Ryan Stephens Marketing: Six Months in Review

So I have been blogging for about 6 months now, and in the last month or so I’ve seen my subscriber count increase exponentially; albeit it is still far from where I want it, but I’m pleased with the blog’s current trajectory. With some new readers stumbling across my content I thought this would be a perfect opportunity to re-visit some of my old posts. This will enable new readers to get a feel for the content of the blog, and allow old readers to re-discover posts they may have found valuable (do I have any of those?).

The Importance of Social Arbitrage
Keith Ferrazzi discusses social arbitrage in his book Never Eat Alone, which has become my networking Bible if you will. It is fitting that this was my first ever post for this blog because it is something I am very passionate about, and the way I try to do business. Every time I approach a business venture, a blog post, or even making a contact, I try to highlight the ways I can provide value to someone else.

Reciprocity in Online Marketing
To this day it is one of my most popular blog posts (aside from the lack of comments), but it discusses the notion that nobody ever got to the top all on their own. Generosity is reciprocated and we should always strive to help others get ahead, and graciously accept help from those willing to help us get ahead.

Are You a Marketer or a Seller?
This post was inspired by reading Theodore Levitt’s “Marketing Myopia,” which resonates even now, 30+ years later after it was written. Most articles do not have – near – that kind of staying power. Here’s a quick blurb from this blog, “There are a LOT of people online who are online sellers, but how many are actually online marketers? Sellers are preoccupied with converting their product or service into cash, while marketers satisfying the needs of the customers.”

Why I Should Be Seth Godin’s Summer Intern
I ended up taking the internship I already had lined up, but I actually became a virtual intern for Seth this summer, and have been working on some projects remotely. More importantly I have embraced the situation (in spite of minimal time) and actually learned a lot from the experience.

The Biggest Mistake “Semi-Successful” Marketers Make
I actually had an altercation with a marketer who I was trying to help, and this post was the result of that altercation. I will always listen to what my clientele wants and try to provide them what they want. I will do my very best to keep my own ego out of the equation. I especially like the little scenario I came up with to describe this situation. It’s crude, but it’s spot on.

Expanding Your Network: Sharing Your Passions
Another relatively popular post. This blurb says it best: “…use it to meet new people that are passionate about marketing and cultivating new and intriguing ideas that have the potential to alter the pendulum of momentum in marketing, to unabashedly flip the script on current marketing viewpoints. Expanding your network with people that share your passions transforms the work you do from tedious and mundane to more of a contagious and indirect repercussion of the way you operate and live your life.”

The Value of Making Connections
This is probably to date the aspect of blogging I have enjoyed the most. I absolutely love some of the people I’ve come in contact with. Speaking of making connections I really enjoy connecting with people via LinkedIn, so if you haven’t yet, take the time to hit me up!

Be Willing to Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
This blog post urges people to challenge themselves in order to strengthen their personal brand and push themselves to try unique experiences that will help them grow as a person. It details two examples that I encountered this past semester. Oh, and that pretty girl I was trying to impress? Let’s just say I have had the fortunate opportunity to spend a lot more time with her since.

The Top 10 Generation Y Blogs
This was probably the post I had the most fun writing in these first six months. I wrote the post in an attempt to shed some light on a project I am working on where I rank the top 10 Generation Y blogs each month and showcase them on a Squidoo Lens. The post mentions each of the sites on the inaugural top 10 list, and features my weak attempt to interject some of my own humor into the post. You should read it!

What You Need To Know About Salary Negotiation
Since joining the Brazen Careerist network, I have tried to target some of my posts directly at Millenials (the generation Y demographic), and this is definitely one of those posts, though I suspect it could help lots of people looking for a new job. The post is merely a bulleted list of some of Jim Dixey’s most important points with respect to salary negotiation. The one’s I deem most important, “It’s not about you, but the employer,” and “Know what you bring to the table.”

Generation Y: Stand Up For Yourself in the Workplace
Yes, you should have to pay your dues like those that came before you, and no I don’t preach entitlement. That said, you shouldn’t have to tolerate bullshit and ridiculous tasks that have no pertinence to the job at hand just because your boss walked through the snow barefooted to get to school when he was five. The blog highlights three things to keep in mind when standing up for yourself including; being tactful, carbon copying co-workers on e-mails, and not working in a miserable situation.

Six Pieces of Advice Essential to Strengthening Your Brand
The following is an excerpt from an interview I recently did for Mad Mortgage World’s owner, Daniel Martin.

Confession: I’m Scared to Re-Locate After College
This one is relatively self-explanatory and arguably my post popular post since I’ve started blogging. I hope that it delves into legitimate concerns that other Millenials, and recent college graduates can relate to, and not just perpetuate stereotypes about Texans. To prevent me from having to re-locate, if you’re a hiring manager from a marketing company in Dallas, Austin or Houston, please offer me a job at the conclusion of reading this particular post.

How I Made $300+/month and Learned How to Network
Here I allude to the notion that most people just do not know how to network, and I was included in that group at one time, but this post highlights how I learned how to network while recruiting referrals for GPT (Get Paid To…) programs. I learned how to become the solution to other people’s problems and I started looking at networking as 1+1=3, and as a result I learned to network and got some extra spending money out of the whole process.

And Finally …

The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business
Danny Meyer’s “Setting the Table” is a book I really enjoy, and something every relationship marketer and current/potential manager should have to read. This post features some key points and lessons to be learned from Meyer’s book. Here’s one of my favorite: “Service is a monologue — we decide how we want to do things and set our own standards for service. Hospitality, on the other hand, is a dialogue. To be on a guest’s side requires listening to that person with every sense, and following up with a thoughtful, gracious, appropriate response. It takes both great service and great hospitality to rise to the top.”

So, which post was your favorite? Which one did you find the most useful? What would you like to see more of (aside from # posts in general) in the next six months?