Tag Archives: personal branding

Public Communication & Privacy on the Internet

December 5, 2010 MattHurst 1 Comment

Online Privacy described in a Venn Diagram — Infographic by Buriednexttoyou (via Flickr)

If your friends are like mine you’ve heard them complain all year-long that we’ve lost our private lives, sacrificing anonymity in the interest of advertising data. Since the beginning of 2010 we’ve heard public figures and friends alike suggest it’s time to quit social media. Culminating with the FTC’s policy recommendations about internet privacy, 2010 has been another marque year for privacy advocates.

Yet the internet has opened up new windows of insight into each others’ lives, connecting us closer with our friends and sometimes revealing new aspects of our personality between friends. Often these ideas are shared in public channels, opening individuals to new connections, although others prefer to keep there information between friends alone. For years there has been a backlash to protect privacy on the internet, but is an open medium paid for with advertising dollars ever truly private? Continue reading Public Communication & Privacy on the Internet →

Personal Branding, Professional Networking

How to become a social media marketing professional (or at least how I got a job)

May 3, 2010 MattHurst 6 Comments

What can you do with a BA in Film Studies (or a minor in Philosophy for the matter)? Graduating into an otherwise uncertain job market can be scary; many of my classmates still weren’t sure how they could use their well-developed new media skills, much less where they might be employed. For me the answer seemed obvious: I went right back into school to study strategic communication.

Yet this time last year I graduated once again, with an internship lined up but without a clear direction for my own career. I could only dream of working as a social media pro, but my inexperience and overeducation seemed like insurmountable hurdles to post-graduate employment. Only recently was I finally able to find employment with a like-minded group of professionals who shared my passion for creating innovative websites and reinvigorating established brands through strategic online marketing.

Recently I heard from an old friend who wanted to break into online marketing and new media as well. Although I knew first hand of their knowledgeable understanding of online communication and social networks, their challenge was to demonstrate that knowledge to an potential employer. It’s the same reason why I went back into school to study communication, but in this business environment experience is valued more than education.

While I can’t speak for everyone, here’s what I think might help from my own experience:

Create a resume website: ideally using your own name (like me), or else build your personal brand around a site you can make.
Connect it with your social media profiles. Secure your name across platforms (even if your not sure how to use them yet).

Continue reading How to become a social media marketing professional (or at least how I got a job) →

Work

Happy Birthday to me: Matthew Hurst and dot-com domains turn 25 years old

March 15, 2010 MattHurst 1 Comment

Today I celebrate my 25th birthday and the first anniversary of this website, which neatly coincides with the 25th anniversary of dot-com domains. In the year since I started writing this blog, so much in my life has changed:

Graduated from American University with a Master’s degree in Public Communication.
Created social media strategy for a non-profit, and raised funds my favorite cause through tactics on Facebook.
Managed Twitter accounts and Facebook pages for entrepreneurs, local bloggers, and established brands.
Found an internship through Twitter, learned about research and professional writing, and was called a “social media power-user” by my colleagues.
Television transitioned from analog to digital, but I still watch most of my video online.
Online retailers of music, video and applications became the biggest, and opinion leaders curated our online content.
Moved from DC to NYC, and started to build my professional network.
Blogged about my passion for tasty beers.
Started working with a leading web design, SEO, and online marketing company.
Met many more Matt Hursts on the internet, built my personal brand, and became a professional.

If I haven’t been keeping up with the blog as much lately, it’s because I’m finally applying the insights I’ve written about here through my new work. I’m proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish working as a social media and online marketing pro, so expect to hear more about those experiences soon. Until then, thank you for sharing this journey from student to professional along with me.

Content Marketing, Communications, and Social Media Strategy