#mbachat 05/31/10 7:30pm EST on Entrepreneurship w/ @SmallBizLady, @MattWilsonTV & @CindyWMorrison

The #mbachat is a 1-hour discussion on Twitter where anyone can participate in our open source conversation. The Twitter Chat is on Monday, May 31st 7:30pm-8:30pm EST we will have three serial entrepreneurs: Melinda Emerson (@SmallBizLady), Matt Wilson (@MattWilsonTV), and Cindy W. Morrison (@CindyWMorrison), and host Hajj E. Flemings who will answer questions that relate to Entrepreneurship.

Come and pick the brains of these practitioners who are living the entrepreneurship lifestyle and not just talking about it in theory.

How to Follow and Participate:

To participate you can use http://search.twitter.com or http://tweetgrid.com/. Watch for tweets with the hashtag #mbachat and follow the conversation on the @TechMBAOnline Twitter account.

This chat is sponsored by Michigan Tech MBA Online program: www.mbaonline.mtu.edu.

#mbachat Guest

Melinda Emerson – Author of Become Your Own Boss in 12 months/Host of #Smallbizchat

Melinda Emerson “Smallbizlady” is a seasoned entrepreneur, professional speaker, and small business coach. Her areas of expertise include small business start-up, business development and social media strategy. Melinda hosts #Smallbizchat, a weekly talk show on Twitter. #Smallbizchat is the trusted resource on Twitter to discuss everything entrepreneurs need to know about launching and running a profitable small business. Melinda has been featured on NBC Nightly News and in the Wall Street Journal, U.S. News and World Report and Black Enterprise. Melinda publishes a resource blog www.succeedasyourownboss.com and has several special reports including 44 Things To Do Before You Go Into Business and The 12 Cardinal Sins of Small Business—and How to Avoid Them! Melinda’s first book Become Your Own Boss in 12 months; A Month-by-Month Guide to Start a Business that Works!” was released in March 2010 by Adams Media. For more information, please visit www.melindaemerson.com

Matt Wilson, Co-founder of Under30CEO.com

Matt Wilson is co-founder of Under30CEO.com a website dedicated to giving young entrepreneurs the tools and resources they need to succeed. After using social media to create huge buzz online around the brand, landing Under30CEO on MSNBC and BusinessWeek, he began helping others build their brands online through his own digital marketing agency. Wilson’s passion for entrepreneurship began at Bryant University after where he led the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization to becoming the world’s #1 entrepreneurship organization and earned personal accolades as National Student Leader of the Year. His personal mission is to inspire young people to use technology to create opportunity and become leaders.

If Matt is around he will be easy to spot as his long luxurious hair is generally flowing freely in the breeze.

Cindy W. Morrison – Author of Girlfriend 2.0/Emmy Award-Winning TV Broadcaster

Emmy award winning TV Broadcaster Cindy W Morrison successfully reinvented herself after the economy lead to corporate downsizing. Leaving a 20 year news career behind, Cindy wrote a book, hit the speaking circuit and created her own consulting business. She now teaches people how to reboot, upgrade and reinvent through networking, social media and branding so they can make more money and live a better life.

Cindy’s new book “Girlfriends 2.0″ is already a cult favorite and she hosts a popular show by the same name for The WIN Online (Women’s Information Network). Plus, Cindy does a weekly radio show with the founder of the Diva Toolbox based on the Girlfriends 2.0 concept. The idea is to empower women to reboot and upgrade their Girlfriend Network so they can not only survive but thrive our changing times

Cindy also speaks across the country about “Reinvention 2.0″ and how anyone can network strategically to be more successful. In fact, Cindy is the media contributor to Startup Princess which has been named one of the top women’s websites by Forbes and Entrepreneur. As a consultant, Cindy’s clients range from TV stations to major universities to heavy hitting corporations. Cindy helps companies and individuals use social media to create brand loyalty and get the kind of media coverage that money can’t buy.

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5-Smoking Hot Tips to Promote Your Personal Brand

Right, you’ve done the hard bit and defined your personal brand and created a toolkit. Now what?

Chances are you set out to create your brand in order to attract more business or interest from employers, peers and investors. Let’s reach out to these target groups and bring your brand to market. You will have to be where your customers are and the goal will be to be perceived as better than the competition.

Here are a few steps you can take:

  1. 1. Be the expert

Everyone wants to work with or buy from the expert in their field. This means the expert can pick and choose who to work with and they can set their own price. Becoming the expert is a long-term process but it starts with you making sure to know more than others. You should read blogs, books and periodicals, listen and discuss with industry leaders and fully immerse yourself in your subject matter. In addition to that, always strive to develop new ideas so that you are able to deliver eye-opening concepts to your audience. Look at Seth Godin, this man’s ideas are usually ahead of their time and I would venture to say that he reads and listens more than most of his peers. (Note: Being an expert is not a title that you anoint yourself with but is confirmed by the community you serve.)

2. Share your expertise

This is all about believing in the law of reciprocity and trusting that your hard work will come back to you. Although the obvious way of doing this is by blogging, there are lots of other ways you can offer free information, advice or coaching. The point here is that you want to be seen as a person that happily shares great advice with others and this will attract a need for your services as an up-sell. A great example of this would be Chris Brogan, who churns out quality content every day that ensures he stay at the top of his game. His up-sell are consulting services to major blue-chip companies, I suspect you wouldn’t mind being in his shoes.

3. Be well-connected

With the power social media it’s easier than ever to get to know people. Make sure you are active on Twitter www.twitter.com as this is where you can get a feel for what is going on in your industry. Using a combination of offline www.meetup.com and online networking tends to be very effective. Get to know the ‘big cheeses’ in your industry, it really not that hard – they are just regular people that have more experience than you. See your peers as colleagues and not competition, there is plenty of work to go around. Make sure you connect your contacts with other contacts, as they will do the same for you.

4. Work all angles

Avoid becoming a one-trick pony and risk boring people to bits. Mix things up a bit by writing and speaking about your hobbies, about your family and generally injecting a bit of personality in your brand. Don’t just be in ‘work mode’ when you are working and don’t just be in ‘chill-mode’ when you are not. Some of the most lucrative business partnerships ever have been formed outside of the professional arena, when it’s actually a great deal easier to fly in under the radar and create solid contacts.

5. Stay in business mode

The downside to promoting your personal brand is that you can easily get carried away. Taking on too many speaking opportunities, attending too many networking events or blogging too much are all symptoms of this. Your first focus has to be on sales and you have to stay profitable no matter what phase your branding exercise is in. Remember that success breeds success and you will only achieve monetary success by keeping your eye on the business first of all. Richard Branson has one of the greatest brands ever but the no. 1 factor that brought him there is his strong business acumen.

Bottom line

That’s the smoking hot tips for you today; these tips have worked well for others and will work for you. Just bear in mind that whatever you do has to stay authentic and above all consistent with your brand. If there is any discrepancy or discord in people’s minds, you risk doing more harm than good to your personal brand.

Jorgen Sundberg is a London based personal branding consultant with a passion for social media and blogging. He blogs at JorgenSundberg.net http://jorgensundberg.net and his company site is Personal Branding UK http://personalbrandinguk.com. You can connect with him on Twitter @jorgensundberg

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Ignite Detroit: The Re-Education of the Disposable Worker - @HajjFlemings (Video)

The live video footage of Hajj E. Flemings speaking at Ignite Detroit on April 5, 2010.

The Re-Education of the Disposable Worker Speech Discription

We live in the era of the Disposable Worker (DW). How does Detroit/America re-educate it’s human resources to prepare workers for the new economy. This presentation will focus on re-branding, re-thinking, re-inventing and re-educating DWs into thinking about themselves as the new factory.

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The Untold Stories of 7-Rock Star Recruiters and Career Pros

This blog post is about the story of seven rock star recruiters and career pros who tell their story about finding their passion and working in the recruiting and career services industry.

What prepares you to work as a recruiter or in career services? Is there a certain educational path? Are there strategically aligned companies to work for that will put you on the fast track?

The Story of Seven Rock Star Recruiters and Career Pros

  • Jennifer McClure – Started in Human Resources
  • Kelly Lux – Started as an Executive Assistant
  • Tammy Turner – Started as a Public Accountant
  • David Benjamin – Started as a Social Worker
  • Kim Benjamin - Works with the Michigan Prisoner Re-Entry Program
  • Molly Sly – Started in the Tourism Industry
  • Kristi Daeda - Start as a Computer Programmer

Our list of recruiters have started College & Career Chats (#cchat), work with prisoners to get them prepared for the job market, and been ranked as the tops in their field to name a few of their accomplishments.


Jennifer McClure
President of Unbridled Talent
Twitter: @CincyRecruiter
Website: http://www.cincyrecruiter.com

Jennifer McClure is President of Unbridled Talent, LLC a Cincinnati based consulting firm providing services to clients in the areas of attracting, recruiting, developing & retaining key talent in their organizations.

She is passionate about helping businesses to improve their people strategies through consulting and training opportunities and she’s also a popular speaker who is regularly engaged to present at conferences, associations and to HR, Recruiting and leadership teams at a variety of organizations, including Fortune 100 clients.

Prior to beginning her Consulting career, Jennifer led the life of a full-time Human Resources Pro with leadership and executive-level experience in privately held and Fortune 500 companies and also worked as an Executive Recruiter and Executive Coach partnering with C-level leaders to find, recruit and develop key leadership talent. An active participant and user of a variety of social networks and social media, Jennifer has been named a Top 10 Employment Blogger to Follow by Monster.com, one of the Top 25 Most Influential Online Recruiters and has been ranked as one of the Top 25 HR Pro’s to Follow on Twitter. She writes frequently about a variety of talent management topics on her personal blog www.cincyrecruiter.com and the industry leading blog www.fistfuloftalent.com.


Kelly Lux
Career Development and Relationship Management Professional at Syracuse University
Twitter: @KellyLux
Website: http://www.linkedin.com/in/kellylux

One of the things that led me to the career field as a profession is the fact that I have always been conflicted about exactly what it was I wanted to do. I believe it is the rare individual who knows what they want to do and never wavers from that course. That has not been my experience.

I will admit that in my younger years I was not very career-oriented and was just looking for a way to pay the bills. With a bachelor’s degree in psychology, I worked as an executive assistant for several years and in various places before ending up at Anheuser-Busch in 1997. In my role as Assistant to the Plant Manager I was given much more freedom to be creative, to lead teams and to develop all kinds of skills that would serve me well in the next phase of my career. However, there wasn’t much room for advancement in this position, so I ended up leaving to pursue a Masters in Education. To make a long story short, I never ended up securing a full-time teaching position and had to go for plan B, which led me to a job at Syracuse University. Initially, I had to swallow my pride and go back to an administrative assistant role, Masters degree notwithstanding. However, within a year of being hired at Syracuse, the position I currently hold opened up. While I had no experience in Career Services or working with alumni populations, I was able to sell my transferable skills, education and passion for the job. While employed at Syracuse University I have continued my education and taken classes in higher education administration, career counseling and, most recently, social media. Two years later, I have greatly expanded my knowledge in the area of career, become a certified career coach, delved into social media with great enthusiasm, and learned that I have a gift for managing relationships and finding creative ways of communicating with people from all walks of life. This is what I was meant to do.

Tammy Turner
President of Kapstone Recruiting and Training Services
Twitter: @TammyTurn
Website: www.Kapstonejobs.com

Tammy Turner is an entrepreneur, author, professional speaker, consultant and career coach. Tammy started her career at Plante Moran, LLP in the tax department, later moving on to Deloitte & Touche, in Enterprise Risk Services, and then to Arthur Andersen in International Payroll and Global Human Resources. After more than 6 years in Public Accounting, Tammy realized that her true passion was in Human Resources, and more specifically in Recruiting. In 2003, she became a recruiter for Robert Half Finance & Accounting, specializing in the permanent placement of Finance and Accounting professionals. In 2004 Tammy had an opportunity to travel overseas and work as a Recruiting Consultant for UNICEF and HR, Inc. Cambodia. Tammy spent nearly 3 years in Cambodia working as a consultant and ultimately started her own recruiting business International Employment Solutions (IES), in 2006.

In February 2007 Tammy returned to the United States and launched a second recruiting business Kapstone Recruiting & Training Services, LLC and in 2009 she purchased a franchise exclusive to Food Service & Hospitality (Food Team). Tammy has aspirations to grow her business globally and open a Kapstone Recruiting office in Singapore in 2012.

David Benjamin
Principle of Dave E. Benjamin Consulting, LLC.
Twitter: @DaveBenjamin
Website: www.davidebenjamin.com/

Graduated college, became a social worker for 3 months. Got tired of restraining adolescent girls all day, became a financial advisor for almost a decade. Successful career, got into management enjoyed it but got burnt out. Transitioned into recruiting industry, first staffing nurses at hospitals, nursing homes, and correctional facilities. Moved to Direct Hire - placed accounting/finance professionals and other miscellanous positions. Left corporate workforce in 2005, joined The Sales Matrix (Sales Consulting Firm) as a consultant and Recruiting Mng, placing sales professionals with clients. Still with TSM, started own consulting firm in Jan 2010 (David E Benjamin Consulting LLC), primarily helping clients with everything digital/social media. Enjoy speaking for Universities, Corporations, Associations, Etc. on a variety of topics: Social Media related & job seekers. Getting ready to launch SalesBasix (Sales and Marketing E-Learning Co) with 6 other guys.

Kim Benjamin
Founder of A Purposed Transition
Website: www.HRStrategiesPlus.com

Kimberly’s has over 19 years of human resource experience working for Fortune 500 Companies such as General Motors, Ford Motor Company, ITT Industries, Cornerstone Schools and the Michigan Primary Care Association. She also teaches job readiness, human resource management and entrepreneurship classes at local universities, community colleges, churches and correctional facilities. Kimberly enjoys teaching entrepreneurship classes at the State of Michigan Mound Correctional Facility in Detroit, Michigan. She has taught three classes at the correctional facility over the past 2 years and plans to continue to teach more classes in the future. Her students eagerly call her “Professor Benjamin” and enjoys receiving first-hand knowledge on how to identify their preferred skill sets, understand how to start a business, write a business plan and pitch their business idea to potential investors.

Molly Sly
President of Hire Logic LLC.
Twitter: @MollySly
Website: www.HireLogicLLC.com

I never thought I could sit behind a desk. This would explain why I graduated from Michigan State with a degree in Park, Recreation and Tourism Management. I emphasis the Management because otherwise it’s a fairly embarrassing degree, especially because I have been sitting behind a desk for years! I will say that my first job upon graduation was tied to my major. I was in marketing for the Greater Lansing Convention and Visitors Bureau. While I was starting out there, I had a friend in California that kept telling me I should work for his company because I have the right personality to recruit. I didn’t know what recruiting was so I declined. However, about a year later his company was opening up a Chicago office and Chicago seemed like a great idea. This move to Chicago and this move into recruiting was definitely the best thing I could have done for myself. My first job was for a large consulting company hiring CAD engineers. Since then I moved into IT recruiting, then corporate recruiting, then field recruiting, then an independent gig followed by another corporate recruiting position at a large advertising agency. The advertising job really did change my life and opened up doors I didn’t know existed. It was so refreshing to recruit for really interesting and exciting jobs (creative positions, digital strategy, experience planning, social media, etc.). The timing of it all perfectly coincided with the changes in the web. I become immersed in LinkedIn, Boolean searches on Google, tweeting and friending like it was my job. That’s because it was, and is, my job. I’m now working at Hire Logic, LLC which is an independent contingency based recruiting firm that is comprised of me, just me. I specialize in all things digital. I love making connections with people through the web and then meeting them in person and in a perfect world, finding them an awesome new opportunity or an awesome new employee. Some of the biggest risks I’ve taken in my career have absolutely been the most rewarding and I’m always excited to see what is coming next.


Kristi Daeda
President of Successitechs
Twitter: @Kristid
Website: Successitechs.com/articles?

I was a computer programmer, a marketing copywriter, and an HR leader and recruiter before a layoff helped me discover where my greatest value lies-creating foolproof success plans for others. Now, I help career-minded professionals define and confidently market their value so they can find their ideal job sooner. Plus, my tech background keeps me in touch with the specific needs of my core client base — IT professionals. It’s great that what seemed at the time to be twists and turns in my career have equipped me to make sure that my clients don’t have to go through that uncertainty.

The end of the story confirms that there are no silver bullets in any industry even as a recruiter or career pro but, that passionate, committed, competent people will always find their way.

Photo Credit: wanted, originally uploaded by babblingdweeb.

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5 Ways to Showcase Your Expertise Online

If you read the Brand Camp U blog, chances are strong that you are looking to build your personal brand around expertise you already possess. Simply calling yourself “an expert” will not do the trick. Instead, prove it by sharing your unique knowledge and talents with others across the web. Here are 5 specific web locations that allow you to directly answer questions - showcasing your expertise in the process.

1. Linkedin Answers

The Linkedin Q&A section is an underutilized portion of the site that is extremely beneficial for both those asking and answering the questions. The premise is simple: One Linkedin user asks a question to the entire site, and any number of users are allowed to offer their responses. You can sort by category or search by keyword, allowing you to locate the specific questions that pertain to your field. Providing a brilliant answer can benefit you in multiple ways:

  • The initial questioner will be extremely thankful, and will likely want to connect with or learn from you further.
  • Other users will notice the smart response, especially if highlighted as a “Best Answer.”
  • A recruiter or potential client might notice your response, and a door could open for you that would not have opened otherwise.

2. Formspring.Me

Formspring is a brilliantly simple website that allows others to ask questions directly to you. As Tech Crunch points out, anyone can ask you anything. Might you get a few off-the-wall questions you don’t know how to answer? Probably. But, the site does offer a unique and direct way for would-be questioners to pick your brain on the subjects you know best. Who knows what connections you might “form” as a result?

3. Yahoo! Answers

Yahoo! Answers is quite similar to Linkedin answers. Questions are asked by one individual, and the entire group can provide brilliant (or sometimes otherwise) responses. The one main difference between the two sites? Yahoo! answers tend to rank extremely high in web searches.

Want to know something like…“Is there a career that combines green/eco-friendly living and non-profits? Chances are, your web search will feature the top responses from Yahoo! Answers. There might not be an easier way to get your name and links on the top of relevant Google Search results.

4. Twitter Chats

Twitter chats are gaining major popularity recently. As Maria Duron describes, “Twitter chats are when you chat on Twitter around a certain subject and mark each tweet with a hashtag (#) denoting that you are associating it with that chat or topic. ..a Twitter chat happens at one specific time and everyone gathers tweeting about that subject.”

Most often, a set of questions is provided by a moderator, and individual Tweeters respond with their answers. If your answers are thought-provoking, you are likely to gain a few Twitter followers that want to connect with and learn more from you.

5. Your Own Blog

Your own blog is certainly a place to showcase expertise via thoughtful blog entries. But, it can also be an excellent place to answer direct questions from readers. Essentially, you can set up an “Ask the Blogger” page to mimic the functionality of a Formspring.Me page. Readers can submit questions via public comments or through a private contact form.

How you answer the questions is up to you. My “Ask Ryan Rancatore Your Personal Branding Questions” page mentions to readers that the best questions just might be answered in a full blog article - with attribution to the source.

Using any of these five sources to answer questions is a simple way to showcase your expertise across the web. Can you think of any others?

Ryan Rancatore discusses how to build an authentic personal brand that stands out at Personal Branding 101. Connect with Ryan on Twitter at @RyanRancatore, or on Linkedin.

Photo credit, Damon Duncan.

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