Free Oreos On This One

The past couple months have been absolutely crazy, life has no pause button to regroup yourself. Since the previous post I've traveled over 19,300 miles, been in and out of 5 airports and racked up more Southwest points then I would have ever imagined, I love the golden Oreos by the way.  On top of traveling to my new client in California, finding a new place to live, balancing a long distance relationship, helping a best friend get married and coping with a close death in the family I'd say my past 3 months has been a lot to chew.

I've met some incredible people on my recent travels, its amazing how many people you meet when you're sharing an arm rest. Barbers, dentists, Graphic Designers and my last favorite, Swimsuit model. Yeah I laughed too, who would have known. Its funny they all had one thing In common; passion. Everyone I've met truly loved what they did and the people they work with. Those are the people that this world needs, instead of the idiot next to me in the cube farm that thinks he needs another promotion because he knows how to forward his phone. Respect is earned, not given, I know that and I'm 23, these travelers understood that as well. Race, ethnicity, age and gender didn't matter either, something that sometimes plays a role in awkwardness.

Passion is hard to come by though, I sometimes question my passion for what I'm doing, then again I'm 23 and have no idea what my passion is yet. My analogy is simple:

(Career) X Money - Student Loans ÷ Friday night drinks = lifestyle

Lifestyle + Goals  = Passion

My multiple interactions with everyone I've met has really inspired me to take Fuel Your Ambition to the next level. A close friend and I call each other up once a week and spit ideas at each other, ending in laughs and inside jokes. Now its time to take these ideas to life and start turning them into real revenue. My new home in Sacramento has hundreds of small businesses, some with great knowledge on marketing and branding, however most others have a logo from MS Word 97, spiced up with italics and a "unique" font like Tahoma.

What will FYA have over other agencies? Passion for one; second, Drive. Two recent grads busting their ass because we have to. Our generation has lost its touch, work ethic means nothing anymore. Hard work pays off, especially in this industry.

So in the meantime I'm going to soak up the sun, hang out with friends I won't see for a while and partake in random shenanigans as usual. rafting My birthday and many other annual celebrations are on the way.


Sometimes it’s not where you're going but who you're with.

Sacramento is my new playground but Chicago will always be my home.

Challenge Yourself, Each And Every Day.

As I start another week at my job I ask myself, “Am I challenging myself this week?” Sure, battling traffic, random meetings and the creep from the other department is challenging, but when was the last time you actually felt challenged in what you do. Now when I say, “challenged” I don’t mean transactional, time sensitive busy work, I mean creative, strategic thinking for what you’re working on. LifeStyle Ignition's article on 'Fake Work' is taking over corporate America everyday, and I’m definitely not accepting the meeting invite.

When is the last time you answered an email thinking of the next two responses that are going to come after the initial email? I've taken this approach with my clients and received ample feedback.  It saves time and shows your thought process.  How about this, when is the last time you’ve taken a step back, put yourself on mute and asked what is the main point of the conversation, project log or up sell you’re discussing? Listening and re-cooping thoughts is key in communication.

Taking a step back and realizing everything from a birds eye few gives a better perspective on you’re thinking process, and keeps your brain cranking.


For the next couple of months I want you to take a step back whenever you’re working on a project and ask yourself “who’s the hamster on the wheel? And “who’s dangling the carrot?”


Focus on the end in mind.

Marketing - Don't Forget The Basics.

I’ve recently seen a trend with large corporations and their ambition to jump on the social media bandwagon.  Companies are spending millions of dollars implementing campaigns that include social media, mobile marketing and better engagement to their target market. 

Are these companies seeing results or is this campaign a way of making the company seem interactive?

Why waste the dollars and time on a campaign that doesn’t attract the right demographic? To say you’re on Twitter? Great. I’ve seen your tweets their like spam on craigslist.

Companies are forgetting the basics of marketing; Product, Price, Place and Promotion.  Social Media vehicles like twitter and foursquare should be used to drive traffic to these not be stuck in rush hour.  I’m seeing many companies try social media and not see any results.  You have to establish the promotion or product before you drive people to the destination. 

Build the campaign around the 4 P’s of marketing, then reinforce the message and imaging with social media. 

SpotHero, a startup company in the Chicago land area has done a great job enforcing the four P’s of marketing while consistently engaging it’s demographics.  An interactive way to manage your parking, SpotHero allows you to buy and sell local parking spots in the Chicago land area.  Why not rent your driveway when you’re not using? Genius. 

http://spothero.com/

Let take a look at another company; Lawn Doctor.  This corporate company has deployed a marketing campaign to include various social media vehicles including Facebook and Twitter.  The issue is that all of their tweets and fan page updates don’t relate to the (yep you guessed it) product, price, place & promotion. Even if Lawn Doctor focuses on promotion it doesn’t alter it’s message to the demographic on the media vehicle.

I give Lawn Doctor credit for attacking a new media but in order to be more successful the proper promotion will make more sense. Facebook and Twitter are two great medias to promote a specific special or program, pushing customers or trends by using specific hashtags (#) and Facebook links.

I want you to focus on all the promotions you see for the next two weeks, whether they’re social or not. Take a step back and see if it was the right message, wording and imaging to attract your attention.  

Companies spend thousands of dollars for that first impression; see if it really matters to you.

-JG-

The Long Journey For A Competitive Resume

Let’s face it the last time you visited your resume was when you applied to that high school job that paid less then a sweat shop.  Now you’re about to graduate college and see how out of date it is.

Where do you start? Re-write the objective statement? Play with the different fonts?

Negative Batman. Start over.

The resume has changed significantly in the past 3-5 years and your old 100 point resume assignment isn’t going to cut it.  When re-creating your resume you have to think of the end in mind. 

“When this lands on the recruiter’s desk what is he/she going to think?” How can my piece of paper signify my skills and traits?

Writing a resume isn’t a Wednesday night project, it takes weeks of brainstorming and writing, utilizing the best words to describe what you’ve done.  Not only does the wording have to be consistent, but the overall language from each description.  I like to use the S.T.A.R approach when writing key pieces in resumes.  This is an example from 

Situation or Task Describe the situation that you were in or the task that you needed to accomplish. You must describe a specific event or situation, not a generalized description of what you have done in the past. Be sure to give enough detail for the interviewer to understand. This situation can be from a previous job, from a volunteer experience, or any relevant event. Action you took Describe the action you took and be sure to keep the focus on you. Even if you are discussing a group project or effort, describe what you did -- not the efforts of the team. Don't tell what you might do, tell what you did. Results you achieved What happened? How did the event end? What did you accomplish? What did you learn?

I’ve attached my resume that I’ve recently finished.  I like to keep it updated with new accomplishments and projects.  Here are some things I changed and did different then my previous resume.

- Revamped the styling. I utilized InDesign to re-create a better look and feel.

- Dropped the “Objective” statement. The recruiter knows what you’re applying for, that’s why everything is online.

- Focused on the STAR approach. Explain as much as I can in every bullet point.

I’m challenging you to pull out your resume and see if it really signifies you and your work.  Challenge yourself and ask questions around each statement you write. 


-JG-

My First Blog Post

Welcome! This is my first blog post. I'm assuming this will be more of a journey then anything.  In the weeks to come I anticipate many different topics and articles will be posted. Not only informational pieces, but thoughts and ideas from myself.  


Life is full of random acts, long roads, and never ending obstacles.  Take your life back and think about the core things in life. Fuel what you really want to do with your life. Fuel Your Ambition.


-JG-