Arianna O'Dell

Today I heard from a friend that Starbucks is test marketing 32oz drink sizes. My first thought to this is "What? Why on earth would you ever even consider this?!" This is an incredibly stupid idea. Who in the marketing department came up with this? Things like this make me want to scream: AHHHH!!! ARE YOU SERIOUS?!

When I think Starbucks, I think prestige and quality. 32oz does not relay this message. 32oz says cheap, 32oz says bargain, 32oz says poor quality.

While some consumers may be excited about the prospect of getting more bang for their buck, this is an incredibly bad idea for the Starbucks brand and image. I can not say that I have ever had a beverage from a 32oz size that I would consider to be quality and well made - why would it be any different with coffee? Milk, soda, and cheap ice tea should come in a 32oz size. Starbucks coffee should not.

Why is this a 32oz fail? Here are three of the many reasons:

1.) Would You Like Some Chips and Cigarettes With That? - 32oz makes me think gas station. By putting a 32oz beverage into the product mix, Starbucks will put themselves in the same category with 7/11.

2.) 32oz?! Get More For Your Money! - How do you market a 32oz drink size in a classy and sophisticated way? Oh that's right...you can't! Even so if you could, marketing efforts will be wasted on something that doesn't appeal to the mass consumer base of Starbucks lovers. The typical Starbucks visitor is looking for a mid to upscale experience, not a BigGulp. Starbucks should focus on getting consumers to make more trips back to the store - not let them go on their merry way with one coffee to last all day.

3.) Board Meeting Party Crasher - Imagine walking into your next big board meeting with a 32oz coffee. Something about this does not seem to fit within a professional business atmosphere. Even though many professionals will refuse to admit it, your cup of coffee says something about your image and personal brand. Drinking Starbucks is seen as professional and has a place in the business world. 32oz does not. A huge coffee in a plastic cup makes you look sloppy and will make you stand out - do you want to be the outlier?

When companies try to branch out to spread their offering to include every possible size, color, or varierty they ultimately fail. Consumers are overwhelmed by the choices - giving them more is not always a good idea.

Please Starbucks - Do NOT make this mistake.

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There is nothing I love more than DECA. I wrote a post about my love for this great organization a while ago, but I definitely think it is worth reiterating.

DECA made me who I am today. It gave me confidence, it gave me something to look forward to, and most importantly, it fostered my passion and love of business and marketing.

This year I signed up to be a judge for the Washington State level of competition! I am more excited for the 5th than I am for Christmas. This is one way I will be able to give back to the organization that gave me so much.

My fondest memories in high school were participating in DECA. In high school, I was not an aspring actor, musician, or athelte. I was an aspiring marketer. I remember the day I found out you could compete in marketing - I was thrilled beyond belief. A competition to be the best at marketing and business? This was DECA!

Almost immediately, after participating in my first DECA competition, DECA became my life. I read a surplus of marketing books in preparation, took hundreds of practice DECA tests, and practiced my public speaking consistently in order to excel in competition. If you knew me in high school; if DECA was involved - so was Arianna. Our DECA chapter got to run the student store, go on business oriented fieldtrips, and compete at the local, state & national level. I learned an abundance from every activity I participated in. My participation only spurred a greater and deeper lover for the marketing field.

I made it to the national level of competition all three years that I participated. While my family did not travel much, DECA gave me the opportunity to go to three different states and meet thousands of students from all around the United States. If there was a fire and I could only take item - I would grab my bag of DECA memorabilia. DECA means more to me than anything, and I want to do whatever I can to help the organization in the future. One of my life goals is to give back a million dollars to the organization. In the future years to come, I WILL make this happen.

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My guest blog for Husky Promise at the University of Washington

Please Don't Cut Financial Aid

Read it here

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Until today, I had never compared entrepreneurship with art. This afternoon, I had the pleasure of hearing from Michel Brotman, founder of Simply Seattle and the Chocolate Box at a University of Washington event. Meeting and hearing from different Seattle entrepreneurship is my favorite part of college. Throughout my past two years here, I have learned more from attending extracurricular events than I have from any class .

I listened attentively as Michel shared his story. He told us about starting a business in hard times, his many past ventures, and his plans for the future.  It was inspiring. Not just to hear of his successes, but the fact that you could hear passion in every word he spoke. He loved what he was doing, and because of this, said it did not feel like work. He had some great advice and stories, but the part of his talk that struck me was the way he refered to entrepreneurship.

To him, entrepreneurship is an art form. It is an outlet for creativity. His business is his blank canvas.

Upon seeing a piece of art you may think, "Wow! That's incredible!" - giving the artist a sense of pride for have created the piece. Michel said that he felt this same sort of satisfaction whenever someone makes a positve remark about the business he has created. Michel told us that that the money was nice, but what was more rewarding was the praise he got from his customers. In his view, the monetary exchange for a product is the way that a customer tells you that they like your "art" ( in the form of a business) .

I had never thought this prior, but entrepreneurship is art and a medium of expression to put your ideas into reality. Walking around Seattle, I constantly think to myself when I see a business : "This was someone's dream and creative idea". Whether the business is prosperous or not - every business is or was someone's creative idea.

In one of my recent posts, I wrote about how I believe a genuine entrepreneur is one looking to better the world through the business.  Michel Brotman is definitely one of these.

While I have never had a passion for drawing, playing instruments, or performing, I have always had a passion for business and marketing. Owning a business allows you to tap into you creative abilities. I have been hesitant to start many of the ideas I have had in the last couple of months - wanting to find something I am passionate about. Entrepreneurship allows me to be creative and express myself. Not being involved in a business the past few months has been extremely painful. I feel useless and not creative -  I NEED to start something soon.

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I could draw this post out into paragraphs and give put lots of facts and statistics into it, but instead I'll make it quick:

I hate people that just want to chat online but never spend real life time together.

I'm more than entertainment value.

IRL > ONLINE

That is all.

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There are 3 Types of Entrepreneurs.

Entrepreneur - The dictionary would describe it as: "someone who organizes a business venture and assumes the risk for it "

The word entrepreneur used to be sacred to me. It was something I longed to be. A word with positive connotations, a synonym for great. An entrepreneur was a person I respected and admired. If you were to ask me five years ago what my definition for entrepreneur was, I would have told you:

"Someone who changes the world for the better with a business. "

After experience and growing up, I  was saddened to learn that my definition was no longer true. My days of adolescence and positive experiences led me to believe that anyone starting a business was trying to do something to better mankind. Over the past few years, I have heard the term "entrepreneur" thrown around to describe anyone with "business" - whether it was being used to describe someone who had built a scam or a respected brand.

I am sad to say that entrepreneur is no longer a term I will always attach positive thoughts with. In my opinion, there are three types of entrepreneur.

The three types are as follows:

The "I Love Money & Myself Entrepreneur" :

Up until a few years ago, my naivety never allowed me to realize that these types existed. After learning that there were people out there, starting businesses to deceive, I was appalled.  To me, the "I Love Money & Myself Entrepreneur" is someone who deceives their customers, stretches moral boundaries, and will stop at nothing to earn a quick dollar. This type doesn't care about their customers or bettering the world in any way, shape, or form. When you talk to this type of "entrepreneur" about their business you don't see a sparkle in their eye, or hear a tinge of excitement in their voice. After reading the "4 Hour Work Week" (a book many of my friends raved about) I would classify the author as one of these types. - He was not out to build a sustainable business. He was out to make a quick dollar to benefit himself. Tips like "cutting down chitchat on the phone" and "wearing headphones so no one will talk to you" lead me to believe he was not passionate about building a business or brand. Not listening to others and taking an dictatorship like approach to business might still be entrepreneurship, but in my mind is not respected. Truly caring about your business, employees, and customers means investing time and energy into your business. This entrepreneur doesn't do this - he doesn't love his business; if he did he wouldn't want to shorten his workweek into four hours. Yes, the book had many good tips for productivity - but the author never once mentioned the sense of pride he had in his business. In fact, he rarely mentioned the name.

The "I love the idea of Entrepreneurship Entrepreneur" :

In my mind, I don't classify these people as an entrepreneur, but by book definition they are. Someone who owns a franchise would fall into this category - a person who wants to own a business, but lacks an idea of their own.  A person who attends lots of entrepreneurship events (with an idea they will never start) also falls into this category. Whether they think entrepreneurship is trendy or cool, this person does not have a passion for business but just likes to talk about it. To answer the question "Are entrepreneurs born or made?" - I believe without a doubt they are born. I have never met anyone with an true love for business that didn't have stories revealing their entrepreneurial mindset from a young age. In this category I would also include those who's short term goal is to get acquired by another company. Building a world renowned business and brand known by all doesn't motivate them - the money at the end of the ride does. In my opinion, I don't believe an internet business with no business model to be considered entrepreneurship - the hopes of grasping millions of users only to sell your company is not entrepreneurship. I learned this lesson the hard way by being a part of a business whose main goal was to get acquired. If you have no business model you are not a business. Entrepreneurship to me, is the desire to build a sustainable business and brand that you are proud of - not to build something you want to be done with in a year.

The "Genuine Entrepreneur" :

A genuine entrepreneur wants to change the world for the better - whether it is with a product, by providing jobs, providing the world with a better service, or by solving a problem. This Genuine Entrepreneur loves money, but not solely for it's monetary value. The thrill of the game of commerce motivates them. They love seeing the exchange of a good or service for money. More money for them isn't an opportunity to go buy a new car, but a chance for them to grow their business. With a grown business, comes the ability to change things on a larger scale - this is their motivation. This type simply loves business, every aspect of it. Those I classify as genuine, can talk business for hours - with eyes lit up like a kid on Christmas. Entrepreneurship is their passion and this radiates through any conversation you have with them. They built a business to see it prosper and change the world.

With any endeavor I may choose to undertake in the future I will always strive to be a Genuine Entrepreneur.

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"Business.

You can’t learn this in a classroom. You actually have to go out into the real world and practice it. Imagine that!? The basics of business such as vocabulary and industry jargon can be taught in a classroom setting but what is most important can never be taught within a sheltered school (contrary to what your college is telling you). In a classroom, your mistakes are easily forgotten and the consequences you face for your actions are very minor. You can never experience the true feelings of business success or failure from within a school.

It is the biggest waste of your time to pursue a “Business Degree”. It would be entirely more beneficial for you to learn another skill that could help you in business. Major in Psychology, Engineering, or maybe a technology field? While choosing a major keep in mind that a second set of skills in addition to business will definitely be an advantage in the real world. In today’s world a more versatile worker is valued so much more than those who only know one skill.

Attending Graduate school for entrepreneurship? WHY!?! I have never been able to understand why anyone would choose to do this. It would be to your benefit to drop out and start up something. The money you are paying for Grad school will surely allow you to start up your own venture of some kind. Scared you will loose your money in the process? Why? By the time you finish Grad school you will have lost this money anyways. By starting a successful or failing business you will have learned skills that can never be taught within a classroom. These skills are what you need to know in the real world. By the time you graduate from school and get into the real world, many of your skills will be obsolete.

Are you a college student and want to own your own business someday? Want to learn better networking skills? Go out into the world and do it!!! Seriously. Start a businesses from the ground up so you know and understand what it entails. Start networking with business leaders in your community and get your face out there. Want to pursue entrepreneurship? Want to learn marketing? Pick any product and try and promote it. See how you do. Try your hand at social networking promotion. Create Twitter, Facebook, Digg, and YouTube accounts and try them out! They’re free. You really have nothing to loose." I have met so many college students who are only good at memorizing textbooks. For many reasons, I don't see this being the path to success.

After a year and a half, I still hold this belief. I'm sick of reiterating obsolete information on tests and memorizing things without putting it into practice. I love learning. I love education. I don't love shelling out thousands of dollars to be learning something I could learn better from real world experience. I don't fit in here.

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I don't want one.

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and I hate it. Two weeks ago I was free. I felt liberated. I got to venture into the world. Ever since I've come back from backpacking in Europe I haven't felt the same. Near the end of the trip I had wanted to be back home in Seattle - landing proved me wrong. The day after returning to the USA I've been longing to go back overseas. Every day I have been looking at plane tickets, visas, apartments, jobs and trying to figure out financially how i would be able to afford to stay there for a much longer period of time.

While traveling I never once felt confined. The world was the limit and I could come and go as I pleased. These past three weeks have felt somewhat miserable. Coming back to my "box" and returning to my daily hamster wheel routine was depressing.  I'm now realizing that part of the reason I was sick of social media was that coming back to my "routine" - only frustrated me more, not because I really hated Twitter or Facebook. There is so much value in all mediums of social media and I have reaped so many benefits from it in the past. Maybe I'll come back soon, or maybe not. 

Yesterday was the first time since my trip I had felt the same sense of happiness I did while traveling - why? I found a program through the University of Washington to study abroad in London this Spring. Even though the deadline had already passed, I emailed the trip adviser seeing if there was any way I could still apply. I turned in my application today and will find out in a few days if I will be able to go. There is nothing more I want more at the moment than to live in Europe and get to experience the culture for an extended period of time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I will get into the program.

I'm obsessed with British culture - in particular the music scene:

Tinchy Stryder - You're Not Alone

Chipmunk - Oopsy Daisy

Maximo Park - From Books to Boxes

Jamie T - If You've Got the Money

Kate Nash - Merry Happy

5 I'm digging ATM. Need more recs? I know hundreds :)

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and I have no idea why. I went to the store just to get a book of matches to light a candle. I'm sitting here listening to sappy music and watching a candle burn. Sitting, thinking, and watching a candle burn. I feel that this candle should represent a metaphor or an emotion but it doesn't. I'm just sitting here watching a candle burn.

It's amazing that something so beautiful would hurt so much if you tried to touch it.

This has nothing to do with the candle, but I've been off of social media for almost a week. Social media is great. It serves lots of purposes. Whether for business or personal use, it can add much value. On the contrary, it can also take away value. Social media was taking value from my life. Quitting social media was the best decision I've made in a while. I've been sleeping at normal hours, I've had more human interaction, and I'm getting a lot more done each day. I had been using social media to further my previous business venture but while doing that, got caught up in personal networking as well. Even after my business had stopped using those mediums, I kept up the same habits of checking every medium throughout the day. There was no need for this and I'm glad I've come to realize this. Getting off of social media made me appreciate my friends more. Most of my "help you move, pick you up at the airport, let you bitch about your day, believe in your dreams friends" don't need Twitter or Facebook to get a hold of me. I've hung out with a lot of my good friends this week all who easily found a way to get a hold of me not using the Internet. Twitter is a great way to meet people but I've found it to be the case too many times that people just want to chat online, but never get to know you in real life. I love the sharing aspect of social media, but why am I sharing every detail about my day with people who only want to know me online?

Maybe I've just decided I like my privacy. I don't really feel the constant need to share the details of my day with those who don't ask about it. That being said I'm not sure who reads this blog, but I write my thoughts here for me. Twitter it seems as if I was writing things catered around what I thought other people wanted me to post. I like having my own voice. If being professional means not writing blog posts about my actual thoughts, maybe professional isn't something I desire to be.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

A real hug beats a virtual hug any day.

You can change most things about your life, except how someone else feels about you. You can't always get what you want in that respect.

Facing reality sometime sucks. It's a lot easier to hide behind a computer.

I don't like growing up sometimes.

Music I'm digging right now:

Maximo Park

Kaiser Chiefs

Depeche Mode

"You need a record you can move to
Well we got one
Drop the needle
We are playing for an audience of one"

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I want to focus on reading, writing, learning guitar, and starting a new business.

Social media is a huge time suck for me and I am overly addicted. Constantly checking every medium of communication is not very becoming and I don't like the person I'm turning into because of it. I'm becoming superficial, shallow, and boring - and I'm not accomplishing what I want. I'm not logging back into Facebook or Twitter until I have a business I want to start and have started it.

I still do have a phone. (360)720.6342

I prefer human interaction to online anyways.

Call me!

 

 

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This year I'm vowing to read a book a week.

If you have any suggestions of good books please let me know! :D

52 WEEKS:

• Week 1 - How to Win Friends & Influence People - Dale Carnegie
• Week 2 - Crossing the Chasm - Geoffrey A. Moore
• Week 3 - 22 Immutable Laws of Branding - Laura & Al Ries
• Week 4 -  4 Hour WorkWeek - Tim Ferris
  
• Week 5 - POP! - Sam Horn
• Week 6 - To Be Loved - Berry Gordon

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I finally understand. I understand what it feels like to completely not understand.

From December 27th through January 8th I had the incredible opportunity to travel and see some of the world. Backpacking around in Europe for two weeks was an eye opening experience for me. I bought my plane ticket to Germany prior to leaving, but other than that I did no planning whatsoever until I got there. I learned a lot about other cultures and myself. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done yet one of the best.

During my trip I got to visit France, Spain, Germany; all wonderful countries with their own set of social norms and customs. While visiting all of these countries the language barrier was very difficult for me. I am only proficient in English and my Spanish is definitely not up to par. I had to find my way on buses, trains, airplanes, and though entire cities using the "nodding, pointing, and smiling" technique. It made traveling very stressful at times because of not being able to navigate through different cities easily. Even with my lack of knowledge of the language, I found people to be so incredibly helpful. I had complete strangers walk me places to show me how to get there, write me maps, or sit down with me and help me plan out where to go.

In the past, I had never thought about how difficult it must be for those not born in the United Sates to live in our country and not be able to understand. I'm guilty of having not enough patience and regret not taking more time to help those who weren't at my same level of comprehension. I now completely understand what it feels like to not be able to understand - and it's not exactly a feeling I would wish upon others. I'm glad to have realized this so in the future I will be more understanding and helpful to others.

Even though I had no major problems, I did run into a few roadblocks. Hostels being full, getting very lost, and a case of food poisoning all happened at one point but were all fixable problems. If something doesn't happen as planned there is always a way to fix it - some solutions were more costly than others but all in all, were not enough to make a trip turn sour.

During the trip, I tried CouchSurfing for the first time. For three days of the trip, I stayed with a host from a different country - complete strangers I had found through the website. It allowed me to bring my guard down for a bit and be more open and trusting towards other people. The news always brings the worse case scenarios up. No, I didn't get robbed, raped, or stabbed - I had an incredible experience and would definitely recommend it to everyone I know. My hosts were wonderful, helpful, and made me feel right at home. In addition to using Couchsufing to find a place to stay, I met up with a few people who offered to show me around. Traveling alone can sometimes be lonely and it was so awesome to find people willing to met up and show me the sights. Even though traveling alone was sometimes stressful, it enabled me to meet more people I wouldn't have otherwise.

I learned a lot about myself during the course of two weeks. If I can go to three entirely different countries in two weeks by myself, navigate and find my way around alone, and fund the trip with my savings - I can pretty much do anything I set my mind to. I've had so many people tell me "oh I could never do that" but in reality, yes you could. You don't know what you are capable of unless you try. For giving up your latte a day, you could fund a trip in less than a year. For anyone wanting to travel, but putting it off because "you don't have enough money" - there is always a way to fund anything if you put your mind to it and cut back on other expenses. I'm a broke college student, and am by no means rolling in it. If I can do it, so can you!

Even though I had a great time traveling I am glad to be back in Seattle. I've never loved living in another city more and am so glad to know the great community of people that I do.

Highlights of the trip:

• Spending New Years Eve in Paris, France with a wonderful group of people from all over
• Walking on the beach in Cadiz, Spain
  
• Learning "Que Cono!" y "Es de puta madre!" from my amigo.
• Drinking in the street with Omid.
• Getting to see all of the products we don't have in the US.
• Seeing all of the different kinds of marketing.
• Checking out the differences in stores. (can you tell i love marketing?)
  
• Eating Kebobs - best food ever.
• Riding the train from Paris to Frankfurt
  
• Not hearing anyone talk about social media.
  
• Eating French food.
• Eating Spanish food.
• Eating German food.
  
• Being legal to drink.
  

Playlist of my trip:

Voxtrot, Buddy Holly, Mika, Niel Diamond, Vampire Weekend, Arctic Monkeys, Cake

PICK-CHAS

 

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Writing down my goals and showing them to other people makes me feel more accountable for them.

Goals for 2010.

Chyeahhhhh (no particular order) :

Start a new business. #1 goal of the year

Write a blog post a week.

See the Arctic Monkeys, Muse, The Strokes, The Fleet Foxxes, The Fratellis, Lily Allen, The Shins, The Kooks, Voxtrot & Cake live.

No dessert for the entire year.

Run a marathon.

Don't buy coffee anymore.

Try one new thing a month that I would usually not do.

Go sky diving.

Stop watching Hulu other than the Office.

To be able to speak Spanish as well as I can understand it.

Learn Italian

Go to Australia.

Read a book a week.

Meet Alex Kaprones, John Stamos, or Andy Sandberg

To not go on the computer more than 2 hours a days.

Never work for anyone but myself.

Learn guitar.

Take a day off every week from working out.

Start writing a book of some kind.

Quit staying up until 5am doing nothing.

Go to New York, Boston, & Scranton, PA.

Meet up with more couchsurfers in Seattle.

Get better at rollerskating and learn to skate backwards.

Go white river rafting.

Start sleeping.

Break my Internet addiction.

Things from last year I forgot to do and am re-adding to this year:

Go paintballing.

Jump off a diving board.

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Last night I gave a talk at Ignite. I practiced my talk for hours and had written down exactly what I had planned to say. Unfortunately, when I got on stage - I didn't say any of this. I was frazzled over having to sit in a separate section of the audience and ended up talking more about that. Even though I didn't say everything I meant to, I would like to let you read my speech here.

The biggest thing I learned last night was that I have amazingly supportive friends. Thank you so much to everyone. In particular, Derek Merdinyan, Roberto Hoyos, Amy Anderson, and Sam Lavine. Thank you guys all so much!

The following is what I was *supposed* to say:

Hi. My name is Arianna O’Dell & The name of my Ignite talk is “How to Sneak into Bars”. Catchy title don’t you think? Upon seeing this you might be thinking “awesome” sneaking into bars! While sneaking into bars may sound exciting it not something I personally enjoying doing.

Why would someone need to sneak into a bar? The first thought for most people is for alcohol- and while that may be thrilling, this isn’t why I started sneaking into bars. I trained myself in this devious art to gain access to networking events.

I’d like you to take a look around the audience. Turn to your neighbor and look at the people sitting next to you. I’m willing to bet the vast majority of you aren’t sitting next to a college student. Ignite provides talks about a diverse array of subjects – many of which would interest a college student, but why aren’t many of them here?

Unfortunately, their lack of presence isn’t limited to just Ignite events. Whether it’s a social media, entrepreneurship, technology, or any other type of networking event – college students are deterred from attending. Considering the state of the job market, you’d think students would be clamoring to make as many connections as they can. So why aren’t they showing up? From my experiences they aren't given the respect the deserve.

My fellow students find it intimidating to go to these events when they know they won’t be given the same respect as someone that’s been in the work force for a few years. When students are asked ‘what they do’, they’re consistently get the following line: “oh you’re still in college --- okay, bye!” You don’t have to hear that many times to get turned off from the idea of networking.

Despite the less than warm welcome students receive at networking events, those who still make an attempt to participate don’t make it a habit. Imagine what it would be like to go to work if your boss treated you like that for the first six months of employment at a new job.

Let me tell you how I tried to overcome this problem and why sneaking into bars isn’t as exciting as it may sound. Step one: tell everyone you’re 27. Sure you may look a little young but who is going to fight you on the matter?

“Don’t ask, don’t tell” is my mantra. Most people generally don’t ask about your age. When I started telling people I was a technology entrepreneur and left out the little detail of me being a college student, more people began to listen instead of giving me a patronizing “okay….bye.” More and more people started saying, “oh really? Tell me more”

While this worked for a while, it quickly became stressful pretending to be only ‘part’ of who I was. Even though a college student may be able to gain acceptance this way, truly fitting in involves being one’s true self. After feeling the burnout of constant pretending, I started revealing to my new friends how old I really was.

To my surprise many people responded that my age was nothing but a number to them and they valued my opinion even more. I felt embraced by the Seattle community and felt a true sense of acceptance. Because I’d been able to prove I had value to offer before being discriminated against by my age, I was able to foster the relationships I had been seeking. In the past when I revealed my age first and

“Inexperienced”, “naive”, “young”, “party-goers”, and “lazy” are all words that pop into someone's head when you mention college students. It’s a label with unwanted connotations that apply to a minority and not the majority. It’s a stereotype like gender, race, and sexuality. It’s a label that isn’t readily accepted in many professional environments.

In addition to being a college student, I’m also a girl. This compounded with the college student stereotype play against me as I try to create a name for myself. My intention tonight isn’t to complain or share a sob story.

My hope tonight is to lay the first stone on a path for more young talented individuals to enjoy the same benefits of networking events that all of you partake in. Every time I talk with students about going to networking events, I always hear the same thing: they don’t like going to networking events because they feel that they don’t belong. This is a most unfortunate misconception.

We want to get involved but not if we’re seen as a waste of time. While you have great skills and expertise to offer – so do we. There are countless examples of young trailblazing entrepreneurs who are changing and leading today’s world.

I’ve forged relationships with so many incredible people in the Seattle community. Many of you are sitting in this audience right now. There are so many great people who I admire for the great advice they give and the tales of past experiences and endeavors they’ve shared with me. If I could ask you for one thing today, it would be to rethink your next interaction with a student you see at a networking event.

If I still haven‘t convinced you that college students arn‘t worth the time let me give you two words. Mark Zuckerberg. The founder of the multimillion dollar empire of Facebook created the website while still in school. While Mark‘s success may be one in a million – the next Zuckerberg is probably enrolled at your nearest college, wanting to create something that will change the world.

Whether it’s elementary school students, high school students, or college students – everyone has something to offer. Remember back to when you were in our shoes. Think about the experiences you have had where you were not taken seriously because of your age. The next time you meet someone of a young age I’d like you to think about the many skills and expertise they have to offer.

Yes, everyone has something to offer. Each person you meet has the opportunity to bring their own set of skills to the table. Sometimes the person you least expect will know more about a given subject then you ever imagined.

While the title may have made you go huh? It’s my hopes that you are now going hmmm. The sneaking into bars may seem like fun, it is my hopes that I’ve convinced you otherwise and informed you of the age discrimination currently present at many of these events.

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You can't believe what you read online - at all.

This post was co-written with Forrest Kobayashi .

 

Read it HERE!

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with business and entrepreneurship.

Lately, it feels as if I've lost it.

For as long as I can remember, I've always wanted to own my own business. After having too many crappy jobs, I swore to myself I would never work for anyone else again. From lemonade stands, to car washes, to baking & catering, to online music streaming, I've lived, thrived, and learned from the thrills of entrepreneurship.  My latest endeavor, FlyBy Music, is currently down, as per some recent developments. While we are working hard to bring the site back, I feel that I need a side project to jump start my brain and creativity again. I need something to jump out of bed for.

I LOVE STRESS. I thrive on it. I get more done. It excites me. I love being productive. Even though I may complain when I'm "stressed out" I secretly love it. Not the "strung out, too much coffee feeling", but the constant rush of production and strive for success. I haven't felt stressed for weeks now. I hate this.

Money doesn't motivate me. Being a part of something bigger and changing the world for the better does. I've been contemplating business different ideas lately but can't find one that I get extremely excited about. I had considered starting a social media consulting company back in the month of July. Seeing as I have very little to show for this venture, shows me my heart isn't in it. I need my passion and drive back. I need a business idea. I'm trying to be patient and let something just come to me, but this just isn't working.

Help?

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I was not an early adopter to Facebook. It wasn’t until my senior year of high school that I had even heard of it. I was an avid MySpace user.

I’ll admit it. I used to LOVE MySpace.

I was obsessed with updating my profile and customizing it to my liking. For fear of wasting too much time online, I deleted my account at the end of my senior year. I shortly made a new one thinking I would go back. After creating a second account I then went off to college. The first day on campus, I learned it was “uncool” to be on MySpace, thus conformed to peer pressure and turned to Facebook.

I haven't logged into my account for quite a while now but today, decided to take a peek at what I was or was not missing out on.

When I logged in, to my surprise, found that many of my high school friends and people from my hometown of Oak Harbor, Washington are still active users of the service.  I began to think about how I had ridiculed people for still using MySpace, but had forgotten to dig deeper into why they are still there and not on Facebook.

Even though an avid Facebook user now, MySpace taught me a lot about:

Class differences:

Facebook was originally for college students. This meant the service would spread first among the college educated and slowly move on to other networks. While Oak Harbor was a great place to grow up in, a large percentage of the city was not college educated. The Oak Harbor demographic latched onto the MySpace platform. It was rare for to go to Oak Harbor High School and not have a MySpace account. As a marketer, it is interesting to see the appeal of one service over the other, and how each service has reached different audiences. Looking back, I can more prominently see why someone from a different class would choose MySpace over Facebook.  

HTML:

MySpace was my first baby step towards being a geek. Prior to having an account, I had never been interested in the Internet. MySpace helped me develop my HTML skills by allowing me hack away at my profile. The instant gratification of creating something visual appealing, spurred my interest in a variety of web related topics.

Alternative Creative Outlets: MySpace showed me how the Internet can be used a creative outlet. As a child, I never had the patience to learn an instrument, excel at a sport, or create art.  MySpace let me customize my page in a way that allowed me to show others who I was and what I was thinking. Even though now, I never shut up, in high school I was very shy and found it hard to express myself to others. MySpace let me display my creativity in such a way I felt comfortable sharing with others.

Blogging

My first blog was on MySpace. Being able to write what I was feeling or what I thought about a given subject was empowering and I liked it.

Viral Messages

Messages travel fast through online communities. I was intrigued by how a message could be spread around the Internet and a social group so quickly. It didn’t take more than few hours for teenage drama to be created and resolved through this medium alone. MySpace taught me a lot about word of mouth and the power of friend referrals. Even though many people may think this service should be ignored while implementing new marketing campaigns I still believe there is an active community of users that should be considered when trying to launch a new product or service. The MySpace community has a much different demographic than Facebook and while the service is still being utilized shouldn’t be forgotten.

Hmm maybe I’ll still log back in from time to time….

Friend me!  http://www.myspace.com/e_lectrify                             

 

 

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When I first got a Twitter account I thought people with lots of followers were very "important". I have completely changed this opinion over the course of the last few months. Why?

1.) Clicking follow is easy!

There is a very reasonable follow back rate among the majority of people on Twitter. If you follow them, they'll follow you. While yes, clicking this button multiple times may be tedious, you can increase your number of followers drastically within a week or two.

2.) Automation Tools

Some people have even gone as far as expediting this process by using a tool that allows you to follow masses of users with a click of a button. Shortly after, the people whom do not choose to follow you back are unfollowed. While this is commonly practiced, the ethics of this tool should be considered. Is it deceiving to do this?  Every so often, I ask someone how they got as many followers as they did. You'd be surprised how many people used automation to increase their numbers for both business or personal use.

3.) Ego Trips

There are a few people on Twitter that choose not to engage with others who do not have as big as a following as them. The thousands of followers they have make them believe that everyone is hanging on their every tweet. Sometimes when you say something to them, they choose not to respond. I do understand that some people have too many messages to reply to everything, but if they constantly ignore your messages I can only believe their ego is to blame. Have you ever considered that the people without the biggest follower counts aren't wasting their time online building their Twitter following - but actually doing things in the real world? I know a lot of amazing people that aren't even on Twitter.

The list feature:

I really like the new list feature. Not only does it make it easy for me to read my feed in certain groupings, but it allows for a more actuate perspective on influence.  If the ratio of listings to followers isn't in a reasonable proportion you can see right away that that person has used automation techniques to gain their following. As of right now, I'm still trying to figure out what a reasonable ratio is, but it is definitely apparent as to what isn't.  Someone with 20,000 followers being listed 30 times in my opinion does not have a reasonable ratio.

Disclaimer:

While there are those who have built their follower counts unethically, there are also those who have grown organically through engaging with other and having helpful things to say. These are the people I consider to be great people to follow and get to know. Before I label someone as "influencer", I always try and consider a few factors first. My Twitter practices may not be perfect, but I always try my best to engage and help other people to the best of my ability.

You can agree or disagree with anything I have said, but either way I'd be interested in hearing what you think.

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...because you can't truly know someone from the Internet. While Twitter might be great for meeting new people, it should not be used a sole platform to build and maintain friendships. With every tweet it is up to the reader to decide what was trying to be communicated. I'd be willing to bet that half the time, most people are reading what you said in the wrong tone and not taking your personality into consideration. Often times, this may lead them to take the statement completely out of context. When I browse my Twitter feed, I often find myself reading in a monotone with very little enthusiasm.

You are reading this post with the tone you think I am writing in. By mere text you will never know how I intended this post to sound or the tone in which I am writing. This being said, I probably make a few people angry from time to time with the statements I post on both Twitter and Facebook. With only 140 characters, the brevity of a post can make it completely useless or misleading without knowing the context behind it. As great as Twitter may be, I think it's strongly detracting from the way in which we learn and communicate with each other. By limiting thoughts to a sentence it halts the creative process to some extent. With only 140 characters it is very hard portray a complete thought, as much more information is usually needed to fully comprehend a subject. There is a lot of value to engaging with others on Twitter and I have met so many great people from doing this. Believe it or not, every one of these great people has all turned out to be even better in real life conversations.

I think Twitter is a wonderful medium of communication and a starting point to meet new people, but I whole heartedly hate when people just want to be Internet friends. I've had Internet "friends" in the past who I've talked to for years online, but when it came time to being "real life friends" they had no interest. I do not understand why someone would only want to IM, Twitter, and Facebook but never actually hang out in person. To this day, that still puzzles me.

While yes, the Internet is great, it is no replacement for real life.

I am personally offended when someone only wants to be my Internet friend. This is comparable to saying you only read what I have to say for entertainment value. There is more to me than 140 characters.

 

 

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