The Final Chapters...

Job…
Yesterday was not the best day for me. I was forced to accept a lay-off from my job. I was bumped out of my business office position by a displaced transcriptionist. My only other option was to bump someone else out of a 4:00 to midnight shift in housekeeping - but we all know that would not work for a person taking night classes. (Besides, I can’t even keep my own apartment clean!) For now, I am an unemployed full-time graduate student. I now have a completely new opinion about the benefits of being in a Union.

Internet Marketing…
When I first started this class, I wondered if I would be able to keep up. Now, here we are at the end of course, and I'm almost done with everything. It was fun to “meet” new people and reconnect with others. The material that I learned about will be valuable as I try to market myself into a new job.

Seth Godin…
Even though I unsubscribed to Seth’s blog, I still check it out now and then. His post from June 24, 2010 is called You’re Already Self Employed. I couldn’t have asked for a more timely and appropriate reminder. He tells us that the decisions and actions we take each day determine what we'll be doing next. It’s time to reconfigure my goals and set some new timelines for my future. I can do that.

My Blog…
As a total beginner in the blog department, I really enjoyed this assignment. It was a great opportunity to connect the course material with a real website and learn more about the application of recommendations.

Module 8 – Social Media…
President Barack Obama has been called the first social media president. When Obama was a candidate, his Twitter account was one of the most popular accounts. Obama also campaigned with the assistance of YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn and other popular social media tools (Zarella, p. 5). I think this shows that social media marketing can be extremely successful when used appropriately, and that its popularity and usefulness will continue to grow.

Companies need to engage their customers in social media opportunities (Zarella, p.1). When a company does not participate in social media marketing, they are missing out. Tide.com invites website guests to become a member of their Tide Community. You can ask questions, share ideas, suggest tips, and generally communicate with other members. Tide also uses Twitter and has a Facebook account. The website also provides a number of videos, including customer testimonials. This is a great way to allow customers to participate and share their stories. I am always amazed at the new things I discover when searching on the websites. I am satisfied that Tide is staying current with social media opportunities.

See you later…
I just wanted to say thanks to everyone for making this class so much fun. Thanks, Jim, for helping me discover new interests and teaching me so much about internet marketing. I am confident that parts of this class will stay with me and give me some guidance as I move forward in life.