Cassie Boorn » Twitter

52-Weeks-To-Fabulous

cassie — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 23:05:18 +0000

I have a confession to make…

I am a quitter.

Every New Years I make a resolution and by February I am over it. By over it, I mean I pretend it never existed.

This year I am tackling it from a whole new angle. Linda came to me a few weeks ago about hosting a 52 weeks to fabulous. Each week there would be a new challenge. Forcing you to work on different aspects of your life. (which is good for those of us that get bored)

After reminding Linda that I am, in fact, already pretty fabulous. I decided this was a pretty cool idea. So we are tackling everything from organizing your home, spending more time with family, to better blogging.

I want to invite you to join me us in our 52 to Fabulous. Each week we will host a new challenge. (you can follow my progress, or lack of, here) Take part in every challenge or jump in when y0u feel like it.

You can find inspiration and tips on our website. Subscribe to the newsletter (we promise only on newsletter a week) and take part whenever you would like! Grab a button or follow our progress on Twitter (#52tofab)

Happy New Years!

Online Branding 101

cassie — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 03:10:45 +0000

I had a close friend call me today and asked me a few questions about my work on the internet. I will be honest I wasn’t sure what to say. How to explain what I do and how I got to where I am. For a long time now I have discussed how much personal branding and social media needs to be a part of the college curriculum. Everything is so new that professors don’t know how to teach it. On top of that it is really hard to teach! So here is my short guide to personal branding for those interested in starting a career.

Personal branding is much like starting your own business. That business is you. The way that you present yourself to the world is all a part of personal branding. This is one of the best sites I have found explaining personal branding. There is an amazing slideshow breaking it down in an easy to follow format. Career paths are changing. The way our parents worked no longer seem to be working.

When branding yourself using social media I suggest starting with the four most basic social media tools. I have included some links to help get you started!

-Blogging: Blogging gives you a platform to show the world what you have to offer. It is a place for you to start conversations on your favorite topics and interests. Whether it be parenting, business, social media, or just a rambling of event in your life.

-Twitter: Twitter is a great way to become a part of the community of bloggers. There are people from all areas of expertise on Twitter. Many are leaders in their industry looking to start a conversation. Do you know how few people use twitter a career building tool? Take advantage!

-Linked-In: I think of Linked-In as an online resume. A place to showcase all of the work experience and education you have received. Linked-In is a great way to search for people in your industry!

-Facebook: Facebook is still confusing to many social media experts. It is very much like a high school reunion. Finding a way to stay professional while showing the world your personality is hard. It can be done!

The next step should be obvious, find a job! There are many resources to help find jobs online:

-Post your resume at Urban Interns

-Sign up at Guru

-Check out out this job listing site

My last suggestion is to find people in your industry. Pay attention to how they are branding themselves. Follow their footsteps!

Some of my favorite corporate bloggers:

Public Relations:
Stephanie Smirnov
PR Sarah Evans

Marketing:
Seth Godin

Advertising:
Adver Girl

Personal Branding-Sharing the Message

cassie — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 16:55:15 +0000

I was sent a link to this powerful E-book I am devouring right now about personal branding. The first time I ever heard someone refer to Creating their own brand was Jessica Smith. Prior to reading this book I had the opportunity to watch Jessica’s powerful story unfold. As she created an online presence and defined her brand so clearly she was able to land her dream job.

I have heard professors warning students about the use of their facebook accounts. My own family members have warned me about employers searching your facebook before hiring you. There has been constant talk about how a few drunken picture strewn across the web could ruin your careers. I am sure young people have lost job opportunities thanks to a few pictures that were carelessly tagged. Still, why are we not teaching young people how to take advantage of social media? How to present themselves on facebook to help them advance their career? Why are we not teaching college graduates the uses of Twitter to create a brand for yourself? Teaching the younger generations about creating content for a blog. All of these tools should be a part of the college curriculum. Yet it is not. Social media is still so new and many college professors have yet to work with it. So how are we going to pass this information on to our youth in a positive and educational way?

The Y Generation

cassie — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 04:00:40 +0000

I remember sitting in class listening to a professor ramble about generations. How each generation is different. Marketing to each generation is different. They have different needs. They have different desires. They enjoy different things. I understood what she was saying but I really didn’t care. It seemed common sense to me. My mother cares about different things than I do. The things I care about will one day appall my son. Each generation is brought up in a totally different world. We are exposed to different music, different political figures, different leaders, different rules. Of course we are going to turn out differently.

I never really saw how this could help me in the job force. I didn’t see how being a millennial was going to be beneficial to my employer. It wasn’t until I read this article about generation Y and what we bring to the workplace. The ability to multi-task and see things in a different light. Tonight I came across this blog post about the millenial generation. I have had to explain, train, and beg friends to get on Twitter. After joining many became bored. Why one hundred and fourty characters? Why do people care what I am doing? Where I am going? There are so many great points in that post I encourage you to read it.