I'm no longer with Powered. Which means that I am working on what's next. I loved the strategy group I joined there. I got to work with awesome clients, do great work with them, and you can see more about that in my LinkedIn profile.
It was just the right amount of intense. 24/7 means the rest of the world is catching with my enviable lifestyle.
I share the news because I realize that although we let the cat out of the bag during my conversation on influence with Mitch Joel, and recently on The Bean Cast with Bob Knorpp, when I talk to people, they still think I'm part of that group.
Which means we can find more ways to work together moving forward.
Creating a job is the new career opportunity
Everywhere you turn these days experienced people smarter than I are telling you the same thing I am -- you create a job by finding a problem to solve. I feature conversations about some of those ways here. Since my head is wired to think about process, let's start with defining "creating a job".
It means finding a problem people have not solved, or that can be solved differently -- in marketing I call it white space -- and building something that bridges the need, or highlights the demand many did without, or filled with something else.
Better if it uses what gets you energized in the morning. Passion helps.
As I shared in are you missing out on connecting, you need to have a very active role in shaping what that job looks like. I created a couple inside very structured and layered organizations, and translated my skill sets in 5 industries by seeing the opportunity for demand creation and growth.
The core skills I developed also by building and testing on the side -- business strategies, network and communities, frameworks/methodologies -- for more than decade. Nothing like putting in the time. You can do it anywhere. It's portable. It depends on you.
Yes, I know, the reality of health benefits, pension plans, the need for a steady income to help family are all there. Indeed, they are there for me as well. Which is why you get creative with it, plan realistically, do, and keep reworking and asking for what you need.
Creating a job is the new career opportunity.
What's next for me
Many of you have approached me over time to thank me for my contributions to their success and asking what they can do for me. Here are a few ideas of how you can help me directly, or indirectly by spreading the word. At the moment, I'm working on:
Consulting
I'm talking with a few agencies in New York City -- and anywhere, if virtual -- about their needs for a strategist who gets results with social media and has been on the client marketing and communications side -- either as full time, or as a consultant to the agency.
It's something I have done already last summer with an agency as an extension of their team to support them with social media strategy. Both the agency and its clients got tremendous value out of it. If you thought you'd love to work with me and never asked, now is a good time to do that.
If you're a brand and want to hire or work with me, I have a trusted network I collaborate with and can easily scale a team. I also developed a methodology and framework I can apply to help you align and optimize resources behind a comprehensive social media strategy and action plan bolted directly onto your marketing and business plans.
Speaking
I'm accepting paid (+travel) speaking gigs. Find out more about topics, and what people say about me here.
If you're on the corporate side, I have facilitated thousands of ours of training, workshops, and conversations on the inside. Looking to do a panel on a topic and need a knowledgeable outside perspective? Now is the best time to book me. I have a limited number of slots for those.
Watch this space for a new initiative on this front as well.
Advisory boards
I'm interviewing a few technology companies to connect in business/brand/marketing/connection-making advisory capacity. These are teams working on a product they either launched in the last year, or is about to launch in 2011.
So far, I've identified two strong candidates and am looking to keep this a very short list. If you're such a company and feel you could use my help in taking things to the next level, let's connect.
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Look for more opportunities to connect and collaborate in coming weeks. As I said in my last post, I'm auditioning for team roles in what I'm building.
Thank you, as always, for your support and happy Mother's Day. Here are some business lessons I learned from my mother.
[image credit TDavidson @Digitini party SxSW]
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