Blonde MBADocumenting the life of a blonde MBA student in sunny California. Maybe some blondes DO have brains!

I’ve talked here before about the increase in my Facebook usage since joining the MBA program…just about every student is on Facebook or multiple social networks, and it is changing the way we interact (i.e. catching up with purposely forgotten classmates over a Facebook-planned 10-year HS reunion). NOW it is changing how we get a job…

Personal marketing has gone 2.0 with LinkedIn. I attended a workshop last week on using this professional social network, and learned the surprising statistic that more than 30,000 recruiters troll this network for job leads. While we can put crazy or incriminating pictures out on our Facebook, how we present ourselves in the LinkedIn setting is crucial for creating the right impression or “brand image” of ourself for potential employers as well as the professional network we have built via our “online rolodex.”

How do we do brand ourself then? We already brand ourself in the “real-world” in various ways, and  many of these be transferred directly AND improved on in our virtual world:

• From a resume & cover letter…to a complete profile
• From the 30-second elevator  pitch…to a 6-word headline
• From a business card exchange…to a reach extending way BEYOND six-degrees of separation
• From a pre-selected private recommendation…to an ongoing catalog of public recommendations
• From positive (but undocumented) peer respect…to a ranking of “expert opinion” based on votes for your answer to a LinkedIn question
• And finally…from pre-interview company research…to researching current & former employees (or the new hire that took the position you applied for)

While obviously your 2.0 brand is of increasing and necessary importance and LinkedIn has a number of great  tools that can propel you and your name farther than ever before, proponents all agree: LinkedIn (or any social network for that matter) is NOT a substitute for human interaction. To get your online rolodex, you have to network - in person.  To get a hold of someone important and convey your voice, you have to pick up a phone.  LinkedIn is just one part of your overall brand strategy!

Social networks really have become the “wave” (I don’t know if of the future or not) these last few years…and they have definitely influenced MBA life! When I was in undergrad, Friendster was vaguely around, Blackboard just started, and we communicated by cell phones only…crazy, I know!

Today’s college students, and now graduate students, do everything via Facebook…attend or RSVP for events, become fans or members of student groups, talk to our group members, compare articles, network with alumni, you name it! Who came up with this??

Jason Feffer, CEO of Sodahead.com

Answer: Jason Feffer, one of the co-founders of MySpace.com, has set up a new networking site called Sodahead.com, and came to talk to Argyros School of Business and Economics students last night for the first ever Global Entrepreneurship Week. Beyond the entrepreneurial feel of “thinking big,” he gave us insight into how the social networking industry came about and just BLEW UP in a very short time…

• Friendster evidently came about first, but as “My Facebook” was at the beginning, was a closed network with little to no customization by users. MySpace, Feffer’s company, was started in 2003 as an alternative to Friendster and open to pretty much anything - any user name, any “glitter,” and any background the user wanted to hack in. Ugly, yes, but from there, MySpace simply followed and built on what the users were doing most - checking out each other’s pictures, adding music, etc. - and what times/places of the world were doing what. This simple market research (and collaboration with advertisers) caused it be sold within three years for approximately $580 million. Nice cut…
• That said, now Facebook has become an alternative to MySpace, for those users who precisely do NOT want the glitter and glamour, and as us MBA students, allow us to connect to our schools and even now, business professionals and company pages.

Where will these sites go? It’s safe to say I think I’ve grown out of MySpace…those tweens can have it…but I don’t think I’m making a complete jump to the STRICTLY professional LinkedIn. Wherever you go, these sites have allowed many to connect to old classmates, friends, and even family in more ways than ever before…I (and Jason Feffer) thinks they’re here to stay (with ongoing adjustments in a never before established industry)!

For more on how start-up Sodahead got started, check out this interview with Jason Feffer…