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•  Here is the best marketing advice from 100 global marketing experts answering the question: – What is your BEST piece of advice for

college graduates looking to get into marketing, PR or social media?

Photo by Werner Vermaak - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/19603926@N00   Created with Haiku Deck  

•  Start building relationships now. Get on Twitter and follow the people in your dream job and the people working for them. Pay attention to what they're talking about and learn what matters. Eventually meet some of them for a coffee with good, relevant questions. Don't want until right when you need a job to start getting involved in the industry you care about.

•  Megan Berry - Head of Community and Social Product Rebel Mouse

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide –http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Button up that personal brand! Developing your professional reputation is critical as you move forward in your career, and there’s no better time to start than right NOW! As a marketer, think of yourself as the product or service you wish to sell, and then do the job you were meant to do. Think hard about what sets you apart and then don’t be afraid to focus on that. Putting yourself out there in your own unique way will help you stand out and attract the position that fits you best — and that’s what it’s all about!

•  Paul Biedermann - re:DESIGN •  Bragging rights: Managing Partner and Editor-in-

Chief of 12 Most, named one of the Top 100 Influencers in Social Media.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide –http://HeidiCohen.com  

•  Learn how to write code.

•  Matt Blumberg – CEO, ReturnPath

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide –http://HeidiCohen.com  

•  I'd tell them to look and do this for a cause they believe in rather than instantly working for a big agency. They'd still learn the skills they crave, but the work they'd be doing would be for something they were passionate about, rather than a different client every few months that they might not care one bit about.

•  C.C. Chapman - Author & Explorer •  Bragging Rights: Author of Content Rules

and Amazing Things Will Happen.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide –http://HeidiCohen.com  

•  My best advice is to start a blog and build relationships with relevant people in your industry. You need to build your personal brand and creating great content and networking with the right people will help significantly.

•  You develop your personal brand over time so there's no better time to start your blog than now. When you want to build relationships with influential people focus on how you can help them and you'll be very successful.

•  Ian Cleary – RazorSocial •  Bragging rights: Founder of Razorsocial, world-

leading resource for information on social media tools.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com  

•  Start a blog as soon as possible about the industry that you would like to work in. You must also have real passion for the field. Don't worry about the technical stuff (Wordpress.com is fine) or the audience (you are writing for yourself). If every week you review the latest news and company examples in your targeted industry, and write about them, then when you get an interview, you will no longer sound like a recent college grad, but someone who has been immersed in the industry and has a point of view about it.

•  Jeffrey L. Cohen - Distinguished Lecturer, Ball State University and SocialMediaB2B.com

•  Bragging rights: Co-author of The B2B Social Media Book.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Take an inventory of your skills, talents, core values, and passions and align them with your career goals. Drive your career path by focusing on opportunities that are meaningful and purposeful to you. Get out of your comfort zone and expand your knowledge and skills in different areas of marketing. Focus on acquiring valuable skills, creating value and delivering quality. Read about your industry, network with professionals and learn from their experiences. Last but not least, strive for harmony in your life.

•  Carlos A. Coriano – Founder, NovaVision Marketing LLC •  Bragging rights: Adjunct Professor at the School of

Management of the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico in Orlando, FL. His research and publishing credits include Mintel International Group and eReview of Tourism Research.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Sharpen a skill for each half of your brain: creative and technical. It could be music and math, design and puzzles. Great marketers are "middle-brained." The best are analytical writers. Go broad and deep.

•  Andy Crestodina - Orbit Media Studios, Inc. •  Bragging rights: Author of

Content Chemistry.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Create tactics to talk about during interviews. Find a news event and create awareness for a relevant cause using the event as an example for why the cause is needed (example #bringbackourgirls). Create a hashtag and drive traffic to that cause repeatedly as the story develops, develop your voice. See how many retweets, mentions and people use the hashtag over time. Repeat.

•  Engage in Guerrilla Networking. Signup for a continuing education advertising class. While fulfilling the assignment requirements and interacting with your classmates (who are usually working professionals as well), gain the respect of the facilitator through the quality of your thinking/contributions in the class. Voilà, you now have an advisor/ potential employer who is invested in your progress because they taught you.

•  Douglas Quejuan Davis

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Start building relationships with professionals in the career fields you want to work in. You can meet professionals in these industries by spending time engaging in relevant LinkedIn groups – or by attending industry conferences.  The more relationships you build, the more opportunity you’ll have.

•  Mike Delgado - Experian

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Because you are going into marketing, it is imperative you demonstrate your ability to not only use the social networks to connect with friends, but to the organizations where you think you might like to work. Find the people who work there and follow them, start conversations with them, ask them questions, and learn what you can about the culture. This will show your ability to start new relationships via the social networks and will give you a leg up from the competition who still sends cover letters and resumes (and it happens all the time). If you’re a real go-getter, also keep a blog. It can be a personal blog or it can be something you use for your schoolwork. Demonstrate your ability to create content, build community through the comments, and encourage people to share it.

•  Gini Dietrich - Arment Dietrich and Spin Sucks •  Bragging rights: Spin Sucks, the book, is here!

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  We interview a lot of candidates in these areas, and in short, we seek out the people who are gonzo; and by that I mean more Hunter S. Thompson than the Muppet! I mean someone who eats, drinks, and sleeps the stuff; that is not only an active participant, themselves, but is also reading everything they can find. They’re not waiting to be taught, but are reaching into the world and taking the knowledge they need.

•  Ric Dragon – DragonSearch •  Bragging rights: Author of Social Marketology

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Learn how to write well. Whether you want to get into social media or marketing analytics, you need to be able to write down your ideas with clarity, and concisely.

•  Good writing makes your social media presence look more professional. It makes your CV more polished. 

•  A good writer stands out in the job market.

•  Henneke Duistermaat - Enchanting Marketing •  Bragging rights: Irreverent copywriter and

marketer on a mission to stamp out gobbledygook

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  This is because I don't really have any advice specific to the marketing/PR space. The best advice I ever received is two-fold and universally relevant: –  On any job, be 100% present until you decide not to be.

You're happy, you're not happy, you might stay or you might leave... being ambivalent becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and generates its own discontent. Be in the game every minute until you decide not to play.

–  No moment of anger or frustration is worth the negative long-term impact it can have on your own marketability. If you feel like firing off a nasty email or saying something really negative - even when you are 100% in the right - say to yourself, "If I still want to do this tomorrow, I will." (a) that gives you permission to still have the feelings, which are often legitimate, and (b) you will hardly ever want to react the same way if you give yourself a 24-hour cooling-off period and you're far more likely to do something more constructive.

•  Stephanie Fierman - Global CMO, MediaCom Worldwide

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Build and present a personal brand that goes beyond digital. Marketing agencies and brand managers appreciate the digital-savviness of Millennials; however, I look for those who understand that technology is just a channel and not full strategy. Write blog posts, record podcasts, publish Google Hangouts, etc. that showcase your understanding of the underlying marketing principles that make social marketing and digital campaigns work.

•  Sam Fiorella - Sensei Marketing •  Bragging rights: Co-author of

Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  You need to show you had experience that aligns with what you think you want to do. A professional persona, a dose of humble modesty (no, you will not be the CEO in 6 months) and a healthy sense of enthusiasm wins every time.

•  Sue Geramian - SVP, Global Brand Communications - MRM//McCann

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Professional networking is critical to getting your "foot in the door" and future success. Go beyond attending industry events and join volunteer committees that allow you to regularly interact with leaders in your desired field of marketing.

•  Chad Ghastin - The New York Times •  Bragging rights: Survived Professor

Cohen's rigorous finance course at NYU.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Apply what you've learned in your marketing/PR/Social Marketing education to yourself. Turn yourself into a brand and then market that to potential employers. This will prove to employers that not only do you have the education of how to do something, you have the skills and knowledge to actually apply these tactics successfully.

•  Alan K'necht - Digital Always Media Inc. •  Bragging rights: Author of

The Last Original Idea - A Cynic's View to Internet Marketing

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Don't treat your first job as a lifelong commitment.  Take a job where the learning curve will be steep, and where there are people around you who are ready, willing, and able to teach you.  In other words, treat your first job like it's a really intense one- or two-year graduate school experience, except you're getting paid to go to school.  Then, be a sponge.  Keep your eyes and ears open.  Be openly curious and ask good questions.  Work like crazy, and don't worry about how little you're being paid -- this is "graduate school," after all.  Be willing to "swing and miss" a few times.  And then, figure out what you REALLY want to do with the rest of your life.

•  Michael Kolowich – KnowledgeVision •  Bragging rights: Former Emmy-winning TV News

Producer/Reporter (my first job out of college)

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  To break into marketing/pr/social media I think someone should be able to demonstrate the needed skills, including the ability to curate from vast sources of content, find/unravel unique perspectives, express themselves/their beliefs via written and visual content, have a sense of what makes things good vs. bad in term of product design and capabilities, and understand how consumers think and what it takes to persuade them. I would like to know what they read and how they learn new things and how they resolve differing opinions since there is so many in our world. 

•  Leslie Laredo, President -Laredo Group •  Bragging rights: Still in business after 18 years and

have trained over 70,000 media professionals! 

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  My recommendation is that you combine internships (paid because most internships should be paid) with working to help market nonprofits you care about. My understanding is that nonprofits can accept marketing help on a volunteer basis. Also it helps if you demonstrate your passion for marketing by having a blog, and social media presence specifically addressing the wonderful world of marketing, advertising, PR and Social Media.

•  Read the industry trade press, comment on it via the personal blog and social media presence, you’ll learn and also develop a reputation as a subject matter expert. HR departments and executives will respect the work you put into it.

•  Kevin Lee CEO, Didit •  Bragging rights: Author of

Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way To The Top, The Truth About Pay-Per-Click-Search, and The Eyes Have It.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Network! There are so many fabulous meetups now, and great ways to learn more about your field of choice. Getting a job is like getting married—the more people who know you are on the market, the more you will land the job of your dreams. Print up cards with your name and your interests with your contact information. But more importantly, get those contacts’ cards, so you can reach out and schedule informational interviews. 

•  Ahava R. Leibtag - Aha Media Group, LLC

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Read, research, experiment and fail. I had no marketing experience whatsoever when I started. Reading and research set an initial direction, but it was experimenting and failing with side projects that provided the greatest lessons.

•  Jon Loomer - JonLoomer.com

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  My PROTIP for newbies is to pick a discipline and go deep. The world hates a generalist (at least at this stage of your career). When you are ready to move into management and leadership, then worry about going broad and learning about other disciplines.

•  Sean McGinnis - Sears Parts Direct and 312 Digital

•  Bragging rights: The only actor with a law degree running a marketing team for a Fortune 100 company (Is this actually true? Who cares, it sounds AWESOME!)

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Be there for the team and take even the smallest job or project seriously. Every job and every project you have matters. Focus on doing the best you can do at every opportunity. Focus on networking, earning trust and obtaining powerful references. The better you do at the small projects, the better and larger projects you will be trusted with. I have seen many people ruin their careers by holding out until the perfect job, while the rest of us were gaining experience and later hiring them to work for us.

•  Pam Moore - Marketing Nutz •  Bragging rights: Forbes Top 10 Social Media Power

Influencer and Forbes Top 5 Social Media Women

•  Due to the accelerated rate at which online marketing and its many subsets change, mediocre self-directed professional development simply won't cut it. Many entering the workforce today will share the same basic knowledge you will have. What then will distinguish you? Adopt the 3x5x50 habit. Resolve yourself to shoot for three hours of research, betterment, or direct skill learning per day, five days per week, fifty weeks of the year. In your car, while you exercise, while mowing the grass, in bed, whatever it takes. It's a habit that could add 750 hours of professional development time per year that your peers won't have. Don't fear not doing three hours per day, fear doing none.

•  Kevin Mullett - Cirrus ABS and MarketSnare •  Bragging rights: I'm the marketing tools guy.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Double major in sociology and math, with a heavy emphasis on statistics. The future will belong to those who can straddle the hard quantitative data world while retaining the empathy to understand the world.

•  Jim Nail - Principal Analyst, Forrester Research

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Work for a company that you are passionate about, can pay you and has budget. Work hard to find a company that has all three. Anyone can work for free but will the company be committed to you if they are not paying you? Marketing with no budget is really hard especially if you are just setting out.  Marketing is always much more fun if you truly believe in the product / service.

•  Murray Newlands - Influence People •  Bragging rights: Awarded an EB1 Visa and

green card as a famous writer.  Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  In marketing - and probably just about any field of business - there is the skill you bring to the table that sets you apart and the skills you don't posses. Becoming a leader within any organization requires not only refining your own skill set, but being able to recognize the talents you don't have in others. Be the best at what you do, know what a master of the skills you don't have looks like, and find ways to collaborate that brings out the best in everyone's skill set.

•  Jesse Noyes – Kapost •  Bragging rights: Senior Director of Content

Marketing

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  My best piece of advice for college grads is to find an entrepreneur who is building a business online today to be your mentor (or if you're lucky, to hire you). These are the folks who typically wear all the hats and bare the responsibility for their own marketing, social media, and PR. In my younger years I worked some for my Dad who was and still is an very successful entrepreneur. I learned more lessons about growing a business from him than anyone in my corporate career. Successful entrepreneurs know how to market, sell, and grow a business in any environment!

•  Stephanie Sammons - Wired Advisor •  Bragging rights: Named by LinkedIn as a Top 25

Social Media Expert

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Don't think for a moment that a degree is enough. Get some work experience through internships, even if you have to do it for free. It's a highly competitive job market and you need to be able to SHOW people what you can do. Also, take a couple statistics classes. Marketing today is about math.

•  Mark W. Schaefer - Schaefer Marketing Solutions

•  Bragging rights: Author of the world's best-selling book on Twitter, The Tao of Twitter

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  To quote an oldie but goodie ad slogan from NIKE – “Just Do It”. They should be on social media, writing, engaging and developing a point-of-view what they are passionate about. This will show the world and future employers what they can do.

•  Network, network, network: Meet people through internships, professional associations and industry meetings. Get out there and meet people, find out what is going on, and don’t be afraid to ask for an informational interview.

•  Kathy Greenler Sexton - VP & General Manager, Content & Information Services of Software & Information Industry Association (SIIA)�

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Stay humble, always be willing to do the job no one wants, and never underestimate the power of getting into the office a half hour before everyone else. 

•  Peter Shankman – ShankMinds •  Bragging rights: Founded and sold

HARO/Help a Reporter Out and best selling author

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

1.  Digital, digital, digital! 2.  Network: Ask people for advice and who else

you should talk to. Don’t ask them for a job. 3.  Create a 30-second elevator speech in plain

English that says who you are, what makes you distinctive, what you’re looking for, how you can help an employer now. It should be easy to remember and say and run no more than 60 words.

•  Jim Siegel - HealthCare Chaplaincy Network •  Bragging rights: Executive Vice President for

Marketing & Communications

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  This is quick and simple -- latch on to a mentor who knows her way around the world, when they invite you to guest post on their blog, do it(!), and network at many/any of the #RockHot social marketing conferences in the industry.

•  A mentor, development of a personal brand, and networking in person are still the keys to success regardless of the era we're in. And, oh, BTW? I AM that mentor! Positively willing to help a new grad.

•  Jayme Soulati - Soulati Media, Inc. •  Bragging rights: 4 years as professional blogger

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Realize that your ideal job may require a while to attain. Take work that will help you build a series of skills to prepare you to win that dream job. It may take years, but in the end, slow and thought out always beats the quick that burn out.

•  Mike Stelzner – CEO of Social Media Examiner

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Don’t be averse to being a temporary worker in the marketing, public affairs or social media division of a company.  My first job in public relations was as a temp worker at Pocket Books, a division of Simon & Schuster.  After six months as a temp in their public relations department, they offered me a full time job.  Given it was publishing, I actually made more money as a temp than my full time job.

•  I receive dozens of inquiries a month from parents and new graduates alike looking for me to hook them up with a job.  A better option is to develop self-reliance and figure out what you can do for yourself.  I did not have the fortune or misfortune of having parents help me find a career.  As such, I applied to a dozen employment agencies and temporary agencies and went from job to job. Until I found myself at Simon & Schuster, I had no real interest in the work.  Find your passion by fueling your own journey.

•  Nancy Tamosaitis-Thompson - Vorticom •  Bragging rights: Founder of Vorticom in 2003, author of four books

including net.talk (ziff davis press, 2004)

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

1.  Be open to change – marketing, PR and social media are not stagnant, they are evolving.

2.  Look wider than your talents and skills to other parts of the business you work with – there is great learning from what others are doing who are not in your ‘space’.

•  Beth Temple - bethtemple4u llc •  Bragging rights: Led effort for a transformative

global platform for Credit Suisse that resulted in a MIT/Sloan case study.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Start by doing something on your own that achieves success, and start by showing that you can build or follow a process. These two fundamentals can go a long way towards overcoming the objection of "You don't have enough experience". Remember that someone who says that is really saying, "I'm too busy to babysit you and bring you up to speed, and it'll slow down my organization to try. I can hire someone with more experience who can get me where I need to go, faster." Today's marketing leaders have a lot of pressure to perform - how will you help THEM hit THEIR goals? Spend your time actually building some successes of your own that demonstrate these points, even if it's working on a pro bono project like a church newsletter or a coffee shop social media campaign. Learn to speak and understand business in business terms, and it'll go a long way towards getting you in and to the top.

•  Dana Todd-Chief Marketing Officer, Aftermath •  Bragging rights: Rang the bell at NASDAQ, co-founder of

SEMPO, and patent holder for news SEO software.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  My advice? Avoid Monster.com and other similar sites like the plague. Your resume will go into a huge black hole if you use them. Studies show that 75% of all jobs still come via connections, so ask your friends and family to connect you with people they know in the business. Also, at the end of every interview, ask, “Do you know anyone else who might be interested in seeing my resume?” That way, you can keep the cycle of new job prospects going.

•  Jamie Turner - 60 Second Communications •  Bragging rights: Co-Author of several books on

marketing and regular guest on CNN and HLN on the topics of social and mobile marketing.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

1.  Look for every opportunity available, cast a wide net in your search

2.  Focus in on the specific area that most interests you (SEO, content marketing, branding, social, etc)

3.  Don’t be afraid to start as a non-paid intern. if you are good, you'll get a job offer quickly

4.  Bring your passion, ideas and energy and make a mark!

•  Jon Wuebben - Content Launch •  Bragging rights: Author of Content is Currency,

one of the leading books in the space.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

Photo by Mukumbura - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/11738433@N03   Created with Haiku Deck  

•  My recommendation for young professionals who are interested in marketing, sales and PR is to start by finding something you are truly passionate about. You have to ask why you are doing what you are doing. And decide whether the answer to that question maps to the things that motivate you. More simply, the secret to getting ahead is aligning your career mission, your passions and personal motivations with a skill that businesses are looking for.  Aside from that, just show up with a good attitude, remember that little things matter (like sending "thank you" and other follow-up emails!), and try to learn as much as you can. I have found that the people that get ahead are the ones that seek to grow by learning from others and new challenges.

•  Michael Brenner - Head of Strategy, Newscred •  Bragging rights: B2B Marketing Insider

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  I have no advice for making a career in social media. It's brand new and still not clear there is such a thing as a social media career.

•  Otherwise my advice is, be young, be broke, be hungry, but work as closely as you can to the part of the business you want in on. Decide where you want to be in 8 years-- and it's ok to reach-- but develop as clear a picture as possible of where you want to be. Then make sure every step you take is in that direction. Even if they're baby steps, that's fine.

•  Also, call your mother often.

•  Josh Chasin - Chief Research Officer - comScore

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Set life goals. Include everything, not just your career. Your life is a canvas waiting for you to act.

•  Dream big and act small. Take the job you can get.

•  Don’t wait—start now!!

•  Heidi Cohen – Actionable Marketing Guide •  Bragging rights: Lucky to have great

parents, a wonderful husband, and a fun job.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Have confidence but don't be over-confident. Confidence is knowing you've done everything to prepare for: the job interview, day-to-day tasks, a call with a client, etc. Over-confidence is thinking you know more than the: interviewer, your co-workers, the client, etc. Have an open mind and treat every interaction as a learning opportunity. Having confidence is saying "I didn't know that.  

•  Bill Flitter - dlvr.it •  Bragging rights: Founder of dlvr.it. Serial

entrepreneur. Green Bay Packer fan. Youth basketball coach. Lover of organic food.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Actually try to sell something using social media channels. [Note: Danny’s full answer is in this 54 second audio bite.]

•  Danny Iny - Founder/CEO, Firepole Marketing

•  Bragging rights: Author of Engagement From Scratch!

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Always be problem solving! Don't think about how to be a "cool" marketer. Think about how you can help. How you can help the community, how you can add value to those you interact with, and how you can solve business challenges. 

•  Carrie Kerpen - Likeable

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

1.  Don’t do it! 2.  Work through different functions in a large organization

to get a good grounding on reality first. Marketing at is best is organized common sense.

3.  Start your own business however small. 4.  Don’t assume anyone is an expert in social media - they

aren’t, but some have a lot of experience to share. 5.  Build your network - Go to events, try things out, think

about places you would like to have contacts and connections, and build them.

6.  Have confidence - Share your ideas, but don’t undersell them!

7.  Start from your own frame of reference and work out - Many companies are trying to target youth and work with up and coming talent, you know what its like.

•  Liz Machtynger - Customer Essential

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

1.  Stay positive (or at the very least be constructive when you hit difficult situations).

2.  Take care of yourself (Sleep 8 hours a night and work out).

3.  Position yourself in growth industries. 4.  Condition yourself to take a long view in

contrast to many new graduates who come across as entitled in seeking instant gratification.

5.  Don't be afraid to make mistakes, but don't make the same mistake twice.

•  Robert McCutcheon - Razorfish

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  As Brené Brown says, get in the arena, ignore the critics in the stand and "Dare Greatly!” Don’t put imaginary obstacles in front of yourself (first I have to take this class or get some experience before I can write a blog, etc.). Nope! Just get out there and do it. Fail forward, get constant feedback and learn quickly so you can keep growing. Turn any Post Traumatic Stress type situation into a Post Traumatic Growth opportunity. Read everyday, smile often, be confident & follow your bliss!

•  Heather Meza - Cisco Systems, Inc. and www.themarketingevolutionist.com (just started!)

•  Bragging rights: Conversion Content Marketing Coach, Long-time Mentor, Speaker, Self-proclaimed Marketing Evolutionist/Freedom Fighter!

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Commit to a professional philosophy of "kaizen", the need for continuous improvement. The digital marketing industry is a constantly changing and evolving arena and the top professionals know that it is mandatory to be learning, growing and asking great questions all the time. Start your professional career as a life-long student and you will not only become one of the best, you will always be excited to be in marketing. 

•  Pamela Muldoon - Next Stage Media Group •  Bragging rights:  Host of Content Marketing 360

podcast 

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Ignore the glamour of the field, at the end of the day you're in a service business. And to that end what you're doing is no different than a bodega or a top law firm — you're there to deliver results while keeping the client happy. 

•  Michael Pinto - Very Memorable, Inc. •  Bragging rights: Designed the website

and games for Thomas & Friends on PBS. 

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  The number one most important thing to do as a recent college grad seeking marketing/PR work is to tap into your sense of purpose, and to make that purpose more than simply "making money." By knowing your purpose, you'll be better able to align yourself with employers that share your purpose and your values. This will empower you to create work (i.e. content) which, at the end of each day, you will feel good about because your marketing efforts will have been "purpose focused." Combining a sense of purpose with a respect for the role of data-driven insight in aligning content with audiences will make you a force to be reckoned with, today and in the future.

•  Russell Sparkman - FusionSpark Media •  Bragging rights: Florida-friendly Yards, a purpose focused

content marketing initiative for the Florida Department of Environmental Protection that is still the highest Google ranking site for the topic, 10 years after launch.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Learn By Being Wrong. Don't intentionally try to be wrong, but just accept that in life and in your career you ARE going to be wrong and look at each wrong as a learning situation rather than as a failure. I've learned that I can change my life for the better by being wrong, that I need to ask for help so that I can bypass some mistakes, and most importantly, that I don't always have to "win" by being right.

•  Hollis Thomases LinkedIn #IfIWere22 •  Bragging rights:

Inc.com's Digital Entrepreneur Columnist, ClickZ's Media Planning Strategies Columnist and author of Twitter An Hour A Day.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Never stop learning. No one knows everything. Don’t be afraid to admit when you don’t know something, and learn from the best whenever you can.

•  Shari Thurow - Omni Marketing Interactive •  Bragging rights: Pioneered search-engine

friendly web design (wrote the first book), co-authored first book on web search and usability.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Never stop learning. Network and connect with everyone!

•  Eric Tung @EricTTung

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  My best pieces of advice are 3 simple ideas, garnered from favorite professors - and my experiences. 1.  Always be who you are – you never know who would

love the person you hide. 2.  The devil is in the details – you are a brand in yourself,

so everything from correspondence, to appearance, to your Internet persona should be unquestionable.

3.  Think of the top three achievements you are most proud of – make sure to speak to all of them on a first job interview, and your confidence will soar.

•  Andrea Zeluck - Ann Inc. •  Bragging rights: Award-winning fashion copywriter

with NYU M.S., Direct and Interactive Marketing.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

Photo by Leo Reynolds - Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/49968232@N00   Created with Haiku Deck  

•  It doesn't matter what flavor of marketing or communications you want to tackle, my best advice is to get comfortable with analytics and statistics. Whomever can best measure results gets control of marketing budgets, and Excel is your friend, not your nemesis. If you got into communications because you were told there would be no math, unfortunately you were misled.

•  Jay Baer - Convince & Convert  •  Bragging Rights: New York Times best-selling

author of Youtility and host of the Social Pros podcast.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Focus on psychology, not technology. Effective marketing requires understanding why people do what they do.

•  Jonah Berger - The Wharton School •  Bragging rights: Bestselling author of

Contagious: Why Things Catch On

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  You learn marketing by doing it, not by studying it so you just need to start. If you can't convince someone to give you a marketing job, volunteer to be the marketer for a non-profit, community group or club, or just market yourself if all else fails. Set goals and targets and try lots of things to hit them. You will learn much more actually doing marketing than you will reading a million blog posts how you might do it.

•  April Dunford - Tulip Retail and RocketWatcher.com

•  Bragging rights: I have launched 9 products and have run marketing/sales at 5 startups.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Learn to identify business objectives and how to match them to real benefits that are attractive to a specific audience.

•  Whenever you read or hear about a successful product take a few minutes to figure out what it is trying to do, what benefits it offers and to whom.

•  Your job will be to create and articulate those messages and to find the right audiences to communicate them with. So get good at it and become more valuable.

•  Jeff Ente - Who’s Blogging What •  Bragging rights: An email newsletter for 20,000 marketers

rely on to keep up to date on social and other forms of digital marketing.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Learn to think beyond campaign and ad-driven marketing models.

•  Dave Evans- Lithium Technologies and ReadThis.com

•  Bragging rights: VP, Social Strategy; author of Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day and Social Customer Experience

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  One word. Analytics. (Yes, I am channeling "The Graduate.")

•  Neil Feinstein - President & Owner- Zezo Digital

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  The best skill you can learn for marketing, PR or social media is storytelling. Learn to engage your users and get them emotionally involved in your story. Think of how Bill Clinton got an audience engaged in a way that Barack Obama cannot. Challenge yourself with a creative writing class, then figure out how to apply that to professional work.

•  Barry Graubart - Content Matters

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Find a particular niche subject within Marketing that you’re passionate about. Read avidly, learn fiercely, every day. Blog about it, teach about it, speak about it and keep learning. Don’t be afraid to bomb, to look like a fool or to admit that you don’t know it all, as long as you are open, honest and keen to improve you will never fail.

•  AJ Huisman - Kennedy Van der Laan Law Firm (The Netherlands)

•  Bragging rights: Director Marketing & Business Development of innovative Dutch Law Firm Kennedy Van der Laan, more than 20 years of experience in Marketing and Business Development in Professional Service Firms and a regular speaker on the subject of Content Marketing, among others twice at Content Marketing World.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  You need to recognize that whatever you know today about marketing, PR or social media has a very short shelf life. Just like perishable foods, marketing strategies and PR tactics should have an advisory best before, mandatory use by, or freshness date stamped on them. The first edition of my book, YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour a Day, was published in 2009. By the time the second edition of my step-by-step guide was published in 2011, more than two-thirds of the strategies and tactics in the first edition were out-of-date. So, find a way to keep up-to-date with industry trends. You can read blogs or attend conferences. But, whatever you do, don't read the second edition of my book. The only chapter that isn't out-of-date two-and-a-half years later is Chapter 1: A Short History of YouTube. 

•  Greg Jarboe - SEO-PR •  Bragging rights: Author of

YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day and member of the faculty at Rutgers and Market Motive as well as a frequent speaker at ClickZ Live and Reel Video Summit. Also writes for ClickZ, ReelSEO and Knowledge Transfer

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Don’t talk about how much you like and use social media like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest. Who doesn’t? Instead, focus on digital marketing and the value you can bring to the agency or brand that is considering hiring you. Let them know you are willing to work hard, pay your dues and be a voracious learner. Understand that today, almost everything is measureable and that’s what the executives care about. How are you going to help them grow?

•  And read! - Moz.org, Mashable, Content Marketing Institute and maybe even Vertical Measures.

•  Arnie Kuenn - Vertical Measures •  Bragging rights: Wrote the content marketing “how-

to” book called Accelerate!

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  My best piece of advice is to come prepared to “disrupt the norm” meaning come ready to shake things up.  There’s too much complacency in the marketing place and the thing that moves industry is innovation, but innovation can only be sparked by “disruptors”, individuals who are willing to take an idea and be bold to risk.

•  Some of your most successful marketers are disruptors (Steve Jobs, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, etc.)

•  Paul A McDonnough - Vice President, Conference & Events, Direct Marketing Association

•  Bragging Rights: I produce the largest global event geared towards and focused on the data-driven marketing industry.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  First, understand that marketing in every flavor is all about customer engagement, and it's all driven by data.  Forget opinions, emotions and stale maxims of old.  Everything is now done by the numbers.  So you need to have all the skills that marketers are heralded for - creativity, collaboration, great writing skills, strong analysis, good listening and excellent, natural people skills.   Now, you also need to do quite a bit of math, and work closely with data scientists who will help you tackle the massive amounts of data you need to get the right offer to the right person at the right time in the right channel.   You can do it!    And, thanks for considering marketing as your career - it's an exciting place to be.

•  Stephanie Miller – DMA •  Bragging rights:  Customer advocate by day, NYC

adventurer by night.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  IMO the best preparation for a marketing career these days is to feed both sides of your brain. We look for those unique individuals who are as comfortable with data and analytics as they are with ideation because truly strategic marketing relies on insights.

•  Robin Neifield - Netplus •  Bragging rights: All things digital

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Any graduate looking to get into the marketing, PR or social media field should already be active in the industry. There is zero or very little cost of entry for networking, volunteering or interning to gain experience and connections. The social web makes identifying and engaging with experienced practitioners a lot easier. 

•  Think about what kind of career you want to have and with what kind of company. Then find those people and those companies so you can start networking your way into their field of view. Connect with them and find out what skills and resources they really need. Do your best to gain those skills and show/demonstrate your progress.  

•  If you have ideas about a business, cause or project - do your best to make those things happen and show how you've learned the ins and outs, ups and downs through blogging. 

•  However, being active with a blog, on LinkedIn and other social networks isn't useful for career networking unless the real-life experiences you are documenting are meaningful. The digital marketing and PR industry is starved for social media savvy creative problem solvers that understand how to measure outcomes and performance that actually matters to a business.  

•  Lee Odden - CEO - TopRankMarketing.com •  Bragging rights: Author of Optimize

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  If you are a recent college graduate looking to get into the field of marketing, you need to go out there and start marketing your own website. If you don’t have a website, you can create a blog for free at WordPress.com.

•  The reason you need to market your own website is because you’ll learn more from practical experience versus reading about marketing from text books or blogs.

•  Neil Patel - I'm Kind of a Big Deal, LLC and quicksprout.com

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Congratulations! You've chosen to embark on a fascinating and challenging career path by focusing on a discipline that's not fully understood (marketing), not fully trusted (PR), or not fully respected (social media) by many company owners and senior executives. But that's part of the fun. Being a digital native gives you a valuable leg up in terms of technology use, but to succeed you'll need to be able to combine your technical skills with business knowledge. Read, listen, and observe to learn as much as you can about buyer psychology (why do people buy what your employer sells?), influencer hot-buttons (what makes a great story), and business concerns (how does what you do relate to increasing revenue, marketshare, or profitability?). Learn to combine your knowledge of technology tools with the ability to communicate value and compel action, and you'll do great.

•  Tom Pick - KC Associates and  Webbiquity •  Bragging rights: Named one of the 50 most influential B2B

marketing thought leaders and a top-5 B2B marketing to watch by the American Marketing Association. Quoted in Fast Company, Forbes, and Inc. magazines. Webbiquity blog has won the MarketingSherpa Readers Choice award for best B2B marketing blog.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  If you can't find a job in PR or marketing that suits, get out there and SELL.  A professional sales job will give you skills and insight that will be useful for the remainder of your career, especially persuasion and persistence.

•  Sarah Skerik - Vice President Strategic Communications, PR Newswire//MultiVu

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Have your head examined and get your heart tested.

•  The left-brain/right-brain dichotomy in this industry is enormous. There is so much to know and understand about technology. There is so much to know and understand about psychology. If you feel strongly that you fall heavily to one side or the other, wallow in it and become an expert! But if, like me, you love both sides, then dive in very deep, very fast so you can hold your own with the technology, the analytics and the customer experience people.

•  Think about it like medicine. If you love science, go into research. If you love science and people, study to become a treating physician. There is so much to learn that I promise you will never be bored!

•  Jim Sterne - Founder eMetrics Summit  •  Bragging Rights: Author of Social Media Metrics and Chairman of

Digital Analytics Association

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Never lose your passion. Passion fuels your energy. It's what keeps you moving forward, what shapes who you are. Don't let others extinguish your passion. And dare to dream, always. Channel your passion towards achieving your goals and building your dreams. As Tony Gaskins Jr. once said: “If you don’t build your own dream someone else will hire you to help build theirs.”

•  Ekaterina Walter – CMO, Househappy •  Bragging rights: Social media trailblazer,

international speaker, an author of the Wall Street Journal bestseller Think Like Zuck and co-author of The Power of Visual Storytelling

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Read. Try Stuff. Ask for Help.

•  Todd Wheatland - King Content •  Bragging rights: Author of SlideShare

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Get grounded in the basics: the language and history of our industry. Building a solid foundation will mean that you will much more easily understand where new innovations such as social media communications fit, and it will also help you communicate effectively in a familiar language. Innovating is all about pressure testing and breaking the rules - but first, it helps to understand what the rules are, or have been. 

•  Tania Yuki – Shareablee •  Bragging rights: Recently named one of 10

women driving digital in NY

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

Photo by nan palmero - Creative Commons Attribution License https://www.flickr.com/photos/97402086@N00   Created with Haiku Deck  

•  The lines around Marketing, PR and Social Media have blurred.  You need to understand the paradigm shift that has occurred.  New communications tools and digitally engaged consumers have changed the way we market products and services, the way we represent our brands and the way we communicate with constituents.  Anyone entering these fields needs to understand that these fields have changed and even morphed into something new. Read everything you can. Be open, creative, excited.  Immerse yourself in sites like MarketingProfs.com and Hubspot.com, read bloggers like Scott Monty and follow as many people in your field as you can on Twitter.  Most importantly, appreciate that you are beginning your career at an amazing time when there is so much opportunity to make a real difference.

•  If I could recommend one book to recent grads it would be the ground breaking Cluetrain Manifesto.  For me, it put into perspective how business as usual was no longer an option...If I could recommend two, I just finished "Hatching Twitter" (the history of the platform) and it is a great lesson in perseverance, hard work, loyalty and betrayal and the speed at which things are changing in the digital space.

•  Nora Ganim Barnes, Ph.D. - Director, Center for Marketing Research- University of Massachusetts Dartmouth

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Use the tools at your disposal. Follow people you find interesting in the field. Share, comment on, favorite, or otherwise engage with content they create (as long as you authentically find it valuable or interesting). Create content yourself in some digital channel that appeals to you - even if it's on a personal rather than professional topic; this could be on Tumblr, Slideshare, Medium, Pinterest, or anywhere appealing to you. Learn by doing, and you'll have so much more credibility when going on interviews.

•  David Berkowitz – MRY and Marketers Studio  •  Bragging rights: Gave the keynote address at my

alma mater Binghamton University's Fall 2013 Commencement

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  This sounds totally obvious, but I have met too many grads who are not paying attention to the importance of LinkedIn and how their profiles are a determining factor for prospective employers. No Linkedin profile, no job offer.

•  Do as many "projects" or internships as possible during your college years and list out the details of those projects to illustrate the experience. 

•  List your LinkedIn profile on your resume.

•  Get endorsements and recommendations.

•  Have all your letters of reference also be published on LinkedIn.

•  Build your profile and your connections early, like start building it your freshman year of college (or earlier!).  

•  Lisa Buyer - The Buyer Group •  Bragging Rights: Author of Social PR Secrets. 

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Establish a professional social media presence for your self. Use it to demonstrate that you have the ability to build a strong following, post engaging status updates, and keep up to date on the trends in the marketing and PR world. Also develop a blog where you discuss the latest marketing and PR strategies - this will help you establish yourself as someone who is knowledgeable in the industry.

•  Kristi Hines - Kikolani.com •  Bragging rights: Freelance writer & professional

blogger.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Employers expect your own social media and online presence to represent the quality of the marketing you would do for their brand. That means they are going to look you up in social media – especially LinkedIn, but probably also Facebook. First, make your Facebook page settings private unless you strictly use it for career-related content. Secondly, buff and polish your LinkedIn profile so you have a professional-looking headshot (not a graduation or wedding or party picture), and solid entries for your relevant experience. Make sure your jobs link to the company LinkedIn pages where relevant. And, if you are applying for a social media job, make sure you have more than a handful of LinkedIn contacts. Lastly, if you are looking for a job in a city other than the one you currently live in, consider adjusting your LinkedIn profile to show that you are already “in” the new region. That way your profile will show up in employer’s searches and you will be ‘recommended’ by LinkedIn for relevant jobs when local employers post job ads there.

•  Anne Holland WhichTestWon.com •  Bragging rights: The world’s largest library of real-life A/B split

tests.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  My best advice for a college graduate is to spend less time on Instagram and more time on LinkedIn. The name of the game is building your network. You are going to find out very quickly that everything you need or want to do career wise is going to depend on relationships and the quality of your network moving forward.

•  Jason Miller – LinkedIn and www.rocknrollcocktail.com

•  Bragging rights: Award Winning Rock n Roll Concert Photographer

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Publish all relevant experience on your social media profiles. Social media has changed how employers and recruiters find talent. They search using relevant keywords for the jobs they are trying to fill. LinkedIn, Twitter and Google+ are especially important. If you've taken a relevant course is college, call it out; if you've interned on a summer job managing social media for a company, mention it; if you've posted blogs, publish this skill on your social media profiles. I know many college grads who have gotten their start this way.

•  Rob Petersen – BarnRaisers •  Bragging rights: Complimentary e-book,

166 Case Studies prove Social Media ROI, is the largest collection of social media case studies on the Internet and has been downloaded 100,000+ times.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Never forget that people are the most important part of Social anything, build and nurture networks of relationships. Be curious, ask a lot of questions then listen to the answers. Be generous, helping others get what they want will usually help you get what you want. Learn the basic principles, typically the new is based on something from the past, experience is valuable.

•  Joseph Ruiz - Strategic Marketing Solutions, LLC

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  While having a degree in marketing or business can be helpful, I think proof of experience might be even more important for our new graduates. If you have a thriving YouTube channel, a well-traveled blog or a bunch of engaged connections on LinkedIn, you might be in an even better position to showcase your talents than that expensive piece of paper. While I do have my MA, its my experience online that has attracted the Fortune 500 job offers (that I have turned down in favor of running my own business.)

•  Viveka von Rosen - Linked into Business •  Bragging rights: Forbes Top 50 SoMe Influencer

for past 3 years, Author of LinkedIn Marketing: Hour a Day

Photo by semihundido - Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License https://www.flickr.com/photos/20961302@N00   Created with Haiku Deck  

•  Don’t do it! :) Okay, do it, but understand that the weakness in the discipline right now is treating everything as a one-off project. Being a modern marketing guru means understanding that content is a business asset worthy of being managed efficiently and effectively. What we really need are content strategists — folks who understand how to analyze content challenges and to develop repeatable systems that will help us overcome them. And, to this, you’ll need to be a master of content and code. It’s important to realize that writing great content is not enough. You’ll need to be able to deliver it, too. The right content to the right audience at the right time in the right language and format.

•  Scott P. Abel - The Content Wrangler, Inc.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  To succeed today you have to know how to create content that will reach and engage the right audience and forward the strategic direction of the company.

•  Skills needed: –  How take great photographs with a smart phone –  How to optimize images video and text for search

engines.

•  Sally Falkow - Meritus Media Inc •  Bragging rights: Author of

SMART News: how to write press releases that gets found in search and shared on social media

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Master writing. The serious brands you want to work for have become publishers. They use their platforms to connect and engage with customers by offering useful content, largely a blog. The foremost skill they seek now is writing. Identify resources that can help you become the best possible communicator you can and practice writing every chance you get.

•  Barry Feldman - Feldman Creative •  Bragging rights: Top 20 Content Marketing

Influencer according to Onalytica

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Master the art of writing, storytelling and language, as this is the future (and the present) of marketing and PR. Aside from your journalism classes and language classes, consider creative writing, improv, and start a blog. Step out of your comfort zone. Master the ability to get your thoughts out of your head and find your voice.

•  Cathy McPhillips - Content Marketing Institute

•  Bragging rights: Marketing Director at Content Marketing Institute

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  The most important skills you need are how to do research and how to write. You don't learn either of those in school. They come from practice. So, no matter what kind of job you get, make sure to stake a claim for your own online real estate with a blog with frequently updated content on something you care about.

•  Jobs will come and go. Content that you create in a space that you own - not on a social network - is what will make you valuable to employers in the long term.

•  B.L. Ochman - Maximum-Plus.com and What's Next Blog  •  Bragging rights: Blogging since 2000, AdAge DigitalNext

contributor, Google certified YouTube Channel Creator, Helpout Coach and Google+ Coach

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  So many times, graduates wait for a marketing or PR job to get experience. I say, why wait? What I look for in recent grads looking for work is in how they are marketing themselves. Do they have a blog? Are they consistent about it? How do they publish on social media? Are they building an audience of some kind, maybe around a passion or hobby?

•  Anyone can build a loyal audience today, and everyone has the tools to make it happen. In other words, recent grads have no excuse for not grabbing the experience that is right in front of them.

•  Joe Pulizzi – Founder Content Marketing Institute, an Inc 500 company

•  Bragging rights: Author of Epic Content Marketing

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Most everything you learned in University about the practice of marketing is, or will soon be, outdated by the time you graduate.  My best advice is to truly focus on how to become a compelling, creative storyteller.  If you can weave true meaning from data - if you can fashion useful stories from mashed up how-to manuals - and if you can create value in the form of content-driven experiences, you will be the most sought-after marketer any company will ever want.

•  Robert Rose - Content Marketing Institute

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

1.  The Story: The name of the game for all of these disciplines is always remember to tell a story. Marketing, PR, Social can get so product focused that it’s easy to live day by day promoting what you sell. Buyers, analysts, reporters, customers, employees – they only care about whether your story is interesting to them.

2.  Be Crisp: The average attention span can no longer consume more than 140 characters. So, keep it brief, make it captivating.

3.  Ask Questions: The best way to learn and be successful is to ask thoughtful questions and then sit back and listen. It will help you focus and win no matter what kind of conversation you are having.

4.  White Space: Take risks. Look for places where your target audience is, but not your competitors. That can mean a vertical focused publications or a pub no one would expect to see a story that mentions you brand, but your target audience reads in their spare time. I once ran a campaign that had such broad appeal, it got picked up by Mashable, Internet Week and Glamour Magazine - seeing the brand across the three, including a non-traditional pub really left a lasting impression.

•  Lisa Joy Rosner - CMO, Neustar •  Bragging rights: Silicon Valley Women of Influence 2013, OMMA award,

best integarted campaign 2013 , Silver Anvil award 2013, Marketers that Matter, B2B small company Marketer of the Year 2013, Advertising Research Foundation - Gold Winner, Great Mind award 2011.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Start a blog. Now. Showcase your expertise to the world. You will stand out among everyone else who simply submits a resume.

•  David Meerman Scott  •  Bragging rights: Bestselling author of 10

books including The New Rules of Marketing and PR and the new book Marketing the Moon. 

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Get as much experience as possible in journalism.

•  Nenad Senic - disput.si

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Start a blog and write frequent posts. Make it relevant to the type of job you want. This will give you writing samples you can link to in your resume and something you can talk about with a prospective employer. Employers are convinced that good writers are very hard to find, so the more you can do to prove your abilities in that area, the better off you'll be.

•  Lucy Siegel - President & CEO, Bridgeny.com 

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Learn how to tell stories—with words, images and data. Think like a journalist and act like a publisher. Recognize that audience attention is a scarce—and declining—commodity. Take some risk and don’t be boring.

•  Jake Sorofman - Gartner, Inc. •  Bragging rights: Gartner analyst, former

CMO, frequent contributor to Forbes.com and HBR.org.

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

•  Author content that matters, either a column on a well-respected publication, an ebook with thousands of downloads OR a personal blog that analyzes the industry like a pro. You can easily demonstrate your worth when you can showcase to potential employers (or clients) past work you've done, even if it is as informal as a blog you infrequently manage. Just make sure whatever you link to is well worth reading.

•  Danny Wong - Shareaholic and Blank Label •  Bragging rights: First startup at 17. Honored in

Inc. Magazine's 30 under 30 at age 21. Columnist for The Next Web, The Huffington Post, Entrepreneur.com, and Search Engine Journal

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

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100 Experts On Twitter [1] •  Scott P. Abel @ScottAbel •  Jay Baer @JayBaer  •  Nora Ganim Barnes -

@NoraBarnes •  Jonah Berger @J1Berger •  David Berkowitz

@DBerkowitz •  Megan Berry @MeganBerry •  Paul Biedermann

@PaulBiedermann •  Michael Brenner

@BrennerMichael •  Matt Blumberg

@MattBlumberg •  Lisa Buyer @LisaBuyer

•  C.C. Chapman @CC_Chapman

•  Josh Chasin @JChasin •  Ian Cleary @IanCleary •  Heidi Cohen @HeidiCohen •  Jeffrey L. Cohen

@JeffreyLCohen •  Carlos A. Coriano  •  Andy Crestodina

@Crestodina •  Douglas Quejuan Davis •  Mike Delgado

@MikeDelgado •  Gini Dietrich @GiniDietrich •  Ric Dragon @RicDragon

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

100 Experts On Twitter [2] •  Henneke Duistermaat

@HennekeD •  April Dunford @AprilDunford •  Jeff Ente @WBWJeff •  Dave Evans @EvansDave •  Sally Falkow @SallyFalkow •  Neil Feinstein @ProfBA •  Barry Feldman

@FeldmanCreative •  Stephanie Fierman

@StephFierman •  Sam Fiorella @SamFiorella •  Bill Flitter Dlvrit •  Sue Geramian

@SueGeramian

•  Chad Ghastin @CGhastin •  Barry Graubart @Graubart •  Kristi Hines @Kikolani •  Anne Holland

@WhichTestWon •  AJ Huisman @AJHuisman •  Danny Iny @DannyIny •  Greg Jarboe @GregJarboe •  Carrie Kerpen

@CarrieKerpen •  Alan K'necht @AKnecht  •  Michael Kolowich

@MichaelKolowich •  Arnie Kuenn @ArnieK •  Leslie Laredo @LeslieLaredo •  Kevin Lee @Kevin_Lee_QED

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

100 Experts On Twitter [3] •  Ahava R. Leibtag @AhavaL •  Jon Loomer @JonLoomer •  Liz Machtynger

@EssentialCM •  Robert McCutcheon

@RMcCutcheon •  Paul A McDonnough

@mgocanes •  Sean McGinnis

@SeanMcGinnis •  Cathy McPhillips

@CMcPhillips •  Heather Meza

@HeatherMeza •  Jason Miller @JasonMillerCA

•  Stephanie Miller @StephanieSAM

•  Pam Moore @PamMktgNut •  Kevin Mullett @KMullett •  Pamela Muldoon

@PamelaMuldoon •  Jim Nail @Jim_Nail •  Robin Neifield @RNeifield •  Murray Newlands •  @MurrayNewlands •  Jesse Noyes @NoyesJesse •  B.L. Ochman @WhatsNext •  Lee Odden @LeeOdden •  Neil Patel @NeilPatel •  Rob Petersen

@RobPetersen

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

100 Experts On Twitter [4] •  Tom Pick @TomPick •  Michael Pinto @MichaelPinto •  Joe Pulizzi @JoePulizzi •  Robert Rose @Robert_Rose •  Lisa Joy Rosner

@LisaJoyRosner •  Joseph Ruiz @SMSJoe •  Stephanie Sammons

@StephSammons •  Mark W. Schaefer

@MarkWSchaefer •  David Meerman Scott

@DMScott •  Nenad Senic @NenadSenic •  Kathy Greenler Sexton

•  Peter Shankman @PeterShankman

•  Jim Siegel @MeaningComfort

•  Lucy Siegel @LucySiegel •  Sarah Skerik @SarahSkerik •  Jake Sorofman

@JakeSorofman •  Jayme Soulati @Soulati •  Russell Sparkman

@FusionSpark •  Mike Stelzner

@Mike_Stelzner •  Jim Sterne @JimSterne

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

100 Experts On Twitter [5] •  Nancy Tamosaitis-

Thompson @Vorticom •  Beth Temple

@BethTemple4U •  Hollis Thomases

@HollisThomases •  Shari Thurow @ShariThurow •  Dana Todd @DanaTodd •  Eric Tung @EricTTung •  Jamie Turner

@AskJamieTurner •  Viveka von Rosen

@LinkedInExpert •  Ekaterina Walter @Ekaterina

•  Todd Wheatland @ToddWheatland

•  Danny Wong @DannyWong1190

•  Jon Wuebben @JonWuebben •  Tania Yuki @TaniaYuki •  Andrea Zeluck

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

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Books By The Experts [1] 1.  Jay Baer - Youtility�

Jonah Berger - Contagious: Why Things Catch On 2.  Lisa Buyer - Social PR Secrets 3.  C.C. Chapman - Content Rules and

Amazing Things Will Happen 4.  Jeffrey L. Cohen - The B2B Social Media Book 5.  Andy Crestodina - Content Chemistry 6.  Gini Dietrich - Spin Sucks 7.  Ric Dragon - Social Marketology 8.  Dave Evans - Social Media Marketing: An Hour a Day and

Social Customer Experience 9.  Sally Falkow -

SMART News: how to write press releases that gets found in search and shared on social media

10.  Sam Fiorella - Influence Marketing: How to Create, Manage, and Measure Brand Influencers

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

Books By The Experts [2] 11.  Greg Jarboe - YouTube and Video Marketing: An Hour A Day 12.  Alan K'necht -

The Last Origina Idea - A Cynic's View to Internet Marketing 13.  Arnie Kuenn - Accelerate! 14.  Kevin Lee

Search Engine Advertising: Buying Your Way To The Top, The Truth About Pay-Per-Click-Search, and The Eyes Have It

15.  Lee Odden - Optimize 16.  Rob Petersen - 166 Case Studies prove Social Media ROI 17.  Joe Pulizzi - Epic Content Marketing 18.  Mark W. Schaefer - The Tao of Twitter 19.  David Meerman Scott - The New Rules of Marketing and PR

and Marketing the Moon.  20.  Jim Sterne - Social Media Metrics 21.  Nancy Tamosaitis-Thompson - net.talk

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

Books By The Experts [3] 22.  Hollis Thomases - Twitter An Hour A Day 23.  Viveka von Rosen - LinkedIn Marketing: Hour a Day 24.  Ekaterina Walter - Think Like Zuck and

The Power of Visual Storytelling 25.  Todd Wheatland - SlideShare 26.  Jon Wuebben - Content is Currency

Source: ©2014 Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide – http://HeidiCohen.com

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•  Signup for our free weekly Actionable Marketing Newsletter.

•  Meet Heidi Cohen IRL at: Content Marketing World in Cleveland �September 8 -11, 2014.

•  Join Heidi Cohen’s Actionable Marketing Guide on: –  Facebook –  Google+ –  Twitter

•  NOTE: All books & Content Marketing World are affiliate links.

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