Don't make people SEARCH for you! Be VISIBLE!!!

A few months back I touted the importance of staying visible when trying to accomplish something. Today, I am returning to this concept because it has delivered results. This week I will be starting three different part time positions that I would have never had the opportunity to have if I had not been present in places where connectors hang out.

First, I will be assisting with the coordination of an online show for the next two weeks. How did this happen: 1) I was at a tech networking event and we were introduced and then discussed how I might be able to help him (WIIFY), 2) I followed up the next day by emailing etc. which was well received, 3) Around a week later I sent a request for an update, at which point I was put in contact with the other founders and meetings were setup, 4) Tomorrow I will be attending a walk through.

Second, I will helping with the marketing push for some blogs through the social media blog rating sites. How did this happen: 1) My roommate is one of the writers for one of the blogs of this company and she knows I’ve been looking for marketing work (yes being visible to her is easier, but still relevant), 2) Her boss sent out some traffic stats and a request for recommendations for new marketing coordinators she forwarded my resume in, and I had a meeting with the content managers, 3) After the all important “Nice to meet you email” I was offered a part time (which they claim could lead to full-time after the ever present dot com re-org), 4) I now have a web pseudonym “FunnyWebGoddess” that will be “discovering and sharing all the funny parts of the web”.

Last, but certainly not least, starting Wednesday, I will be the marketing intern at a firm that specializes in web analytics and seo and learning how to tailor fit content to the market. How did this happen: 1) I was introduced to a young entrepreneur who I’ve been lucky enough to see and bond with at multiple tech events, we keep in touch through gchat, twitter, etc., 2) At an event he mentioned to me that I should apply for this internship that he couldn’t do because of a bad commute and personally introduced me (by email) to the CEO who had wanted him to join the team, 3) I responded to the CEO with my interest and cc’ed a trusted employee who I was connected with, 4) Interview, thank you email a few days later, and then a request for update email on the day that the CEO was supposed to decide who he has taking on. 5) 6:30pm on Friday email from CEO inviting me to join the team if I was still interested. 6) After a few emails about logistics, this Wednesday I’ll be spending my first 2.5 hours learning the ropes or Google analytics.

You maybe saying to yourself, why is she so excited about three part time positions that probably don’t pay very much? I would simply have to respond, that I will be learning new marketable skills from leaders in the industry, and staying VISIBLE to them, their connections, and the rest of the tech world while actually getting some cash in my pocket.

It helps if you are associated with connectors. Most people on this list I have been introduced to by Andrew Warner or Daniel Paul, I definitely owe them this shout out.

Per some recommendations from some of the individuals below, I’ve taught myself a little bit of HTML. This list was created using what I learned, and was typed completely in the HTML not visual editor on Wordpress. It took longer but I think it was worth it for the adventure.

List of high level people who were nice enough to give me some time:

1. Josh Spector – Director of Content at Comedy.com
2. Mike Jones – CEO of Tsavo Media (among many other accomplishments)
3. Sean Percival – Director of Content at Tsavo Media (and other sites including LALAWAG)
4. Drew Baldwin – Co-Founder of Tubefilter
5. Marc Hustvedt – Co-Founder of Tubefilter
6. Mark Jeffrey – CTO of Mahalo
7. Tyler Crowley – Director of Business Development, Marketing, and Strategy of Mahalo
8. Eric Stephens – Director of Product and User Experience at Mahalo
9. Mark Geller – Product Manager of Photos at Google
10. Jun Loayza – Co-Founder of Viraology
11. Yu-kai Chou – Co-Founder of Viraology
12. Neil Patel – SEO Expert and Founder of QuickSprout
13. Don Mosites – Founder of Streamy
14. KW Low – Director of Business Development and Strategy at AT&T Interactive (Yellowpages)
15. William Barnes – Founder of WPB Group (and Geeky T-shirt extraordinaire)
16. Shira Lazar – Tech Reporter and Ultimate Connector who blogs at The Pop Report
17. Stefan Goldby – Producer at Chemistry Productions (and former VP at ManiaTV)
18. Hayden Black – Executive Producer of Goodnight Burbank (and on-line video power player)
19. Mike Prasad – Developer of Koji BBQ’s Twitter and GirlGamer
20. Yaron Tilajef – Director of Sales at (mt) MediaTemple
21. The crew at Eblizz
22. Every C level person at AFI
23. And a few other people I’m sure I’m forgetting

Well that’s the end of this post and my HTML experiment. Let’s hope all the href=”" links work

In the morning I filled out the online application for a job that my old roommate connected me to, and that I have an interview for on Monday.
I responded to emails from people I met last night and forwarded resumes of more qualified people to hiring managers I knew were looking, and some recruiters who are always appreciative of talent that comes across their desk.

Then I went corporate. I attended a new consultant briefing at Msquared, a firm that specializes in helping big companies connect with “contingent talent” (consultants). I had been turned on to them a few weeks ago through the Product Development and Management Association of Los Angeles. It was a good experience for me for a few reasons, most of which surrounding the fact that I was the most junior person there by at least 10 years. First, it gave me the opportunity to hear from people who have a lot more experience than me to just know what the future could hold. It also afforded me the chance to meet with the consultant matchmakers of sorts so that they could understand better what I bring to the table. I expressed to them that I should be there go to girl for companies that are requesting a team of consultants because I’m the only one in the room who’d be happy to work under one of the others in attendance. The presenters also emphasized the importance of having multiple resumes up on their site to showcase different skills and experiences.

When I got back to my computer the final proofs were ready for my business cards, made by Printrunner, a friend of mine’s company. It’s always good when a connection can save you money. I responded to a few emails about potential jobs, and sent an email to the Director of Young Alumni relations for the UCLA Fund, who I met last night at the UCLAlumni Academy dinner, about the possibility of being her Assistant Director. I forwarded an inviation for an upcoming Maniatv event to Jun and Ya-kai of FutureDelivery (who I had the pleasure of speaking with earlier this week) and they were grateful. Last, there were a few emails back and forth following up on questions about the Iphone application suite, which is getting more an more exciting by the day.

In the evening I had a call with a product manager of a very big tech product, who I had been connected to through the person I had coffee with on Monday who was looking for a business development person, who I had been connected to through Andrew of Mixergy. This was a conversation that might have been one of the best half hours of advice I could have ever been given. Highlights from our talk are that I should definitely wait as long as I can for an Assistant/Assiciate Product Manager position at a company whos product passionate about. If I have to take a job that’s less dynamic, he reminded me that there are always tons of ways to learn no matter where I am. He also made the very relavant point that I can never have too much technical knowledge and that learning wordpress, and then php/python or another programming language will not only strengthen the products I develop, but earn me more credibility with the engineers and potential employers. Finally, he encouraged me to become what he called a “social media maven”, in todays tech world there is nothing more powerful that a good blog, an active twitter, and Facebook knowledge.
I spent the rest of my evening trying to get my website up and running (still a work in progress) and I’m committed to doing it myself so that I can learn the backend. One of these days it will happen.

After drinks with friends to celebrate one of us becoming a US Citizen (he was waiting until Bush was out of power), I came home and did some more follow up emails with the Msquared folks, and my connection to Non-profit consultants, before coming back to by blog and my twitter and my facebook to continue to connect and learn about connecting in new ways.