8 Interview Tips for Gen Z and Millennials
 by Taylor Schuhmacher

8 Interview Tips for Gen Z and Millennials

Going into a job or internship interview is almost always a nerve-wrecking thing to do. It is stressful, a lot is riding on it, and your nerves aren’t helping anything.
Preparing as much as possible ahead of time is such an important key to feeling good about an interview. It helps calm your nerves and gives you more confidence going into the interview. Hopefully, some of these tips will help you like they’ve helped me.

1. Always dress up.

Regardless of what the day-to-day environment of the office is, you should be dressing up for your interview. Regardless of if they wear jeans every day or business casual, you should probably be in a suit, or at least dress pants and a dress shirt or blouse. This shows everyone that sees you that this is important to you.


2. Always be early.

Plan to get to the office about thirty minutes early to account for unexpected traffic, wrecks, a plane landing on the interstate, et cetera. With this in mind, plan be at the office ten minutes early. If you encounter no issues on your way there, use that extra twenty minutes to sit in your car and prepare a little more, and walk in ten minutes early.

3. Going off that… you never know who will be watching you.

When you’re waiting for the interviewer to get you from the waiting area, be conscious of what you’re doing. If you’re talking on your cell phone, or even sitting there on Twitter, these may be things the receptionist is watching and reporting. A good rule of thumb is to graze over the literature they have laid out in the waiting area.


4. Never lie about anything.

Do not lie about qualifications, things from your past if they are brought up, social media behavior, anything you can think of – don’t lie about it. If you are confronted about something that you are less than proud of, they may be willing to move past it if you’re honest with them about it when confronted.

5. Research the company and those interviewing you.

Search them on Glassdoor, LinkedIn, Google. Browse their website. Look at any other recent content about them on the internet. And if you know who you’re interviewing with, look them up on LinkedIn or maybe even Facebook to know a little bit about them (just like they likely do for you).

6. Be enthusiastic.

You likely would want to work with people who are happy, enthusiastic, and trustworthy – so its safe to assume other people want to work around that as well. Demonstrate that as best as you can (without it being forced) in your interview. Be upbeat, enthusiastic about potential employment there, and smile. Sometimes it doesn’t feel natural to smile in an interview when you’re having a nervous conversation with someone, but make a conscious effort to smile.

7. Be prepared to answer your strengths and weaknesses.

This question is never fun to get asked and have to answer, but from an employers side of things its a great one to ask – which is why everyone asks it. Have two to three strengths ready, and one to two weaknesses, along with a sentence or two about each. Make a conscious effort to not ramble on these answers.

8. You should be asking questions too.

Its easy to forget in an interview process that you want the good fit to be both ways. Often times we get wrapped up in needing an internship or job, and we get bent up on selling ourselves and we forget that the company may not be a good fit for us personally. And at the end of the interview, its always acceptable to ask what the next step in the hiring process is, when you should expect to hear back from them, and if you will hear back either way (meaning if its a “yes” or a “no” from them).
No one knows you better than yourself, remember that and utilize it as the upper hand that it is in an interview!
in General / Misc. 0 comments
IHOb - Marketing Stunt or Marketing Genius_
 by Sarah Cigrand

IHOb – Marketing Stunt or Marketing Genius?

In the past month, the media has been in a frenzy over something so simple… IHOP (International House of Pancakes) is changing their name to IHOb (International House of Burgers… Burgers?)

 

Before they revealed the inspiration behind their new name the company offered up a guessing game to see if people would guess what the new letter stood for. One of the most common answers was International House of Breakfast, which makes much more sense than burgers, and people were shocked to hear what the new letter stands for.

 

As a ridiculously brilliant marketing strategy, IHOP (or IHob…) took the media world by storm. Even other food chains are commenting on the name change, therefore bringing even more attention and press to IHOb.

 

 

All of these tweets and changes also made a huge break in the media therefore giving IHOb even more publicity.

 

Before anyone actually thinks this name change is happening, Forbes revealed that “shockingly, once we got the official word, it turned out to be merely a publicity stunt designed to highlight the chain’s new focus on meals other than breakfast.” As absurd as the internet is taking this name change, it is doing EXACTLY what it is supposed to be doing… generating buzz. Some people find the name chance comedic genius while one site even deemed this marketing strategy “a new wrinkle in the dystopian hellscape of viral marketing”. Ouch. But, just like all media, in about a weeks time nobody will even be talking about it anymore.

 

Forbes brings to attention to the essential concept of branding – a name is not the same thing as a brand. A name is what we call something. A brand is something different entirely—and far more meaningful.

 

“In an era when brands are spending millions or tens of millions of dollars to stand out from the crowd, what you’ve seen IHOP do is take a moment in time — a small event, the addition of a menu item — and made it a pop-culture event, that’s PR at its finest.”

– Carreen Winters, chairman of reputation and chief strategy officer at the public-relations agency MWWPR

 

Louise Pritchard of Pritchard Volk Consulting offers a more in-depth differentiation as she and her business partner discusses your brand story – your brand or brand story is not a marketing stunt or marketing materials, it is the essence of who your business is.

 

As far as marketing is concerned, IHOP’s recent name change is generating vast amounts of buzz. While the “burger” reveal left a lot of people confused, IHOP accomplished exactly what they were after: drawing attention to an increasingly popular non-breakfast item that’s always been on their menu.  says that “time will tell is the stunt will actually translate to sales, but there is absolutely no denying that, in theory, the campaign was incredibly successful. Consumer conversations show that IHOP popularity has skyrocketed since the announcement, turning the brand into a trending topic.” IHOP posted the announcement of the name change on Twitter, and even went further to include a quiz prompting users to guess “what could it b?” Various interpretations were presented, and IHOP even bantered with celebrities, pro sports teams and news outlets, saying things like, “the blot thickens.”

 

While yes, IHOP will not actually be changing their name to IHOb and it was all simply a marketing troll – it was clever, it generated a lot of buzz for the company, and judging by the influx of IHOP being mentioned in media, it worked.

 

in General / News / Social Media 0 comments
Why You Need to be Vigilant About Social Media and Your Kids
 by Mandy Edwards

Why You Need to be Vigilant About Social Media and Your Kids

What would you do if you knew your teenage son or daughter was sending nude photos of themselves to teens of the opposite sex? What if those photos were posted to Snapchat or Instagram?

 

If you’re like me, you would be absolutely furious and enraged.

 

But this is happening each and every day in small towns, large cities, public schools, private schools, and yes, even Christian schools.

 

You think you raise your children right, teaching them right from wrong, but once they get a smartphone and social media in their hands… well, sometimes what you teach them fades into the background in favor of acceptance and validation.

 

Four years ago I wrote an article about how withholding social media from your children does not make you a bad parent. I thought it was time to revisit the topic of children/teens and social media.

 

My oldest daughter is 13. She has Snapchat and Instagram. However, we set the passwords and she has to leave her phone available for us to check it spontaneously whenever we want. That was the deal. I can log in to her social accounts on my phone and see what’s going on. So far, so good.

 

However not all parents are vigilant like that. They give their kids smartphones and let them open social media accounts and never take a second look. Many of the girls in my daughter’s seventh grade class have ‘Finstas’. Not familiar with Finstas? They are fake Instagram accounts where they hide their identities and post horrible, derogatory things about their classmates – or posts that are inappropriate for their public-facing accounts. They are selective in who they let follow them because of what they post. And their parents have no clue.

 

Snapchat isn’t any better. I will say the majority of what they do is send daily streak snaps to keep days-long streaks going with their friends. Many of these are a blank screen with the word ‘streaks’. However, what gets sent via group snaps and individual snaps cannot be seen by the general public. That is where a lot of this takes place.

 

Why is all of this happening? Why are kids acting like wild college kids on social media? To put it simply – they have parents that are not checking behind them. They are not being held accountable to their actions. Parents want them to fit in so badly, that they let them do what they want on social media with no recourse.

 

Do they realize that some of things they post can get them suspended from school? Or hurt their chances of getting into college? Or even a job?

 

No.

 

Why is that? Parents are not educating themselves and their kids about the dangers of social media. My daughters are out of luck there. With a mom who owns a digital marketing company and a dad that is a Prosecuting Attorney for the state… let’s just say their every move is watched.

 

According an article from the New York Times last year titled The Secret Social Media Lives of Teenagers, “Even though 86 percent of teens say they’ve received general advice around online use from their parents, researchers at Common Sense Media found that 30 percent of teens who are online believe their parents know “a little” or “nothing” about what social media apps and sites they use. And yet, teens still say that their parents have the biggest influence on determining what is appropriate and inappropriate online.”

 

If parents would take the time to educate themselves on social media and the potential danger it can bring, most of what’s going on with children and teens on social media wouldn’t be happening. Parents are not being vigilant enough. These are our precious children and we should protect – and educate – them as long as we can.

 

Being vigilant may look like we are being nosy or being a helicopter parent, but if we are not monitoring their social actions, no one is. Here are five reasons you need to vigilant:

 

  1. You are protecting them from strangers and others who are out there to prey on our sons and daughters. Even with all the internet-nanny programs and account restrictions, that still wouldn’t stop a predator from seeking out your child. If you want to know if this really happens, I can let you talk to my husband. He’s prosecuted many cases over the years where the under-age victim was lured via social media. Just because that Instagram account says they are a 15 year-old from a high school in the next town over, it doesn’t mean they really are.

 

  1. You are protecting them from cyber-bullying. Being a teenager is hard enough without the technology, they don’t need the burden of the online bullying to hurt their still-building self-esteem. Our kids need to find their self-esteem and validation from their parents, their church, and healthy friendships. Not social media.

 

  1. They post content without thinking. Some of this content may hurt them (or haunt them) on down the road and/or hurt a friend’s feelings. Children and teens (and even some 20-somethings) are not mature enough to understand the long-term ramifications of posting hurtful content and inappropriate pictures.

 

  1. Social media can wait – it’s not going away anytime soon. Kids are only kids for so long. Let them be that. Let 9 year-olds ride around on bikes. Let 12 year-old boys play baseball or football. Encourage your kids to be active and social – without an electronic device. Remember back to when you were their age.

 

  1. Not using social media to communicate at this age allows them to be taught the proper way to carry a conversation with others. I know teens (and college kids) who could use a lesson in that. With a generation that is texting the person next to them instead of talking or Snapchatting pictures instead of enjoying an event, the lesson of how to hold a proper conversation is being lost. Not to mention their writing. I cannot count the number of times I have told my daughter that “k” or “ik” (that’s “okay” and “I know”) is never an acceptable way to respond to a text message from me or anyone else.

 

A study from Common Sense Media found teenagers (ages 13-18) use an average of nine hours of entertainment media per day and that tweens (ages 8-12) use an average of six hours a day, not including time spent using media for school or homework.

 

The world is a scarier place now than when we were all kids in the 70’s, 80’s, or even the early 90’s. The amount of information and the immediacy of communication at their fingertips is outright frightening.

 

But if we as parents are vigilant about our children and their technology – checking their text messages, checking their social accounts (that means logging in, not looking at what’s public), we can help our children navigate this and make it a more positive experience.

 

What are your thoughts/experience with this?

 

in Featured / General / News / Social Influence / Social Media 0 comments
Adapt Your Social Media Marketing or Fail
 by Mandy Edwards

Adapt Your Social Media Marketing or Fail

Social media marketing is changing.

 

The way you post, what you post, who you target – the who, what, when, wheres – it’s all changing. If you’re not adapting how you use social media to market your business, you’re going to fail. And fail bad.

 

In the past year, here’s what we’ve seen:

 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg folks.

 

In the beginning – way back in the early 2000’s – you could just post whatever you wanted on social media and people would see. Much like the movie Field of Dreams, where the main character was told, “if you build it, he will come.” And he built it, and he came. Now that was dealing with a baseball diamond, the Black Sox, and a dad, but the theory is the same. You could post on social media and people would see it, and theoretically, come to your page/store/website. There was no algorithm dictating who saw what.

 

Fast forward to 2018 and the landscape is vastly different. Everything is methodical. Everything is done purposefully. There is a science and a psychology behind social media marketing – and it’s changing.

 

People do not want to see sales pitches. They want to see content that matters and relates to them.

 

People do not want to see fluff (think of all of those stupid videos and gag-tastic memes/quotes/graphics in your feed). They want to see meat – content with substance.

 

People do not want to have their time wasted by a business posting meaningless “Share this to win a $25 gift card!” posts and their feed cluttered by 25 friends sharing it – which, by the way, is AGAINST FACEBOOK RULES TO DO. People want to see authentic content.

 

What are you posting online? What’s on your Facebook page right now? Instagram? Twitter? LinkedIn?

 

Put yourself in your follower’s shoes. Are you posting something that would make you stop and read it, or just scroll on by. Think about that for awhile and think about that when you post next.

 

Social media marketing is going through an evolution right now. It came on the scene, people exploited it, everyone became an “expert” on using it as a marketing tool (when very few are legitimately versed in it), and now as the tide is changing, everything is being sifted out. The fluff content is getting penalized on Facebook. The fake experts are being called out. Social media marketing is changing.

 

But how?

 

It’s all coming back to the nuts and bolts of what I call marketing 101. Relationship-building. And it’s not a one-way street. You have to be active and respond to everyone. Let me type that again – you have to be active and respond to everyone.

 

People have said they want meaningful, accurate, authentic, and informative content. Adapt your content as such. Stop the fluff. Post the content that will draw them in, make them act. Reach out like the human being you are and build a relationship through social media with your community. Use social media as the communication tool, like the telephone.

 

People want more personalized experiences, especially in retail (read more about it here). Use social media to tailor the experience they have with you to them. Feature customers. Congratulate customers.

 

AT&T way back in the day had an advertising phrase – “Reach out and touch someone.” Apply that to your social media marketing. Reach out to your followers and touch them. Create an emotional connection that will turn them into life-long customers. It’s all about the relationship.

 

Social media marketing is going to be like Darwin’s theory of evolution – the strongest will survive and those who adapt with outlive the rest.

 

So how are you going to adapt?

in Advertising / Featured / General / Social Media 0 comments
Picking Up the Pieces
 by Mandy Edwards

Picking Up the Pieces

If you look back at the dates on my most recent posts, you’ll see I’ve gone almost a month without blogging. Yes, it’s been busy, but almost two weeks ago I was thrown a major curve.

My dad passed away. Unexpectedly.

We take life (and our businesses) for granted. We think we have another day, another week; look forward to that next project or quoting out the next prospective client. But what if that never happens?

I’ve been trying to ease back into work for the past week, since my dad’s funeral. I inherited his work ethic a long time ago – get things done, no matter what; put forth your absolute best; give 120%; never show your weakness – so naturally I was ready to buck up and move on and get on with business and life.

Easier said than done.

My concentration isn’t there. My heart just isn’t back in it entirely. I find my mind drifting when I’m trying to work on a strategy or even send a simple email.

So how do you pick up the pieces after you’ve lost someone and get back to work?

Slowly, yes. One day at a time, sure. This is my new reality. I easily thought once the funeral was done and over and I was back home I could get on with life and get back to work like I did after my grandmother (who I was super close with) passed last year. Well, in the words of Lee Corso, “not so fast my friend.”

My clients have been amazing throughout this. My Marketing Assistant/Community Manager Jenn Hanford has been an absolute savior keeping the ME Marketing wheels rolling. Everyone has been so understanding, but I’m struggling. I’m trying to give that 120% like I always do, but it’s just not there yet. It will come. Losing a parent is hard. Losing a parent too soon (dad was only 67, and yes, that’s young) is harder.

I know some of you have walked the road I’m starting down. It’s not easy and there are bumps along the way. My faith is holding me up. My husband, family, and friends are there too. And you as well.

So if you happen to see a piece I’ve forgotten to pick up along the way, just let me know and send it my way.

in Entrepreneurship / Featured / General 1 comments

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