"Nothing of me is original..."

"...I am the combined effort of everybody I've ever known."

Said quote is from my favorite book, Invisible Monsters, by Chuck Palahniuk, and is completely relevant to my agitation today.

Yesterday, as I was waiting for Jersey Shore to start, my boyfriend and I started YouTubing "Sh*t (insert demographic here) Say" videos.  I watched video after video of stereotypical sorority girl, frat guy, girl, girlfriend, etc. sayings.

They were hilarious because they were extremely true, at least for me.  But I started this post discussing my agitation, which I will now explain by asking this simple question:

When did we become so unoriginal?

I mean, does anyone else get depressed at the thought that we've essentially become so predictable and generic that we can so easily be defined, like in these videos?

But this isn't the worst part.  I found these videos because of friends posting them on each other's Facebook walls, with accompanying statuses like "OMG HAHAHA THIS IS SO ME!!!"

So, we're predictable and generic, and we're proud of it?

http://beerbatteredramen.blogspot.com/

No, It's Not The ''Economy, Stupid''

Telling a recent grad that the economy is the reason they can't find a job is like this mom defending her daughter for wearing a Confederate flag shirt in school:  it's supporting a really stupid idea. 

Once upon a time, it was okay for recent grads to use the whole economy excuse, just like once upon a time it was okay for people to hang the Confederate flag outside of their homes. 

I know a few of you probably felt their heads fume a bit.  But if you don't believe me, let the International Business Times tell you that 95% of college graduates are employed.

But maybe it's not where they'd like to be employed.  And maybe it's ridiculously competitive for those trying to find a relevant, entry level position. 

In one entry-level marketing position, for instance, a total of 768 applicants submitted resumes, the majority of which with bachelor's degrees and two years of experience. 

I told you, ridiculously competitive.

So what sets you apart from the other 767 recent marketing grads?  Well, you tell me.

Say you're in my position, a marketing grad with only collegiate experience.  How am I going to convince someone that I can sell something else?

By selling myself. (No, not like that.)

You're essentially a brand.  Kim Kardashian is the epitome of this.  Homegirl has done absolutely nothing to gain her fame, but she's kept it by creating a brand of her name.

From stores to dieting pills to clothing lines, her name brings value to whatever she's selling.  This is how a human being works. 

We bring value to our name by what we represent; if we can convince the person on the other side of the laptop reading our resumes that we're the best thing since slice bread, then we've put value to an otherwise faceless, mundane, generic application.

This personal brand is something that carries with you.  My personal brand as an eccentric marketing apprentice is relevant to everything from the absurdity of my blog to the incredibly awesome marketing campaigns I've come up with.

So if you still want to blame the economy, use this as an opportunity to boost it by putting yourself out on the market and seeing how many people buy a colorful personality.

http://beerbatteredramen.blogspot.com/

Dear Mr. Paul

I'm not a Republican, or a huge fan of politics.  But I have to admit that this election is ridiculously interesting.

Take Ron Paul, for instance.

This guy has run in the past three presidential elections, first time now in the Republican party.  Ironically, where the Democrats dominated during Obama's campaign in 2008, Paul is now the frontrunner for voters under 30.

Oddly enough, it's been very difficult for him to engage voters over that demographic.  Why?

Because voters under 30 don't remember the Ron Paul who's name appeared on racist newsletters and was seen shaking hands with the Grand Wizard of the KKK.

Sure, it seemed like 353928334 years ago.  But people don't forget and these problems don't disappear.

Which reminds me of a magical word that I like to sprinkle into my vocabulary at work:  accountability.

In this amazing article I encountered this morning, Michael Medved of The Daily Beast makes the solution so simple, I was more amazed at the fact that Paul hadn't thought to do this.

So many times, especially when we're seen as underdogs whether at school or at work, we kind of elaborate why we may have done / not done something.  I mean, I'm definitely guilty of playing the "I'm just the intern" card at work or the "I didn't do it, ask Booger (my brother)" card at home.

And so many times, I've come to realize that if I would have just said "Whoops, my bad" instead, it may have resulted a bit more favorable than being seen in a negative light or have people jump to their own conclusions.  Taking the mea culpa looks way better than running circles around the inevitable consequence you're going to face.

Ron Paul is a 76 year-old man and he still doesn't get that point.  That's because this isn't something taught at school, kids.

http://beerbatteredramen.blogspot.com/

"Stay Classy, San Diego"

So if you're friends with me on LinkedIn, you'll find that I usually terrorize my connections on a daily basis with social media news.  I fell in love with social media marketing because of two reasons:  policing, and an awesome professor.

The policing part stems from my glory days as an executive board member on my beloved sorority.

Because of all the bad press associated with being a greek, we had to make sure that the ladies always kept a clean, classy, Disney-rated image - especially on social media sites.  I was always researching ways not just to improve our image, but promote our organization as well.

It wasn't until I got a big girl job and starting taking a social media class (again, thanks awesome professor) that I started realizing the scope of how important your online image is.

Sometimes, the Facebook hawk in me wants to just wring some girls' necks when I see them proudly boasting their beer bottles in provocative poses, or when their statuses consist of how ridiculously, black-out, I-want-to-hook-up-with-anything-that-moves, wah-why-isn't-the-world-paying-attention-to-me, I-just-puked-in-my-best-friend's-car drunk they got last weekend.

Especially with the new Facebook Timeline, it's so much easier to have this record digitally imprinted for the rest of your life, for the entire world to see...

Including future employers.

So ladies (and gents that find the need to discuss about their unrealistic dating "life" and how they spend 2093808402834 hours at the gym), make it a resolution this year to keep your private life private and clean up your act - at least on Facebook.

You can thank me with your first full-time paycheck.

http://beerbatteredramen.blogspot.com/