Get Them Young Get Them For Life

(photo by ojimbo)

Going into my feeds for the first time this week (man how is it Thursday already) I came across a post by Carol Phillips, writer of the Millennial Marketing Blog and a professor at Notre Dame. In it she describes the feeling in the room at a recent presentation on Millennials that was presented by Millennials towards 70+ CMO's.

Carol states:

Millennials are the 'target of the future' and what better way to start to understand them than to listen to the Millennials in your own organization. While many of their tastes and habits are age-related, many others are generational. These differences will shape their lives as consumers for many years.

Here's my two cents.

Companies that focus on gaining the trust and brand affection of younger patrons now with undoubtedly have more affect on long term growth and profits. Want examples.

Rock For Hunger.
At our nonprofit we aim to attract volunteers and donors from the college crowd. Our goal is to get into the mindset of the new freshmen coming into UCF. Why? I mean they have no money and no authority.

The reason is that over their 4-6 years at UCF they are going to develop, find career paths, skill sets and networks that can help any organization grow. If you get them early enough you will have them forever (or until they leave for a great opportunity). So over the next 4-6 years we get a devoted volunteer, one who shows up every week, makes small contributions, but more importantly, tells their friends about our shows and events, uses their network to help find sponsors and uses their skill sets to help us grow.

Under Armor.
I love this company and their branding. They came quasi-mainstream when I was in high school and our entire team was fitted in their gear. As their marketing grew, they started to reach every level of youth activities. Want to know what happens next? When I have kids and they play sports do you want to know what I am outfitting them in?

Yup, Under Armor. So not only did they get me to buy some undershirts, but I am going to continue to buy them and then pass it down a generation so my kids can become rock stars in their Under Armor gear.

So...
You see, if you treat Gen-Y great today, you will be rewarded with life long advocacy and loyalty. Talk smack to us and decide that you don't care, then we are just going to find the brand that does, and guess what they probably have a better product than you anyway. One that uses more efficient manufacturing, supports a social cause, goes green and tastes better and is better for us.

Pay attention folks, us mean old, self-serving Millennials want to make the world a better place and really there is no stoping us.

-Greg

5 Social Things Gen-Y Needs to Do Today

photo by Phreak 2.0

*I updated this post's title after a good comment by KateNonymous over on Brazen Careerist!*

We all want to get involved and make a change. Unfortunately that change cannot happen solely on Facebook, Myspace or even on a blog. Gen-Y is all about Social Change, and there are many of us that are going out into the real world and making a difference, building houses, changing lives, saving the environment and making a political change.

But there are an ever larger number of people joining online groups and writing a B.S. comment and then never come back, never donate a dollar or give a minute of their time to actually make that change.

In a recent interview with Mike Connery, for Gen-Y Magic, he states that:

Voting is the least you can do. If you want to make a change in your community, then run for office. School board, town supervisor, mayor, councilman, it doesn’t matter. If you don’t like the system and the choices you have at the polls, take over that system and change it from the inside.

Here are 5 groups that Gen-Y needs to pay attention to today. It's up to you to find the right cause, but this is where your head and heart need to be.

1. The school system

With standardized testing ruling public schools, and teachers becomming more and more like highly educated babysitters, we need to stand up to help our youth learn and get ready to enter society. Look at the PTA, the fundraisers, getting school supplies or tutoring to help out.

2. Cleaning up your city

No, not grabbing a halloween suit like BatMan (although that would be kick ass). Go out and make a difference where you live. Light up dark neighborhoods, paint over destroyed and rusted walls, plant some trees or flowers or even help the local homeless with food, shelter and clothing. Become proud of your backyard and more people will come and visit.

3. The Environment

Al Gore is probably right. Start by recycling, then maybe move on to help organizations change their products to be more "Green freindly." You might even be able to convice your boss to change the lightbulbs in your office and save him some money in his annual budget.

4. The Music Industry

Do your favorite artist a favor and buy something from them. I'm not talking about Snoop or Miley either. Pick a local, an indie or a friend. Send them a note saying how much you love their music. They could use the encouragement (and the cash) right about now.

(If you like singer-songwriter stuff, check out Leerone. I will be giving her a big shout out tomorrow, so look out for that)

5. The President

I keep convincing myself that it doesn't matter who wins. I am completely wrong. Whoever you vote for, or whatever party you are loyal too, all that matters is that you get involved, learn the issues and care about what you stand for. The youth vote is the swing vote this year. Even if your guy (or gal, I guess) losses, at least you stood for something and had a voice in the direction of your future. Even after the election, it doesn't mean you should stop caring.

Like I said, it doesn't matter what cause you belong to, who you root for and what side wins. All that matters is that you are socially aware and give a damn. Life matters more when you have something to fight for.

Who are you fighting for?

-Greg Rollett

Marketing Jobs to Gen-Y College Grads

I've been on a Gen-Y kick lately, so let's stay on it! Face facts:

• The economy is screwed.
  
• Mortgages scared everyone away from buying houses.
  
• Tuition is expensive, and yes, you have to pay back those loans you spent at the dive bars.
  
• Companies are scared to hire and when they are hiring they cannot get their message to the people that need to see it. 
  
• Mom and dads place and a bartending gig, doesn't look too bad right about now.
  

Those college folk who finally crossed the stage in May or over the summer are not having a fun time in the job market. (Quick background and disclosure; I work for a job board, helping to make jobs more appealing to job seekers AND search engines) These eager Gen-Y workaholics are not confident right now. 

Why should they be confident right now? 

The messages that they are hit with everyday on the news, on tv, from their teachers, from their peers and from their parents is that there are no jobs, you might have to take a pay cut and, well, those 4-6 years you spent cramming for tests on the eve before the mid-term well, they don't mean dick right now. 

Marketing For A New Recruit 

Marketing for recruits in Gen-Y is similar in marketing products to us. You need to stand out from the loads of BS that is floating around on Job Boards, at Job Fairs and even at Interviews. The free pencil or frisbee hoopla is good for some, the some that are not interested in your job, but the spectacle of the event. 

Reaching Gen-Y with an opportunity to work for your company should bring pride to your company and showcase the future prospect of working there. Even with a dead end piece of crap telemarketing job, you can hit the heart of someone that can make miracles out of apples and mayonnaise. 

How? 

• Tell a story. It works on blogs and 28% of us Gen-Y kids now author a blog. 
  
• Video. We didn't make billionaires out ofSteve Chen and Chad Hurley for lack of giving our time and money away. 
  
• Tell me how I am going to learn. Ryan Healy of Employee Evolution and Brazen Careerist suggest that our first job be about education. The education about the workforce that we did not learn in college. Knowledge is power, so teach and tell me how I am going to continue to learn even after I know how to do my job efficiently. 
  
• Get up to speed on technology. You don't have to have iMac's and Bean Bags, but a bland, sand colored cubicle running Windows Me is not going to get you any Gen-Y superstars anytime soon. Yes budgets are tight, but please, that projector screen is so 4th grade. 
  
• Social Networking. Learn it, live it and use it. 
  
• Don't bull shit. If your company is tanking, tell us how we can help to make it better. If you are not going to promote us for 3 years don't tell us we are going to be VP in 2. We can see right through it. We are the king of excuses and can surely tell when you have one coming. 
  
• Find us. We put enough information on the web to where you can find who and what you are looking for by typing in a few words into a Google search. I would almost be scared if someone found me for one of the million blog posts I have online. 
  

So Where Do We Go From Here 

I am far from an economist, but I do know there are good jobs out there going unfilled. I also know that job boards are full of shit jobs, pyramid schemes and sales jobs with no base. That makes it tough. Gen-Y, well at least the career minded and motivated ones, have a great advantage. They can network, build their personal brand, move back home or grab some cheap rental property (as there are lots of real estate investors begging to rent their condos away for pennies) and skip there way to new jobs from companies that want their help now. 

The College Graduate Career Confidence Survey suggests that the key motivators for grads and jobs are:  

1. Opportunities to develop new skills 
   
2. Appreciation for work/life balance 
   
3. Establishing and maintaining a good rapport with their managers 
   

Does your company meet these motivators?

I would bet my small salaried check that they cannot. That's ok, we'll just spend company time reading blogs, networking with peers and planning our weekends. Hmm...

-Greg Rollett

Gen-Y is NOT Your Average Blogger

photo by: new-york-city

Are you surprised? I am not sure that I am. I think the targeted demographic of most blogs is focused on attracting the Internet savvy Gen-Y consumer base, however, eMarketer says the median age of bloggers is a precise 37.6 years old.

Yea, this is 2 straight posts mentioning eMarketer, but the stats and research they provide is awesome. It also lends to topics that make people think. Including me.

Upon reading this I took a look at my RSS Feeds to see who most of the authors were. I took out all the Brazen Bloggers for this study, sorry guys.

I won't go through the whole list but will show some of my favorites and my guess of their generational demographic (and for those bloggers that I make fell old, call me out, it's just a guess)

Brazen Careerist (Career Advice) - Gen-X
Cheezhead (recruiting information and SEO for HR) - Gen-X
Derek Sivers (CD Baby, Music Marketing) - Gen-X
Evolvor Media (Digital Music Marketing) - Gen-Y
Florida Venture Blog (Dan Rua, Florida VC Celebrity) - Gen-X
HypeBot (Digital Music News) - Gen-X
Mashable (All things Social Media) - Mix of Gen-X and Gen-Y
Matt Cuts (Inside the mind of a Google Genius) - Gen-X
Instigator (VC, Entrepreneurship and Social Media) - Gen-X
ProBlogger (Blogging Tips) - Gen-X
Rock For Hunger (Hunger and Homelessness Awareness) - Gen-Y
Scobleizer (Internet Celebrity) - Gen-X
SEO Moz (SEO tips) - Group of young Gen-X'ers
Seth Godin (Marketing Guru) - Gen-X
yPulse (Gen-Y Marketing) - Written by Gen-X with a new Gen-Y assistant writer

Number of Brazen Blogs in my Reader = 8

Assumptions that can be made, which is in no way official, is that Gen-Y may not be ready to lead or give advice for a larger audience. The authorities on the web are the people who have the jobs that Gen-Y wants.

We do not have the experience that most people in those shoes have. The Gen-Y and Millennial leaders who are reaching out with their voice to an influx of people are the ones who either:

• Have worked under a great Gen-X leader
• Work for a great Gen-X leader
• Work with a great Gen-X leader
• Have some great mentors, internships, etc with successful people and business professionals in Gen-X

This is not to say that Millennials do not have a voice that can impact change. It's just that most of this generation is not ready to be a leader. Gen-Y cannot bark out commands, hold crowds, be inspirational with their words, nor lead teams without the experience of working with those that have been there before us.

Yes, the business landscape is changing. Yes, Mark created Facebook at 20 or something close to that. But as a businessman, Facebook is NOT making money. Great ideas do not always equal money in the bank.
Great ideas + a great business strategy + great leaders = possible success.

This is why Gen-X is the median age of a blogger, because they are in a position to teach us something. They are in a position to share their experiences, failures, successes and so on. And we listen. In the eMarketer article it showed that 55% of millennials (ages 13 to 24) surveyed read a blog. We want to know what the leaders of today know so that when our time comes we will be educated and prepared.

Gen-Y will change the world, but Gen-X is changing it right now.

If you are Gen-Y, who are you learning from? Gen-X'ers, who do you want to teach, better yet what can you teach? We want to learn!

-Greg Rollett

Gen-Y Demographics

Great stats on Gen-Y from eMarketer:

We spend a lot of money:

We shop online. Nearly half of Gen-Y bought something online in the last 12 months.

Gen-Y is ethnically diverse:

• 60% white
• 15% black (non-Hispanic)
• 18% Hispanic
• 4% Asian

To compare the baby boomers are:

• 72% white
• 11% black (non-Hispanic)
• 10% Hispanic
• 4% Asian

Millennials play video games. Nearly everyday. XBox owners do play everyday.

Quick observations:

• Gen-Y will make more money and will spend more money. We do have a knack for material things and will spend and spend until we have them all.
• Advertisers need to reach Gen-Y over multiple mediums, in a way that is not obstructive to what they are doing. Brand recognition is key and the more times we see something the more likely we are to remember it. This also has to do with Gen-Y being the ADD Generation.
• Advertisers need to reach more and different backgrounds, household sizes, interests and cultural differences that ever before. Look at the Rachel Ray / Dunkin Donuts fiasco.
• Make games. Make then funny, bloody and urban. We dig that stuff.

-Greg Rollett

Using Google To Sell Your Blog

I am always looking at ads that people make on AdWords for their products and sites. Today I was scanning the ads on my site when I came across a Millennial marketing his personal blog through AdWords.


Not too strange I thought.

Intrigued I clicked through to the site, Millennial Life. The landing page was the homepage of the blog. A common trait of AdWords users. The problem I see is that you want to take people to your best stuff. If your latest post is just a photo, or an update or something of no value to a first time reader, you may turn that reader off before they hit the subscribe button.


We'll put that fact to the side and get to the reason for this post. If he monitored the AdSense ads that were appearing on his site, he would notice that he is inadvertently advertising for his own site on his blog. In fact, Google thinks this is the most relevant ad to his site.

I would like to think that BT, the bloggers screen name, would still be breaking even on the deal, as he would be getting paid through AdSense for hosting the ad and the click, and paying out to AdWords for the user making the click.

All of this nonsense just to being the viewer back to the very same home landing page.

I think its great that Millennials are marketing their blog and spending some money to get more readers. And why not use Google? They serve up the most ads and let your earn some quarters on the back-end with AdSense. Just be sure that you are monitoring stats from both accounts and also your own site. You can block ads from certain advertisers, and that may very well include your own ads from appearing on your own site.

BT, I hope you see this and your Millennial Life blog gets some traffic from the Google ads. We do not need to lose you as a Gen-Y blogger due to losing funds and bad marketing tactics.

Gen-Y question of the day?

How are you advertising your Gen-Y blog? AdWords, StumbleUpon Ads, Facebook Ads, WOM Marketing, the Brazen Careerist network, nothing? This will prove noteworthy to all Gen-Y bloggers looking to expand their network!

-Greg Rollett

Twitter with me. You know you want to. All the cool kids are.

Managing Millennials in the Workforce

Came across this great series from BNet about the Millennial Generation (hat tip to Millennial Leaders Blog). If you are a company looking to hire Gen-Y, want to know what Gen-Y is, and why we hang on Twitter, check out this series.

Highlights include:

• 27% of Millennials want to rock sneakers and jeans to work (count me in, some Nike SB's and Abercrombie in the office would be sweet)
• “They won’t do something just because you say, ‘I’m the manager,’”
• “On the other hand, they’ll work hard for someone who truly mentors them.”
• Millennials were the first generation to grow up with soccer moms, doting dads, and trophies for participation. (I do not like the last point, when I was 5 and playing t-ball, we won and lost and still had fun, you need to learn competition and pain at some point - or just be good at what you do and win the Tamarac Little League 10 years straight!)

I encourage you to read the whole series and add your comments and debate on this topic.

I am proud to say that as a member of this demographic and generation, everything that has even been reported on Gen-Y is just that, a report, a generalized summary. What we do everyday in our jobs, personal lives and aspiring to our dreams is what is going to define us, not a report that didn't talk to everyone in my generation, or study different geographic regions (including International) as well as those that do not communicate with Twitter, Myspace or FriendFeed.

Stand up for yourself, not your generation! End rant thing.

-Greg Rollett

P.S. Is this me or what?

Only People Can Market to Gen-Y

Sometimes when you are lost in a conversation, you get to points that you didn't plan, but that make total sense and help solidify your points. I had one of those tonight!

In the middle of a marketing presentation, I was talking about integrating Social Media into a pretty large company's summer marketing and branding plans. I was trying to explain why they needed to blog, be on Twitter and integrate their plan to make seamless integrations between platforms.

While spitting this out, I came to the conclusion that Gen-Y, or 16-25 year olds in this case, loves getting brand information from a person. We like connecting and building trust with a live human being who has likes and dislikes and tells it how it is.

I don't give 2 shits about what "Insert Fortune 500 Company Here" thinks I should like. I wanna know what the kid down the hall likes. I don't even mind if that kid works for "Insert that same company here." I only care that he is honest. I care that he is human being. I care that he is "Green," likes indie hip-hop and hates Kool-Aid.

Companies need to invent this person for their company if they want to market to our generation. Apple has Steve Jobs, Wine Library has Gary Vaynerchuk and IZEA has Ted Murphy.

Facebook used to have Zucks, but now he's so full of corporate bull that no one cares what he says. DirectTV tried to joint the Twitter revolution, but pitched it from their company and not from a person helping to promote the company. Plus they didn't understand Twitter101.

So, this is an open call to all the brands out there that want the dollar I am still willing to spend! You don't need a million dollar SuperBowl commercial. You need to connect with me. Not the me that other big companies think "I am."

MTV doesn't know me. They know the me that E!News says I am.

Brands get to know me. You do this through listening and then entering the conversation. Do this on Twitter. Do this on influential blogs. Do this with Social Spark and get real reviews of your products.

Don't do this on Myspace with a Friend Blaster!

Where my people at?

-Greg Rollett

When Your Boss Finds Out You Are a Double Agent

I am an advocate of working towards your career goals while working a stable 9-5 to sustain your life, your wife, your house, car payments and a beer when you get 5 minutes of free time. I don't just preach to the choir, I live it.

I play a great role at the 9-5, keeping everyone in tune with everything going on in our company's online world, the economy, cool Social Media and marketing tips and making their clients happy by applying on site SEO to their packages.

When I get out the doors, usually at 5:01, I put on a new suit, and usually a backwards hat! I jet down and swerve through the great traffic that is I-4 and get to the after hours office. I then proceed to make my life interesting and attempt to go at it on my own (and with the help from some more than amazing team members).

I try as hard as humanly possible not to inter-twine the 2 lives. Well, I do check non work emails at work and live off my Twitter feeds, but hey, there is time to kill in an entry level position, right?

So what happens when your boss finds out about all of your post work activities?

I cannot speak for everyone on this one, unfortunately. I am very lucky to have a cool boss, who also doubles as my guitar player when I decide to bust a few rhymes. He was very excited and happy for me and really hopes that the projects I am working on are going to be greatly successful. There is also the factor that my work at the 9-5 never slips. In fact I make sure to kick ass everyday so there is no doubt where my head is at during clock hours.

Here's a few tips that have helped me in my double agent status for those that are looking are are in the middle of working for a corporation with bigger dreams of going at in on your own.

1. Keep up productivity. While I do make time to check my non work emails and browse a few choice blogs, I also kick ass in my assignments. I am still coming up with productive ideas and staying sharp with all of my clients and colleagues. This is vital. Once your daily work starts to suffer, you may be in trouble.

2. Understand your boss. I have a cool boss. He gets business done, but is also understanding and knows that work, and this job isn't the end-all-be-all of life. Maybe your boss or supervisor is the opposite, either way get to know how they handle situations.

3. If possible, be honest. The last few weeks I have shown up red-eyed and wrinkled. Rather than think I was hitting the bong on the way to work, I stayed after on a Friday and showed my boss what I was up to. This happened to be the jamblr site and blog. He was totally impressed with the work, understood what I was up to and offered to give me a few days off if needed to talk to potential investors. He is also trying to get me to make a video similar to the "what is jamblr" spot for our local job fairs. Pretty sweet for coming clean.

4. Know that they know. I got a really cool gig this Friday. What did I do when I found out, I hit up Twitter and told all my followers the good news. The bad news, my Facebook status is updated by my Twitter feed. Boss checks his Facebook, and poof, there's my news all over his homepage. Damn!

5. Understand your non-compete's and NDA's. If you signed a non-compete at your current job, be sure that your new venture does not interfere. This will get you in a heap of trouble and legal issues with your current employer. Also be sure that you are not using company materials and policies when starting your new company.

It's great for Gen-Y to be so active in seeking out there own path and starting their own ventures in their own niche. It's also a smart option to have a stable income while doing so. Just be sure if you are on company time, you are staying in line with what is expected of you. I would hope that your employer would promote career growth, whether its within their organization or out on your own. They don't want you entry-level forever either. That's for next year's graduating class.

-Greg Rollett

Effects Of Youth and Gen-Y Entertainment Spending

So you guys know now that I work closely with musicians, venues and other music industry related professionals. Nearly everything to do with the music industry and how we listen to music is a luxury and not a need. Rent needs to be paid, internet needs to stay on, and well, I like a full tummy.

With the economy slowing (for Gen-Y?), the dollars we have to spend on these luxuries is slowing disappearing and possibly depleting.

Results from NPD’s upcoming “Entertainment Trends In America” report showed that:

37 percent of Americans believe they will spend less on entertainment products and devices in 2008 versus 2007, compared to just 18 percent who anticipate spending more. (NPD Group)

So what about the youth?

We are all carrying cell phones, laptops, iPods and other tools and we are also loading them up with accessories, music, movies, programs, games and more at a rapid pace. Is our spending going to shrink as well, or did Gen-Y create a budget for these things like they are necessities?

Gen-Y budgets for gadgets and electronics.

Gadgets, computers and electronics have been around for our whole lives. We know no other way. That is partly the reason I bought a new MacBook before a new car. That's why my iPod is full of songs and my fridge is 1/4 full.

Where is everyone else's money going?

The NPD study also showed that individuals who were going to make an increase in entertainment spending were going to buy new devices (consoles, tv's and players) and not new media (CD's, DVD's).

But then, what are you going to play on your new iPod or BluRay player? Unfortunately for music labels and even movie studios, these mediums are still easily bootlegged and illegally downloadable. (Should artists really be all that worried, Derek Sivers of CD Baby thinks not)

What abut XBox and PS3 games? It's a little tougher, if not impossible to steal these games. Kids are going to need to load up in order to maintain their ADD tendencies.

The challenge for the entertainment industry and the fight for your dollar

Sales in a great deal of industries is down. We're seeing it with magazines and ad revenue, CD sales and movie tickets, the real estate and construction industries and so much more. Oh and gas ($3.51 today, WTF Bush, get your shit together already)!

With everything that is going on, and the fact that it's election year (don't get me started), where are the youth dollars going to go? NPD says that 30% of teens are going to spend more money this year on entertainment than in 07. That's good news for the industry as kids and even some younger Gen-Y'ers still have a somewhat disposable income.

Now if marketers could only get you to buy their product over their competition. But with advertising budgets disappearing, how are they going to reach the kids? Oh yea, a little thing called Social Media. And that folks will be tomorrow's topic!

So folks, where are your dollars going this year? Bills, music, entertainment, savings, vacation? Let's form our own opinion.

Greg Rollett

Is This So-Called “Recession” Affecting Gen-Y

You can’t talk to a business, watch the tv or enter into a conversation with anyone that has stock in real estate and not hear about this “recession.” Working in the advertisement business, I am seeing first hand the spending cuts that are going on. Being in the tech world I am seeing the free spending going on ($850 million for Bebo?).

But what about the kids in college, the Gen-Y workers and well, the general public (let’s say younger, spend happy Americans)?

Some observations:

Friday night in downtown Orlando is not short of patrons, who are willing to shell out $10 to walk into the door of a bar, drop another $10 on 2 bottles of Miller Lite and buy a round of shots for $50.

I have been to the movies quite a few times in the last 2 months and apparently so have a lot of teens (StepUp 2 The Streets), millennials (Jumper + SemiPro) and even their parents (Hannah Montana movie anyone?).

A band we are developing sold 100+ downloads of a newly released single in 1 day last week at $.99 each. That doesn’t include the physical CD’s, t-shirts, buttons and other merch that they had at their sold out show ($10 admission) last week.

CareerBuilder just signed a super deal with Facebook to bring job listings to the 2nd largest Social Network in the country. I guess there are jobs here after all. (Cheezhead with the scoop.)

I keep finding artists willing to shell out advertising money to give their music away. Heck, I even wrote about it here.

Every one of my colleagues and friends is a member of a gym. By member I mean they pay in upwards of $60 / month to workout an hour a day / 3 days a week.

*Orlando specific, however you might have a plaza/situation like this* Have you been to Waterford Lakes on a Friday night and try to find a place to eat? Yea, how about you wait an hour. What about trying to maneuver around Target on Sunday afternoon. I’d rather work a 12 hour shift in a cubicle with my boss breathing down my neck!

Now I know, this post is biased towards the younger generation, but I work, I pay a mortgage, own a car and yes, I go out on weekends and spend money in the economy.

Here’s a great article that explains how the sub-prime mortgages messed everything up for the good guys. (Hat Tip to Lindsey Pollak) It actually makes sense. Read it, please.

So, Gen-Y, Brazen Careerists and Music fans and artists, here is the million dollar question: How is the economy affecting your daily life? Light up the boards with this one!

Greg Rollett

How Myspace Records is Changing the Music Business

What if a Record label had a mailing list of over 100,000,000 individuals, who all saw the message you are trying to get across every time they opened their web browser?

What if a record label had other labels sending over truckloads of cash to advertise on their competition’s home page?

Why don’t they use their connections to land their artists tv gigs, cross promotion, oh and a tv station of their own?

Oh, did I mention that they are owned by the world’s largest media conglomerate.

What if this label already existed? It does. It is called Myspace Records. Yes, that Myspace.

From a KidzWorld interview with Myspace Records artist, Kate Voegele;

Signing with MySpace was such a cool experience for me. I basically got hooked up with them when Tom (yes, "the" Tom who is everyone's first friend) *laughs* sent me a message asking if I was signed yet.

So how did Myspace and Myspace Records help Voegele, a new age pop princess, get to the top of the iTunes (number 4) and Billboard (number 5 on Top Digital Albums) charts in February 2008?

1. Sent a nice message to their over 100,000,000 million users stating that Kate’s new record is now available.
2. Landing a 6 episode gig as Mia on the CW hit teen drama ‘One Tree Hill’
3. Having 6 of her album’s tracks featured on the re-occuring episodes
4. Launching her album on the same day her role as Mia came to life on tv
5. Pricing it fairly in retail outlets (I got a copy at suggested retail price of $7.99 at Target)
6. Video blogging on her Myspace page and on MyspaceTV
7. I’m sure there are more, but you get my point

What can this mean to the music industry?

1. It can be run by kids who start internet communities in their dorm rooms.
2. Artists are empowering themselves through online promotional tools.
3. Internet communities can possibly start to monetize their sites. Build the community, build trust, sign an artist and promote it over your network. Genius.
4. Major record labels will attempt to build communities; they will do it wrong and possibly sue their users for copyright infringement.
5. Major record labels will use and abuse the power that the Social Networking communities have and turn more users away.
6. Indie labels will continue to prosper through viral marketing on these community based sites. They will use their bands to help promote other bands within their label. Look at all the Fueled By Ramen bands on Myspace. Help the team and everyone wins.
7. As the social networks integrate more and more of the internet into their communities there will be more opportunity and more competition with which you are competing against.
8. Labels will start partnering with application and widget builders much like how film and tv licensing is working now. I can see it now; Pirates vs. Ninjas becomes 50 Cent vs. whoever he is beefing with the moment.
9. Labels and indie artists will start making their tracks available for free on revenue sharing widgets on all of the social networks. The key is collecting enough data from the downloading party for future use (e-mail, location, etc).
   

Can you think of more ways that Social Networks will help shape the face of the music business? Let’s think outside the box and help change the game.

-Greg Rollett

Gen-Y Bloggers vs. Reality

This is almost a follow up from the post on interviewing Gen-Y candidates last week. I had 3 of my new employees in the conference room and we conducted a beginner’s training for the services Rollett Marketing offers.

After the initial welcome, greetings and introductions I jumped right into it. Problem was that I assumed my Gen-Y counterparts knew about blogging, RSS feeds, Facebook opening up its backend, even basic SEO. How wrong I was.

None had written a blog post before. Only one was on both Myspace and Facebook and they thought RSS was the acronym for “Really (that) sounds stupid.”

Being in the new Brazen Careerist Blogger community, I take for granted the things that I use everyday, from Open Social, to Google controlling my mail, calendar, search, RSS feeds and blogging platform, to opening a new Social Networking account everyday for the last 6 months (not totally true but it sure feels like it).

Then came Twitter. Am I a bad teacher or do folks in the real world just not get it? Heck, come to find out that some Gen-Y bloggers are just getting it. (Welcome to Twitter Meg Roberts)

Sometimes I think I am way ahead of the curve. At FOWA Miami I felt like I was way behind. In talking with friends, colleagues and my new co-workers I am truly finding out that Social Media has really not hit the masses despite constant attention from mainstream media.

Sure we all use Pirate’s vs. Ninja’s and get countless other requests from Facebook every morning, but we have no idea where they came from or that we can create them from our dorm room.

As people become educated or intrigued in Social Media, it is up to us, the pioneers, the daily users and kids who might just know what’s going on to help, teach and explore this medium with other users. I am confident that the 3 people that I am training will be amazed at this new world that is opening up to them. There is such a great advantage to using this technology, not only for networking and playing Scrabulous but for learning about ourselves and taking control over our careers and lifestyle. And heck, if you throw up some AdSense you can make a few bucks in the process.

So, Gen-Y bloggers, what do you think? Are you experiencing some of the same things in your career, your start-up and even from mom? I’d love to find out!

Greg Rollett - Twitter me folks, I love a good laugh

(Missing) Your Local Scene Orlando

The origin of this post began from a comment on a YPulse thread called ‘Suburban Blues.’ Anastasia, the author, talked about growing up with a little bit of good ol’ boredom. The way kids interact with themselves, peers and adults have affected how they grow and mature and adapt to life in the city, suburb or place of their choosing. The comment in question came from Gareth. Here is what he had to say:

“I grew up in the UK in a town which was completely walkable and a 15 minute train ride would take me into a major city, so from a young age I've always been able to travel where I like, go to parks and the beach or just make my own way around.

I recently emigrated to the US and have ended up in the suburbs, about 20 miles South of Orlando in Florida. These places are soulless, there's nothing to do which doesn't involve driving somewhere.

Luckily I'm old enough to drive, and old enough to drink (past 8pm all there is open round here are chain restaurants and one bar). Without those two escapes I would go crazy here for lack of anything to do. I would not want to raise children in this unnatural environment. No wonder young people in this country are so highly medicated.”

I responded on the site but thought about the topic of “scenesterism,” and how local scenes emerge and evolve. Being a musician and in the ‘scene’ has been easy for me, I guess. I wanted to play my music for crowds; so I started to learn where these crowds were, who the important people are, how they dress, talk, act and the whole nine yards that follows.

Orlando is a tourist city. At least that’s what the media, the public and everyone with a hand in the multi-billion dollar business wants you to think. You might also like to note Orlando as a college city. UCF is the 6^th largest campus in the country. Add that to a growing student body at Valencia and Seminole Community Colleges, Full Sail and the countless tech and post secondary schools and there might just be half a million kids in the 17-25 age group running the streets trying to figure out their life.

Then you get to my scene, or so I thought, the music scene. Even in a city as small as Orlando (when compared to cities with ‘real scenes’) there is an emerging culture taking over the city. The problem is that Orlando doesn’t have a sound. It doesn’t have a theme. It doesn’t have one person who is cooler than the next. What is has is a diverse population that is creating voices, and people are listening.

Rock:
Big 10-4 was on Universal and had every college student singing and drinking at the Social till 2am on a frequent basis.
Florida Music Festival is going strong and takes over downtown Orlando in May.
Between the Trees just struck big.
Social Ghost. They got to tour with Alice in Chains, need I say more?
Cori Yarkin has been in Rolling Stone and featured on the Hills and continues to tour non stop.
Rock For Hunger continues to hold a music festival that continues to grow and attract more fans, better bands and help more people than any other rock music fest in Florida.
Anti-Pop continues to be a success despite its sometimes questionable motives.

Hip-Hop:
For a music and culture that is supposedly dying, a city that is not known for hip-hop is doing pretty big things.
Love them or hate em, Sol·illaquist of Sound has taken the country by storm. Expect a new Epitaph/Anti release this summer
Kap has emerged as a new threat and will be taking over Backbooth 2 nights a month to highlight the Orlando hip-hop scene.
The Unlikely’s and greyscalemusic show that live bands are alive in Orlando hip-hop
Madd Illz comtinues to throw the biggest festival and competition in the land with Lounge Battles 6 coming right around the corner March 7-9^th.

Funk:
Legendary JC's anyone?
Union Made and Sugarfree continue to push the envelope

Indie:
Try Band Marino if you want to go dance with 300 of your closest friends in Orlando.
Poverty Branch puts on a show that no one will soon forget.
There for Tomorrow is the next generation of pop-punk stars and they are right in your backyard.
Want to be amazed? Go see the kid in the lead of No Circus. If he doesn’t have soul, I do not know who does.

Venues not called the Social or Backbooth
Think everything goes down at one of these 2 venues, you are out of your mind.
Catch some culture, great art and inspiration at the City Arts Factory.
Listen to the next great band while browsing through some of Central Florida’s best canvas paintings at the AKA Lounge.
Like it loud, step out of the parking garage on Central and head into Central Station’s Rock Bar.
Get out of Downtown and see the greatest metal shows in Orlando at the Haven. Or grace their stage with full band open mic on Mondays and Tuesdays.
Coffehouses that offer more than just coffee: Austin’s Coffee and Film, Stardust, Dandelion Communitea, Java Dave’s Push Play Cafe and Natura are just the start
Sake bombs and the best DJ’s and indie hip-hop at Tatame.

Creative types:
Florida Creatives is a monthly happy hour designed to meet, network and learn with Orlando’s best internet geeks, musicians, artists, film guys and more.
Linkmind.Orl and LunchFu are great events to get in the spirit. I promise I will be making one of these soon.
BlogOrlando and BarCampOrlando
AD2 and Orlando Young Professionals

Here’s to showing Orlando some love. For the souls, the heads, the hippies, the dive bars who could use a few more patrons, to the local havens that local bands long to grace the stage, for the bands who are paving the way and for the bands who aren’t.

There is a scene here. It has a soul. If it’s not what you are looking for, well make your own scene. Start meeting like minded people. Stop complaining until you have made an effort to join our scene. The one we created. There was no Orlando scene just a few years back. Now we are gong strong, bringing in new friends, growing and learning along the way. This goes for anywhere worldwide, not just Orlando.

“And if ya don’t like it, just make somethin better, take ya hands out ya pockets and ya arms out ya sweaters.”

-G-Ro from ‘Not Hip-Hop’

If I neglected from adding your band, your venue, your event that makes Orlando tick, please insert it into the comments. The more love for Orlando the better. We are what we make it.

What does Gen-Y Attention Span Mean To You?

Being in the entertainment industry (or any industry for that matter), we need to be aware of where our viewers time is being consumed. Where Boomers and Generation-X would spend an evening in the basement listening to vinyl and 8-tracks, Gen-Y is out and about.

Millennials are:
Talking on cell phones,
Instant messaging,
Spending time on social networks,
Video sites,
Gaming,
Going to movies,
Watching DVR-TV,
Ripping, downloading and streaming music,
Eating out,
Googling,
Blogging,
Shopping and more.

So when you are designing your marketing campaign to Gen-Y, you are thus competing with all these mediums. If your song, video, game or other medium doesn’t immediately grab their attention, they are on to the next one. With thousands of videos being uploaded every hour on YouTube it is very easy to click on to the next one.

If your video game is hard to play, boring or not up to graphics standards, it gets popped back in the mail to get another better one tomorrow.

If your song isn’t available on iTunes, Myspace, in video form, Pandora, etc, they will spend the next 3-5 minutes listening to someone who sounds just like you only better prepared.

When you are preparing your message, how long is it? How fast till Gen-Y gets what they want?

Is your video 3 minutes long, when your competitor gets across the same message, only better in 30 seconds?

Does it take 2 minutes to get to the chorus of your lead single?

Do you have to walk through 3 buildings to kill one monster?

Ryan Healy from Employee Evolution says it coming from a Millennial perspective:

I’ll admit it, my attention span is virtually non-existent. When a friend sends me a link to a YouTube video, if I’m not hooked in 10 seconds, I don’t watch the rest. When I stumble onto a new blog, if the first post doesn’t suck me in immediately, I usually leave, never to return again.

People will not invest time and energy into something that is not immediately appealing.

When you are making your next marketing plan for your new single, your CD release, a viral video, just think of the competition you are in a league with. If you are an emerging artist, your song is a small fish in a very large and oversaturated pond. Play your cards right and the food will come a plenty thanks to viral aspects, word of mouth and strength in numbers.

Gen-Y has choices. Are you on their menu?

Who We Are and What We Do

I have really been thinking about the separation of work, my start-up businesses, my music career and my personal life. There has been a great discussion started by Penelope Trunk over at Brazen Careerist about doing what you are and not what you love. Sam Davidson, of Cool People Care, took the discussion into the tune of entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs have to do what we love, that’s why we started our start up in the first place. We felt so passionate about something that we stepped outside of corporate culture and made our own rules.

I would say that I do what I like, not what I love. I love making music and performing. Due to outside circumstances, that part of my life has been postponed. So what did I like about the music gig? The marketing part.

I became intrigued with social networking and meeting people in Virginia and NYC without ever stepping a foot in these cities. I was getting them excited about my music and getting them involved with the promotion of my products.

Now that I am working for a large corporation, I am becoming the face of our organization more and more everyday. My name is directly attached to social networks, blog posts, interviews and videos. I have no problem with this, or so I thought.

After my presentation on Tuesday, I was speaking with 2 of the directors over at the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance Scholars. We got into a conversation about how to separate ourselves with their work persona and their personal persona. One of the girls, Rebeca, stated that she doesn’t ever use her real name or reveal any information about her personal life online. While I find this hard to believe with a Myspace and LinkedIn profile, posting nothing about yourself online is not an easy task to ask someone of the Millennial generation to do. We have profiles on Myspace, Facebook, Twitter, make videos in YouTube and email photos from camera phones to Flickr pages.

So what do I do? What do you do when you are in a similar situation? I know one of my counterparts who has the same problem as I do. We have to constantly maintain a professional online personally so our corporate careers do not suffer. We both also have outside businesses that we are continuing to grow and are trying hard to build and maintain credibility for.

These lines are crossed everyday. Should I use a persona other than my real name? I already think that I do. I use my music name or persona a lot online, G-Ro. And while it might sound silly to some, it is building a brand for myself and my company, while not compromising my given name.

I do what I like, and would love to do what I love. I must maintain credibility at all ends to continue to do the things I feel are important for myself and my family. I would love to hear form some people who have something to say on this subject and what they are doing in similar situations. I’m signing off to go and do what I love because I love it, not because I get paid for it.

Social Media For the Job Seeker

As promised (only a few hours late) I am posting the slides and notes from yesterday's presentation at the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance.

| View | Upload your own

If you are looking for help, here are my profiles on the mentioned sites:
Myspace
Facebook
LinkedIn
Twitter

Blogging Platforms
Blogger
WordPress
LiveJournal

Job Board Social Networks
Health Career Web
Jobster
Careers in Gear

If anyone that was at the presentation, or anyone viewing this now, has any questions please put them in the comments or email me directly at rollettmarketing [at] hotmail [dot] com.

-Greg Rollett

How Gen-Y Can Use Social Media to their Benefit

Tomorrow I am speaking at the Tampa Bay Workforce Alliance Scholars Event. I am talking to a group of individuals interested in maximizing their social media for the job search. As I began writing the power point I just started writing and writing. This is not a 30 minute speed dating topic. I did manage to break it down and fell confident in what I will be telling this group in Tampa tomorrow.

Gen-Y is at such an advantage than any previous generation before them. We grew up on video games, computers in every home and laptops on every lap in college. We used beepers to get across messages in codes that we created and took that into Instant Messaging and now texting. We have lived with the internet our whole lives and have seen it grow from that annoying dial up sound to the iPhone.

So how does this help job seekers? It doesn’t really, if you don’t know how to properly use it. Myspace is great for friends and teens, but that HTML code in a box doesn’t fly in the corporate world. Nor does most of your profile interests or Flickr pages. What does throwing sheep have to do with being an adult (Facebook tries to tell us that its biggest group of new members are over 30)?

Job seeking today is a billion dollar business. I work right smack in the middle of it. But yet, the best jobs are not found online on the major job boards, or in papers, or on the radio. They are found through word of mouth, through connections, through networking. This is where our advantage comes into play. By being active in social networks, blogging and being active in joining online conversations we can position ourselves for the best positions and career choices available.

Being online is about creating your personal brand. My blog allows me to express myself and gain business in the process. If you can find a niche and become an industry player, your options will increase and you will become smarter in the process. It is experience that cannot be undervalued. In writing these articles, I read other blogs, newspapers, magazines, talk to industry folks and get an understanding of the topic.

Now I no longer look for clients, they find me. You can position yourself as much or little as you’d like and all the content that is created is yours. Brad yourself everywhere or just in 1 or 2 places. Find what is hot in your industry and start making connections, start researching and getting acknowledged for the work that you put in.

Job hunting is not what it used to be. By combining the efforts of job boards, social networks, blogging and other social media mediums you can begin to create the brand of you. I guarantee that even if you don’t get your dream job today, you will be well on your way to happiness and security within a niche. I know that I am still coming into my own with blogging, social media and the likes but I grow to love it more with every passing day. I have met some great people, look forward to meeting and talking with many more and will continue to build upon the foundation that I have been laying.

Look for a wrap-up tomorrow from Tampa. Hopefully I got it right and will get them on the right path with their own personal branding and teach them some tricks along the way.

-Greg Rollett

Cool People Do Care – The Next Move

I have been doing a lot of work with not-for-profits in the last few months. Most noticeably with an Orlando start-up, Rock For Hunger. I started as a musician playing their shows over a year ago now and have shifted gears and become the head of their Marketing and Communications as well as the Employment and End Homeless Director.

Through working with Chris at Rock For Hunger, I have started to dream bigger than I ever thought I could. We are now embarking on a new journey; writing a book. We are collecting stories that will paint a picture of the poverty situation in this nation and how Generation-Y, aka the Millennials, can get involved. It gets better with a soundtrack I am producing that will highlight the chapters and bring life to the stories told. To top it off, we plan on taking the show on the road with a book and music tour next fall, going though the South and East coasts playing in coffee shops, book stores, universities, churches and street corners until the words of Rock For Hunger have been thoroughly spread. The goal date: August 2008.

I can’t personally say that I came up with this idea on my own though. The great vision of some stellar Gen-Yers have jumped through this hoop before. I have to take my hat off to the bands that come through Orlando, in their vans eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, which ironically enough was the first menu item on Rock For Hunger feedings. Last night saw the Crazy Anglos, an Atlanta based rap-rock band that takes a nomination for hardest working band in the underground. Almost 2 years ago they started hitting the road and have had little more than a week off since. I think that it is finally starting to pay off.

Next up is Drew Petrone. He has been busting his tail at a Sign-A-Rama Start-Up franchise, freelance designing (which needs to be a full time career of his), assisting and volunteering for Rock For Hunger and taking his band, Orlando based Union Made, to the top of the local funk-rock scene. He does all of this with total concern for his clients, colleagues, friends and band mates. Drew has never asked for anything in return.

Last in my list today is the cool kids from the Cool People Care crew. I have been following Sam and Stephen since Sam posted an interview on Rebecca’s Modite blog a few months back. Since then, we have made contact and even featured them as a partner for the Rock For Hunger Festival this past November. These Cool People that care have been passing along a message, that Gen-Y, the entitlement Generation, is ready to help where help is needed. Their mission is simple enough, CoolPeopleCare exists to show you how to change the world in whatever time you have. One minute? Five minutes? An entire day? Whatever you have, we'll help you spend it wisely. Sam and Stephen have come together to write the ever impressive, New Day Revolution, a guide to saving the world in 24 hours. They have taken their passion for the better of the world and made a full time business out of it.

It is the drive of Gen-Yers like this that I come to work everyday inspired. It is why I work the 9-5 hard to get noticed, then go home and put on more hats than the Village People. It is why I have dreams, and why our generation has the hope to do bigger things than any other generation before us. The communication gap is non-existent; you can get in touch with anyone in our generation faster than ever before and more efficiently. Bands can have fans before a record deal and before their busted van stops in front of a whole in the wall bar. And companies can be made with friends who have a passion to make a change in the world. Amen.

YPulse, Stephen Colbert and Generation Me

YPulse is quickly becoming a great resource for me and keeping up with teen and college marketing. Although it has been a second or 2 since I have been through, I walked in today and found out some great stuff that I had to pass on.

First has to do with this whole ABC and Facebook partnership. Looks like ABC will have an application, widget what have you that will keep you in the loop on election information. Sounds good, but what person on Facebook wants to get their information from the robots on ABC News? YPulse responds with:

“Given Stephen Colbert's popularity on Facebook, I'm kind of surprised they didn't partner with Comedy Central. Maybe they could have created an app that was both funny and informative. Given Stephen Colbert's popularity on Facebook, I'm kind of surprised they didn't partner with Comedy Central. Maybe they could have created an app that was both funny and informative.”

I agree with going in a direction that already has a captive audience in an already closed social network. The Stephen Colbert for President group has over a million members (actually 1,509,443 members) and is growing despite South Carolina having shot down the dream before it got started.

Another dropped ball by the front runners of the social networking takeover. (Still unsure of how I like this Beacon thing though.)

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Next to note is the upcoming YPulse College Mashup Conference. It is going down from January 31^st through February 1^st in Santa Monica, CA. Speakers are to include:

Stephen Friedman (GM of mtvU)

Ricky Van Veen (co-founder and editor-in-chief of Collegehumor.com)

Jean Twenge, author of Generation Me

Career expert Penelope Trunk (Brazen Careerist)

College music expert Graham MacRae from Warner Bros. Records

GOOD Magazine publisher Ben Goldhirsh

And so many more

Get the full scoop at YPulse.

Any sponsors out there who wanna lend a hand in getting me out there to cover the event, be sure and let me know!!

-g-ro