Team members
Why you shouldn’t get a regular on-campus job
Every student understands at some point in their college career that being frugal is a must in order to survive. So, before you make your judgments about this article telling you not to save money, hear me out!
Having an regular on-campus job has its benefits…for the short term. All it really is simply is a way to have a few extra bucks that you can spend. What it doesn’t provide you are the long term benefits attributing to your major or other future jobs you may want to pursue. This means that just because you got hired to work within the cafeteria or your campus library, it may not add much value to you or your resume in the long term.
Yes, it really won’t. This is where you activate that smart college brain of yours and start looking at jobs around campus that will specifically benefit your major! For example, if you are a Sports Management major then maybe look for a position where you can work within one of your school’s sports teams. Look for work-study programs, these are great to find work related to your course of study. If not those then an internship which is even better for you to work at!
Most of these jobs are paid so you will be compensated for the work that you do!
Each school is different with how they assign jobs to their undergraduate students so it is up to you to figure out where your talents will be used best. The best thing on top of it all, (yes there is something better than getting paid) is that you can beef up your resume with quality experiences that employers are sure to note when you apply to jobs. They will see you took initiative to better your future which shows responsibility and makes you a model applicant.
Bottom line these are ways you can get a step ahead of your peers and killing two birds with one stone! Be prepared, there are exceptions you may run into where you aren’t getting paid. Don’t be afraid to take it! Use this as an opportunity to build experience in your field of study. Humble yourself, it’s okay to not make money, I mean this is your future here.
You can always make money in the job world once you have bettered yourself to reach that top job that others cannot. The sacrifices now will always pay off in the long run. Happy Job hunting!
What a Weekend in Atlanta Looks Like
If you’re considering moving to Atlanta or simply spending a weekend in the city but don’t think there’s much to do in the Southern city. You are in for a treat, here’s a weekend in the life of a Radius intern.
Friday
8:45 am: The traffic isn’t as heavy as the past couple of days and the office mood is relaxing. That’s how you know it’s Friday. I grab some coffee and get started on the rest of any pending marketing projects.
10:45 am: Dogs, so many dogs. All the dogs are running around the office, making their usual rounds to get as many belly rubs as they can from everyone in the office.
12:00 pm: Lunch time! Everyone in the office gathers around a big table to eat lunch together. We have development demos and discuss any accomplishments we’ve had in the past week.
3:30 pm: Everyone is ready for the weekend and in the matter of hours it will be. We’re all trying to be productive with what usually ends up being a throwback Spotify playlist because why not?
5:00 pm: Time to go home!!! I drive home to relax and have a night in with roommates.
11:00 pm: We end up at Victory Sandwich Bar to grab some sandwiches and played by the expert ping-pong players that spend countless hours perfecting their skills in the ping-pong room.
Saturday
10:30 am: Farmers markets are a huge thing on Saturdays here in Atlanta. Today we stopped by the Freedom Farmers Market for some fresh fruits and vegetables and hand-made bread.
1:00 pm: With Atlanta weather, pool days are a must so we head to the pool with: friends, drinks and music for a good time.
7:30 pm: Walk to Jackson Street bridge, a two in one view of a beautiful sunset and the wonderful skyline of Atlanta.
Sunday
11:00 am: Sundays are for brunch and in Atlanta, we have some of the best brunch in my personal opinion. Today we go to Ria’s Bluebird in Grant Park (a personal favorite but the Yelp reviews don’t lie). Their biscuits are delicious and definitely worth the 30-minute wait.
2:00 pm: Walk around the neighborhoods in Atlanta to seem some cool street art done by local artists. Whether it’s a wall a tunnel or tiny doors on the BeltLine there’s always something to look out for.
6:00 pm: On Sundays, several people get together to do the one thing that Atlantan love more than brunch and breweries which is free yoga. King of Pops hosts free yoga on the BeltLine every Sunday evening.
7:00 pm: After a relaxing hour of yoga we walk down the BeltLine and find ourselves at Ponce City Market, a food hall with all kinds of different restaurants and boutique stores. We grab a quick bite to eat from one of the small eateries and head back home.
Atlanta has grown to be a fun and interesting city with art murals, Southern hospitality and very unique individuals. It’s an interesting mix which always makes for fun days around the city. Over the last couple of years, new trendy places have been popping up all across Atlanta. The best part about being in Atlanta is that if you get tired of the hustle life in the city you can always drive out for no more than an hour to reach the beautiful nature Georgia has to offer.
What It’s Like to Write a Blog
Blog, Blog, Blog. All of the sudden when I was asked to write a blog, I was so clueless but excited. Pictured myself as a successful blogger and even started to believe that blogging is everything I need. But as soon as you start writing your first blog post, your feelings change. You develop some kind of confusion and fear. Bit of mixed feelings. Then I sat back to write down what One needs, to write a blog.
Just like all the beginners, I started browsing, ended up searching 56 sites and 3 dozen topics like these:
! . Topics that I can write.
!! . How to write a blog
!!! . Mistakes to prevent when you start to write
!V . Blog examples for college students
V . Most popular blog topics 2018
Some topics like “Top 35 Blogging Ideas That Are Guaranteed to Be Popular” made me realize that blogs were not about just writing. It had more; others should find your thoughts interesting, creative and honest. I felt stuck, and probably a bit depressed. I started asking for suggestions from everyone: friends, bloggers and from my cute doggie too. People told me…
“Think…Think….even if you’re walking or having lunch. An idea may strike at any time and any place, and you’ll need to make a note of it.”
I even searched what blog really meant. Wikipedia just described it as a discussion or informational website published for more informal diary-style text entries. It drove me crazy, finally I decided to honestly write what I felt and what I went through while trying to write a blog.
Five main steps you need to do in order to start a blog. If you follow this guide exactly, you’ll have your own blog set up in 30 minutes or less.
! . Choose your preferred blog platform
!! . Choose web hosting for your blog
!!! . Setting up a blog on your own domain
!V . Design your blog
V . Useful resources for blogging
Final thoughts: just write your heart out!
A Day in the Life of a Radius Online Employee, as Told by Game of Thrones
Winter. Is. Coming.
BUT, the hiatus is currently harshing our GoT vibe and prolonging the White Walker’s march into the Long Night.
We have entered the waiting stage. We’re re-watching our favorite Game of Thrones episodes, picking up the books again, and drowning in endless Internet wormholes, almost becoming convinced by well-spoken theorists that Daenerys can time travel… before snapping back to reality and realizing we have work to do, families to provide for and lives to maintain.
Here is Radius Online’s Game of Thrones fix for the week.
We present: A day in the life of a Radius Online Employee, as told by Game of Thrones.
Walking into the office Monday morning full of motivation to be AWESOME…
Looking around our morning stand-up meeting and realizing how lucky we are to work with these people…
Then leaving our team meeting and realizing our to-do list is longer than we thought…
The relief after launching a successful marketing campaign…
When someone brings their dog into the office…
When Macaroni Grill brings fettuccine alfredo AND lasagna to the Friday catered lunch…
And then when the dogs see you with your lunch…
Then leaving the catered lunch after stuffing ourselves like…
When we get pumped up after a productive brainstorm…
After being the first teammate to finish a certification…
Debating on the best wording for a new blog post like…
When a co-worker asks about our emo phase after finding our middle school Myspace account…
Competing in the annual Chili Cook-Off like…
And celebrating an employee’s baby shower, birthday, or work success like…
When someone asks you if Radius Online is an awesome place to work…
And if you don’t understand any of the above references, this is all we have to say to you…
The Dangerous “Try” Mentality
One thing we have all been taught since childhood is to try, try, and try again. Whenever we face a difficult obstacle, or if we discover something new, we “give it try.” Sure, this appears to be a solid mentality to have. However, in reality, it prevents success.
We need to start instigating into future generations, and ourselves, the idea of not trying, but doing. If we tackled everything we attempt with “I’m going to do” instead of “I’m going to try,” we would be amazed with how much success we could achieve.
Trying invokes hesitancy while doing commands commitment. This begins with emotionally attaching yourself to something.
Creating higher stakes and developing more confidence in yourself will automatically enhance your capability of actually doing and achieving, rather than trying and potentially succeeding. You will begin to start diving headfirst into everything you do and end up surprising yourself.
We live in a world where we must constantly being thinking about everything we say and do. The human brain cannot focus on more than one thing at a time, so by focusing attention on doing exactly what we set out to do makes it easier to achieve it. When “trying,” our brains focus on fear of failure, worry about what others think, and so forth. With everything going on inside our head, there is no way we can actually focus enough on the task at hand to succeed.
Allowing failure to be an option poses a critical danger in the trying mentality. It is okay to fail sometimes, because hopefully you learn from the experience, but if you ultimately cannot imagine yourself succeeding then you won’t. You need to actually visualize yourself doing, but with trying, failure is always there as an option.
The most damaging consequence of “trying” affects your brain. Trying brings an element of passivity, which ultimately prevents people from advancing in anything they attempt. Someone can “try” to have a healthy diet, but as soon as it becomes increasingly difficult and more complex, they give up. They’re one week in and all of a sudden get very busy with work or whatever else and decide they just need a quick dinner, so they go through a drive-thru.
Doing conveys action and with action you complete something. Trying leaves room for failure, which goes hand in hand with passivity. Passivity comes from not having high enough stakes and if stakes aren’t high, you probably aren’t confident in your own ability to succeed, ultimately resulting in failure.
The mentality of trying is a dangerous virus that has infiltrated western culture. Western civilization may have had the most success and advancement in the shortest amount of time, but many great western civilizations have declined quickly and will continue to do so.
Trying brings about “comfort and ever-increasing leisure. No dynamic people have ever survived these dangers.” (John Steinbeck) We must begin to “do” more and “try” less if we want to continue to be a great nation. As Yoda once said, “Do. Or do not. There is no try.”
Our Favorite Organization Lifehacks
I get by with a little help from my… organizational tools? I mean, it’s true. We’ve found the key to productivity is embracing helpful, useful organizational tools. Here are the RadiusOnline intern’s 4 favorite life hack tools. We guarantee they will help you almost as much as coffee can.
Helena
You’ve heard it before: “breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” And that’s because the way you start your day is so important. It says so much about how the rest of your day is going to unfold. That’s why you should start your day off with Momentum, a stunningly beautiful extension of Google Chrome.
Every time you open a new tab on Google Chrome, Momentum provides you with an incredible, inspiring photograph of somewhere around the world. Whether it’s Japan, Switzerland, Australia, or the U.S., it’ll always be beautiful and it’ll always take your breath away. The screen shows you the time, the weather, and a “good morning/afternoon/evening, your name,” depending on the time of day. It also asks you, “What is your main focus for today?” where you can write a main objective, along with a to-do list on the side, that either rolls over to the next day or congratulates you when you finish. However, my favorite part of the extension is the quote they provide at the very bottom. It’s usually motivational, inspiring, scarily true, or all three. It’s made me stop to think a few times and even jot it down for later. And best of all, Momentum is free to download!
Kristen
If you read my previous blog post, you know organization is of utmost importance to me. Living in this time period is a blessing for those of us obsessed with tracking, planning and making note of every little “to-do.” With tools like Google Calendar, Notes on Apple products, and Google Drive, all of the information we need to get through our work days is constantly at the tip of our fingers and can be accessed within seconds.
Sometimes the abundance of options to keep ourselves organized can be overwhelming. I’m notorious for getting into the habit of using too many organizational tools. One person doesn’t need a comprehensive planner, a Google calendar, a hanging paper calendar, AND a Notes/Reminder app full of things to get done. When I find myself trying to become TOO organized, my productivity halts. It’s the ultimate planner and perfectionist dilemma- we think, think, think, and plan, plan, plan, but never feel like the plan is ready or perfect enough to START. This conundrum can be discouraging at best and completely stagnating at worst.
So, after finishing a hectic last semester of college, I realized it was time to simplify my organizational methods. When you have to write “fill in planner” on your to-do list, something needs to change. I purged. I threw away my planner and deleted apps off of my phone. A huge relief was instantly lifted from my shoulders.
Okay, now here’s my ACTUAL tip: instead of trying to juggle your life across multiple digital platforms, use one or two, then carry around a simple pen and notebook. You’re never going to find an app that encompasses everything you want it to do when planning your schedule. A personal notebook has all of the flexibility in the world! Now, I’ve let go of needing to have every little detail obsessively organized, and it has been well worth the peace of mind I have gained in return. Use your notebook for anything and everything: to-do lists, inspirational quotes, important note taking in meetings, life experiences you’ll want to remember. And if we ever fear a Y2K 2.0, we’ll always have our handy dandy written notes to refer back to!
Grace
It may be old fashioned, but my #1 organizational tool is my planner. I use Google Calendar and the calendar app on my phone too, but my A1 since Day 1 has always been my planner. For me personally, the best way for me to stay organized is to get all of my thoughts on paper and then start to sort them into things to do today, tomorrow, next week, etc.
I have the nasty habit of forgetting everything as soon as it crosses my mind, so I’ve learned to write everything down as soon as I think of it. On a daily basis, I use my planner to plan out my schedule and make lists of things I have to do each day. On more of a long-term basis, I switch between the weekly and monthly view on my planner to keep track of when I have assignments due or tests scheduled. The weekly calendar tells me what I have to do on a day by day basis and the monthly view gives me a heads up for when I’m going to have a particularly busy week.
Maybe it’s just me being neurotic, but I swear by writing everything down and keeping an organized calendar. Try implementing some of these planner pointers into your daily life and see if it works for you!
Mike
I’m usually a pen and paper type of guy. I like to make lists to keep track of what I need to do. I use a lot of post it notes as well. However, I recently learned about some new tools that help with company-wide organization and planning. They also come in handy when I’m creating lists for video production here at RadiusOnline.
Trello allows me to make to-do-lists, track what I’ve completed, and even add notes and needs under each item. When preparing to shoot a video, I have my shot list, equipment needed, and my shot order. Trello has helped me to keep all of it in one place. I can allow people to join and view the lists as well as add their own content. It’s great for trying to organize and put together a big project. It keeps every department organized. I can have production making lists of what they need and constantly updating their status while post-production begins editing and updates the team on how the process is coming. It has become a big staple in my life and really helps me to keep everything organized and under control.
Slack is another cool tool that I use when I need to communicate quickly and effectively with any team at work. A lot of problems people face when working with many large groups is communication. Slack is a tool that allows you to organize groups and then send messages to each particular group to keep communication clear, concise, and steady. For once, it’s been nice to not have to constantly try to figure out who’s working where and who’s on what team. Slack tells me all of that and keeps track of everyone’s status. It’s also a fun tool for when you want to blow off steam with some of your co-workers, plan outside work stuff to do with your office friends, or just post hilarious random things you find on the internet.
Here you have it: these are the tools and methods the Radius Online intern team is using to keep things running smoothly in their personal and professional lives. Try adding the Momentum extension if you use Chrome to brighten your days, or incorporating Trello or Slack with your team at work. If you plan too much, let go a little bit and pick up a simple notebook. If you’re finding that your current schedule is getting the best of you, find a planner and start incorporating Grace’s tips into your life.
If you decide to try any of our organizational hacks, let us know what you think!
Keeping Track of Life
As an intern who is also wrapping up my final semester of school, keeping up with daily must do’s has become a challenging task. Staying on top of school assignments, projects at work, and still being social (if/when time permits) can at times seem like a juggling act. Below are some tips that have helped me manage my time so I can stay on top of assignments and still have time on the weekends for fun.
Keep a Calendar
If you don’t already have one, create a Google calendar- like right now. This has been my most valuable tool for the last four years of my college life. Anything and everything goes into my Google calendar. Events are color coded so I can quickly see if I have any school assignments due, important meetings at work, or if there is a concert coming up that I don’t want to miss. If a particular event is really important, set up a reminder for it.
Make a Weekly To-do List
Making a weekly to-do list ensures that no assignment gets overlooked. Decide when you need to start working on an assignment so you aren’t working on it last minute. Weekly to-do lists are good for when I feel completely overwhelmed by everything I have to do in one week. Writing out everything I have to do in a daily format breaks down all of my seemingly impossible weekly tasks, and makes them seem more feasible. Typically I only have 2-3 assignments/tasks I have to focus on each day, which is easier to digest than constantly thinking about the 20+ things you must do by the end of the week.
Make Time for Mental Break
For me- having a mental break is vital when working on tasks that are mentally draining. I like to recharge by going to the park, exercising in the gym, grabbing coffee with a friend, or getting in a quick bike ride. Taking a mental break is good because when I do come back to my work, I feel great, and I can devote 100% of my energy towards the task at hand. Sometimes I get so busy I seemingly have no time for a mental break. In these situations, I find that by not taking a break the quality of my work suffers, and it takes me longer to complete tasks. Now I make sure to take a mental break when I need it no matter how little time I have. Just 10 minutes of meditation can make a notable difference in the quality of my work.
When things get crazy, just remember that you can get through it all. Sometimes you may need to isolate yourself in a study area like you are in Fort Knox, but hard work pays off. There is nothing more satisfying than crossing items off your to-do list and being free for the weekend.
Final Note: Don’t Get So Stressed That You Start Throwing Pizza On Roofs
…just don’t do it. Eventually you will have to get on a ladder to clean the mess you have made- not to mention the perfectly good pizza that will be spoiled in the process.
Making an AdWords Campaign
Making a Google AdWords campaign can seem like a daunting task, especially if your industry offers many products or services. Below is a guide to help you make sense of it all when building your first AdWords campaign.
Know the structure-
Before reading any further, make sure you understand how AdWords is structured. Listed below is a picture detailing the process, but in a few words, an AdWords account has one or more campaigns. Within campaigns are ad groups which contain keywords and ads.
Work from the top down-
When building a new AdWords account, start working on campaigns first, and then work towards keywords and ads. The first decision you have to make is how will you structure your campaigns. Some accounts may have no need for multiple campaigns, which makes this step easy. Other accounts may need to have multiple campaigns for targeting different geographic regions, advertising different groups of products/services, or campaigns may be structured by budget. Decide how you are going to structure your campaigns, name them and then get ready to build ad groups.
Ad Groups-
Most of the time, it is best to divide ad groups into various products/services that your company offers. You will surprise yourself with how many ad groups can go in one campaign! Make sure that you cover all product/service offerings available in your industry that users may be searching for.
Keywords-
When building a keyword list, make sure to research your keywords in Google’s keyword planner, which is found within AdWords. The keyword planner will give you an idea of which keywords will work best for your strategy, and how much you should bid for them. Make sure you don’t glance over negative keywords- they can make (or break) your campaign.
Ads-
This is my personal favorite part of building an AdWords campaign. Before writing any ad copy, analyze your landing page(s). Are there any promotions, unique selling propositions, or anything else that makes you stand out from the competition? If so, make sure that they make it into your ad copy. In my experience, promos in the ad copy is a great way to get people to click your ad. When you write your ad copy, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
When you write your ad copy, you need to ask yourself a few questions:
1)Am I going to use branded keywords in the headline or description?
2)What is the user looking for? How can I engage with them?
3)Understand why your customers are searching. Are your customers shopping around on the web, looking for a local service, or are they ready to buy now?
4)What problem does our product/service solve? Sometimes it’s best to highlight the problem that users are looking to solve
After you have asked yourself these questions, it is time to start writing ad copy. Make sure that your ad’s message is relevant to the keywords found within the ad group. This ensures that your ad is relevant to search queries that show your ad. It is good to keep in mind that slight changes in an ad can result in drastically different performance in terms of click-through-rate- or even conversions. It is good to have a few different variations of an ad, so you can see how they both perform side-by-side. Ultimately, you will need to revisit your ads to tweak them to optimise the performance of your campaign.
And there you have it! follow these steps, and you are sure to be well on your way to making a successful ad campaign.
Searching for an Internship
Landing your first internship can be an arduous task. When I was searching for my first internship, I often times felt as if I was on a conquest for the holy grail. Luckily there are some tips that can help you land an internship at a great company.
Polishing your Resume
Before you surf the classifieds, make sure that your resume reflects any skills that future employers may be interested in. If you don’t have any work experience in the industry that you are seeking a position in, this may be challenging. Take the time to think about what you can highlight about what your past work history that is worth mentioning. If you were hiring an intern for the position you are applying for, what skills would you look for?
Decide What You Are Searching For (and Stick To It)
Looking to work with a Fortune 500 company with a massive ad spend? Or perhaps something not so corporate better suits your preference. Whatever you are aiming for, write down the qualities of your ideal company to work for. Decide which qualities you are firm on and which ones are flexible. When you see a company is hiring, ask yourself, “Is this the company for me?” Not all internships are worth your time. Being selective about which companies you choose to apply to will save a lot of time and headache in the long run.
Navigating the Jungle
After you have decided what kind of company you would like to work for, create a list of specific companies that you think would be a good fit. A company’s Linkedin profile and social media can usually give you a good idea of what it is like to work there. Smaller companies will usually post all of their open positions on their site as well as a 3rd party site like indeed.com. If a company that you wish to work for is currently hiring, then awesome- send them your resume and cover letter (more on that later). If they aren’t hiring, still send them your resume and cover letter. Explain in your cover letter that you understand that they aren’t currently hiring, but you are interested in working for them, and make sure to mention what position you are interested in. Following this strategy will ensure that you find an internship that fits your needs.
Check Your Network
I know you are sick and tired of hearing about the importance of networking, but there is no quicker way to find employment than to network with people who are currently employed. Put a post on social media that you are looking for a job in a specific field. You never know who may work at a company that you are interested in.
The Cover Letter
This, in my opinion, is the most important part of the application process. If the listing says that cover letters are optional, I am here to tell you that they aren’t. A cover letter is your first initial impression with the hiring manager. Botch this and your resume won’t get a single glance. Your cover letter should do all of the following:
-Showcase your writing skills
-Convey why you are interested in both the position and the company
-Elaborate on some skills listed in your resume
-Show some personality
One last thing I would like to mention about your cover letter is to keep them short! I was taught in my business writing class that cover letters are 1000+ word documents that are to be signed in blood and sent by carrier pigeon. This is no longer the case. Ensure that your cover letter is concise. Once I shortened my cover letter from a full page of text to three short (2-3 sentence) paragraphs, I started to get a lot more inquiries from hirers.
Keeping Tabs
Make sure that you have a list of places you have applied to. I like to send a follow-up email if I haven’t heard back from a hiring rep after about two weeks. Many hiring reps are excited to see that you have initiative, and they may re-visit your resume and decide to call you even if they passed on your resume.
Set a Schedule
How many jobs are you going to apply to each week? When are you going to search for jobs, write cover letters, and send out applications? Understand that applying for an internship takes a lot of time. It may be necessary to cut back on your hours at your current job (if you have one) to allow enough time to send out applications.
Keep At It
I have talked with students that applied to 50+ companies before they ever got hired. If you feel burned out from looking for an internship, ask yourself if you can improve your resume or cover letter, or if you can be more flexible about what kind of company you are looking for. If you keep pushing, you will get the job you are looking for. If you are in need of a boost of inspiration, please click to watch the video featuring my personal life mentor, Bicycle Kid. His sage words of wisdom will surely give you the boost you need to get back on track.
Creativity and Short-Term Memory
“To be creative, then, is to look outside of the common connections and see what other memories you can stir up to draw out new ideas.”
— Tanner Christensen
Have you ever experienced this?
You walk in through the door, toss your wallet onto a table, and then forget where you put it an hour later? You casually feel around for your wallet in all of the usual spots, but you can’t seem to find it. Panic and frustration start to creep in, and before you know it, you’re throwing couch cushions in the air. The dreaded question hits you: “what if I really lost it?” Just when you’re about to lose hope, you happen to casually walk near that table and find your wallet staring you in the face. Wide-eyed and with your chest puffed out, you give a sigh of deep relief. Your wallet has been found.
This is a typical case of short-term memory loss. We hate forgetting things, especially things that are important: directions, scheduled appointments, promises, the list goes on. But what if I told you that having a bad short-term memory could actually be a good thing? What if having bad short-term memory could help you be more creative?
Whenever you create something, no matter what, there are always guidelines. If you’re writing a story, there is a beginning, middle, and end. If you’re designing a website, there’s a header, body, and footer. Accordingly, these guidelines are formed from memory. Whenever you start a project, you being by brainstorming and remembering things that you’ve seen, heard, or learned that come to mind when you think about that specific topic. This memory guides your hand and allows you to not only organize your work, but it also helps your audience understand your work.
That being said, the content that fills these guidelines is completely in your control; this is where your creativity comes in. Write a comical story instead of a serious one, design a website that doesn’t use a standard horizontal menu bar, put a picture of a monkey on a white envelope. The less specific your guidelines are, the more space you can fill with unique ideas and thoughts. The less you remember— to an extent— the more creative you can be.
To put this in the context of my online marketing internship here at RadiusOnline, I think this idea of creativity of short-term memory can really be seen in the video project that I’m working on for CarCareCONNECT. If you clicked on the link, you’ll see that there are many videos that have already been made before. Now, when Nick and I started this project, we could’ve easily replicated these videos to a tee, however, I think over the course of the last few weeks, we’ve done our best work when we hugged less tightly to the rigid guidelines of previous work. Of course, we still had to keep in mind the brand identity and visuals, however, the content that we created was unique but also eclectic in many ways (pulling from many bits and pieces of our memory).
In the end, the lack of a rigid short-term memory can definitely offer opportunities for greater creativity, but it’s the courage to try something different that lets your work stand out and shine.
Image source:
The Hack Mentality
This October 16th- 18th, HackATL will be holding a business hackathon for college students from all over the world. The startup hackathon is an event where developers, engineers, designers, and business people come together to create viable startup business ideas and pitch them to investors. Sounds great and all, but…what exactly is a hack?
hack
noun | hack | \hāk\
1: a usually creative solution a computer hardware or programming problem or limitation
2: a clever solution to a tricky problem
The words “creative” and “clever” really hit the nail on the head when you consider the essence of a hack. And if there’s one thing that I learned during my time as an online marketing intern at RadiusOnline, it’s that creative and clever solutions are absolutely vital in today’s workplace. Here are 3 reasons why having a hacking mentality can improve your work experience and your workplace as a whole:
1. Keeps you sharp and focused
2. Fosters teamwork and idea-sharing
3. Provides invaluable risk experience
Keeps You Sharp and Focused
Think about it. When you’re challenged to think about out-of-the-box solutions for problems you encounter at work, are you more or less focused on the task at hand? This is the mentality behind a hack. The more you’re pushed to find new and improved solutions to existing problems, the more keen and sharp your mind will be while you work.
Fosters Teamwork and Idea-sharing
“If you really don’t know how to do something, you should . . . ask for help.” This rule applies to the workplace more than you would think. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you ask everyone in your office to spoon-feed you answers. But when you’re trying to find new ways to approach specific problems, bouncing your ideas off of others and working together to solve problems has a huge impact on your company. It increases the efficiency of your work, allows people to share their ideas freely, and creates a team bond that benefits the health of the entire company.
Provides Invaluable Risk Experience
Believe it or not, whenever you create a hack, you’re taking a risk. From the perspective of a project manager, creating a hack is equivalent to doing something new. And if you’ve dealt with a large project before, you know that “new” can be a scary concept. It can have a positive impact, a negative impact, or no impact at all. However, risk-taking isn’t something to avoid because there’s a possibility of failure; you need to practice to develop into a skill. In the end, learning to take risks will stretch you outside of your comfort zone, build your confidence, and help you overcome the paralyzing fear of failure.
For more information about how you can use hacks to increase productivity, or how you can be a part of a company that embraces this kind of creative problem-solving, apply for an Online Marketing Internship at RadiusOnline by clicking here.
Sources:
http://hackatl.org/
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hack
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=hack
https://stocksnap.io/photo/X0R5VP6BSB
http://grilledcheesesocial.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/b5bb7-img_2145.jpg
1 Month at RadiusOnline
“It is necessary … for a man to go away by himself … to sit on a rock … and ask, ‘Who am I, where have I been, and where am I going?”
— Carl Sandburg
Okay, Carl so I don’t go and sit on a rock, but I do think it’s important to look back every once and a while and reflect on the past. George Santayana once said that “Those who are unaware of history are destined to repeat it” and sure, he was probably talking about world history but the point is that the past can teach us about the future. I’ve been so busy that I almost forgot that today is my 1 month anniversary here at RadiusOnline. So join me on my “Virtual Rock” as I look back and reflect on my first month at RadiusOnline as an online marketing intern.
Too much coffee to count (same goes for Ramen)
23 – Number of days I’ve been at RadiusOnline
19 – Thought of the day emails
14 – Number of blogs I’ve written
8 – Number of Team Meetings
(Okay so I’m not in that meeting but I needed a picture for it….so just pretend)
4 – Number of Friday lunches
2 – Number of birthdays I’ve seen
1 – Number of awards Radius has won since I’ve been here
1 – Number of Braves game I’ve been to.
0 – Number of times I hadn’t looked forward to work.
Okay, so I almost lost this whole post when the power went out. Thank you WordPress for auto-saving my post, I take back all the bad things I said about you.
Anyway, Jae and I have been doing phone interviews with previous interns and I’ve noticed one key similarity between all of them. When asked the question “What was your favorite part of interning at RadiusOnine?” they all answered the same thing, the people. You can’t enjoy your work if you don’t enjoy the people you work with, so I want to take the time and thank everyone for being so kind and welcoming! It takes awesome people to do awesome things and I can’t wait to experience another month here.
“If you don’t know where you are going,
you’ll end up someplace else.”
— Yogi Berra
Cheers!
Nick
About Atlanta
RocketLevel is located in the heart of Atlanta. We love being located in a city that has so much to offer. Voted one of the best cities for recent college graduates and young professionals, Atlanta has proven itself to have a booming economy and a constantly growing job market. RocketLevel is right by Georgia Tech and Georgia State University, and just down the road from some of Atlanta’s greatest attractions such as the World of Coca Cola, Georgia Aquarium, Mercedes Benz Stadium, and Phillips Arena. There’s also a ton of great restaurants nearby our office. Being in such a fun, lively city allows us to expand our business while enjoying all that Atlanta has to offer. So come and join us, and get the true Atlanta experience!
