Research, Research, Research!!!

History repeats itself.  Learn from the past.  Someone has paved the way for you to be there.  Or even a simple…I have been here before.  These are all things that I have heard from childhood through college and have came back to help me in my career.

Clutch Book Magazine is just that the product of researching best practices in the world of interactive media, the failures of start-up businesses and taking polls of our target demographic.  The idea was there, but the development into what it is today is purely walking down that paved road.

Everyday, we are learning something new, something that will enhance the site even more.  Every person in our company is a part of our target demographic!  Everyone embodies different lifestyles.  Everyone is Clutch!  This makes for great brainstorming sessions that lead to tough research and an even more amazing product.

First, let me tell you a little about the site alone.

Let’ s start with the first thing that you see when you click on the site. The site begins with a sick intro that also serves as our commercial on the internet.  Then you hit the first dashboard page.  The content in the rotator are articles ranging from real estate and finance to celebrity gossip and fashion.  Anything you encompass in your lifestyle will be covered.

Then take a look at the bottom of the page, you see a tool bar that has a number of great features.  You can update your Facebook and Twitter statuses, search Google and/or our Michigan business directory, play arcade games and even watch YouTube videos.  Now, why would you leave the site?

The few features I have just introduced to you were developed simply based on what our demographic wanted.  We asked what are you doing online, and they said looking for news, shopping, social networking, searching events and keeping up with entertainment.  So we gave them News, Events, Entertainment, Shopping and Social Networking in one view…as we continue to dig in to open up various layers, we promise to become Where Michigan Lives Online.

So…now…I have to get back to research!  I will talk to you soon…until next time, check out clutchbookmag.com TODAY!

Me (middle) out promoting the site

Life Just Got Real

For the last four months or so I have been working on developing the content of Clutch Book Magazine, the culture of the staff and marketing and promotions for the launch of the magazine.  I carry the title of Publisher.  My team and I have built the foundation ladies and gentlemen, and life just got real!

This will most likely be a series of posts, but I just wanted to give all of my readers an update.  I didn’t fall off of the face of the earth as I am sure you have seen in the tweet roll I have on my blog.  And no, I am not just living.  I am working extremely hard!

For starters, check out www.clutchbookmag.com and tell me what you think.  As we get that conversation started I will tell you how I used the power of research, skills I learned in school and from working in addition to some creativity I was waiting on an opportunity to let out to get this magazine on its feet.  I will even share some numbers relating to hits since the site has launched.  This will be a series you won’t want to miss.

Thank you for your patience!  Let the series begin…

My 4,000th tweet

I thought that my 4,000th tweet deserved a little more from me. Something a little more insightful than what 140 characters can offer. And a conversation I had a few days ago with two friends provides the perfect topic.

One of my friends jokingly said, “Your twitter page is getting a little more ghetto lately.”

Knowing that I would be able to handle a good joke, I burst into laughter just before I tore our industry to pieces.

I got on Facebook to find old schoolmates and connect with new friends. Now it has turned into a public relations tool utilized as part of your personal brand. AGHHH!!! Now I can’t express myself without subconsciously thinking about how others are viewing my page. Then they created all of these privacy settings that allowed me to be who I wanted to be to who I wanted to be it to. Following me? I can let select people see what I want them to see. Got it now?

Then I got on Twitter to connect with public relations professionals and explore an up and coming tool with promised usage in my field. So my first few hundred tweets were calculated, few and far in between and boring! This is the complete opposite of who I am. As more people got on twitter, more personal branding blog posts were shared and the more I began to find myself in the twitterverse. I began tweeting more about things that peaked my interest. Those things include fashion, entertainment news/gossip, sports, the film industry and more. I also NEED a occassional laugh. The people I was following and those following me in the beginning were definitely not provided with any laughter. Something had to change.

Contrary to many, I believe your personal brand is YOU! As simple as it is. I believe that my twitter page is very indicative of who I am. Yes, I still talk about the PR industry. Yes, I still tweet about news. The only difference is I also share with my followers other aspects of my life that are outside of my career aspirations. Is there something terribly wrong with that?

I still have my LinkedIn profile which is ALL about my career focus. My Facebook profile does include my work experience which is ALL in my industry. Now I have a profile that is ALL about me!

I would love to hear what you have to say about personal branding and the proper usage of Twitter. And if you are not already, follow me on twitter!

Until next time…

LOVE…what does it mean to you?

Love, by definition, is a strong positive emotion of regard and affection. We love many things…or at least hope to love many things. We love our family and friends. We love our careers. We love our experiences and self-growth. And most importantly, we love ourselves.

My question is why do we love each so differently?

I will speak about my personal experience loving some of these things and you tell me if you have seen similarities in yourself.

My family is the most important group of people in my life. They have been here from the beginning and will be here until the end. They love me unconditionally no matter how I look…and boy have I come a long way…how good I do in school, whether I am working or not and even if I don’t show them as much love as I want.

Some of my family after graduation

However, I find myself forgetting to call people on holidays and their birthdays. I don’t always tell them I love them and sometimes I don’t know about their hardships. Who will be there more than your family? Why don’t I know when you are going through something, so that I can help you move forward? I didn’t reach out! I will take the blame.

My friends are second in line. I love hanging out with them, I know that they can make me smile when I’m down and I have faith that they would have my back in tough situations. However, they usually don’t know when I am having hardships, because I want to take care of it myself. And I don’t tell them I love them nearly as much as I should.

Some of my friends and I on New Years

My boyfriend, on the other hand, is a slightly different story. He has been one of my best friends for nearly 5 years! He has always had my back and we tell each other ‘I love you’ all of the time. Now that seems to better than my friends and families? NOT! He is the only person I will pick a fight with and sees the worse of my attitude. He is the only one who has to really deal with the good, the bad and the ugly character traits I possess. Why is that?

My boyfriend, Rich, and I at home

My passion for my career path is something that trumps a large portion of my heart. I have fallen in love with the possibilities of a career in public relations. When I’m working on a PR campaign, seeing an event through from start to finish or writing an article that is printed verbatim in the local paper, the feeling is like no other.

Me, last year, coordinating an event for Chevy in San Francisco

However, too often I don’t love it the same way that I love other aspects of my life. I don’t keep in touch like I should with some of my PR mentors. I don’t express my love by giving gifts of my time to further the profession with students. I don’t give my all taking risks like the risk taker I really am. I often play it by the books to the best of my ability…unless specifically told to take it outside of the box, or told that I have creative control. I don’t wait on permission to give my all to the other loves of my life, why am I waiting to show it to my career?

Love shouldn’t be your fair-weather feeling that sneaks up on you and isn’t shared equally among all of those people, possessions and other special things in your life. That old saying treat others the way you want to be treated holds true when it comes to love. The more you love something or someone, the more you will receive. Now this isn’t relationship advice and no I can’t tell you why he/she cheated and you gave your all. I can say that when I put my heart and soul into loving my family, friends, boyfriend and career, I often receive the most blessings and love in return.

So today, take the opportunity to spread love! Show someone or something that you haven’t showed in a while you love them. I know this post won’t make all things better in my life, however, when you know you’re wrong and know how to fix it, you are often heading in the right direction. Will you follow me to become a better you?

Are there any other emotions that you have seen yourself not giving your all to and spreading effectively? Please share! I have hunch there are a few things we all need to work on…no one hasn’t slapped us into shape yet.

Until next time…

Damned If You Do, Damned If You Don’t

Newspapers are dying!

I don’t trust the media!

I hate the media!

Journalists are liars who work with public relations people who help them spin their lies.

These statements are becoming much too frequent in today’s society. If you can’t trust the source that provides you with your global, national and local news, who can you trust? They say you can’t know where you are going until you know where you have been. And whether it is the newspaper, television news sources or social networking sites that you use to see where businesses around the world have been, you need them to see where yours is going. What made me think of this particular blog post is Tiger Woods and his recent tales of infidelity…or shall I say “transgressions.”

His car crash, his wife beating him, reports showing seven to nine women stepping up and admitting their affairs, Tiger hit the news hard. And today’s trending topic #tigersipod has officially kept him at the forefront of the news. He even beat out top stories like the President’s Address about his plan for the war for top news spots last week. While everyone tweeted, facebook’d and blogged about the situation, the number of people pissed about how the media covered it so frequently and as in depth as it did seemed pretty equal. It is like the media is in a lose-lose relationship with the public. If they do cover it, people say they lack substance and are sleazy. If they don’t cover it, what the heck would twitter have been the last two weeks without this news? Funny…but true.

I can’t wait to see statistical evidence on what kind of coverage Woods got. I mean the number of blog posts from public relations professionals about what they thought Woods should do alone did massive numbers, I’m sure. This leads me to think, what would we do without news outlets supplying us with celebrity gossip, sports, hard news, political updates, etc. Would we begin to repeat mistakes over and over again? Would we get all of our news from our peers? Would that in return force us to adopt the same mindset of those peers we are following? Could we even form an opinion as strong as some people’s opinion toward the media? It just keeps becoming abundantly clear that journalists are damned if they do, damned if they don’t…and no one will ever truly get the role of public relations. Until next time…

Inspiration is All Around You

Waking up everyday inspires me.

Checking my social networks seeing the great things that people are accomplishing by the second inspires me.

New life inspires me.

Haters and naysayers inspire me.

The good, the bad and the ugly all serve as inspiration to me.

There have been times when I am at my highest moment and can’t imagine anyone taking me off of my game, then I meet someone doing better than I, someone who has already achieved a goal that I am working for or someone doing something that I could do (i.e. volunteering). It is sometimes a gift and a curse. I am a hard worker who tries to do it all.  I want to continue learning by reading, further my career by working and help others by loving. My days can sometimes be jammed packed. However, inspiration is there to let me know that multi-tasking is my talent…and I possess the power to do it all.

On the other hand, there have been times when I feel backed into a corner, alone and lost as to what direction I am trying to move in. This is when I read things from @affirmationspot and @revrunwisdom on twitter, hear from a pastor or even listen to a family member or friend that I see that this is not the end. If you take a look at my tweets from Nov. 29, 2009 below, you will see that I found the inspiration and wanted to spread it so that maybe I could be someone’s inspiration for the day. One of the things that makes me happiest in life is knowing that I have helped someone financially, emotionally or spiritually.

Rise & Grind! Stop telling everyone else all of the solutions & not practicing what u preach! u r the only 1 standing n your way of success!  from UberTwitter  

If you love who you see in the mirror but hate the way you feel #truthis your inner beauty is lagging and something HAS TO CHANGE NOW! from UberTwitter

Some say that they’re obstacles/bumps in the road #truthis it’s training for what life has to offer–sometimes u have to roll w/the punches from UberTwitter

Success to me is genuine happiness, ability to take care of my family & the opportunity to love without any boundaries-everyday I get closer from UberTwitter

Surrounding yourself with positive people and people with common goals as yourself is proven instant motivation. I have worked with some of the most talented women in my field and everyday they inspire me. A few that come to mind are Michelle Zdrowdowski at Franco Public Relations Group, Tara Powers at Lambert, Edwards & Associates and Emily Palsrok at John Bailey & Associates. They are true divas that exude positive energy. They work, have families and stay very stylish! Having someone to grab inspiration from always has a positive outcome. That is why I encourage having mentors.

Wherever you look, from social networks, to family and friends, to mentors in your field, inspiration is all around you. Cease the day, suck in that inspiration and put your talents to work! Until next time…

Looking In Vs. Living In Detroit

Last week, I attended a networking event hosted by Fusion Detroit. Hoping to walk away with some new connections, and another professional development organization…what I found was much more interesting than I could have expected.

Why is TIME magazine in Detroit?

Steven Gray of Time Magazine was the guest speaker for Fusion’s meeting this month. He is the only full-time staff writer living in Detroit over the course of the next year reporting on Detroit for Time. First, I want to take you through his question and answer series highlighting very interesting points made by Gray and Fusion members. Then, I will ask a series of questions regarding my reaction to Time’s presence here asking for your opinion.

Just before July 4, 2009, Gray’s editor apporached him with the Detroit project, and he said that his first question was, “Why?” This is when the assignment began: Why is Time in  Motown?”

The project idea came from two editors visiting Detroit on ad calls on separate occasions. They saw something that shocked them, things they had never seen before, things they thought America should know about. It wasn’t long before Gray was here living in the Time house noticing shocking things for himself.

One of his first stories was on personal protection patrols instead of Detroiters trusting their police force. This was something he had never seen before. In the neighborhood of the Time house, programs like the neighborhood watch had employed security to patrol the streets and watch their homes. Appalled, he began to write. This story came from living in the middle of a particular happening.

Another instance, Gray mentioned was disturbing to him was when he called 911. There was a small incident by the Time house and he called the police. He said it took two phone calls and 45 minutes before the police arrived. Expressing his disgrace with some of his neighbors he noticed that they were shocked that he was shocked.

While he said that some of his stories have come from just being a resident of Detroit, he mentioned that he finds his other stories by staying informed. That is when the question arose that made this discussion take a turn. “What is a normal day like for you?”

His answer:

• 5 a.m. Wake Up
• 5 – 7:30 a.m. read local newspapers, blogs and workout
• 7:30 a.m. figures out the story for the day and begins to hit the phones, carry out some field reporting and writes the story
• 6:30 – 7:30 p.m. he finishes up his story if it takes one day (did mention that some stories may take a week or even a month to get all of the pieces together) and then goes to sleep

This timeline was my first red flag for a number of reasons. One reason is that he is living here, getting the facts and reporting what is going on in Detroit, however, he goes to sleep before some people even get off of work. Oh and as you can see, this doesn’t leave much time for socializing, going to bars, enjoying Detroit’s entertainment sector. So if you are not getting the stories from real people who live and work in Detroit, who are you getting your story from?

Later, another questioned asked by another Fusion member: “How do you stay unbiased waking up reading the local media everyday?”

He answered, “I am still a journalist, I do my own reporting. And I don’t believe in objectivity.”

Having a journalism degree, this bothered me. Objectivity was always instilled in journalism students. Otherwise, you form an opinion then find ways to back that opinion up with certain facts. How dare an outsider come to a city like Detroit, and form an opinion, find facts to support that opinion, then share his feelings with the whole world?

Now while I did have problems with some of the things that he said, there were also some very interesting quotes that I took away from Gray.

• “America is not concerned with what is happening in society.” He was explaining that the Detroit project isn’t a profit-driven project and in no way did the Detroit cover of Time sell like if they put Britney Spears or Barack Obama on the cover.
• “What is happening in Detroit is a possibility in other cities” and other cities should be paying more attention. The context surrounding this quote steered from Fusion members asking if all he was covering was negative stories. His spin on this answer included him saying repeatedly that he wasn’t here to “cover positive or negative stories,” he was here to report the truth. And he saw the truth as sort of a framework for other cities to see the possibilities of something like self-destruction.

In no way am I bashing Time magazine for being in Detroit. One Time writer actually covered a very positive story in Detroit. Karen Dybis spent a day on The Salvation Army of Southeast Michigan’s Bed and Bread Truck reporting on how this truck feeds people in some of the most impoverished neighborhoods of Detroit. More positive articles may be found at Times Detroit Blog. I just don’t know how Gray, in particular, is going to be able to get real stories when he isn’t talking to real people.

However, this Fusion meeting did give him the forum to meet some very positive, passionate, successful people in Detroit. Here are some of the reasons Fusion members gave to him as to why people stay in Detroit despite all of these negatives that he was talking about:

• People leave Detroit because they don’t have a purpose here.
• People stay here because they want to build. They are connected here with family, the future (see benefit in building here and see that the resources needed to build begins here), etc.
• Detroit is an open landscape where people are looking for innovation–community will support new, creative ideas.
• “A great place to fail.” Other places you start a business and it fails and you are written off by that community. Here, in Detroit, you fail and people say get up and try again.
• There is a creative, pure, collaborative energy here that is contagious.
• The final reason was something that they close every Fusion meeting with. Detroit was always the first place to do something–from escape from slavery to hear good music. This country may not be where it is if it weren’t for Detroit.

As you can see from my previous posts, I am a lover of Detroit, so when I hear negative things about Detroit especially from people from outside of the city, it really gets under my skin. So I have a series of questions for you that I hope to get your feedback on:

1. Am I being too hard on Steven Gray? Is he just doing his job? Or do you agree with me when I say that he is a biased, misinformed writer that has too large of an audience to not be presenting the most accurate information?
2. Why do you think people stay in Detroit? Why are you still here? Or why did you leave?
3. Have you seen any of the Time articles? Which one stuck out to you?

Other than that, I would love to hear your feedback on anything you have read. The Fusion Detroit meeting was one of my first, and it is not my last. Until next time…

I can remember…

Over the years, I have mentored hundreds of young women, some that were even my peers. I have heard the worse stories and some of the best. I still keep in touch with some of the girls now, but many are too hard to keep track of. One thing that one of the young ladies I mentor recently said to me really got to me…thus the reason for this post.

She told me that I couldn’t possibly understand her situation because I get good grades, have a job and a family. I thought to myself, “I must be doing something wrong.” I couldn’t understand why she looked at me liked that. Everyone, I was not born with a silver spoon in my mouth, I have been through hardships, but I have also overcome…just like I believe all of you can.

So I wrote this poem as an expression of how I have felt in the past, because I can remember being exactly where many of you are now.

Open your eyes

The Answer is there

Staring…Hoping…Wishing

You’d wake up and grab hold of it

Afraid of the outcome

Ashamed of your fears

You hold your eyelids

Shut the door on failure

Walk into greatness

Nothing can hold you back

Their just hatin’ (lol)

Alone with a plethora of friends

Misguided with family on hand

Don’t you see the problem?

It’s you!

You’re holding your eyelids

You’re ignoring your friends

Not using your family

See the problem? What happened?

You’ve opened your eyes

But the Answer is gone

Friends don’t know the problem

And family has never been let in

Where are you?

Alone!

Who are you?

Misguided!

How are you?

Afraid!

See I can remember trying to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders and still be me. It did not work. I once read that there is no such thing as a self-made leader, because a leader is someone who benefits from everyone that they come in contact with. There are too many people put in place to help you. Seek and call on your resources.

This is something I am still working on today, however, I am working on it…are you?

Is Good Really Not Enough?

If you follow me on twitter, you may have seen me talking about a new book that I’m reading called “Good Is Not Good Enough: and other unwritten rules for minority professionals” by Keith R. Wyche. This book has made me take a different look at my situation. I graduated college in four years with honors…I also had 5 internships under my belt. Great experiences, even better contacts and when I didn’t get offered the position I really wanted, I blamed the economy. But now I know I was just being “good.”

I completed all of my projects “good” keeping my supervisors satisfied. I got “good” grades in school, but never was I valedictorian–which I am sure had I applied myself could have achieved. I made “good” connections but didn’t work hard enough on ensuring regular communication with them. I got “good” jobs, but not the one I really want yet. Man, good is not good enough anymore!

Some of the keys to being better than “good” that really stood out  to me in the first quarter of the book include:

• Know your company culture!

              - If you have an annual event that you have never been to, you are lagging behind those who make the effort to attend. This includes things that you may not be particularly fond of as well–i.e. if you don’t golf yet there is a golfing event. The leadership at your company has these events put in place for a reason.

             - Does your company promote based on performance or seniority? Are you OK with this? This is the root of disgruntled employees a high percentage of the time, as I have seen. However, if you know what you are getting into prior to looking for your next big promotion, you will have an easier time dealing with internal promotions.

• Perception is very important! How do your coworkers perceive you? Know what makes up your professional brand and who exactly is seeing it.
• Be visible!!! Don’t be lost in anyone’s shadow. However, no one likes a suck up or a goody-two-shoes. If you suck up to the CEO and none of your peers like you, your CEO will notice the confusion you are causing in the company before he/she acknowledges your sucking up. It just doesn’t work and weakens your professional brand.

While I am only a fourth of the way through this book, I can tell you now that it is an easy read that has a ton of knowledge and case studies from real minority professionals to back that knowledge up. It brought me to a new realization about my future and really shaped the way I will handle some things in the future.

I know these steps apply to all professionals, but minorities, we have to step it up big time. Stereotypes exist! It is not enough to just be “good” anymore!

Media and Violence: Do They Go Hand-In-Hand?

Listening to the radio one morning, the topic was about music and violence. They were asking people if people were more violent today, or was it just being portrayed more in the media? This has been a topic that I have battled with for many years. On one hand I want to say that you can’t blame your child’s negative behavior on TV, radio and other media outlets, but on the other hand, I know how impressionable children are.

So I asked my mom. She said there were fights and even gangs when she was growing up in Detroit and in LA. However, back in the day if you fought, there was a winner and a loser. Today if you fight, you have to watch your back forever in fear of retaliation…if the person doesn’t kill you before then. I don’t know about you, but that sounds like things are a little worse today.

She also brought up a very valid argument that goes into my next argument as to why I believe the media and violence can go hand-in-hand. She said she always remembered this very attractive woman in an all-white super sharp gown (her words not mine) smoking a cigarette–one on an extended stick–bedazzled in jewels. She was beautiful, she was ‘cool’ and all of the girls at least tried smoking cigarettes after that advertisement. Something to think about.

We all know that stars rule trends in fashion, but we are all too skeptical and closed-minded to see that what they say and how they portray their lifestyles could also affect people. For instance, I think that I have a pretty good head on my shoulders, and I consider myself a leader. However, when “Party, Party, Party (Let’s All Get Wasted)” was played in the club over the summer, I had another glass of Champagne no matter how “wasted” I was already and ”shouted to the bartender” send me another bottle just like the song said. Reckless, I know. But that song costs my friends and I a ton of money on overpriced Champaign. And I am sure everyone has that song that makes them get up and dance or something which is normally out-of-character…or maybe that ‘s just me.

A young, impressionable mind without much guidance at home could be susceptible to making the same mistakes, if not even bigger. So I agree that what images portrayed in music and on TV effects the violence that we are seeing today.

Now, here is where I have discrepancies with those who share my same views. I don’t think that we need to come down as hard as we do on entertainers. They have a specific audience that they are catering to, and it is the parents’ duty to prevent their children from seeing or listening to things with certain levels of vulgarity, nudity and violence.

No, you can’t watch your child every minute of the day, but you can instill values and teach them right from wrong before they exposure to the media. Also, if something you don’t want your child watching or listening to comes on, explain to them why you turned it off. I know you have seen those drug commercials, children listen, don’t ever think they don’t.

Of course, I want to know what you think: Do media and violence go hand-in-hand? Do you know of any violent attacks that resembled something you heard in a song or saw on TV?