New media is here – its real – and EVERY company (even yours) should be out there blogging and using Social Media. 2) Tools are constantly changing and with that, so should your marketing and PR approach. A someone who’s very connected to this “online world” – I still found great value in Scott’s book. Highly recommended for anyone, especially business-owners looking to make their first splash into the online world.

The Long Version (462 words)

As promised, in an effort to keep true to my “resolution” of reading at least one new book per month – I kicked things off with David Meerman Scott’s “New Rules of Marketing and PR” – which was actually handed down to my by my current boss.

The title of the book speaks volumes. In today’s world of technological innovation – the Web 2.0 world (primarily blogging and Social Media) is changing the rules of how we approach marketing and PR. Here are three of my key takeaways from Scott’s book:

The web is different. Instead of one-way interruption, Web marketing is about delivering useful content at just the precise moment that the buyer needs it.

Web 2.0 is all about conversation – we blog – we engage on Social Media platforms like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook because we have a voice that we want other people to hear. The “new rules” encourage this two-way communication. Gone are the days of talking AT your readers and customers – today’s mantra is to talk WITH them – spark conversation and provide a platform that facilitates discussion.

Businesses will live or die on original content. If you are creating truly useful content for your customers, you’re going to be seen in a great light and with a great spirit – you’re setting the table for new business. The vast majority of companies don’t seem to care.

This is a critical point. Whether you’re a business, a blogger, or both – you live and die by the content you create. Becoming a thought leader isn’t about necessarily being the expert – it’s about knowing what content your community wants and being able to deliver it WHEN they want it – at that precise time – even if the customer or reader doesn’t know they want it yet. Thought leadership is unique, timely, and innovative.

Developing thought leadership requires the company to “think like the buyer” and publish content that directly serves a need or want. Find out what the most important things your customers are searching for, reading, and talking about.

No one likes the “me me me” approach – and while it’s extremely important to remain genuine and show a little personality (two values Scott hits on repeatidly) – you should not be writing about YOUR company, YOUR product, and YOUR life. You need to be writing with the intent to present a benefit to your audience. What’s in it for them? Why should they take the time to read your post, respond to a question, or buy your product? Once you tap into the psyche of your community, the rest will fall into place.

Overall, I highly recommend checking out New Rules of Marketing & PR. Scott presents his material in an easy to digest way that would prove useful to any blogger, entrepreneur, or business-owner.

Have you read New Rules of Marketing & PR? What were your takeaways? What other books have you read this month?

Friday Quick Hits: Writers, Bloggers, and Maury Povich. Oh my!

January 22, 2010 · 92 comments

Friday Quick Hits

In an online world where you’re absolutely inundated with content coming from every direction – wouldn’t it be nice to have one place to visit weekly to recap on some of the best, funniest, most interesting, most awesome, and most ridiculous blog posts from around the web? When I say quick, I mean it. I’m disciplining myself to recap some of the highlights from the week and only allowing myself 20 minutes to write these posts. It’ll be great, you’ll love it, enjoy, yadda yadda yadda. Ready, set, go!

Bloggers are not Writers

Rebecca writes an interesting piece which sparked a great discussion and debate. The question: Are bloggers writers? Well, it depends how you define writers. The long and short of it, yes – I think we – as bloggers – are writers, but we may give ourselves a little more credit than is deserved. There is still a difference between writing and WRITING (you know what I mean) – but that’s not to say there isn’t plenty of room for both.

Writing is a Way of Thinking

I cannot tell you how much I agree with Andrew on this guest post he wrote for Skool of Life. As writers/bloggers/whatever you want to call yourself – we can get so caught up in the planning, strategy, and editing, that we forget what the writing process is all about. It should be a release, a way to get thoughts down on paper – and like any thought – it doesn’t need to always have a plan – you don’t have to always know where your post is going to end up when you start writing the first line. Just write…and write and write and write – don’t stifle the beauty of the writing process be becoming overly focused on the planning.

Are you Secretly Paralyzed by your Fears?

If you’re wondering where the Maury Povich reference came from – it was a bit of a stretch, but on this Ms. Career Girl post she talks about our fears controlling our actions. She mentions Oprah forcing people to face their fears – I went the slightly more ridiculous route and brought up an episode of Maury in which some lady was disturbingly TERRIFIED of cotton balls. Yeah…The point is, we all have fears, they can (and do) hold us back – but you don’t HAVE to be paralyzed by your fears. Any (yes any) fear you have can be overcome!

How to Consistently Write a Blog Post in 20 Minutes or Less

When I first read this post over at the Skool of Life – I thought Srinivas was absolutely nuts. I’m the kind of guy who writes, then edits, then spends 45 minutes looking for a cool picture, then goes back to editing, rinse and repeat. Sometimes I just stare at a drafted post for an hour, not really doing much of anything with it, until I finally take a deep breath and hit publish. Inefficient as hell, right? I’m going to work on this – and suggest (if for nothing else than to give yourself a new challenge) that you do the same. Set a stopwatch, give yourself a time limit, and when time is up – hit publish. Just do it. It’s a freeing experience…

Lastly – I had the pleasure of working with the wonderful Sara Davidson in helping launch her brand new (and very first) blog – Walk Talk Chew Gum. Go check it out and subscribe. Great things to come from her, trust me.

Whew…clocked in at 17 minutes. Need to add some links and get out of here. What are your memorable moments from the week that was?

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