Sunday, August 5, 2012

MLM Tip - Expanding Your MLM Business Around the World

The most exciting thing about new MLM Business is that you have the opportunity to be doing business around the World for a relatively low investment. Currently, I am doing business in seven countries and soon expect to be doing business in 20 more. The beautiful thing is that I did not know any of the people in these countries before I got involved in my business.

Below are some tips for expanding your MLM Business around the World -

1. Build a Local Base that will take you around the World - You want to start by building your business in your local area. The reason being is that it is much easier for people to work if they have somebody close by them to work with. However, one caveat is that if you are well connected on the Internet, the geography and time barriers can be broken down.

2. Ask people you know whom they know in certain countries - Most people do not get this question too often. Who do you know in Korea? This question will at least get people thinking and will take you one-step closer to building your MLM business around the World.

3. Advertise for bilingual leaders in your local area - If you advertise for bilingual leaders in your local area, you will automatically find people who have connections in their local countries. Finding these people gives you access to people in your local community who have connections that you do not have.


Uniting Small Businesses Around the World in a Common Cause

Can we unite the small businesses in the United States and use the synergy created and the efficiencies attained so they can compete against the big boys and multi-national corporate conglomerates? A few visionary leaders, having an online discussion at the Online Think Tank believe so, in fact, they believe it is possible to unite the whole World in a Common Cause, to serve communities and people, as well as profits and smart growth. How so you ask - can this really be done?

Sure, this can be done, using a quasi-franchise - licensing model. Small Business Owners could join the group and the business would need to either pick a "community service on-going project program" or invent one would be approved, and the over-all groups could perhaps use or modify to fit regional variations in other areas.

The small business networks could easily compete due to economies of scale in the market place against any corporation, as corporations are slow to move and innovate and such a group would be the opposite. McDonald's Ray Kroc, discusses the synergistic power of franchising and groups of small businesses with owners close at hand:

"Grinding it Out" is an excellent book indeed, all business owners should read it.

A group such as we are proposing would need some motivational leadership, a recommended book reading list and some online video training stuff. The support group or brain could be net-centric think tanks meeting locally and an "online apparatus" with categories for specific niches of various industries. Small Businesses could get general advice, local advice or industry specific information that they needed.

The only problem with a model like this is that it could very easily dominate the world and change the face of human commerce forever. It could be very dangerous to the status quo. Although it would also help some of the larger corporations, with a new customer base and those companies supporting the small business teams would love the synergies, new customers and product flow as well.

What about Wall Street would they love it too? Yes, because it would be a steady ship. Emerging markets would love it because it develops new markets and local economies, people would like it because the businesses are one with the town and community. Bankers would love it, because there is a lot of money to be made funding small enterprises, micro-loans and the small business failure rate would drop significantly, making small business funding a safer bet.

Such a group could allow the small business sector to prevent or power out of a recession. Indeed, once strong enough it could end all recessions. What about our Corporations, how will it help them? Well it would make corporations much more innovative and competitive, this means lower prices, better quality products and more consumer choice. For a free-market economic win for all - everyone wins, except the fat, dumb and happy barrier makers and those who pull their strings. Of course, I for one am more interested in solving problems than pumping more money into corrupt fat cats. What say you?


The Best Home Based Business in the World

So what's the best home based business in the world? Before I get into that, I want to show you what's wrong with having a job or running a traditional business.

With a job, you will need to invest your time each day and get 2 weeks off once a year. If you work 10 hours a day, you get paid 10 hours. If you work for half a day, you get paid 5 hours. If you miss a day, you get paid for 0 hours.

In a job, you have to trade your time for money.

Same thing if you have a small business. You have to trade your time for your business. You have to deal with customers. You may even need to devote more hours per week then your employees. You basically have to word hard to keep your business running at all time year in and year out.

And now, I want to get to the part where I will share with you the best home based business that you can get started with part-time.

This home-based business opportunity is called:

Multi-Level Marketing or MLM for short.

If you are not sure what this business is all about, let me explain in the most simplest way possible so that you would be able to understand.

Let's say that you buy vitamins each month to have better health. What if I told you that you can actually make money from taking them each month just like you are doing right now.

Instead of buying it from the store, why not buy it from the MLM company? So let's say that you buy the supplements from the MLM company each month for $100. So you get started in the company for $100. Now, you tell 5 other people to do the same and join the company under you. So the first month, you and the other 5 people each produce $100 which equals to $600.

Let's say that month 2, your 5 people each get 5 people. So then you would have 25 people plus you and the person that you sponsored yourself. That would be 27 people each producing $100 each. That would be $2,700. If the company would pay YOU 10% of that, you income would be $270.

That 2nd month's income will not get you too far and won't buy you a nice house with nice cars in it, but let's keep going and let me show you the power of leverage.

Let's say that after 1 year, your group goes from 27 people to 300 people. If each one produced $100, that would be $30,000 in group volume. 10% of $30,000 is $3000 a month that you will get every month in residual income. Do you see where I am getting to?

Imagine what would happen to your income in 5 or 10 years. I don't think that your income would grow like this in your job or in your traditional home based business.

With MLM, you just need to do the work ONCE and you get paid leverage. The people that are on your team are not working for you. They are each working for themselves and building their own teams. You just need to find a few KEY people who will grow their own teams.


Thursday, August 2, 2012

Olympic Sponsors Fail to Win the Gold



The Olympics have become my new obsession this summer and I’m not alone. People around the world have tuned in to watch these super human athletes compete for the chance of a lifetime; winning the gold. Americans sit at the edge of their seats as we all gasp, cheer, and hold our breathes hoping for the impossible. It is so difficult to watch both the heartbreak and drama that unfolds, especially realizing most of these athletes have prepared for four years, the time it takes most people our age to get a high school or college degree. 

The perseverance and drive of these individuals becomes an inspiration that Olympic sponsors have tried to capitalize on. Commercials are filled with our favorite current stars such as Michael Phelps, RyanLochte, Jordyn Weiber, and Rebecca Soni. The overwhelmingly emotional and patriotic themes help our country feel unified and we suddenly remember why we are proud to be Americans, associating these positive messages with the commercials we see.

But the important question is: can you even identify the names of these Olympic sponsors? If you can’t, don’t worry you aren’t alone. 

Team USA Olympic Sponsors
In a recent online survey, many participants incorrectly identified Pepsi, Burger King, and Nike as official Olympic sponsors. Considering that their rivals (Coca Cola, McDonalds, and Adidas) pay hundreds of millions of dollars for their sponsorship, this is a major problem. Olympic sponsors get the sole right to associate their brand with the games and use Olympic trademarks on advertisements and packaging. Furthermore the Olympic committee has restricted athletes by only allowing official sponsor endorsements for social media sites and commercials during the games. It would appear that rival companies should be the underdog in this battle for advertising gold, but so far Olympic sponsors are failing to achieve a victory.

Monday, July 30, 2012

The Life of a Summer Intern at: RTC

Today is the first Monday in two months that I’ve been able to sleep past 6 am, and I’m a little sad about it.  My internship with RTC, a marketing agency in Washington, DC, just ended and I am already having some serious FOMO (fear of missing out). A relationship marketing agency with a wide range of clients and an awesome group of people, I learned so much and made so many connections in the short time I was there. I had heard of RTC my freshman year when our adviser, Professor Harms, put me in contact with their HR person, however I decided not to pursue an internship that summer. Then, RTC came back onto my radar when they presented at an AMA meeting last semester (See, those meetings are better for more than free food) and I was blown away by how great it sounded. I then got back in touch with their HR person and when I went in to interview with my soon-to-be boss, I felt so much more comfortable, because by hearing her speak, I knew so much more about the company and we had plenty to talk about.  I was part of the Insights and Innovation team, which evaluates and plans marketing strategies for clients. I worked on a wide range of projects, from client-specific consumer research, to compiling a creative competitive analysis, to creating infographics about applying new technologies to marketing to serve as education tools. From all this, I learned so much. Here are just a few things:

Write, write, write!
As a marketer, you need to be able to write. In marketing, and especially in an agency, you need to learn how to communicate your point of view in the most succinct way possible and sell your idea before you lose people’s attention. This is something I plan to work on this year by writing as much as possible, whether that be in a daily journal or blog, or offering to do the writing sections in group projects. In a lot of business schools’ curriculum, there isn’t much focus placed on writing, but if you get good at it now, it will save you a lot of hassle and red pen when you get a real job.

Speak up
If you have a special skill that could add additional value to your work, speak up and let your boss know! I was placed on a project to do research about mobile strategy with another intern. We were initially supposed to just create an outline, and then send it up to the creative team to make it into an infographic, but I asked if I could give it a shot instead, and I was able to use my graphic design skills to pull the create a much more visually pleasing way to present the information. Had I not let my boss know, I would have gotten the opportunity to use multiple skills and have a better deliverable in the end.

Get out of your cubicle
One of the things that made my internship the most fun was the people that I worked with. Although you want to be a dedicated worker, you also want to make sure to connect with the people around you. Make small talk with the people in the kitchen and take the time to get to know them. I was so excited to be around such experienced marketers and wanted to know how they got to where they are now. Most people are very interested in giving you career advice or just sharing their own stories with you if you take the time to ask questions. I learned a lot from the people above me and feel like I made some great connections that will benefit me in the future.


I could go on for way longer about all the great experiences I had at RTC and I really am sad to be leaving because I feel like there is so much more for me to learn. Plus, I'll really miss the Pad Thai from the place across the street...
Hopefully I'll return to RTC in the future to take advantage of those opportunities!


Thursday, July 26, 2012

Selling Space For Cash: Has the NBA gone too far with sponsorships?



           If you haven’t heard yet, the NBA has tentatively agreed to have sponsor patches on their uniforms beginning in the 2013-14 season. The patches on the uniforms will be similar to those on WNBAand European socceruniforms. With this agreement, the NBA will become the first of the four major sports leagues (for those wanting a challenge here’s a quiz on all four major sports) in the US. According to their projections, this new agreement will lead to around $100 million more in revenue for the league. While this sort of revenue may seem trivial in comparison the money paid to the players, this sort of revenue directly benefits the league.

            As you may have read already on this blog, advertising in sports is being revolutionized and becoming more and more prominent across all sports. While sponsors on NBA jerseys may not come as a surprise to most, it does bring up the question of how much is too much when it comes to advertising in sports. Stadiums and broadcasts are already flooded with large advertisements for all sorts of products that are not even relevant to sports in most cases. With uniforms starting to be sponsored, it seems like it will only be a matter of time until jerseys start to resemble NASCAR suitsand cars.

            What do you think will happen? Will the other major US sports also adopt this idea? Where should the line be drawn with sponsorships? Is THISthe future of NBA jerseys? Let us know!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Four Tips to Becoming a Successful Intern



Good news everyone, It’s almost Friday! If you are working this summer, I’m sure your respect for Friday has increased tenfold. I myself recently started a new internship with Stanley Black & Decker in the Channel Marketing division. Towson, MD is home to the Construction and DIY World Headquarters, so I work in the consumer products group for Black and Decker and Porter-Cable power tools. Since I’m still fairly new, I’ve been learning a lot of different things all at once. It’s almost like a crash course in the company. To share what I've learned, I decided to compile a list of the top 4 things I’ve recently become super familiar with. You probably aren't power tool savvy so I promise I won't lecture you on drills or jigsaws. Instead I will focus on the things most interns can relate too. If you aren’t an intern yet, I’ve included some advice for the future.

1.     Excel

If Excel were a person, I think we would be best friends right now. Or maybe Frenemies, I’m not sure.  No matter what company you are interning for it is probably a safe bet to assume you are spending some part of your day working with Excel. I myself have spent the last two days staring at it nonstop. I’m not complaining though. I’ve created the most beautiful spreadsheet I’ve ever seen. I’m considering wallpapering my cubicle with it. In all seriousness though, my expertise pre-internship applied mostly to PowerPoint and Word. So just some advice for anyone who hasn’t interned yet, familiarize your self with Excel. 

2.     Office Lingo

This one is something that will be unique to your own company. Regardless, you will have various terms to learn that will have your head spinning for the first few days. Before I began my internship I received a binder with 9 pages of acronyms used at SB&D. Wanna know my favorite? WYDWYADYGWYAG. Otherwise known as “When You Do What You Always Did, You Get What You Always Got”. Whewww, what a mouthful! I’ll be honest though, I haven’t really used that one yet. However, OPP, PPT, DIY, GSV, and a few others have been pretty commonplace (bonus points to anyone that knows what those stand for). My advice: don’t worry about remembering them all, just make sure you know the important ones. Also, don't hesitate to ask if you don’t know the meaning. Most people at the company will completely understand.

3.     Coffee
            
Always know where the kitchen or cafeteria is. Some companies like SB&D provide coffee, tea, and even hot chocolate for all those mornings or afternoons when you need a little pick-me-up. I always used to make fun of the commercials for 5 Hour Energy that would dramatize the 3 o’clock Crash, but laugh no more! It’s a real thing! Your eyes get heavy, you start mixing up numbers, and pretty soon your beautiful excel sheet is a mess. No worries! Go get a nice steaming cup of caffeine and you’re good to go. However, you really should go to bed early. We only have to play pretend adults for the summer, so suck it up.

4.     My Project

If you don’t know much about your project, you probably aren’t going to be a very successful intern. After all, your internship is basically a really long interview. The company is trying to deicide whether or not you are worth the investment. Don’t let them down! Impress them! Go the extra mile and do your own research. In the past two weeks I’ve learned so much about drills, routers, jigsaws, oscillating tools, and sanders through my assignments, but whenever I have free time I’m always reading customer reviews and familiarizing myself with our products. It pays to know your stuff (literally and figuratively), so learn all you can and your managers are sure to be impressed.

Now get back to work!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

Calgon, Take Me Away!: Life of a Calgon Intern


         
   First of all, a series of very fortunate events led me to this internship. Being a freshman last year, it is generally a difficult task to find an internship your first summer after college, nonetheless a paid internship. However, my trip to New York with SUSA in the Fall, led to my discovery of terpAMA, which led to meeting a terpAMA board member who interned for Ilex Consumer Products Group last school year. When she told me Ilex was looking for a summer intern, I immediately pursued this opportunity. Long story short, network, network, NETWORK. Many employers are not apt to read a freshman’s resume unless you know someone!

            That being said, I couldn’t be happier with this internship. I work at Ilex Consumer Products Group, which is located in the warehouse at Orioles Stadium in Baltimore. Ilex Consumer Products Group is a private equity firm, which means that we invest in companies/brands in our case Calgon, St. Josephs, and Digel. I am a Marketing and Innovation intern for the Calgon brand. This brand is an older brand that currently targets the 35+ age group and is known for their slogan “Calgon, take me away.” This summer especially, the marketing team has been extremely busy innovating the brand to target younger age groups. Stay tuned next year for the new product launches---I can’t give out any secrets!
           
            I have learned more than I had ever imagined I would in a matter of 2 months so far. I have been involved in every step of product development starting with the concept, the research/competitor comparisons to support the concept, the Request for Quotes to retrieve pricing info from our suppliers, the Creative Service Requests to know the price of creating product designs, fragrance selection, and of course marketing strategy for our product lines. A recent project that our marketing team worked on was creating planograms to present to a potential buyer. We had to include competitor products and our existing/new products in a rendering of a 4ft shelf plan and 8ft shelf plan. I found this project extremely interesting because it was not a matter of what looks good, but really a matter of what past numbers and future forecasts show to ultimately determine what items we would discontinue, keep, or launch for 2013.

            Lastly, I manage Calgon’s social media. I have been trying to post every day on this page to keep our fans involved. I really have been leveraging our slogan by posting luxurious pictures of vacation getaways along with the words “Calgon, take me away!” This strategy has really boosted fan involvement. Another strategy is to offer frequent giveaways. These giveaways always result in an increase in page likes and page virality.

            As you can see, I could talk about this internship for hours on end because of how invaluable this experience has been thus far!

Thursday, July 12, 2012

The Life of a Summer Intern at: Unilever



Two years ago I got a call that I never expected. It was a Friday morning, and in addition to frustrations of pulling an all-nighter, I was anxious about the verdict from my last interview two days before. Halfway through brushing my teeth, my phone rang and flashed a number that I knew could only have been from one possible person: the Unilever HR rep. Nervous, and with a toothbrush still in my hand, I answered - and 50 short seconds later, I was pleasantly surprised by an internship offer.

So much has happened during my summers with Unilever since then, and I’ve had an amazing experience! Last year, I was working close to the Walmart headquarters in Arkansas – a pleasantly surprising state by the way – in Customer Development. I was asked to build a digitized tool to help us track “incremental retail,” essentially any sales above and beyond what we expected to make. The problem? I’d had ZERO programming experience before. So initially, I was worried, but Unilever enrolled me in a Microsoft Access class (way more beneficial than BMGT301) that really took my project forward, and that’s one of the best things about working for this company: they believe in making investments in their employees. In retrospect, it was just what I needed out of an internship – the opportunity to get completely out of my comfort zone and use both critical thinking and technical skills to create something meaningful. My only issue? I wish I’d been 21 and had a car – it’s hard to do anything in Rogers, Arkansas otherwise…

When I got an offer to come back, I hesitated; CD had been interesting, but I honestly just wanted to be in marketing. Nervous as I was about their reaction, I asked Unilever to transfer me – and they did. That was a huge learning experience: in my opinion, so long as you have a good reason for asking something of your company, absolutely do it, because you may regret it if you don’t. Now, I’m working in Brand Development (in marketing) for a really exciting product: Suave Kids! Essentially, I have to develop a long-term strategy to help us gain market share. Since my other internship and class experiences have always focused on short-term deliverables, this is still out of my comfort zone, but it’s exciting nonetheless. I’ve gotten a chance to work on everything from licensing to product innovation to sustainability, and along the road, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Ogilvy, conduct my own focus group, and plan an event for all of the interns. At a company as large as Unilever, you’ll obviously have to be patient with all of the intricate processes involved in decision-making, but if you create work for yourself even when it isn’t mandatory, people will notice it and appreciate it.

             As this is my last “internable” (word?) summer, I’m definitely hoping for a full-time offer with Unilever, ideally in marketing. Hope it works out! Feel free to email me at manas.kulkarni.91@gmail.com if you have any questions about it – I’d be happy to answer! 

Monday, July 9, 2012

Social Media Takes the Gold.


It's been a long wait, 4 years exactly, but the Olympics are finally here. Well, almost.
I personally do not feel like they have done enough to hype the event - I rarely heard anything about the Olympic Stadium, and I feel like more commercials should be out in support of any Olympian representing team America. But watching the Swimming Qualifiers take place signified that the games are that much closer.

Since the Summer 2008 Olympics, much has changed in the social media world. Twitter and Facebook have grown tremendously, Facebook has gone public and YouTube continues to dominate well, life.

The summer Olympics are going to have a major effect on social media this summer, and we're all going to be a little part of that.

Facebook.
In 2008, Facebook had about 100 million users worldwide, and had just surpassed MySpace as the number one social media entity. Most of us were at the end of our high school years, and some at the beginning of our College years, so AIM might have been the go-to thing. But now with over 900 million users to date, Facebook continues to grow in popularity, despite the success of Twitter. Facebook will be major for our generation because it is a way to keep updated with who exactly captured the gold medal or whether Ryan Lochte beat Michael Phelps in the 200 meter freestyle. For many people, Facebook is the News.

Twitter.
In 2008, Twitter had a wee 6 million users. Now? Just multiply that by like 80ish... they now have over 500 million users who send about 400 million tweets a day. It's not hard to imagine the stuff that will be said during the games. One person will probably tweet one thing 10 times, but in different ways. Twitter is that source we go to to vent, regardless of how pointless what we have to say is, it's our freedom source. But not only for our sanity, there are so many sources of News be it ABC, ESPN, sports analysts - we will always have our share of information regarding the games.

YouTube.
Has always been big. Let's face it, it's one of a kind. No matter how much any website tries to duplicate or mimic YouTube, YouTube will always finish in number one. The stats have steadily gone up with YouTube, and obviously every event will be posted on here. Official Videos, or video's taken by someone's cell phone recording the television, we will be able to find pretty much every event on YouTube. There honestly isn't much to say about YouTube. It's YouTube.

For those of us who are busy this summer working, chillin', sleeping, eating, whatever, and do not have the chance to watch the games when they air, Social Media is our resource.

It's crazy to think how much it's changed in the past 4 years, and how important it's become in each of our lives, directly or indirectly.

I actually just found out when the games air today, but for those of you who still do not know, the Olympics air Friday, July 27, 2012, and end Sunday, August 12, 2012.

And here's the schedule for the games.

Happy Monday :)

Friday, July 6, 2012

The Life of a Summer Intern at: CORT Furniture

Hey everyone! Nick here to give a look in on my internship with CORT furniture. Many of you in AMA might know that we have a very good relationship with CORT as we have done quite a few consulting projects for them in the past. They are really looking to expand their rental furniture program into the college market (their program eliminates buying used furniture, assembling anything new, and the aggravations associated with short-term furniture ownership). Their new program is called CORT U and I am a big contributor to anything going on within the division. I heard about the position from our faculty adviser, Professor Harms, and got in contact with CORT's VP of Marketing. See, AMA connections really do pay off (literally)!

So far, I have loved my time at CORT. I get to sit on all the conference calls related to CORT U, including those with our advertising agency and public relations firm. Being able to speak your voice to such experienced marketers is always a cool opportunity and I would like to think that I have contributed to some of the new innovations. Plus, as I only naively found out a few weeks ago, I indirectly intern for Warren Buffet! (Buffet's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway owns CORT).

I have already gotten a lot out of the internship and look to soak in even more chances as the summer goes on. First off, I have already made a ton of connections both in and out of the company. They give me free reign to connect with anyone who can help me with my projects. Second, I have done a ton of market research regarding what students want (through surveys) and about what colleges our services might work at. It's never a bad thing to put some of that kind of experience on a resume!

With all of the positives out of the way, I do have to say: I miss being able to say that my 'early' classes were at 11AM. Working 9 - 5 really puts some perspective on how lucky we are to be college students!

Wednesday, July 4, 2012

"Sidevertising": Revolutionizing Sports Marketing



Whether or not you enjoyed the athletic massacre that was the UEFA Euro 2012 final, there is something that every marketer can appreciate about the world’s most popular sport: sidevertising. For a whole ninety minutes – or more, if it’s a good match – companies who run advertisements on the sideline barriers (“sidevertising”) have the unwavering attention of millions of viewers every match, and in the case of the UEFA Final, over 300 million.

But spectators watching the final on T.V. (or online) on Sunday missed more than just an evenly-matched game; they missed out on one of the most revolutionary technological advancements in the field of sports advertising: Digital Billboard Replacements.

Now, if we assume that no two consumers are exactly alike, then no two consumers should receive the exact same advertisement, right? Sure, but the bitter truth of marketing is that such a level of personalization is virtually unattainable. Digital Billboard Replacement is a creative compromise: it allows broadcasting networks to show advertisements that change based on the country in which viewers are watching the match. (To see an example, check out this video of the 2011 FA Cup Semi-Final – see the Beko ad at 0:16). How does it work? Finnish developer Supponor applies a layer of special film on the billboards that broadcast cameras can specifically target. Advertisers then use that hardware to customize advertisements for different viewerships.

Using DBR, advertisers can now send the same message in different languages, or in the case of multi-national companies, advertise different products in their relative countries of commerce. And since any billboard can be retrofitted with Supponor’s technology, DBR will inevitably redefine sports advertising as we know it. It is technology’s next step toward the advertopia that is completely-personalized marketing.
So why did DBR take the bench on Sunday instead of making its largest appearance yet? I am assuming a simple answer: it hasn’t been tested enough to guarantee error-free execution for an event of that broadcasting magnitude. I can only imagine how quickly DBR would have gotten the red card had it failed after networks had collected millions of dollars in advertising revenue.

But apparently, the future is bright; Supponor and Sports Revolution claim that we are just a few short months away from a fully-functioning system. Can you imagine the implications?! What if DBR were able to customize messaging for the nearly 5 billion viewers of the 2016 Olympics? Or if viewers could pre-register for specific types of advertisements?

Whatever the future specifically holds, I don’t see DBR sitting on the sidelines for long. I see it revolutionizing them.


How do you see DBR changing advertising in the future?

Monday, July 2, 2012

The Advice Given To A Summer Intern at: JP Morgan Chase


Hey guys! This is actually my first time blogging for terpAMA!  I’m Kirsten and I want to tell you a little about my internship.  So to start off, I applied for my internship through HireSmith, a job search site through the Smith School (it really does work).  My title is an Operations Analyst Development Intern.  I work in the Treasury and Securities Services line of business.  More specifically, I work in Securities Lending and even more specifically I work in Account Management.  Essentially, I update the lender and borrower accounts in various lending systems.  To everyone there, this is considered “BAU” (Business As Usual), or the day-to-day activities.  Then, I have a couple of projects that I am working on for various groups inside the firm.  For example, I am
an honorary member of the Employee Action
Committee and I will be making a website for
the “EAC” this summer with another intern.

Now, what I really want to talk about is the advice that every summer intern is given.  I feel as if each person is repeating the same mantra, but what does it really mean?  For me, I constantly hear the refrain: Ask Questions, Think About How To Make Things Better (Process Improvement), Network, Do More Than Your Asked etc.  I was given the opportunity this morning to ask someone in senior management what exactly they were looking for.  I shared that as someone who is not particularly computer savvy (AKA did not do well in Info Systems), how was I supposed to improve processes?  She shared that when I look at what I do every day, to look at the process from start to finish and think about each step and if there is a quicker way to do them, or if they even need to be done at all.  Then, she shared that one of the most important things for an intern to do is try their hardest.  Another senior manager shared that they wanted their interns to give positive energy to their teams and not bring them down – which seems like a pretty easy way to positively contribute.  Overall, the advice that is given to summer interns sometimes seems cliche.  However, if we really take the time to think about what the advice means for us, hopefully we will be able to use it to our advantage.

Monday, June 25, 2012

Creativity, the key to success?

        At terpAMA, we believe that marketing is the art of business. As marketers, we’re never going to be expected to simply plug in numbers or play by the book. Instead, we’re going to need to be innovative and creative in order to succeed. I recently came across Fast Company’s list of the 100 most creative people in business for 2012, and was inspired. The list spans a wide range of people, and highlights some of their most innovative ideas and accomplishments. It stresses the need to take risks and think differently, not only in business, but also in order to make a change in the world.
    There are people from companies that are constantly applauded for their creativity like Facebook, Starbucks, and Nike, but the list also includes musicians, artists, non-profit business owners, and even government institutes. The diversity of industries that Fast Company recognizes adds so much more value to this article. Even though Nike may be a lot more flashy and fun, there are many people thinking outside the box to solve problems, really important problems, in other industries as well. One of my favorites was number twelve, the founders of Voto Latino, Rosario Dawson and Maria Teresa Kumar. They recognized that very low numbers of Latinos we’re voting in elections, and so they engaged Latinos with a mobile marketing strategy that simply reminded young Latinos to vote via text. Through this use of tech in politics, they have been able to reach this demographic of young Latino voters. Not only is it a great marketing strategy, but it is also for a great cause. Other highlights from the list include Ceelo Green, Steven Zeitels (the surgeon who restored Adele’s voice!) and even Shaquielle O’Neal and his social media strategy.

Check out the article and explore it a bit. Learn how they have achieved such great success. Keep it in mind for when you need a bit of inspiration to fix a problem.There is so much we can learn from these leaders in business and so much we can contribute if we continue to search for new solutions and fresher ideas.

Who was your favorite? Are there any you would add to the list? Leave a comment below- we’d love to hear about it!


Thursday, June 21, 2012

How to be Productive While Being Unproductive!


Going from the land of free time, the fantastical place separate from the ‘real world’ that students reside for four years, known as college, to the structured, commute-filled, eight-hour work day is not always the easiest. It’s a hard adjustment for anyone when going to bed ‘late’ is now 11PM, the ‘fun’ part of the day is dinner, and social communication takes a heavy decline. No matter where you are working this summer, it sure is hard to think and work that hard for so long. 

Never fear!

Forbes has discovered eight ways that goofing off can make you more productive. No matter who you are or where you are working, it is important you find something(s) that help you take a breather and get ready to focus again. Even vibe with different things throughout the day and spice it up- it’ll even be better in the long run!

Take the time during the day to sit down and eat lunch away from your desk, go say hi to a co-worker (or few!), listen to music, get up and stretch. View these things as healthy and productive ways to work smarter and better. You are not wasting time, rather storing energy for work when the break is over. It’s also a great opportunity to benefit from social interaction and to help each other and the culture within the company. Work should be fun! Discover things that you love to do and set goals to do them once you’ve finished. Even make plans to do with co-workers to break up the day- you’ll be surprised how much better you work and how much happier you are.

Try some or all of these depending on the day and come up with new activities that are enjoyable. A stroll around the office to somewhere you don’t usually go, a short drive with some music, a phone call to a friend from far away, etc. are just some other options for rejuvenating yourself! Work hard; play hard. Have a great summer!

Monday, June 18, 2012

Hawaii Anyone?

Now that it is the summer and we're finally out of school for about 3 months, why not travel? And by travel, I don't mean hop in the car to visit the Baltimore Zoo, or go to Times Square for the 3rd time in a row, how about Hawaii?

I know... heading to Hawaii can be quite difficult.
One, it's far. And two, it can be quite inconvenient.

Well, Hawaiian Airlines has launched a new campaign to negate the possible stereotypes people may have about travel to Hawaii. The campaign is targeting people on the East Coast specifically, an area where only 2.4% of tourists came from. Less than three percent? I think I'd do the same thing the airline was doing. You have highly influential people spending money to travel to anywhere as long as the country is in Europe or Asia, yet only 2.4% of your sales come from this side of the country.

One of the things Hawaiian Airlines has decided to do is open a new route from New York City to Honolulu. This could be big. New York City is a whole different entity on its own. It attracts people from not only New York, but the states surrounding it such as New Jersey, upper Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts. New Yorkers lives are so fast paced that Hawaii could be the perfect get away. Not to mention that JFK Airport is the 6th largest airport in the United States according to Listosaur #justsayin.
In this New York promotional campaign, they brought Hawaii to New York. The distributed leis, played traditional Hawaiian music, had hula dancers... the works.

The digital version of the campaign contains "witty and effective copy", nothing like Burger King's Crispy Chicken Commercial.

Because the airline is small compared to American giants such as Southwest, United, Airtran and Delta, Hawaiian Airlines has to be strategic as to which routes they use, and New York may be the best fit. Although, they are on the rise, their marketing campaigns in the last few years being effective to the point that they took out one of their competitors, Aloha Airlines.

For those of you interested in visiting, Hawaiian Airlines offers trips from a few places such as Boston and Raleigh, NC, along with many other choices.
If I could give suggestions of places to add routes, I would definitely add our local IAD (Dulles) and Atlanta's Airport. The airport in Atlanta has the most traffic of all airports in the US, and Dulles is.. Dulles.

Hawaiian Airlines also offers benefits to their flyers such as the FFP (Frequent Flyer Program), online and in store products as well as ways to easily rack up points.

I definitely have wanted to get up and go somewhere, Hawaii being on my list. Knowing that the airline is doing more to give people from all areas of the states the opportunity to visit them will pay off in the long run.






Thursday, June 14, 2012

Who is #UncleDrew? Only the Face of a Perfect Social Media Campaign


If you were like millions of Americans on Tuesday night, you watched a great battle between the young and energetic Oklahoma City Thunder and the arch-villain Miami Heat. (hey, that isn't an opinion...the Heat introductions featured Star Wars' 'Imperial March') It also featured exactly what it takes to make a great social media campaign.

If you were paying attention during the commercials, then you noticed Pepsi's "Uncle Drew" campaign. The commercial featured Cleveland Cavalier's young star Kyrie Irving dressing up in professional makeup and quite the impressive grey beard. Essentially, Irivng hustles a bunch of locals at a game of streetball. After initially acting as a feeble old man, he soon starts skying for alley oops and crossing up the other team.

A cool experiment by Pepsi no doubt, but an even more impressive example of the power of social media. While there is no doubt that every company has entered onto Facebook and Twitter, the jury is still somewhat out on how to use these tools effectively. Brilliant examples of social media are well documented (as are the horror stories), but I feel that this #UncleDrew campaign by Pepsi exemplifies exactly what to do. While there is no ultimate formula as to what will work and what will not, there are a few common themes to successful Twitter campaigns/hashtags:



  1. Create curiosity and enable the user to take action: This is by far the most important factor...make users seek out an answer to a question that they are genuinely interested in. In this case, it was who dressed up as Uncle Drew.
  2. Link the brand to the hashtag while attempting to not sound overly 'corporate': Pepsi was flashed throughout the commercial, but they did not shove it in your face, nor did they create a hashtag like #PepsiCreatesUncleDrew.
  3. Don't allow a hashtag to take a negative spin: This is a tricky one and requires a little bit of judgment and experience. Try to think of it this way; put yourself in the shoes of a 'hater' as the kids say these days. How can your campaign be negatively spun. If you cannot think of any logical ways, then you are probably clear.

What other factors do you think influence a hashtag campaign or social media trend?

Monday, June 11, 2012

Communicate with Impact



“It’s not what you say, but how you say it.”

Every business professional has heard these words of wisdom at some point in his or her career. We all remember that one professor or friend who seems to drone on and on about one topic or another, but no one can ever remember what that person actually said. To avoid being “that guy”, it's important to remember that impactful communication is about so much more than words.


Whether we notice it or not, the majority of our perception of a message comes from non-verbal communication of the speaker. According to studies on interpersonal communication, researchers have found that the overall understanding of a message is broken down as follows:

Verbal = 7%
Vocal  = 38%
Visual  = 55%

This means that over 90% of our communication is transmitted not by our words, but through our body language, tone of voice, pace of speech, appearance, eye contact, etc. Impactful communication requires clear and specific speaking, the use of visual aids, knowing the audience, and varying tone of voice to stress main points.

Also, one must remember that impactful communication is two-way: it involves both good speaking and good listening. Good listeners keep their focus solely on the person speaking, let the speaker speak without interruption, and ask questions about what is unclear. The best part of being a good listener is that it becomes incredibly easy to learn about the world around you.

From recently entering the working world, I have found that impactful communication is an essential tool for each and every aspiring professional. I constantly communicate with co-workers and supervisors on everything from my opinion on how one of our company's processes to an update on my progress on a project or task. With so much work to do and only a short workday (you’d be surprised how fast a day at work can go), it is actually good business to communicate well. In fact, it can be very costly to communicate poorly. In one case, miscommunication from legislative budget writers cost the state of New Jersey more than $200 million.

After all, wouldn’t the world be a better place if we could all just understand each other?


Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Best Cities for Employment



With our current economy, we all know how hard and competitive it is to score a job out of college. But, according to Forbes, there is hope for marketing majors wishing to become employed.

The secret? Look for positions in major metro areas…location matters!

Forbes and Indeed.Com have complied a list of the top 15 cities with the highest number of available marketing positions. Unsurprisingly, New York City proves to be your best bet in finding a job. Time Warner, NBC, New York Times, Grey Group, the list of companies in the Big Apple is seemingly endless. There are over 2,000 versatile marketing positions New York employers are trying to fill!


 If you want to have a look into some of the top marketing agencies in NYC, our very own terpAMA goes on the annual SUSA trip to New York every fall! This past year, students in the marketing track got to visit and get an inside scoop on Grey Group, Omnicom Media Group, and Digitas.

Paul Forster, CEO and co founder of Indeed.Com, explains, “ New York is a major hub for the media and advertising industries, which have experienced an explosion of marketing opportunities in emerging media and digital marketing…marketers who possess the new skills employers demand will have greater opportunities.”

If you are hoping to stay local, Washington, D.C. also makes the top 15 list. Some great marketing agencies around here include The Borenstein Group, RTCRM, Fixation Marketing, & Redhead Advertising.

While job searching in whatever city, just remember to stay persistent and never give up! Soon enough, you will land that dream job of yours.  

Monday, June 4, 2012

Obama Spends Big Bucks for Online Advertising

In an effort to triumph the political battleground, Barack Obama has spent a record breaking amount on online advertising. Obama spent spent nearly $19 million since the launch of his presidential campaign in 2011 through March 2012 (CNN). Unofficial Republican nominee Mitt Romney and Obama's opponent has only spent a little over $5 million in the same time (ClickZ). In fact, Obama has spent twice as much as the Republican National Committee and all of the GOP presidential hopefuls combined (ClickZ).

Experts applaud Obama's online presence for targeting specific voters. Furthermore, online advertising is one of the best ways to gauge level of success by tabulating number of hits and duration of time spent on a specific ad. Digital advertising will allow Obama to direct his message to specific groups, such as Hispanics and Catholics, and swing states that have historically swayed between parties.



One of Obama's current (and most creative) digital campaigns is his "Pet Lovers for Obama" ad and associated Facebook page. Users can go like the page and submit photos of their beloved critters rocking Obama collars and gear. As of June, the page has over 33,000 likes and countless photo uploads and comments. Obama's marketing strategists garner quintessential user interaction with the people through this digital media. Further, Obama strikes an emotional connection with voters by sharing his love for his pet as the same love you have for yours.

Both presidential candidates use television and print advertisements as well, but as the world becomes ever so virtual, so does the political arena. Watch out for more digital marketing as the presidential race begins to heat up in the upcoming months!

To learn more about the candidate's use of digital advertising and overall marketing specifics, please
go to: CNN Obama outspends Romney on online ads

Friday, June 1, 2012

How to Heat Up Your LinkedIn Profile



“As of March 31, 2012, LinkedIn counts executives from all 2011 Fortune 500 companies as members; its corporate hiring solutions are used by 82 of the Fortune 100 companies, with 2 new professional members added every second.”

Yes, having a LinkedIn profile is important for job/internship acquirement, but maintaining it is key. One of the most important ways you can “heat up” your LinkedIn profile is to add a profile picture! This may seem silly, but according to eye-tracking Heatmap testing, looks are the most important thing on your LinkedIn profile. According to a particular heatmap study, employers spend 19% of their time looking at your profile picture when they are looking at your profile as a whole.

So, what if I choose not to include a profile picture? What does this mean to employers? According to, Miriam Salpeter at U.S. News & World Report, not having a photo on your LinkedIn profile will make others assume that you're either "really ugly" or "don't know how to upload a picture." Personally, I believe that not having a photo portrays laziness because you may not feel like finding an adequate/appropriate photo. To ease frustration, Miriam offers tips on how to choose a photo by encouraging the use of current, close-up pictures of your face, posting a high-quality photo, and paying attention to background. She also advises against dramatic photos and large jewelry or accessories. Some of my own suggestions for profile pictures include looking professional/serious through your clothing choice and to stay away from photos with yourself and another person. Employers want to see who YOU are!

Of course, you still need to have appropriate and compelling content. Yes, your profile picture holds 19% of importance, but what about the other 81%? It is advised to update the “skill” section of your profile because employers are using LinkedIn to find skills and qualifications that are difficult to obtain. We all know that our profiles are simply “scanned” rather than “scrutinized” so include skills and accomplishments that are highly relevant to your field of work. On that note, turn up the heat!



Tuesday, May 29, 2012

WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE TO HAVE CHINESE FOOD?



Nowadays, Chinese food is becoming more popular in the world, especially among the people who regard eating as enjoyment. They like to have Chinese food, and show their enthusiasm in it.There are several reasons for Chinese food’s popularity.  First, a growing number of people are tending to realize that food can be cooked in many ways, and Chinese food is famous for its cooking ways. For

China moves to tame microbloggers amid censorship claims




(Reuters) - China's Sina Corp has introduced a code of conduct for users of the local version of Twitter amid accusations of censorship to rein in what has grown into a raucous online forum to air political and social grievances.

The code of conduct, first announced earlier this month, stipulates that users of Sina's Weibo microblogging site cannot post information that is against the

Monday, May 21, 2012

GM Going 'Hipster'


First Facebook, now the Super Bowl? In case you haven’t heard yet, GM has made some serious changes to its marketing efforts over the past few days. First, the well-known automotive company cut its ties to Facebookadvertising just days before the social media sites IPO. Then a few days later GM declared that it would no longer sponsor the 2013 Super Bowl. So what’s going on here? Has the marketing department decided to go ‘hipster’ and cut out any sort of advertising that’s mainstream? Why would GM cut its two marketing campaigns that reach the most viewers? One word: Price.

Let’s first start with Facebook. The social media site warnedcompanies a few months ago that just having a Facebook page would not be enough to become relevant in the social media world. GM, like many companies, decided at this point or beforehand that they agreed with the statement from Facebook and purchased advertising on the site. However, now GM is pulling all of its paid advertisements from the site but will continue to operate is free page. Why the sudden change of heart? According to its internal research, the automotive company discovered that the Facebook advertisements were not quite as effective per dollar as they had thought. There are many companies and competitors, however, that still believe that Facebook advertisements are worth, including Ford (which recently decided to increase its Facebook ads).

A more interesting and shocking cut that GM made is its sponsorship of the 2013 Super Bowl. While Facebook reaches many viewers, how many of them ACTUALLY read look at the ads (don’t lie…you know you ignore them). The Super Bowl, however, is the Nation’s Biggest Stage not for the game that is being played, but for something almost as entertaining: THE COMMERICALS! Why on Earth anyone could decide that advertising in the Super Bowl was just not worth the cash anymore is beyond me. Yes, the prices have risen over the past few years and are projected to increase yet again this year (2012: 3.5 million per 30-second spot; 2013 – projected: 4 million per 30-second spot). But it’s THE SUPER BOWL, almost every American watches it! How is 4 million dollars not worth reaching roughly 300 million potential customers at once? We are talking about the nation’s third largest advertiser that spent about 2.8 BILLION dollars last year on domestic advertising. Does a half million dollar-per-commercial really effect the budget THAT much? I doubt it.

While I can easily justify in my mind the cutting of Facebook advertisements, I am having great difficulty in wrapping my head around GM’s reasons for cutting its sponsorship to the Super Bowl. What are your thoughts? Have the marketers at GM lost it? Is Facebook (or Super Bowl) advertisements that effective/ineffective? Comment below!