DO DRIVE BY'S WORK??!!

It has been said by many, in these turbulent times, that NOW is the time to start your own business and embrace your entrepreneurial spirit. I am 100% with it, I have been up "with it" and I have been down "with it". I have also come to a point where, I really would like to have my own apartment! Along side of my "entrepreneurial spirit", I have been cruse'in the online job sites in a 25 mile radius, looking for anything I can find in addition to employment in my past field or new passion.

My strategy:

- target a job that looks remotely interesting

- apply on line

- make an appearance

I have targeted 3 "I would really like to work for" companies and throughout the year, made appearances. My approach, "Hello, I just wanted to come in and introduce myself. I have applied for your current position online and thought it might be helpful to have a face to go along with my name, "then BAM, I hand them my card. I have done drive by's on these 3 locations at least 4 times each in the past 10 months. I stay optimistic as if each appearance is my first. Does this approach work? well, it certainly cannot hurt! Last week I FINALLY received a call from one of my targeted companies and this week FINALLY a call from another. Does this approach work? I will keep you posted!

MOMENTUM IN THE MAKING!

WoW! On October 14th I had my first meetup. You can check out my meetup site here. I can't tell you how good it felt to get back out there, network and be productive and proactive. I took the time to create handouts, write a bio introduction for myself and attend a similar meetup for market research. Turns out I tried to pack in WAY to much information. The group that attended my meetup was intimate. We all brought our laptops to the hip Sono Caffeine and had a hands on workshop.

I thought it would be nice to post the hand out here in case you missed it. I am passionate about information sharing, the true essence of social media, so here it is!

The essence of social media is CONNECTION.

WWe have entered an age where sharing and communicating via the web IS the hottest trend

a and it is accessible to all ages, genders and levels on education, it is also FREE! To get started

yyyou need to know the following:

HUB: Website, Blog, Meetup page, Business site

This is where your information, creative content and products you are advertising live. Your hub is your presence in cyber space that represents who you are and what you are marketing. Adding a “Share this” widget will automatically install a share option buttons to ALL networking platforms so users who enter your site can share with their peers. Interaction is key. Respond to comments and allow others to share your information.

Recommended Blog platforms are: Blogger, Wordpress & iWeb

Next you will need vehicles to bring people to your hub………

: Twitter can be used as an input or output information sharing source. It is the fastest growing word of mouth worldwide.

A: To use twitter as a learning and gathering information tool, (input) register yourself on Wefollow.com and start following people in your field of interest, your competitors or people you would like to learn from.

B: To use twitter as an advertising tool, (output) add “hashtags”(#) to your tweets so they can be seen on Twittersearch.com. I like to call “twitter search” the super highway of twitter, anyone and everyone is on there searching for specific information.

To follow Twitter in real time you can easily download a “Tweetdeck” for free.

: Face book is by far the most organic platform out there. Look at it this way, if you have 200 friends and your friends have 200 friends and their friends have 200 friends, think of how fast it takes for information to spread. They make it very easy to share links, photos, videos and post notes and information. Creating a fan page is a great way to create a “hub” on face book and keep your followers connected.

YOUTUBE: This is where your “rich media” and creative content is stored. Viral videos have become a huge trend. You can create your own channel, subscribe to other channels, mark favorites and store your videos here. Be sure to use “tag’s” in your video, this will categorize your video for those searching specifically for your topic. This is also an easy way to grab video links you would like to showcase in your hub as part of your creative content or share on other platforms.

LINKEDIN: This is a more professional platform. Reach out to colleges and friends to join your network and collect recommendations. To interact on this platform I recommend joining groups and participating in group discussions. There is a TON of information and resources from professional.

MEETUP: I personally am a HUGE fan of meetup. It is a brilliant tool for hosting events and a remarkable marketing tool. The “customer service” is impeccable. Meetup pretty much takes care of getting the information out there for you. Meetups can be free or have a fee. It is a great way to learn more about your field of interest (as you know!), promote, share your skills, or advertise.

This is A LOT of information to take in. I suggest taking one of these platforms and interacting with it. One at a time will feel less over whelming in the beginning. Remember people, what you put in to it, is what you will get out of it. You want to have creative and compelling content and a relatable voice. If you are using these platforms for sales, you cannot come off as a salesman. You need to engage and connect with your customers on a personal level. I hope this session was useful. Please feel free to contact my with questions, comments or you just need a little help. Good luck!

Rhoby Schempp

Social Media Strategist1.203.981.7478

RhobyR@Gmail.com

http://www.wetweetyou.com

PEEPS ARE REALLY GETTING CREATIVE WITH SEO

SEO Rapper ....talking about links and how they increase your page rank. One thing I LOVE about social media networking and social media is it is for EVERYONE. It takes just a little time to fully understand it, but you will understand it best by USEING it! Look at this guy! Incase you did not catch the lyrics I've written them out below, check it out, this guy is right on the money.

lyrics:

Chuck back again so tell me what you thank, new song new dance I call it the Page Rank, so you want to get the listing, in the top position, if you pay attention I can show you how to get it, start with your content, I done said it before, 250 words per page and you good to go, add headers and titles, cross links are vital, make it easy to read use list items, keyword rich is how its meant to be, make sure you have good keyword density, double check your navigation make sure your links function, by order of importance I call it link sculpting, unique meta information for all the pages, trying to make sure you cover all the bases, all text links should include key phrases, make sure you put the links in the right places, inbound links are what you should be chasing, great content and good link baiting, make people link to the site you created, to do that you gotta have great information, I'm a tell you something else that works wonders, Yahoo directory it cost 300 if you a dealer get links from distributors, if you provide a service get content contributors, it always helps to get links from manufacturers, your links should always be adding not subtracting, link quality is better than link quantity, get valuable links thats a good link policy, some people swap links I don't recommend it, others buy links well I wouldn't spend it, keyword stuffing is not a good practice, if you doing that you'll get stuck like a cactus, do it the right way and be enthusiastic, and over time your results will be fantastic, pay attention class, you need to act fast, make a mad dash to the first instead of last, take out your competition like trash, and watch your page rank raise higher than gas..

Love it!

SO, WHAT HAPPENED BACK THERE??!!

Where did all the Rhoby posts go?...

Some of you may have noticed a dearth in posts from August - September. I guess we could say I was unavailable! I have been blessed with many house sitting, dog sitting and chicken sitting gigs these past few months. I hunker down for a week or so in new digs, caring for what needs to be cared for, some homes with Wifi, some with none. There was only one problem, in more ways than one, I stopped taking care of myself. Sure, I still cruised the job searching sites. My regulars these days are Fairfield county jobs, craigslist and indeed, all the rest are set up for alerts so I don't have to cruise.

It was as though mentally, physically and emotionally I collapsed on the floor and just decided to stay there watching my thoughts duke it out on the ceiling. I did not produce on my blog, I did not attend meetup's, I did not research my little heart out for the newest social media trends and I barley made it to the gym. I gave up!

Because I'm a smart lady I put a time limit on it, 2 months exactly. Two months seems like a long time looking back and failure to feed your energy, GOOD energy, well, it is a slow progression into a downward spiral. By the end of September, I was done. It was time to scrape myself off the floor and take some baby steps back into a productive life. I sought out some counseling for support, I mentioned to friends and family I needed inspiration, I got my ass back in the gym full time and dragged by self back to my favorite WiFi coffee shop, SoNo Caffiene to pursue work.

My mother, being the amazing women that she is, always seems to be attending interesting events and seminars. On the fly she invited me to the fifth annual W.O.W forum ,(women of the world), seminar titled "Survival of the fittest". Keynote speakers included Kim Lyons from the biggest looser & Jay Wallus, business motivator. There were about 150 - 200 women in attendance and can I just tell you, being in a room with 200 other women ALL there to improve themselves is an exhilarating experience on it's own. Listening to the speakers and taking self improvement seminars all day was such an eye opener. It was not just the content, which by the way was right on point, it was the message I was picking up. We need to stay INSPIRED! we NEED to stay inspired. WE NEED TO STAY INSPIRED!

Relief! What a relief to feed my energy with the good stuff to go forward, as opposed to mental self defeat! That piece of good energy was like a small seed, I used it to give myself energy to get back to my SoNo Caffeine coffee shop, which led me back into socializing, which led me back into conversations about social media, which led me to start a meetup of my own: The ART of social media. That's right folks, I have started MY OWN meet up now. If I can't sell it, right now, I will give it away for free. I need people and they need me! The Rhoby girl is taking the steps to get back on track! Good luck to us ALL! .....and please...please STAY INSPIRED!!

RECESSION MOLE REMOVAL!

After earning a little extra money taking care of 30 chickens, I decided to indulge in the luxury of a manicure..... It has been about 3 years since I had one and I felt the care and attention might do me some good! So in I go!. I take a seat at the nail counter relaxing, getting hand pampered and the nice Korean manicurist girl says, "I take care of that for you", as she stares at the big mole on my chin. "With hair" she says. I laugh it off , like- ok great! I must have a big hair sticking out of my mole, gross. I've had this mole ALL my life, people, so It's just part of me at this point and I can't afford plastic surgery to get rid of it ,even though it is getting unsightly LARGE. It is what it is.

So there I sit, relaxing, "I take care of it for you", she says again. I laugh again, thinkin', OK I get it, there's a big freak'in hair sticking out of my mole!. Finally she says, "OK?, I take care of it", "Sure OK, thanks" I say. She then plucks a LONG black hair from her head and starts TIGHTLY winding it around my big ass mole. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, what are you doing?" "It's OK, it will fall off in a couple days", she says. "WHAT!!!!" She tries, in her broken English, to tell me she had one right between her eyes, she strangled it with her hair and it fell off in two days. She continued to wind and tighten, wind and tighten her strand of hair around my mole. This is BIZARE I kept thinking. Man, if this thing falls off in a day or two?, I will be amazed. She will see the biggest tip of her life.

OK, so now this draws the attention of everyone in the nail salon, great! They keep asking me what she was doing, "I'm not sure", I say. One of the older manicurists comes over to examine. They have a little conversation in Korean shaking their heads, yes, yes, yes. I ask the second lady how is this possible? She says " Old Korean tradition, come off in a few days". I'm supposed to go back in 2 days What ev's, so here I am back at home with a strand of black Korean hair tied tightly 'round my mole and I'm thinking "Is this a good idea?"......

I wrote this right after my experience and have been documenting this process on Facebook for the past 9 days, here is the out come... No hole, no scar, all healed up.

It has been ALONG time since magical experiences such as this one have happened to me! After 9 days and no money down, I am a NEW woman!! UNREAL!!

IS HELP ON THE WAY?...

For parts 2-3 click the bottom right hand corner of this video, where it says YouTube. Our president Rocks!

A Pause.....

Am I afraid?......

As a child.....a lot, as an adult you would never know. I took my fear and wielded it at everything I was ever afraid of. I took life by the horns and rode that shit to the end.

Hmmmm, "the end", where might that be? The end is where you stop, whether you are where you need to be or not. Whether you're dead or alive, the end is when you come to a standstill and reevaluate.

For me, the end is jobless, penny less and living with my parents at 35 years old. Yeah, it feels like the end alright.

They say, when one door closes another will open. Well, here I am standing in front of a closed door... feels like the end.

It has been 10 months now that I have been standing at this "end door". I planted my resume seeds, I got out there and networked, I kept my brain active by learning new technology trends and riding my own coat tail of optimism, hoping to start a new beginning..

I stayed positive and motivated, I tried to move forward. But, I have come to a stand still, a doorstep..

I am accepting my situation. This is my new attitude. I am surrendering to what is. I am letting go. I am standing still.

A LABOR OF LOVE.....

Since my unemployment I have been delving into my Mac and utilizing all the applications it has to offer. My latest obsession is "iMovie". I have been helping friends out by making promotional videos for them. This latest video is by far the best! It is a promotional video for an Art & Yoga retreat in Italy. Ok, so the client is my mom, but she was very happy with the out come and I am pleased to have this in my portfolio. I have also hooked her up with a meetup site and a web page. I love using these skills, CAN SOMEONE HIRE ME PLEASE!!!!!

REALIGNING WITH OLD SCHOOL SKILLS

Along my "reconnecting with the local art community" journey, I ran into a dear artist friend of my mother's, Suzanne Benton. My mom and Suzanne led a group to Greece many moons ago when I was a kid. I consider Suzanne an "auntie". She is a well known artist and shows regularly. She has asked me to come help her prepare for some up-coming shows and I delightfully accepted.

Suzanne's house is one of my favorites. I wanted to share with you this magical home and a few photos of my days work of framing.

This home is open and lavish with eclectic findings from around the world. Suzanne's focus is now painting, but you can still find remnants of her mask welding days. Suzanne is renowned for her story telling and mythical mask performances.

Art is EVERYWHERE in this home, beautifully framed and displayed. Suzanne has traveled the world as a visual and performing artist and collected authentic and meaningful pieces.

It has been awhile since I have framed. Matt cutting in particular is an art in itself. It is very meticulous work and measurements are unforgiving.

It was like riding a bike! I remembered a few simple rules taught to me by my mother and all went well.

I took pride in my work and it felt GREAT! I framed 7 pieces in 4 hours. I surprised myself!

What an inspiring day. Being involved in the moment brought my work ethic to the surface. It was refreshing to feel that, felt good to put some of my skills back in action!

I'm sure it was also a relief on my computer fried eyes!

WORK'IN AWAY AT THE WE TWEET YOU SITE!

Here is the first stab at the promotional video for the We TWEET You site! It is a work in progress but...

it's coming along!

PHASE 559 OF UNEMPLOYMENT!

Man, It has now been 8 months since I have been unemployed and on an accelerated path into social media. A month or so ago I had a few endeavors cooking in the pot and now I am back to square one or, er, square two..

The Murphy-Goode campaign is over (I did not make the top 50), my we TWEET You is on hold for further development and the reality show, well, I had to decline. I had been working with two other great guys developing a social media campaign for a restaurant group and after 3 month of work with no pay, I had to walk away.

How am I feeling? VERY FRUSTRATED! I am by nature a very positive person and like to keep this blog positive. I also like to keep this blog REAL. So, I am sharing with you my frustration.

On the side of these projects I have been spending time on meet up (I plug them a lot in here). Because I love meet up so much, I decided to apply for a job with them. I sent in my resume and .... got a response back that I do not have the skill set they are looking for. Hmmm, how did I take this response? STEP IT UP!!

A day or so later, I decided to go deeper into meet up. My mom has been struggling to get workshops going in her fabulous art studio, I told her I would help her with marketing and.... set her up with a meet up account. It took 10 hours to hook her up. The site looks GREAT and she accumulated 15 members in 8 hours. Regardless of what meet up thinks of me, I think meet up is BRILLIANT and will continue plugging them and helping others set up accounts. Here is the link to my Mom's meet up, check it out! and if you know anyone interested in having an account set up, let me know I would be more than happy to help!

Rhoby's Murphy-Goode social media campaign applicant update

As I go back and nurture the connections I have made campaigning for the Murphy-Goode job, I realize opportunity could still be in the air. In the process of expanding my web presence, I joined some amazing groups and interesting discussions. Today, I have sent out this message to my groups on Linkedin and meetup:

Hello Linkedin Friends,

I can't thank you enough for your support and votes in pursuit of landing my dream job. I have truly seen the essence of social media in action by reaching out to you as members and having such a powerful response as a group. In the end, I was 20 out of 1,000 most popular in terms of votes for this job, but did not make the final 50 in Murphy-Goode's decision. I am passionate about social media but think my passion for wine was not represented strongly enough.

This endeavor was not for nothing. I have learned a more in depth perspective in this field, made some great connections and expanded my web presence beyond my expectation. I am now open to do bigger, more exciting things. I will be focusing my energy on pursuing work in this field. Hey, If you know anyone looking for a social media expert, I hope you will pass my name along! In case you did not see my video you can view it here:

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=fAiaji8hlFE

Thank you all so much!

Sincerely, Rhoby

Yes, I am still unemployed, optimistic, smitten with social media and smarter than a whip! Wish me luck as I continue my search and keep you posted!

..AND NOW A MESSAGE FROM AN INSPIRATIONAL SPONSOR

This company does not sponsor or endorse this blog, I just think it is brilliant and very well done. I have REALLY been getting into iMovie latley and can appreciate the creativity as well as the message. Yup, it touched me! not to mention Grasshopper IS my indian name!

THE POWER OF LINKEDiN

As you may have heard, I along with 915 others have been campaigning to land "A really Goode Job" with Murphy-Goode Winery. This is an AMAZING opportunity to learn about and participate in the process of wine making, be immersed in social media and correspond from the vineyard in Northern California. Oh, and taste outstanding wine!

Candidates have been ALL OVER cyberspace, Blogging, tweeting, facebooking, youtubing even bliping! At this point, there are sooo many portholes into social media platforms it is a bit overwhelming, (and I have only named a few basics). What I have been noticing is that each of us competing for the Murphy-Goode job has found a niche in social media that works for us as individuals. We have been driving traffic to vote for our videos and ultimately bringing people to Murphy-Goode.

The niche that worked for me came to fruition just the other day. It was on Linkedin. I had joined a social media group consisting of 25,000 members a couple months back and last week I thought I would give a discussion in this group a shot in hopes of gaining votes. So, I created a discussion that went a little something like this:

Hello Linkedin friends!

I am reaching out to you today in the spirit of support!! I have found my dream job!! It requires votes on my video application. It's coming down to the wire!

It is for Murphy-Goode's social media campaign!! I have been out of work for quite sometime, and this would be a HUGE break for me to help me get back on my feet. So, I humbly am asking for your votes!, your friends votes, spread the word if you will, to vote Rhoby! 

here is the link: 

http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=fAiaji8hlFE 

I hope you all are well and I wish us ALL the best!! 

Sincerely, Rhoby

The response was amazing. I received 10 comments within the hour. The more I interacted and communicated with the responses in the discussion, the more votes I gained. As we all know, nurturing relationships is an essential part of social media. Exchange, whether it be commenting on blogs, Re-tweeting, joining twibes, interacting with topics using hashtags on twittersearch or joining discussion boards on social networking platforms works! This is something I have been doing, along with other candidates since applications opened, April 28th. I suppose Linkedin was the jackpot for me. For some it was Twitter, for some it was Blogging, some were endorsed by a company? called Vintank. Hmm, do you think it is possible applicants were clever enough to start their own company, piggy backing off the Murphy-Goode campaign to endorse themselves? Just curious, well good for you guys if that is the case, very smart! If that is not the case, Goode for you for getting endorsed. There are a lot of impressive applicants out there and I TRULY wish us ALL the best of luck!

Linkedin is a powerful force, once you're in! I HIGHLY recommend beefing up your profile and joining some groups!

IS THE NEW "OFF BEAT"...ON BEAT?!

I just wanted to get a quick post up today about my progress.....

In my video below, I mentioned that "I work harder as an unemployed person than I did as an employed person", well, that is a huge understatement. As I looked back over the video, I realized anyone who knows me and hears that quote must think, gads she must have smoke coming out of her ears!

This is true. I have become an out of work workaholic! 

Today the "Reality show producer" is making a trip over here to interview the fam. If I decide to do this, she will chronicle my unemployment chronicling, my campaign to land the Murphy-Goode job, my we Tweet you start up and......my dynamics at home.

Really, I just want to land- land a job, land an apartment, land a new life.

My father used to go through a ritual with me when I was younger, utilizing a method called silva mind control. It is one of the many interesting practices used at the Learning community, the alternative school I attended in the 70's. He would sit down in front of me with a sign that we made together, it read "I CAN". The sign was outlined in red with green stripes inside. He had me open and close my eyes, reading the sign, until I could see those words whether my eyes were open or closed. Whenever I found myself in a challenging moment, growing up, that sign would rise to the forefront of my mind and I would ease through any obstacle. 

As I go through this process of unemployment, "Jobless in jobless times" and what now sometimes feels like a frenzy of budding opportunity, I need that sign the most! Ultimately, all we can ever do is our best! but I must also remember I CAN!

REALITY TV GIG?!...

Oh, and don't forget to

VOTE FOR RHOBY

for Murphy-Goode's really goode job!

Tak'in a turn.......

A LOT has been pop'in off for this little (unemployed) blogger ! I am structuring my We TWEET You business, got a social media management account with a restaurant group in conjunction, with two other entrepreneurs, up dated my Linkedin profile, was asked for a resume, AFTER my interview with Murphy-Goode and...

Is potentially doing a reality!!@#$@%!!!!! show????

Most importantly, I am finding my way through all this, I am finding myself! This is what makes substance in ANY endeavor I encounter. The more time I spend in my mind, rationalizing, the less I get done. The more time I spend, taking a leap, embracing, living and breathing in experience, the more comes to fruition. 

To break it all down, social media is about authenticity, transparency and relate-ability, and if I am really going to be a pioneer in this field, I just need to go out there, live and SHARE my experience.

So, I will keep plugg' in along and keep you informed! Wish me luck, 'cus I'm about to just take a leap of faith, into the unknown, which only helps me know myself better!

NY TIMES STRIKES AGAIN.....

A new trend in the workforce, "twittering",  article in the NY TIMES........

Unemployment peeps WORK together!!!!

Rhoby’s Dream Job

The good people over at Unemploymentality, another unemployment blog gave me a plug!! Check it out!! I am humbly grateful!!

Posted using ShareThis

I GIVE YOU...Lucia Micarelli

Since I have no words to express how I feel today, I give you..... Lucia....