bizMe

May 28, 2008

I read a great article today outlining the job market for recent college grads. The top degrees that employers seek include engineering, business, education, the social sciences, health professions, communications, biological and biomedical sciences, along with visual and performing arts. This article stresses the importance of pursuing a major and obtaining a degree with a purpose, with the goal of actually working in that field. It is challenging jumping into your first year of college knowing exactly what you want to be. Determining your ultimate career choice at that age is difficult, especially when you’re probably interested in a multitude of careers. The best plan is to allow yourself some freedom–take general courses that fulfill the basic requirements that first semester and then see what sparks your interest. You never know where you’ll find a career!

When I was in college many of my professors stressed the importance of “soft skills, which are communication, leadership, and teamwork. Employers are stressing not so much the degree earned as finding the right fit for the person. I have been in several interviews where I have heard, “you are more than qualified for this position but we just don’t think it is the right fit for you.” It is discouraging to hear that the employer is determining whether you get the job or not based on a good fit. Don’t give up! Everything always falls into place. Go after that job that you have always wanted, network with the right people and you will find that 9-5!

Here is a link to that article:
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=755737

Smiles,

Amanda

May 6, 2008

Get ready bizgal’s for the May issue of bizMe! We are working hard to get it out so please check back.

Smiles,

Amanda

April 28, 2008

I was asked several weeks ago to judge an entrepreneurship contest where an equal number of males and females have the opportunity to be crowned ultimate entrepreneur! I was so honored to be asked not only would it be great exposure for bizMe but also fun for me. I was starting to get nervous because the contact that originally asked me, had to get the final word from the pageant director and I had not heard anything yet. I gave my contact a call today to get the skinny on the contest and she was surprised that the director had not contacted me. So she broke the bad news to me that the director did not think that I could have an objective enough opinion to judge the males fairly because I publish a female magazine. I was very much offended by this comment because a. why would she form this opinion of me when we have never spoken and b. bizMe is for the young professional female but males are more than welcome to read the articles . . . the site just looks feminine because I designed it!

So the two lessons we can take away from this situation are:

1. Respond to people in a timely matter. If it is not going to work out, please let me know instead of keeping them guessing whether or not it is going to happen. It is a waste of time.

2. Do your research before labeling someone. We are all different but never judge a person by what they do, how they dress or what they drive. Talk to them, get to know them and then you can form an opinion.

A little frown,

Amanda

April 20, 2008

Last night my friend and I were heading downtown for the night and on our way down, she told me how her friends mentioned to her about this great new website that they check out all the time. The website just happened to be www.bizme.biz. So here is a shout out to all the bizgals spreading the word on bizMe!

Keep it up!

Smiles,

Amanda

April 15, 2008

I am so excited to share with you the new happenings with bizMe. We have added some great new sections that I know you will love.

Watch for the bizMe blast in your email today for all the details!

Have a wonderful Tuesday and as always, let us know what you think.

Smiles,

Amanda

April 10, 2008

TV is no longer just the typical reality show, the drama filled sitcom or even a relaxing haven for me. I keep looking at it as an educational tool to gain insight into the business world. And, after busy workdays, this is way too deep thinking for me!

I attended this seminar about working with different generations in the workplace and as you know, we did a great article on the topic as well. This is a very hot topic as the baby boomers retire and the Gen Xers and Yers take over!

It was a great seminar and one example that really hit home with me was when the speaker discussed TV sitcoms. Using scenes from a variety of TV shows, she showed how the different generations in the office are portrayed and the fact that eventually, as we work together, the generations will collide.

From this part of the presentation, I can no longer watch TV the same. I’m always looking for the hidden agenda, the real meaning behind the words and the actions. My favorite reality show like I am sure many of yours is MTV the Hill’s. I don’t enjoy the character drama as much as I love their jobs. Lauren interns for Teen Vogue . . . how sweet is that! I wish I had the time to religiously watch it every Monday night but thank goodness that MTV repeats every show 10 times! I caught this past week’s episode and I wanted to share with you what I found.

People talk with me a lot about how females don’t use their network efficiently because when vying for the same position or promotion or recognition, females do not always want other females to succeed. In some cases this is true and we have all seen it happen before but in the case of the Hill’s Whitney is a great example of a female helping her friend succeed.

Whitney got a job with People’s Revolution and the position that Whitney has is exactly what Lauren wants to do. Whitney knows that this job would be perfect for Lauren and so Whitney invites her to come to the store and check it out. While Lauren is there, Whitney’s boss asks Lauren to help out during fashion week. Whitney is excited to have Lauren working with her again and is happy to help her out.

Whitney is a great person that wants to see other people succeed because she is comfortable with her own talents. Whitney will be successful because she is a hard worker, genuine and humble.

I know there are many great shows and situations that illustrate this same sort of thing but I actually caught it this time and I wanted to share it with you!

Smiles,

Amanda

April 7, 2008

Well it looks like I am going to be home recovering for another week. I tore my ACL at the beginning of February while tearing up the ski hill and recently had surgery. I have really enjoyed the time off from work and as you’ll soon see, there are many changes to bizMe that I finally had time to complete. Since I launched the first bizMe issue I have wanted to create a blog so my readers know that I am a young professional too, learning the ropes of the career world right along with you.

Today’s agenda is contacting advertisers who I feel would be a good fit for the site. I want to include advertisers of products that you’ll like, products and services that you’ll want to use. My vision is that the advertising will enhance the site and will encourage readers to click to find out more.

I have a background in advertising sales so I know the lingo but the most difficult and time consuming job is finding the right person to talk too regarding online advertising. I leave so many messages only to find out three months later that the person I am stalking . . . isn’t even the right person! I am persistent and I like results!

For today bizgals, my advice is “it’s a competitive world and only the strong and the annoying survive!!

Have a great Monday,

A little frown,

Amanda

April 2, 2008

Today is a day that makes everything I am doing both rewarding and humbling. I checked my facebook account and a bizMe buddy (I started a bizMe facebook group page, you should join! ☺) sent a message asking me to participate in an Entrepreneur pageant. This pageant has 15 male and 15 female contestants and the judges interview the contestants on their business idea. The winner receives $500 to start his/her venture. I am so excited that one of my peers enjoys bizMe and admires the work that I am doing to ask me to judge her pageant.

My friend is a senior at the University in Chicago and she also wants me to be a mentor with a business group she is starting. This is what bizMe is all about and why I feel so strongly about what I am doing. I want my readers to feel comfortable asking me for advice, asking me to participate in activities that they are doing because that is truly what I love to do.

Thanks bizgals!!

Smiles,

Amanda

April 1, 2008

Happy Fool’s Day!!

My nana will often recite silly sayings, such as “when your noise is itchy, you’re going to kiss a fool! —April Fools Day made me think of that cute little snippet of nana wisdom!

Yesterday I mentioned that when I speak to college classes I get asked a lot of questions about the start of bizMe and this is the second most popular question:

What is my typical day like?

Most people are very surprised when they learn that I work full time for a regional newspaper selling advertising during the day. My evenings are consumed with bizMe often into the early morning hours. bizMe is the absolute focus of my life; however, I still must pay the bills and as you can see, bizMe currently does not have any advertisers so bizMe is supported by me. That’s why the bizMe catchphrase is “bizMe, just like you and me because I am just like my readers—going to a job that I enjoy but am not really obsessed with and waiting until I can get home to do something that I truly love.

My typical day is never the same. My advertising position at the newspaper is selling advertising to specific territories. I have a monthly goal and a quarterly goal that I am “encouraged to make. I enjoy this job because it is very much like running your own advertising agency. For many clients, I am their media consultant and not just a salesperson. I work directly with the owners of the business and I learn the structure and vision of their business. I enjoy the constant learning that goes with working for a large corporation but I enjoy working for myself a little bit more. Wink wink!!

Once 5:00 hits, the fun begins—it’s bizMe time! bizMe is a two-woman show, my mom and I. We wear many hats. My mom’s title is editor, which means that she and I brainstorm all the great article topics that we assign our freelance staff and I am very proud to say that all the article ideas are bizMe originals. She corresponds with the freelance writers, sends assignments, finalizes the articles, and then we format our articles. The best part of working together is that we’re more than mother and daughter—we’re colleagues and best friends! She’s the perfect partner!

My duties cover everything else. My title is publisher, which means that I am responsible for finding monetary support from investors and advertisers. I need to step up my game in finding funding; my focus recently has been developing partnerships and marketing bizMe.

My days are crazy busy right now but I would not change my workload for the world. I get to work with my mom every day and every day bizMe continues to grow!

Smiles,

Amanda

March 31, 2008

Just like you, I’m a young twenty-something and I had this idea for an online magazine while a student at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota. My passion is bizMe and putting together issues that I know reflect what my friends and peers are experiencing in their respective careers. I’m invited to speak to college classes about my entrepreneurial attitude and I thought for my first blog, I’d share with you some of the questions I’m almost always asked wherever I go!

How did I start bizMe?

When I read articles about the individuals that started popular and successful businesses, these entrepreneurs seem to share similar character traits. They were very often the wonder kids who started the lawn service at five years old (!) or that generated revenue off their too-cute lemonade stand at the age of three. When you read stories like that, it seems that all entrepreneurs from a very young age were destined to make tons of money and live the life that most Americans dream of having.

Well, that’s so not me! I never had any of those traits and when I look back on my childhood to try to connect the dots of how I got here, I can’t uncover any revenue-generating inspiration that led me to today. I ran around like any active kid; my days were consumed with practice—volleyball, basketball, softball, twirling (yes!) not with making money. My dream was to get a Division One scholarship for volleyball (which I did!) not to be the next Donald Trump.

When I went to college I thought I was aiming for a career with an ad agency. That goal turned into sports marketing, which quickly disappeared after an internship and then, just like that, a career as a financial broker became my ambition. Obviously, I was getting plenty of exercise doing my career jumping calisthenics! During my junior year I took a magazine writing class and that’s when my affair with the printed word began! I couldn’t get enough of those beautiful four color glossy magazines and I spent hours paging through my favorites.

Naturally, being young and ambitious and used to training hard to reach a goal, my first thought was “I’m going to be the publisher of Vogue, InStyle, and People magazine, can you believe that—tackling all three powerhouses of the magazine world! “Dream big or go home, isn’t that what they always say!

bizMe was born listening to my friends talk about what they wanted to be when we graduated the following year, who we wanted to be, the type of lifestyle we wanted, how we were going to find jobs, where we were going to find jobs and just experiencing the big freak-out that hits every senior when the impact of leaving the safety net of college to move on to the “real world becomes reality.

I spent most of my senior year researching, conducting surveys, networking, and talking to anyone that would listen to me about this idea I had of publishing a magazine for my demographic—in other words, for young professional females just like you and me. People started to listen and the wheels were in motion. The deeper I got into designing the concept of bizMe the more it consumed me. I could not think of anything else except the thought of publishing this magazine.

After graduation, I worked for a small publishing house where we launched a new magazine. This was an awesome experience because I was able to walk through the process of starting a magazine before starting my own. Then I was off to Chicago like many young professionals who are in a holding pattern until they can make the break for the big city action. Amazing things happen in the big city . . . or so we like to believe.

I got a job with the Chicago Tribune working with the national advertising team. I enjoyed my time there but just could not shake the idea of bizMe. I started networking with what I believe to be every Chicagoan in the publishing industry for about a year and realized just how hard it was to break into the industry. I didn’t want to give up on my dream so I decided to gift myself with the time to start bizMe.

I quit my job, moved back home and started bizMe. I worked on bizMe full-time for a year getting ready for a June 2007 premier. Initially I launched a teaser website to let web surfers see what was coming and to develop the bizMe name. I loved my first website and will always remember putting together every word, image, and design element.

You know what bizMe is today; check out what will someday be referred to as “retro bizMe !!! http://bizme.biz/old

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.

Smiles,

Amanda