A Google Search and The World To Come: Final Thoughts

Paul Acosta? It's like looking for a needle in a haystack. One of these days though..

  A google search of my name a few months ago led me to some generic images of people I don't know but share my name and some even more search results of various social media accounts of people who share my name. I didn't really know what to expect out this time around..actually I was kind of expecting to see the same old weird faces and accounts as I did last time.  I didn't suddenly go viral from a Youtube video, win the lottery or anything cool that would land my name some hits and recognition. I think the only real gem I got from the last google search was some nostalgic (also hilarious) articles of our bear attack in the spring of 2008. However, I did notice some changes with this round of searches.

JOBS!

 The first thing that stood out to me was an old but familiar resume I made when I first moved to Chicago on Indeed.com. I remember when I got here and the job search struggle was real. A lot has changed since than, but I definitely thought that this got lost somewhere on the internet. Even though, my name is super common and there are hundreds of Paul Acostas that appear on the first page of the google search, my profile is the first one to pop up for Facebook, which is surprising.I do however, suffer from "Entirely Too Common Name" syndrome, so much of the google searches were just other people with my name....still.

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I really hope to have all my pages in the future connect to one another. We covered the major social media applications this semester but I plan on expanding to other sites like Flickr, where I can post some of the photography that I do. I'll probably continue the ongoing series of ridiculous 6 second Vines that I've made as I've gotten some feedback on those.  I have plans to make a
professional looking website with some of my own videos and photographs and well as  more candid writing about other topics that I think would add on to the persona I'd like to portray outside of the professional accounts that I already have. I learned how important your point of view is on the web. I'm going to try to stand out and carve my own little niche on here.  I would also like to have a much bigger presence on Twitter, Youtube, and especially Linkedin.

Go Tweet Yourself! Creating a Professional Twitter Profile!

Twitter is probably one of my favorite social media outlets next to Instagram and Snapchat. I get about 90% of my news and cultural information from my Twitter feed and I think it is a great way to data-dump whatever random thoughts, articles, and pictures that might run through your mind at  any moment in time. The hashtag function is truly one of the most powerful ways to narrow your curiosity for niche topics, which is a very powerful tool for marketing virtually whatever you want if done effectively.
 
 Having said that, my current Twitter profile is 100%, the exact opposite of what it means to have a profesional Twitter profile, to be perfectly honest. It is crass and mostly silly useless thoughts that I jot down as they come to me, usually at the moment. Twitter, in addition to my recently refurbished Linkedin account, needed an overhaul. I needed an account that I could share my career accomplishments on, profesional networking connections, and goals. Creating a seperate account was vital, and as I continue to progress in school and other avenues that are worth letting potential employers and corporations know, maintaining, and staying active on this seperate, profesional account is crucial, much like my LinkedIn account.

There are a few things I have planned for this new account that I hope to publish as soon as they come into fruition, provided I stay on the ball. I plan on doing some volunteer work for certain functions, and I think it would look good to post some thoughts and pictures of me doing volunteer service and helping out.

I also plan on getting some tech certifications. In this digital age, I think it is vital to have some coding knowledge, computer networking, internet security training, and Big-Data proficiency. As dense as these subjects might be, I think it is doubly important to have a good understanding of technology, and I plan on tweeting topics related to these subjects.

Lastly, I am learning in my Media Studies (as well as my social media class) how important it is to have a thorough understanding of Public Relations, Advertising, and Branding, as it all ties in to how powerful social media is in regards to these topics. Twitter is a powerful marketing/branding tool, and we are essentially our own advertising agents when it comes to how we want to be percieved on the internet. I definately want to portray myself as an informed, knowledgeable, and articulate person on Twitter. So follow my new Twitter account @acosta7285 and watch me progress!

Improvements on my Linkedin Account: A Vital Update

 My Linkedin account has always been around, but I never really took it seriously until recently so I'm glad to have taken the time to actually work on it and clear some of the cob-webs that have collected on my out-dated account. It's becoming more and more clear how vital it is to have a professional looking Linkedin account as it is an excellent way for employers to gauge your skills, work/life experience and to market yourself as your own brand for potential employers.

 Before this class all I really had on there was 3 connections (on the rise, hopefully), a summary of my past job experiences, the bulk of which was in The Navy.  I'm trying to learn how to use the expereince I got working on a submarine as leverage to seem more marketable. It was definately one of the hardest and most fulfilling experiences of my life and I can't stress enough how much it has shaped me as a person to this day.

As far as recent profile improvements are concerned, I finally got around to updating my summary with some specific accomplishments that I'm proud of as well as touching base and connecting with all of my new co-workers over at Shoreline Sightseeing here in Chicago while working on tour boats aboard our 50/100 ton passenger vessels, which I find to be very rewarding as the networking and connections I have made there have proven to be very valuable in my 3 years of living here in the Midwest! I even put up a picture of me in a tie. Definately made some progress.

Looking at all my accomplishemnts over the past 5 years, I plan on getting more certifications to help improve my resume and make my Linkedin profile seem more marketable. Hopefully I can get around to finding out how to work endorsements a little better and have more tech-based certifications as well as life experiences that would be relevant to my major in Intergrated Marketing Communications. I just have to keep the snowball rolling, hopefully this momentum of productivity just keeps going as well. Self-improvement is always on my mind and I firmly believe that you should never stop learning!

B2B Companies Can Be Fun Too! My Top 3 B2B Youtube Channels!

Youtube is a great way for a company to get their message out there because it is more than just a blog post for your typical buisness. Videos can say so much more about your product. The online video adds way more personality to your brand and allows a company to get so much more information out there in a fresh and entertaining way. Companys have a great variety of content to deliver!

• They can demonstrate their products with exciting well edited videos that displays all it's features. 

• Some companies make excellent How-To videos which gives lots of insight into the product.

• Case study videos establish credbility and makes products seem more trustworthy.

• Videos on youtube is great for marketing upcoming buisness events and conferences 

These are my top 3 b2b companies on youtube right now that I think are doing a great job staying updated, active, and fresh with their channels!

3.Cisco
The channel has an excellent design with a variety of professional and informative videos. The company has dozens of testimonials from satisfied businesses and well as some informative (rather dense) product how-tos.

2.Lattice Engines

Lattice Engines offers cloud applications that utilize the power of Big Data to help buisnesses track sales and manage products through data analysis. While all this seems very dry and off-putting, the channel is fun and bubbly, but professional.
There are lots of product testimonials and reviews. They even have some nice video animations that look really good.

1. Hortonworks

The logo is very inviting and the green brings color to the youtube channel, and is very appealing. Similar to Lattice, Hortonworks utiziles the power of big data and offers some impressive open-source software for buisnesses to track and analyze market data for their products. I chose Hortonworks because of their well edited video tutorials, without which I probably would not have understood anything about the company. With more companies using the power of data analystics, it seems that other buisnesses are going to want some reliable software to build their buisness around. The elephants are also nice choice for a logo. Who doesn't like elephants?

My Top 7 B2C Youtube Channels! Do it!

Basically what I'd like to be doing..All the time

7.Alaskan Brewing Company

I have to plug my hometown beer. Brewed in Juneau, Alaska, Alaskan
Brewing Company has been making high quality beers for as long as I can remember. I must admit that I was a little biased in choosing this as one of my favorites, but all the videos posted on their channel emobdies the rugged Alaskan way of life. Wether your hiking, snowboarding, fishing, or enjoying the view, (from every possible angle imagineable) the channel does a great job of appealing to your sense of adventure.

A digital file cabinet! Tell your friends!

6. Evernote

If you want to get organized, this is the way to go. Evernote is like a digital workspace,bulletin board, and clipboard. The channel does a great job of advertising their product. It has quirky tutorials and very well edited videos of all kinds of people using Evernote. From your average college student using it to save webpages for term papers, buisness men, and moms looking to organize their cooking recipes, Evernote is great for archiving your digital life.

Learn some knots

 5.Sperrys Top-Sider

If your going to make a shoe thats specifically designed for boating and the nautical life, why not have a youtube channel that shows you have to tie epic knots on your shoe? “A Passion for the Good Life in, on and around the sea," Sperry's Top-Sider showcases some pretty nifty videos of sailors in spiffy shoes working on boats. I must admit it's kind of a niche market, but the shoes are great, versatile, and have such a classic design. I specifically enjoyed the knot tieing videos. 

Aliens not included

4. Alienware
 One of the most well-known gaming PC's,  Alienware isn't afraid to showcase their  product capabilities on their Youtube channel. A majority of their videos highlight their product features and user reviws with a variety of the gaming industrys most acclaimed, and technologically demanding games.




3. OnNit

Get on it.

 Fitness and health is the audience here. Onnit Labs offer everything you need for “total human optimization”  From Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to hockey, Onnit supplies supplements, food, and fitness equipment to keep all the gears in your body working. The channel is quite inspiring and appeals mostly to athletes. Onnit does a great job with their channel in that they have scientists and athletes supporting their products. They have a lot of videos that actually show you how to use their products. The videos are well edited and motivational.

They strapped a camera on to an eagle.

2. GoPro
 "The most versatile camera in the world," This product has been getting a lot of buzz lately. Hands down one of the most visually entertaining Youtube channels out there. It is such a unique and high quality product, all the videos on their channel are just so appealing.

1. Goal Zero

GooOOAaaLLLL

 Finally, my number one pick for favorite B2C Youtube channel is GoalZero. In a world where technology seems to permeate every aspect of our lives, GoalZero is there to keep everything fully charged (I mean everything). From vans to sailboats, GoalZero's innovative and portable solar power products can literally take you to the most remote, untouched, corners of the earth. Their Youtube channel basically showcases everything I want in life: Adventure, self-sustaining devices, travel, gadgets, more adventures. The channel is very entertaining.  Similar to GoPro's channel, watching a GoalZero video on the tube makes me want to plop one of their solar pannel mats on a sailboat and drift away into the ocean, while harnessing the natural power of sunlight to keep things charged and ready to go.

B2B Utilizes Big Data

                    

I like a clean web page. I like smoothly designed link buttons and bubbly graphics. Partly because it's nice to look at and keeps me interested and because it's reassuring in that the site is easy to naviage through.  Lattice Engines offer marketing and sales tracking software for buisnesses through their special cloud system. They offer a variety of big data tracking apps that monitor everything from real time data reports to easy-to-use software that makes handling complex data science easier to manage.

Their website is very bright and bubbly! They have a very useful social media segment under their blog and resources link. Lattice does an excellent job with their social media content, as the articles that get put up are very marketing and sales oriented. It seems like they do a very good job keeping up to date with fresh content. It even has the number of shares a particular article has, and is very nice to look at. You can really tell that they've gone out of their way with the design and feel. The articles here are what really make this B2B company shine, as they are all buisness, marketing, and social media related, which could come in handy to the aspiring marketing prodigy.

The company has over 3,000 followers on Twitter and you can tell right away that they are home. It's a nice addition to their Blogs and Resources page and links you to even more tips & tricks on utilizing social media to market your product. I'm actually quite impressed with the content. I like how they've incorporated their strong big data background (since their products are primarily software) with their articles. The webpage is very neat, just the way I like it, easy to navigate, and they even have a subscription service and an RSS feed you can sign up with. The whole webpage just looks like one giant infographic, which is easier on the eyes. Their Youtube channel is also very informative and up to date for the most part. A majority of their video content is similar with their Blogs and Resources section, with more emphasis on interviews and customer review videos about their products.

Overall, Lattice Engines has done a great job with their social media use. They really take advantage of it and branch out into a lot of other relavent fields. It helps that their software is for marketing and sales branches, so naturally I think it would only make sense to have a strong social media presence.

Blog Review! Some Constructive Criticism

Today I'm going to take a look at a classmate's blog titled Ellen Banach by Ellen Banach. I'll be talking about what I like about it and some things she could do to add on to what is already a decent looking blog!

THE PROS  

• The background is pretty and soft on the eyes. It reminds me of a watercolor painting!
•  The pictures are spaced out well and neat. 
• Good read! I enjoyed her blog posts, some good insight on what shes like and her personality.
• Shes got a knack for design. Keep it up!
• Adding a video link was a nice touch.

The Cons

• The font size for her second blog post, was a little too tiny for my taste. Should keep some consistency was font size and color for all blog posts.
• The blog title could use a little more spice!
• Maybe put up some links to other social media accounts so she can get her blog out there and get more followers on her twitter or instagram pages. 

Overall I'd say at this point a lot of our blog posts all kind of look the same. With some time and a few more posts this blog will end up looking and reading pretty well. Keep up the good work.