Hi Friends!

Boy, am I glad summer finally closed up. Summer reading is finally done, kids are back in school, and I completed my Social Media Networking/Marketing class. Whooo-WHEE! That was the longest but shortest 5 weeks of my life. Paper after paper, quiz after quiz, a group presentation, and all that jazz.

Come hang out with us, Justin!

Sorry guys, I have two papers, a quiz, an assignment and I have to work on my group project.

Whaaaat? I thought you were only taking one class.

I AM.

What’s that? You want a free weekend? *Free time goes KABOOM*

I learned quite a bit about the world of social media. Some nuggets of wisdom I can pass along:

• Never host a contest on Twitter – use Facebook, it’s way easier to control and contain damage if things start getting out of control
• Sometimes, things go viral for the craziest reasons. Sometimes, for no reason at all (or at least it feels that way)
• No social media presence is better than a lame/infrequently updated/etc presence (a habit I am occasionally guilty of)
• When bad stuff happens, confront it head on before the problem gets any bigger.
• It’s not just about the Likes or follows. Follows and likes that don’t convert to sales are not worth very much.
• It’s not just about the Shares, Retweets and replies, either.
• It’s amazing how much content is simply people sharing/retweeting/reposting other people’s stuff. I need to stop trying to make so much content and just rely on the hard work of others every now and then!
• The balance between quality and quantity is tough to accomplish.
• As always, group projects are a joy. Especially when group members are in different time zones…or continents, for that matter.

So I’m back in class, this time taking regular marketing. Why? Kinda like how I took Finance 101 and Finance 9000 back to back, I might as well take it while it’s still retained in my brain (as opposed to learning all over again). Signing up for this semester was kinda mind blowing. The super nice registration lady asked me what I’d be taking next. I had no idea, so of course I waved my arms in the air and screamed for help.

Like, is that a trick question?

“Well, you can take one of these three classes.”

As in, those are my choices for next semester?

“No, those are your last three classes before you take your Capstone class and graduate.”

GAAAAAH I COULD BE GRADUATED BY THE END OF NEXT YEAR!!!

So, we’ll see how that goes. In the meantime, this semester already is giving me a run for my money. Papers, case analyses, narrated marketing videos…I’ll admit, I’m actually rather excited to be narrating a power point. What tone do I use? Friendly and earnest? Smooth jazz station DJ? Tony Stark-ish? Stay tuned.

As always, check in on my Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for fun photos, videos and update between posts. Have a great Monday out there!

Brash Librarian, Justin Brasher