When I was in grad school my professor used the New York Times One in 8 Million series as an example of innovative storytelling. At that moment, I was hooked. If you’re unfamiliar with the series, from 2010 to 2011 the NYT released audio slideshow features on your average, but really not-so-average new yorkers. We’re talking about anyone from a mambo dancer to a jury clerk. The only thing all of these individuals had in common was living in New York City. The eight minute pieces featured a series of images of a”day-in-the-life”, moving to the audio of the interview subject telling their story.

The “interview story” has been told many ways, but this format was particularly effective given the subject matter. The interview subject wasn’t talking at the camera, nor was the interviewee asking any questions. The audio was raw and honest. The strategically black and white in depth pictures indicated that the reporter spent an entire day with this person and really got to know them. Here’s one of my favorites:

Suffice to say, this quickly became my favorite way to tell a story. But more importantly than that, this series proved how much range we have as content creators. We have the ability to explore new avenues and concepts for delivering a message. The key is determining which avenues belong to which messages. This format worked for the NYT series because the features were meant to be laser focused on one individual and what they had to say. Images and audio, while simple, were enough. On the other hand, more complex stories with multiple subjects or storylines may not fit into the audio slideshow mold. If you know your story well enough, you will know how you should tell it.

One in 8 Million stopped running features over a year ago, but it still remains my favorite way to tell a story. And on Fridays, I think you’re allowed to feel a little nostalgic.

When I speak to college students I hear a lot of the same problems. For the most part, they have some type of digital footprint, whether it be an online portfolio or a LinkedIn profile, but they are lost when it comes to actually using their online presence as a tool for finding a job. Basically  I get a lot of: “I’m registered with LinkedIn but I don’t know what to do with it.” So, allow me to demystify the LinkedIn experience for you.

Using LinkedIn as a tool to grow your brand identity:

Because you already have an online presence, the social space is a great place to start developing your brand. The tools I recommend are easy to use and have the ability to position you as a subject matter expert in your field. The biggest and most important piece of advice that I can’t stress enough is: BE CONSISTENT. 

Once you’ve identified what your brand is, you have to commit to it. Maintaining consistency in the social space is critical for marketing yourself to employers. Not only that, but it increases your credibility in your industry and helps grow your visibility online.

Here are some ways you can keep your brand consistent and visible using LinkedIn:

Join groups in your industry. 

LinkedIn has groups for just about everyone, so do a little digging to find the groups that best fit your interest, and more importantly your brand. For instance, if you’re a social media expert interested specifically in social strategy for non-profits, then look for groups in both the social media and non-profit sector. You may even find a group that encompasses both!

Participate in discussion boards. 

Once you’re a member of a group, interact with the other members by either posting or commenting on discussion board topics. Say you comment on an article, referencing some work you’ve done in the past, or a class you took, and that catches another group member eye. You’ve now made connection with someone else in your industry that you may had otherwise overlooked. Just remember not to  post for the sake of posting. Make sure you’re comments are consistent with your subject matter expertise.

Post with purpose.

Unlike facebook or even twitter, your LinkedIn status updates should reflect your “professional self” rather than your “personal self”. In addition to posting your portfolio work, consider posting articles or studies you find interesting and are related to your industry. For instance, if you’re a marketing guru interested specifically in emerging technology, post your review on a new mobile app.

Follow your dreams. 

No, but really. On LinkedIn you can follow companies you would like to work for, and people who are thought leaders in your industry. If you have dreams of being a magazine editor, follow all the big publishing companies. Or, if you have aspirations of starting your own company, follow entrepreneurs like Arianna Huffington and Pete Cashmore. When you follow a company or person, their updates will show up in your feed., and your connections will see who you follow.

So typically after I give all these tips students will look at me with the “so what does all this have to do with finding a job?” face. The reality is these days, you have to be more creative with your job search. Scouring job search engines doesn’t cut it. You need to already have an “in”, and spaces like LinkedIn allow you to get do just that. By taking the time to beef up your activity and participation on LinkedIn, you have the ability to position yourself as a professional in your industry, and get the attention of those in your network. So don’t be afraid of LinkedIn kids, mastering it now will put you far ahead of the pack when you start applying for jobs.

First things first, your personal brand. What is it, and how can you use it to make yourself marketable to companies and employers? Here are some ways to fine-tune your brand and set yourself up for success during your job search.

Differentiate yourself. 

Whether you’ve already developed a brand or are just getting started, continually ask yourself  these questions: What have I done in the past? What can I offer a company in the future? What is my dream position? The answers will help you find your niche. Maybe you’re a specialist in social media, but what about your past experience makes you different than all the other social media specialists? Can you offer a company a different perspective? When I asked a journalism student in class this week what her brand was she said: “I tell global stories with a local perspective.” That is a very specific niche. Then I asked her what her dream career was and she said writing international news stories for some type of publication. She created a brand that was consistent with what she’s done in the past and what she can offer in the future. Think about what you’ve already done, and how it can translate to a career you will love. Then think about how your brand can help you get there.

Get online. 

If you’re in a creative industry, where clips, writing samples, or design examples, are required when you apply for jobs, you must have an online portfolio of your work. Sites such as WordPress and Blogger make creating an online portfolio easy and quick. Think about what an advantage you have as an applicant if an employer googles your name and your professional website pops up. They now have access to your resume and work with a click of a button.

Eliminate the junk. 

The worst thing you can do is put every piece of work you’ve ever done online. This is something I see a lot in student’s digital portfolios because they haven’t had a lot of professional work experience. The result is a messy, unorganized, pile of mediocre work. Instead, pick out your best pieces to showcase and keep in mind your brand as you pick them. Another student in class, who has aspirations of being a sports reporter, asked if she should put her gossip column clips on her site. I asked her if those pieces were consistent with her brand. What do you think her response was? If you want to position yourself as a subject matter expert in your specific niche, you must eliminate the junk. Quality over quantity applies here.

Self promote. 

What’s the use of having work online if the world doesn’t know it’s there? You may have a fantastic looking site but it does not serve you if it just hangs out in cyber space with all the other online portfolios. The fastest and easiest way get your work and name out there is to promote it through your social media channels. Every time you make an update to your site or add a piece of work, share it on LinkedIn and Twitter. Another great way to get the attention of people in your industry is to join professional associations or groups on LinkedIn. Post your website link on a discussion board and tell them how you are a recent graduate with an interest in “X” looking for a career in “X”. Direct them to your online portfolio and ask for feedback.   You’re putting your name out there while also engaging other professionals in your industry to interact with you. You never know who will come across your site and have a potential job lead.     Your chances are higher if your more proactive in promoting your work.

Building your brand and website can be a lengthy and consuming exercise, but it can prepare you when it comes time to market yourself to employers.

Look out for my next post in this series on how to use social media channels to increase your personal brand image and visibility online.

Nevertheless, I try to explain my occupation to my family by sending links and spouting hypothetical situations where my expertise might be needed. So far I don’t think I’ve completely , but I do think they are convinced I keep myself busy. So that’s an accomplishment.

This got me thinking about the people I admire in my industry. The people who did what I do before I knew what I wanted to do. I thought I would share my top three influencers on the web:

Pete Cashmore: Mashable

@mashable

This probably doesn’t come as much of a surprise. The blog covering media related topics has grown to one of the most followed blogs on the web. His discussions on social media, digital publishing, technology, and media news have always been my go-to for inspiration. Lately though, I have found myself looking at some more general news stories. Sometimes the way a story is told is just as powerful as the story itself. Cashmore incorporates inforgraphics and interactive components to the articles on Mashable. As content creators in the digital space, we have to constantly be thinking of new ways to present information, and Mashable is a great example of that.

Lisa Grimm: Communications Passionista

@lulugrimm

I was introduced to Lisa’s blog when she was working at one of my previous offices. Our time working together was brief, however while she was there, she was named one of the top most influential women in social media. I figured this might be a good person to follow. Lisa’s blog is smart, witty, and current. In a time when everyone thinks they are a social media expert, it’s great to hear from someone who knows what they’re talking about. Lisa’s principals are rooted in creating purpose-driven content to connect customers and brands. We could all learn something from her discussions.

Sarah Evans: Faves + Co

@prsarahevans

Sarah is someone I was told to follow when I was in journalism school. She is the person who introduced me to “twitter chats” (she started the very popular industry chat: #journchat). Sarah is also a great example of how to brand yourself online as a professional in your industry. I pay attention to the way bloggers set up there blog because I think blogs have a tendency to get messy and unorganized. Sarah’s blog “Faves + Co.” covers a vast number of topics, but keeps them under one neat umbrella: “her favorites”.

When I was creating my brand image and developing content for this website I referenced these three many times for inspiration. I encourage you to find who inspires you. If anything, next time my grandmother says she doesn’t know what I do, I can point to Sarah, Pete, or Lisa and have them take it from there.

Millennials  grew up on the cusp of participatory media, where they were encouraged to constantly share, like, post, re-post, link to ect. To put it dramatically, if you’re not online, sharing or writing content, you’re not living. It has now become the job of businesses and advertisers to pay attention to what is being shared and talked about. So who do they look to for guidance? None other than the generation glued to their computer screen still on their parent’s health insurance.

So to my fellow millennials, keep instagramming your breakfast and posting Buzzfeed’s top 10 lists. You’re doing something right.

And if you’re feeling up to it, I  came across this quiz suitable for today’s millennial talk. The results were a painful reminder that I simply cannot escape my generation even if I tried.

To help with the “not so thrilling” part, I like to think about a content audit the way I think about cleaning out my closet every spring. Usually around this time every year I rummage through everything I own, and take inventory. I pick up each piece of clothing and ask myself a few basic questions: “what do I keep, toss, refurbish, or repurpose?” My answers come from considering five important factors:

• Is it still relevant?
• Does it still fit?
• Do I have something else just like it?
• Can I see myself wearing it in the future?
• If I don’t, is there a way to salvage it?

Sound familiar? Now let’s apply the same idea to the articles, press releases, videos, blog posts, white papers, etc. taking up all that space on your website:

Is it still relevant?

Is this piece of content accurate, or have the facts changed? Perhaps you reference a stat that has been updated or refuted. To position yourself or your business as an expert in anything, the content you provide must be timely and accurate.

Does it still fit?

Does the piece of content still fit in the context of your website or brand strategy? This can happen when you’ve never completed a content audit, and your brand or goals have changed over time. You may have grown out of the content strategy you originally had. For instance, maybe you started out writing a company blog, but after some time you found a weekly e-newsletter is more suitable for your audience. If the blog is inactive, it really has no business on your site.

Do I have something else just like it? 

Does this piece of content seem strangely familiar? We’re human, so very often we may come up with a great idea, and realize we’ve already done it two years ago. By taking inventory of what type of content you have on your site, you are able to spot duplicates and nip them in the bud.

Can I see myself wearing it in the future? 

Does this piece of content support my vision for my brand or business? Content audits are all about moving forward and eliminating anything unnecessary. Don’t keep pieces around simply because they look nice and take up space. If they don’t serve the future goals of your brand or your business, you’re better off without them.

If I don’t, is there a way to salvage it? 

Can this piece of content be repurposed? What can I say, I’m a sucker for vintage finds. Mainly because they can usually be repurposed for something that looks new and original. Maybe you have a lot of irrelevant, old, or inaccurate content, but its content nonetheless, and it can be manipulated. Think about creative ways to edit what you already have.

So whether I’ve inspired you to clean up your website, or take a bulldozer to your closet, I hope this spring you will join me on putting a little TLC into your online presence.

Today, violence against women and domestic abuse is a global issue affecting the lives of millions of women around the world. Fighting to curb this problem has become the mission of Breakthrough, an international NGO committed to ending spousal abuse in India.

In 17 out of 41 countries, a quarter or more people think that it is justifiable for a man to beat his wife. India is one of those 17 countries where 40 percent of men and women think abuse is sometimes or always justifiable. This is comparative to the less than ten percent in the U.S.

Despite the implementation of anti-abuse laws and the fact that India’s current president is a woman, the UN Women Report on the Progress of the World’s Women reported that 35 percent of Indian women suffered from physical violence just last year. India remains the fourth most dangerous country in the world for women according to a Thomson Reuters Foundation expert poll.

India has been working since the 1970s to address issues of violence against women. The Protections of Women against Domestic Violence Act (PWDVA) was enacted in 2005, but has faced skepticism primarily because it does not actually prosecute perpetrators who commit acts of abuse. Instead, the act focuses on protecting the receiver of the abuse.  While the objective of criminal laws is to punish the offender, a civil law like PWDVA is directed towards providing reliefs to the aggrieved party; in this case, the woman who faces violence at home.

Since creating policy to initiate change in India is not as impactful as it could be, organizations like Breakthrough have taken a different approach to combat violence. Their most recent and perhaps most successful campaign is Bell Bajao! or more commonly known as “Ring the Bell.”

Ring the Bell is as simple as it sounds: if you hear domestic violence, go ring your neighbor’s doorbell to interrupt. The idea encourages indirect intervention in domestic disputes.

Mallika Dutt, President and CEO of the Breakthrough organization began these unconventional initiatives to address violence against women with the intention of really reach beyond the people only working on policy.

“We had to ask ourselves the question, how do we bring the issues of violence against women into the mainstream,” said Lynn Harris, Director of Communications in Breakthrough’s New York office.

Breakthrough’s initiatives operate under the mission that human rights start with the individual.

“While the state and the government are of course actors in protecting and promoting human rights, the way to build a culture of human rights is to start with you and me,” said Harris.

The campaigns are meant to plant that messages in and reach people who aren’t necessarily in tune with social justice movements. The organization does this by using methods that can be most readily understood and absorbed by the masses like music, videos, and pop culture.

Thus was the same approach with the Ring the Bell campaign. Using a blitz of radio, television and billboard ads across India, Breakthrough reached an estimated 130 million people in the first two years of the campaign.

Ring the Bell has been more ambitious than previous Breakthrough campaigns in using the blogosphere. Breakthrough developed a domestic violence-themed blog on its website as another means of raising awareness and starting a discussion. It is the hope of the organization that the blog will serve as an interactive and dynamic space, where users comment and share their experiences.

Breakthrough also operates out of an office in New Delhi India led by Media Manager Bulbuli Mukherjee, who sees the implication of violence against women everyday. Her team has developed grassroots awareness strategies to promote Ring the Bell at the source of the violence. Their most recent development has been their video van.

A video van is a mobile unit with audiovisual screenings on violence against women issues that was developed by the Breakthrough media team. Managed by selected Rights Advocates, the van carries video endorsements featuring local opinion leaders on campaign issues and interactive games and theater on the topic. The Rights Advocates, trained by the Breakthrough office in New Delhi and who accompany the van and lead most of the interactive sessions with the public, receive a small stipend and certificate for their participation.

The van travels in each of the eight campaign districts of Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. for 25 days. At the very beginning on the Ring the Bell campaign in 2009, it is estimated that the video van reached 2.5 million people with the Ring the Bell message

“I think making it public, or holding men accountable are the most effective measures we can take,” said Dr. Ann Russo, Professor in the Women and Gender Studies department at DePaul University.

“Additionally, creating actual structures where people can get the issue addressed in whatever capacity makes a difference. We want to work towards raising people’s consciousness about it, and getting the public actively invested in trying to change and stop it. “

Still while Russo agree these initiatives may be the most effective way of combating this issues, she points out that different countries have different traditions or histories about how to deal with issues like violence against women.

The International Journal of Epidmiology noted a study in 2009 in South India which concluded that strategies and policy recommendations often assume that helping women to empower themselves, particularly through female education, vocational training and employment, will provide women with resources that will deter violence.

However, the study showed growing recognition that these strategies may conflict with prevailing social norms and expectations that are relatively slow to change, and may instead result in increased violence against women. It is therefore not surprising that 75 percent of working respondents in the Journal’s study reported being abused because of their employment status.

Akshay Relan, an Indian workingman who grew up and raised a family in New Delhi admits there are expectations and traditions in India families.

“For example female is more supposed to be in the kitchen and with the kids and father is more supposed to bring home money,” said Relan.

Russo agrees that in particular cultures outside the U.S. may have more difficulty breaking ideologies condoning acts of abuse against women.

“I think it’s really hard to change those attitudes that violence is a personal problem and not a public problem or that women deserve to be abused,” said Russo.

“We are talking about countries that have a history of using violence to control or punish people, and so what is happening in the family isn’t much different than what is happening by the police also using physical and verbal abuse as a means of control. So I think it is very hard to shift that behavior.”

Everyone knows that walking into any grocery store on a Saturday afternoon is a death sentence. You spend more time playing bumper shopping carts and dodging children, than actually shopping. For a minute you forget your country is digging itself out of a deep recession with all the purchases being made, especially since the grocery store you are in happens to be a Whole Foods Market, a company infamous for its “Whole Paycheck” reputation.

This is also the company who recently reported a 12 percent growth in their fourth quarter, increasing sales to $2.4 billion. In fact, the company has not reported a decrease in sales in any one quarter since the beginning of 2009. Additionally, for the quarter ended Sept. 25, Whole Foods reported a profit of $75.5 million, or 42 cents a share, up from $57.5 million, or 33 cents, a year earlier.

How does one explain this continued growth? How does the store that sells a dozen eggs for $3.99  survive a recession? As the Occupy Wall Street movement grows in numbers, you can’t help but wonder what is drawing Americans to this gourmet supermarket month after month. We know it’s not just the mere “1 percent” shopping there.

So has our country finally embraced the healthy food initiatives Whole Foods Market preaches? Perhaps yes, because we can all agree patrons aren’t flooding the stores for $5 boxes of cereal.

“People are increasingly embracing healthier lifestyles, as life-threatening diseases are on the rise, and healthcare cost are high and going higher,” said Co-Chief Executive Officer John Mackey in a public conference call discussing the fourth quarter earnings.

This fall, Whole Foods Market launched its new health initiative, the in-store “wellness club.” In the past two months they have opened four wellness clubs in Chicago, Oakland, New York City, and Massachusetts.

The wellness clubs are members-only clubs offering nutritional courses, culinary classes, supper clubs, coaching, and a wellness assessment tools. For a one-time fee of $199 and monthly membership dues of $45, shoppers can get lifestyle evaluations, access to their variety of class offerings, and 10 percent discounts on 1,000 better-for-you foods sold in Whole Foods.

“We are learning and evolving with each club we open, and have one more pilot scheduled in Princeton, New Jerseyin January,” said Mackey.

If the first five wellness clubs are hits, Whole Foods has plans to roll out 10 more in 2012, and then may go national the following year, according a report by USA Today.

The launching of this wellness initiative does address the healthy lifestyles of the company’s customer base, which tends to be more educated, younger and wealthier. Still, membership to a Whole Foods Wellness Club is not a small price to pay for better nutrition. The first year as a member works out to a $720 investment. This may be a tough sell to your average supermarket patron already shelling out more money for groceries.

Despite the economic uncertainty of the market, Whole Foods is able to stay a step ahead of grocery industry in sales trends, with its fiscal fourth quarter comparable-store sales growing 8.7% over the prior year quarter. This comes at even more of a surprise as the grocer conducted a price hike last quarter to offset the growing commodity inflation.

Inflation gripped the entire grocery industry last quarter, where in addition to high gas prices and unemployment rates, consumers have to grapple with expensive dairy and meat products across the board. Trends show that as many competing stores see their customers’ trade down to lower-priced items or purchase fewer items altogether, the high-end grocery chain rarely sees an impact on its sales volume, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

This is very much true for the premier organic food store. In the fourth quarter, Whole Foods reported its basket size increased 4 percent, driven mostly by a higher average price per item, according to their quarter report.

“As we have been reporting throughout the year, on a year-over-year basis, our customers had shifted their buying toward branded and organic products, higher priced tiers, and to several discretionary categories,” said Mackey.

Whole Foods does reach a certain demographic, however, given the company’s growing numbers that demographic is clearly expanding. Paying more for organic food is not anything new and healthy living is another initiative that has taken the nation by storm in the past few years.

A 2010 report by Mintel Market Research on green living showed more than one-third of survey respondents said they would pay more for environmentally friendly products. Findings showed that only 21 percent of organic food buyers cut down or eliminated organic purchasing during the recession, while 20 percent have switched to less expensive organic options. Meanwhile, 48 percent are buying as much or more organic food than before the economic downturn.

In a 2009 study by the Organic Trade Association, a reported 73 percent ofU.S.families buy organic products at least occasionally. The study also shows that 31 percent ofU.S.families in 2009 were actually buying more organic foods compared to a year earlier. Many parents specified that they prefer to reduce their spending in other areas before limiting their purchases of organic food products.

It is no secret that the organic food trend will only continue to gain momentum, but should consumers be concerned with just how much this trend will cost them?

Whole Food’s has tried to address the high prices related to organic brand problem. The company’s private-label 365 Everyday Value brand, which offers a multitude of items, has been the company’s solution to presenting more natural products at comparable prices to other supermarkets. In addition to 365, Whole Foods carries two other private lines: 365 Organic and the somewhat more expensive Whole Kitchen and Whole Pantry.

Whole Food’s managed to keep its head above water through the recession and continues to push through hard economic times with their commitment to promoting and expanding their wellness initiatives. This past year the high-end grocery chain has opened 18 new stores that and signed 32 new leases, including two inCanadaand three in the U.K.

“As America’s Healthiest Grocery Store, we are uniquely positioned to benefit from this major demographic evolution. We are not yet saturated in any major metro area, and our flexibility on new store size has opened up additional market opportunities,” said Mackey.