Social Media “Gurus” are everywhere. Whether you are on Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook or any other social sites you will see profiles that define the user as a “social media consultant” or “social media guru.” If you haven’t noticed this yet go ahead and browse some of the profiles on these social sites, you will be surprised to see the number of people that call themselves the Social Media extraordinaire. It has become a career for most and only some do it the way it is supposed to be done. Most people fall for it and end up paying hundreds and hundreds of dollars for a mere four page report. Yes, social media is huge when it comes to marketing on the internet but not all so called social media gurus know what they are doing.

Today we just wanted to bust a little myth that some have already cracked. Still some of these so called social media gurus need to be reminded why they are not what they portray themselves to be,

Number of Fans and Followers : Not a Way To Measure Your Effectiveness

You have 30,000 plus followers on twitter and 6,000 plus fans on Facebook and you are the top notch social media guy, right? Wrong! Numbers are always prettier to look at but unless those numbers convert to any meaningful results they are nothing but numbers. Social Media gurus are quick to point out their followers and fans on the social sites to show how influential they are and this is not a measurement of their achievement. Anyone can build a huge following, anyone. We all know how to game the system to some extent when it comes to boosting the numbers, remember numbers not relationship. For you to be able to provide results you need realtionship that are mutual, give and take not simply numbers. Do you really think your 30,000 followers on twitter will come to your aid when you are putting together a social media campaign for your client? I doubt it. If you are able to tap into 10% of that number I would call you a guru but your client still won’t be happy. Read the rest of this entry »

The 44th President Barack Obama gave an impressive speech to a joint session of congress. In his first speech to the congress he prioritized on three critical issues

1. Energy
2. Health Care, and
3. Education

If you visit the recovery.gov site you will be able to see the amount that is allocated for these three categories. $59 billion for Healthcare, $43 billion for energy and $53 billion for education. The President started his speech saying that the economic state we are in didn’t happen overnight. We strongly agree. The reason for the recession isn’t because the government or the people messed up last night and woke up the next day to find a economic turmoil. This is something that has been brewing for the past several years. Government, banks and people of America themselves took steps and made judgements that seemed viable in the short run but failed to realize the long term impact. That is why we are here today. The lack of foreseeing the future not only by the government but the people as well is the true reason why we are all facing this economic crisis.

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Your boss has made it clear that layoffs are coming. The number of people getting laid off, departments that will get hit and the date the layoffs will start are all in dark. The layoff news becomes sort of like a suspense movie, time keeps ticking and curiosity levels rise over the top. It is scary and the fact that no information is usually given when announcing layoffs are coming doesn’t make it any better. With the current US economy, job layoffs aren’t something that is unexpected so even though your boss has yet to announce, know that it might happen anytime soon.

Once the news that the layoffs will be happening is announced, panic sets in. Everyone wonders who will get canned and who will get to keep their job and the regular paycheck to support their means. Once you hear about the layoffs it is best to prepare yourself for the worst. Hopefully, you won’t get laid off but if you do following this advice might help you leave the company in a less stressful manner than otherwise.

1. Don’t Start or Be Part of the Rumors

You are not in High School! Once everyone knows layoffs are coming the news becomes talk of the office. You see people gathering during lunch hours and even during the work period talking about who might get laid off and who might be able to keep their jobs. If you start or become a part of the rumors it only fuels anxiety and depression sets in. Sure, you might be the one to get canned but until you know for a fact assuming the worst isn’t always the solution. Keep your head up and rev up your speed when it comes to getting work done.

If someone comes to you with a rumor that someone else might be getting laid off or that you are the one to get canned, politely say that you are either busy or will wait for the names to be announced. Rumors are nothing but an addition to the already burning fire, don’t start the fire or be the fuel to aggravate the heat.

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We are pretty sure the former President George W. Bush won’t be requiring a job anytime soon although he was asked to work as a greeter at a Hardware Store. However, the former officials of the Bush administration are getting hit hard by the tough economy and falling job market. According to a report published by Wall Street Journal only 25-30% of those officials looking for full time jobs have succeeded so far.

Although the unemployment rate for the Bush officials is high, one thing that needs to be noted is that they are pulling in big bucks in other ways. $25,000 – $50,000 is a pretty decent income for a middle class family in US but some former Bush officials are collecting what we would otherwise make in a year by one time lecture on Global Business and other issues. So in other words, the economy isn’t really hurting them. They are having a hard time finding full time jobs but are finding one time work that almost pays full time. Lucky bunch!

Here are a few of the Bush officials that have been able to get back into the full time employment mode. Some of these officials were re-hired by their previous employers and were re-instated into the job they had before working for the Bush Administration.

• Henry Paulson (Former Treasury Secretary) : Johns Hopkins University’s Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies)
• Condoleezza Rice (Former Secretary of State) : Political Science Professor at Stanford University
• J. Michael McConnell (Former Director of National Intelligence) : Senior Vice President of Booz Allen Hamilton

Although some of these ex-officials have been able to score full time employment, the unemployment rate for the former Bush officials at 70% is quite staggering. The fact they had worked under George W. Bush’s administration most probably doesn’t help either when it comes to getting employed.

We mentioned above that some of these officials haven’t been employed full time but are getting full time payments through speaking events and such. Since they are charging $25,000-$50,000 per speaking event and it is not considered a full time job, we wonder if they will be filing unemployment as well.  If they do, the ex- Bush administration will haunt us even after the Presidency has been long gone.

Share your thoughts.

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The number of Americans applying for unemployment is at record high with 4,987,000 Americans receiving unemployment checks for the week ending Feb. 7th. The stimulus package will certainly provide some relief but the layoffs are still expected to be quite staggering. Moody’sEconomy.com ’s chief economists Mark Zandi expects that there will be 3 million job losses with the stimulus as compared to 4 million without the stimulus. According to Zandi, if the stimulus works as expected we will still see 250,000 job cuts a month as opposed to 500,000 at the moment.

Although layoff numbers have been quite shocking there are some companies that might actually end up hiring. Time.com recently published a piece that shows 10 companies that won’t cut jobs. Although these companies are feeling the economic pinch, for them to operate they need all their employees and laying off just isn’t an option. The 10 companies that won’t be cutting jobs as suggested by Time.com are listed below :

1. Cisco
2. Visa
3. Apple
4. Apollo
5. Altria
6. Google
7. Colgate
8. Verizon
9. Amgen
10. Corinthian College

For more information on these companies and why they won’t be laying off please visit Ten American Companies That Won’t Cut Jobs

Although some companies won’t be cutting jobs and government programs recently signed into law might help the economy to some extent, analysts say job losses might be the worst in 50 years by the time this recession comes to an end. Hopefully, we will hear some good news or the recession might worsen and push well into 2010.

Please take a minute and share your thoughts.

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Most private and corporate sectors are feeling the economic pinch and many companies are reducing their workforce in order to stay competitive. Part of this process means that companies will and are scaling back recruiting, and more people are now vying for a lesser amount of available jobs. Unemployment rate is high and more and more people are looking for jobs that are scarce in this economy. At this point when it comes to being a job applicant, it’s survival of the fittest.

For some it may seem daunting, however with a positive attitude and a few useful tools finding a decent job in these hard times can be achieved. Here are 5 quite basic but important tips that might help you score the next big job during the down economy.

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It is a well known fact that the American job market is on a slump right now. Every day we hear thousands of people getting laid off from their current employers. It seems like during these high times there are some sites that are really reaping the benefit of a down economy or the job market. Comscore recently released an analysis which shows usage of job search sites.

Although most other businesses and niches are failing online, one online category that is doing better than previous years is the “job search” category. Usually at the end of the year job search sites take quite a hit since most people aren’t looking for jobs due to holidays and such. However, it has been different due to the failing economy. The end of 2008 has been some of the most heavily trafficked months for job search sites.

According to Comscore, Careerbuilder led the category with 9.1 million visitors which is up by 78% compared to 2007. Monster.com and Yahoo! HotJobs were second and third respectively.

Comscore also analyzed the online job search activity based on gender and it seems like women are more active in online job search than men. This could be either because women are looking for jobs for their spouse or families are realizing that dual income is required to support family during times of recession. The age group that seems to be most active when it comes to looking for jobs online are between the ages 25-49. Please take a look at the image for a  detailed job search activity information. Read the rest of this entry »

The economy as we all know is pretty bad. Although we read about the economy on the web, newspapers and magazines and catch the latest news on TV and radio, sometimes the best way to gain insight on a particular subject is through images. Graphs are an amazing way to analyze data and current situation. Today we have compiled a few graphs that shows the current economic situation that we are in.

The graph below analyzes job losses during 1990, 2001 and current recession. Hundreds and thousands of people are being laid off daily and unemployment rate is record high. Take a look at the graph below, it sure is scary

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Me and my wife are often told by our friends that we grew old a little too early for our age. Although we are in our late 20’s (my wife has been in her early 20’s for the past 5 years, shhhhhhhh) fun to us means going out to the gym or watching movies from the sixties or seventies. It is pretty weird but we love it like that. Ohh and we are doing our taxes on the 14th

One of the things that we enjoy doing as a couple is going out to eat. I am a French fry junkie and if anything comes in between me and my fries (and my wife) it sure as heck won’t be pretty. So the other day we decided to go out and eat some Chinese food. I mean who doesn’t love Chinese food. The food looked pretty good but the problem was there were more American food than Chinese. Not cool. I ended up having some french fries at a Chinese restaurant which was not my idea of Chinese food. I find this pretty weird. We ended up coming home and I started searching the web for some weird food and restaurants. Well, I couldn’t find a whole lot in US but I did find some amazingly weird restaurants in other parts of the world.

The image below is of a restaurant in Japan which is known as “The Vampire Cafe.” I would love to go there but I think my wife would rather prefer fries at a Chinese restaurant.

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The individual most accountable for your future financial welfare, is the one you see in the mirror today.~ Kemberly Wardlaw.

While the economy seems to plummet day by day and the job market takes a nose dive the last thing we can afford to do is live lavishly. During these times it is of extreme importance that we manage our finances better so as to not lose what we already have. One of the things that most people get caught on and end up taking the path to financial disaster is due to poor financial planning. Some are great at it but simply ignore the importance of it and some are just not that good at managing their finances.

Last week we looked at some of the best resources for entrepreneurs. We are trying to compile resources that might be of help to our readers during these tough times. Many have lost their jobs and many that are lucky enough to hold on to their jobs seem to let their money slip away. Today we bring you links to articles, free spreadsheets to help you manage your finances, finance forums and twitter profiles that might help you stay on top of your personal finance planning.

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