Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak with two classes of marketing students at Champlain College about future uses of social media.
If it’s been awhile since your college days, things have definitely changed in the way students participate in class. First of all, every student had a laptop and 95% had a smartphone as well. The computing power in their possession is enough to roll out and manage a very impressive social media network and brand, and that’s what I encouraged every one of them to pursue.
One of the things I spoke about was the need to reach out to, both online and off, with the connectors in their individual niche, build relationships now, and get creative with respect to building their own brands and ‘microniche’.
It’s not enough to send out resumes and think that book work will get you by. I strongly encourage every student to questions everything and create new ways of doing ‘the same old thing’ that add value to the process. That’s an intentionally vague sentence, by the way, because it’s up to you to figure out how you’ll leave your mark in your industry.
What I can say is that these students are ready. They’re smart, motivated, and with the right direction can accomplish truly amazing things with the help of some intelligent search marketing and social media strategy (and it is never too early to begin ‘thinking strategically’!).
Here is a simple game plan for moving forward:
- Write down your personal and business goals on a piece of paper
- Draw out a plan of attack for meeting the ‘connectors’ who can help you
- Remember to be generous in sharing information & become a ‘value source’
- Head to namechk and secure your online brand in the most important places
- Start a blog that speaks to your goals and strengths
- Direct your social media messages (at least some of them) to your own ‘curated’ website
- Insert specific calls to action on your website and social media messages
- Never stop building new relationships!
Check out some of my thoughts and recommendations for college students who want to use social media more effectively for personal and work-related pursuits:
P.S. Thanks to Professor Elaine Young for inviting me to speak with the classes, and thanks to them for giving of their time to listen and participate.