2days Class | "Why no one notices ALL the great work you do, and 3 ways to change that..."

Written by Scott Belsky

...The notion of marketing oneself brings up tremendous discomfort. In the research at Behance, they have found that the most productive creative professionals are seasoned at ensuring that their strengths are understood. We are not talking about elaborate or conniving “marketing campaigns,” but rather a concerted effort to communicate strengths. Here are a few tips on communicating your strengths (with class):

  1. Share projects that you are particularly proud of. If you have a particular talent for vintage-style illustration and thus had two particularly well-known clients that valued these skills, then this should be a point you make with everyone you meet. You can simply share the projects that you feel utilized your strengths most effectively.
  2. If on a team, volunteer for projects that engage your strengths. All too often, we wait to be told what to do - even if it is not utilizing our skill set. People get promoted for out-performance, and people only outperform when they are on a project that taps their strengths. As such, you should take initiative to get staffed on projects of interest. This is the work you should actually volunteer for.
  3. Get measured for your strengths. When working with a client (or a manager), state up front that you intend to use particular strengths or skills to make the project successful. Then, at the end of the project, request feedback on those elements of the project.

Read the full article here

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Behance.com  
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Posted 25 days ago

2days Class: The Internet: Why are you on here?

by Chris Brogan | via OpenForum.com

 ..."There are values to using the Internet for your business. You can use listening tools to grow bigger ears and hear what people are saying about your company. You can maintain a Web site (or better still, a blog) and gain organic search value for your company, and help your business get discovered by new potential clients. You can read up on trends and learn how others are using the Internet to be successful.
 

But there are lots of great distractions along the way. For one, are the stories you're reading on the net helping you get more business value? Or are they just "interesting"? Keep a little ticker and decide whether the last 20 blog posts or news pieces you read will really change the way you do business. If not, why are you reading them?

 
Are you on Twitter or Facebook? What's your goal? Now, don't just talk business all the time, as that will easily backfire. But if you find yourself just using the "virtual watercooler" effect, ask yourself how much time you'd want an employee spending, if they were standing at the water cooler inside your own company. It's important to be social. Determine how much time you should spend.

 
Ask yourself WHY questions about your time on the web often."


Chris Brogan | Read the rest of this article via OpenForum.com

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Chris Brogan  
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Posted 3 months ago

2days Class: People in China starving for your job

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Starving for your job   Tom Peters  
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Posted 3 months ago

2days Class: Jonathan Mannion - Photographer [his experience on building a succesful brand]

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Posted 4 months ago

2days Class: problems with the music industry

... the problems the music industry faces. Low record sales, music channels no longer playing music videos, a lack of balance when it comes to music being played from different regions in this country (NY, LA, Mid West, etc), the lack of diversity in our music and the overall view of the state of our music….it can be very depressing. But history proves that music has a way of correcting itself. I believe that the time is drawing near for self correction. The word “correction” in no way means that the majority of music being promoted is “wrong.” However the state of our music is in dismal shape and is in desperate need of self correction. I have watched read and listened to the MANY critics and their opinions on Wayne’s venture into the world of rock. I’ve watched read and listened to the criticism of the “skinny jeans” movement and the new generations approach to music. These criticisms remind me of the time Hip Hop was growing in it’s popularity in the mid 90’s and older “black” folks were dismissing our music, fashion & culture as a fad and not legitimate music. I urge folks who are in their 30’s and up to remember being rebellious, u know..wearing Cross Color jeans with the shiney black boots! TLC wearing condoms on their clothes. Biz Markie, Flava Flav and Humpty from the Digital Underground. We can’t dismiss the new generation as irrelevant and misguided, we must embrace them and REMEMBER the days when we were 16, 17, 18 and so forth. The way James Brown and Marvin Gaye was important to our parents, we respected it but NWA was that shit! Well we must now accept that Pac and Big are now OUR Marvin Gaye and James Brown and now Drake, Kanye and Wayne is that shit. 1995 was 15 years ago and a 15 year old kid today wasnt even born when Ready To Die 1st dropped. It’s a new day, a new time and its on us to embrace the new generation. I champion those artists willing to create music not boxed into one genre. Remember the birth of rock music happened in the slums and ghettos of this country many many years ago. And while America ignored it, the British embraced it. They took the blues, melodies and stories of black America and made it their own. Over the many years the music took on different shapes and forms. From The Yard Birds to The Rolling Stones, from Black Sabbath to Metallica, from Jimmy Hendrix to Prince….it’s beginnings started in the slums and ghettos in a time where our people had no rights whatsoever. Thats whats “hood” to me! So on this day before Rebirth drops, I want to remind all who enjoy hip hop and rap music not to be closed minded but to be open and optimistic about the future of our music. We cannot afford the same fate Disco music met. Self correction is vital to our existence ad that can only happen with open minds and open hearts. The Rebirth is on the way and regardless of what the numbers reflect, as long as it can touch one person’s life and inspire him/her to dare to be different…then our mission was a success. Love.  

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Cool and Dre   music producers  
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Posted 5 months ago

2days Class: Recognize your own influence

by Glen Allsopp 

Everyone has some influence online,
even if some have more than others.

Growing that influence involves
a lot of effort and a lot of time,
but losing it can happen overnight.

Even if you only have 10 twitter followers
and your blog hasn’t yet received its first
comment, you still have influence.
And that means you have a responsibility
to give people the best advice and value
that you can.

If you care about your audience
and put value first,
your influence will grow more quickly
than you might think.

via copyblogger | read the rest of the article here

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Copyblogger   Glen Allsopp   Influence   Recognize  
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Posted 6 months ago

2days Class: Reasons Facebook is > Twitter

By Jim Tobin via Ignitesocialmedia.com
 
A lot of my geekier friends insist that Twitter and Facebook are "totally different." But at their core, they both allow you to provide status updates on your life or things that are happening. So while the core geek communities (said with the utmost respect) may like having two channels, the average person will not want the hassle of managing both.

That leaves Facebook with the following strengths in their corner:

  • The ability to updates your status like Twitter, except you can add pictures, videos or links with summaries to those updates, and people can "like" or comment in line (none of which Twitter does);
  • The ability to send or receive updates from your third party tools, as easily as you can on Twitter;
  • A mobile platform with 65 million users. This one is shocking. It means Facebook has 6.5 times as many phone users as Twitter has total users.

- An excerpt from 7 Moves Facebook Has Made to Outflank Twitter in the Last 6 Months

Read more brand strategies for Facebook - here

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Facebook > Twitter   IgniteSocialMedia.com   Jim Tobin  
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Posted 6 months ago

2days Class: Facebook "Brand" Pages

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Facebook Brand Pages   Interpolink  
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Posted 6 months ago

2days Class: Innovation

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Innovation   Sam Pitroda  
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Posted 6 months ago

2days Class | define: Brand

by Seth Godin

Here's my definition: A brand is the set of expectations, memories, stories and relationships that, taken together, account for a consumer’s decision to choose one product or service over another. If the consumer (whether it’s a business, a buyer, a voter or a donor) doesn’t pay a premium, make a selection or spread the word, then no brand value exists for that consumer. 

A brand's value is merely the sum total of how much extra people will pay, or how often they choose, the expectations, memories, stories and relationships of one brand over the alternatives.

A brand used to be something else. It used to be a logo or a design or a wrapper. Today, that’s a shadow of the brand, something that might mark the brand’s existence. But just as it takes more than a hat to be a cowboy, it takes more than a designer prattling on about texture to make a brand. If you’ve never heard of it, if you wouldn’t choose it, if you don’t recommend it, then there is no brand, at least not for you.

more...

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Filed under  //  2days Class   Seth Godin  
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Posted 6 months ago