Here’s a list of several that caught my eye this week:

• “7 Social Media & SEO Tactics Business Will Adopt in 2012” – great insight into how social media will figure in as a means for marketers to expand their reach.
• “31 Pro Tips for a Successful, Satisfying, and Insanely Profitable 2012” – a collection of quotes from some of the brightest names in marketing thought leadership, including Chris Brogan, Hugh MacLeod and Dan Zarrella. My favorite quote is the first from Leo Babauta: “Don’t mistake busy-ness for effectiveness.”
• “5 Social Media Rules You Learned in Kindergarten” – You know this stuff. This article shows you how it applies to your interactions on Twitter, Facebook and the like. Remember to “use your indoor voice” and not make it just about you.

And this article deserves its own separate entry:

• “Everything Marketers Need to Know About SOPA” – bookmark this one. There are bills in process right now in the House and Senate that could undermine social media as we know it by removing users’ ability to post and share content on sites like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

Do you have an updated LinkedIn profile? Are you active on Twitter (professionally)? How about Google +? If you are a marketing professional you should ABSOLUTELY be taking advantage of the social media platforms for networking, thought-sharing, and communicating. You should be referring your potential employers to your LinkedIn page, Twitter page, or blog posts to give them a more in-depth idea of what you’re capable of.

In the 90′s the popular way to search for employments was the old fashioned way.  You put on your Sunday best, printed dozens of resumes, and literally showed up to companies to hand them out personally. As 2000 approached that all changed thanks to the Internet and Email becoming more popular and easier to access. Around 2005 sites such as Careerbuilder.com and  Monster.com boomed as people found it easier to find work through those sources. It was easy. You upload your resume, search jobs, apply and attach! Easy. Only problem? Your resume is one of possibly hundreds getting submitted for that same job!

So how do you stand out?

Well I personally took advantage of social media to help me stand out. I mean what better way to be heard than via a Tweet or a blog? And that is exactly what I did. I heard of a local ad agency through my General Manager that was starting to make big waves and I decided that I would submit my resume to them. But how could I do this without being another resume among dozens in an inbox? Twitter! I decided to take a shot in the dark and reach out to the Company’s President via Twitter.

So I sent a Tweet from my professional Twitter account (which I keep updated) and pretty much said “hire me! I’m awesome!” and invited him to check out my LinkedIn page. Well…  it worked.

He checked out my LinkedIn page and emailed me shortly there after for a copy of my resume, which upon viewing he called me and decided to set up an interview. Not only did I gain almost instant access because of my out-of-the-box idea, I also bypassed possibly dozens of other candidates who only sent in their resumes via email.

My in person interview happened shortly thereafter, and while I do not know whether or not I got the job, I can confidently say that I gave it my best and most definitely left a lasting impression because of the non-traditional way I approached the opportunity.

So have you done anything out of the ordinary or crazy to obtain employment or grab the attention of a prospective employer? Share your story below!

If you don’t remember on 7/24/11 I quit Facebook.  Well on 11/24/11 I got it back! Now I didn’t want to be as heavily involved as I once was so I took advice from my Is Social Media Socially Killing Us blog and did the following:

- Did NOT subscribe to SMS updates

- Only check it once a day for 10 minutes max

- Only ‘friend’ family and close friends (35 to be exact)

- Only post when necessary

Why did I recreate an account? Well my family and friends are scattered all over the US so Facebook is a convenient and FREE way to stay in touch with those I love as well as keep up with whats going on in their lives. It’s funny because the word ‘Facebook addict’ gets thrown around a lot, but their is such a thing. Many people eat, breath, drink, and sleep Facebook. You could log on and 3 hours would pass by before you even realized that you had spent so much time browsing and socializing.

Having things that make you happy are good- but find something more rewarding than Facebook. If you put as much time and effort into say a gym or activity as you do into Facebook, imagine the physical and mental benefits it could have for you? If you read a book for 2 hours a day instead of reading status’s, imagine how many new words you could learn or knowledge you could gain? If you ran on a treadmill instead of “running” your mouth for an hour, imagine how great you would feel?

Have you replaced your social media activities with more productive ones? Share them below!

Well I decided against both. Cold weather and pushy people are not for me. Do you have a Black Friday story to tell?

Check out these Black Friday articles and share your own adventures on Black Friday below!

Why Black Friday is the best day of the year to buy a car – TrueCar estimates that discounts of more than 20% will be available Friday on some models. The discounts result partly because Black Friday is near the end of the month, when dealers push to meet their monthly sales quotas.

Reasons to skip Black Friday – Those doorbusters aren’t available in endless supply, which is why people line up so early in the hopes of being among the lucky few to snag one. So basically you can end up in line for hours and end up with nothing.

Earlier deals, longer hours woo Friday shoppers – Shoppers were mostly peaceful across the country, but a few violent incidents broke out as millions of shoppers rushed into stores and tensions flared.

Best Black Friday deals at big box stores – An estimated 152 million Americans will be taking part in the retail festivities Friday and during the weekend, up from 138 million last year.

Hot fashion deals for Black Friday – Lord and Taylor, Ula, Target, Kohls, Walmart, and Gap are among the many store with great fashion deals going on today.

Within 24 hours starting Thanksgiving morning most Americans are guaranteed to do the following 3 things:

1. Eat… than eat some more… than eat a little more…

2. Go to a movie… For some reason going to the movies on Thanksgiving day has become a part of the tradition for some families, especially those with children.

3. Watch Football! I mean really. What is Thanksgiving if it’s not topped off with Football? (This year we got the 49′ers vs. the Ravens)

Thanksgiving weekend is also filled with activities, and the 3 things that most people do include:

1. Shopping! Specifically Black Friday… ahhh a great day to wake up at 2am to possibly be trampled in Walmart’s parking lot just to save a few bucks on a PS3. This is the biggest day to shop though  as reports indicate that Americans spent $45 billion on Black Friday 2010

2. Eat leftovers! Turkey sandwiches for lunch and sweet potato pie for breakfast! This could last for days.

3. Holiday decorating! Most people decorate their homes Thanksgiving weekend.

Now not everyone celebrates Thanksgiving “American” style. For instance in my family we don’t eat turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes. We eat ‘pernil’ (a classic Puerto Rican pork roast), ‘mofongo’ (a fried plantain based dish similar to stuffing), and ‘arroz con gandules’ (rice with pigeon peas). This is our traditional meal (among other side dishes and desserts) and since I only get it twice a year (Christmas and Thanksgiving) it is a very exciting time for me! Another tradition we don’t uphold, and most people are sadly moving away from, is sitting together at the dinner table for the meal. In my family the food is done around 10am and the eating begins and lasts pretty much all day.

I also am not a Black Friday shopper. I would rather make my purchases online on Cyber Monday. I never quite understood how people could wake up so early to shop… I am not a morning person so I wouldn’t enjoy it for one, and I am not big on crowds and chaos so I choose to not participate in that “tradition” born of a marketing scheme from retailers to make money (ha! I had to put a marketing spin on this considering this IS a marketing blog).

Basically I justify spending money on Cyber Monday by saying it’s because I don’t spend money EVER on Holiday decorating. I always travel during the holidays so the money I save throughout the year NOT decorating and paying a $2,000 light bills courtesy of Christmas lights, tacky decor, and reindeer on my roof, I can spend on Cyber Monday. While this may sound like a sorry excuse for shopping, it helps me sleep at night.

So what about you. What traditions have you started (or continued) that most others don’t do?  What foods does your family eat that aren’t a part of the typical Thanksgiving meal? Do you shop and go to the movies that weekend? Are you a holiday decorator? Share your Thanksgiving below!