Tropical Storms? Huh?

I finally have internet at my place!  Sorry, I'm a bit overly excited but its been a pain having to drive to Dunkin' Donuts to do anything productive for the past month.  

Anyways, its been raining here like crazy for the past day and since Im stuck inside I figured I'd write a posting.  Apparently, a tropical storm named Nicole has come over South Florida.  Tropical storm?  Whats that?  We don't have those back in Chicago.  So the nerd in me did a little research to figure out what, in fact, a tropical storm actually is.  After my research, I found out its basically just a bad thunderstorm with really low pressure and cyclonic wind rotation in which, can then grow into a hurricane if weather conditions cooperate.  Pretty intense stuff huh?  Although, this tropical storm is pretty weak and just reminds me of a never ending thunderstorm.  Thats probably why they named it Nicole though...  Bad joke, sorry.

Then that got me to thinking, why in the world do they name tropical storms?  They don't name Tornado's or other natural disasters.  However, I do think it be cool to be in charge of naming the storms.  With my creativity and marketing background I'd probably be a phenomenal storm namer or, at least come up with a better name than "Nicole".  Thats so unoriginal.  

Anyways, I'm done rambling now.  Thanks for listening.

BH  

Another Day in South Beach

Hey everybody,

First, I just wanted to let you know that Chicago 2 South Beach is up and running on Facebook and Twitter will be following soon.  Check it out!

Secondly, I apologize that it’s taken me forever to write another posting.  Things have been super hectic for me down here.  I have some very good news though!  I just landed my first job down here with an amazing marketing agency called Ion Interactive.  They’re the innovators of the LiveBall software that creates 3 times the traffic to web pages and is incredibly easy to use.  Did I also mention they’re on Inc. 500’s fastest growing company’s list?  True story.  Anyways, it’s Friday and I’ve almost survived my first week.  I’ve been working with the LiveBall software assisting on our DHL campaign publishing, proofing, and reporting across 100+ countries in Europe, Asia, North, South, and Central Americas.  Its pretty intense stuff but keeps me busy and I enjoy it, which is always a plus.

Other than that, I haven’t had much of a social life lately except for going to the Cubs / Marlins game last Saturday at Sun Life Stadium… In which the Cubs won 5-3!  Shocker right?  Well, the weekends almost here and I definitely plan on hitting up South Beach.  Its pretty crazy down there – driving a Ferrari is like driving a Toyota back home.  They’re everywhere!

Hope all is well back home,

BH

Why Didn't I Learn About Online Marketing In School?!

Hey everybody,

So after doing a bunch of research on social media, blogging, Search Engine Optimization and Pay Per Click Campaigns over the past few months, it dawned on me that I never learned any of this stuff in school.  Instead, my education was surrounded with the “Four P’s – product, price, placement, and promotion which is great and all but not very useful when it comes to online marketing.  So that got me thinking… How could a kid get a degree in marketing and not learn about any of these online tools that are so important in the marketing world today?  I mean, its not like I graduated twenty or even ten years ago when online marketing was in its infancy.  Instead I graduated in the May of 2009 when Social media was taking over the world.  And yet, still no class in online marketing. 

Now, I know that to understand a lot of online marketing it requires more hands on experience rather than just being educated on the subject in the classroom.  However, if I would have been educated with a class or two in online marketing I would have had a much better understanding of it, while also attempting my Google Adwords certification at 22 rather than being in the process of that certification now at age 24. 

Feeling like I’m two years behind where I should be is very frustrating but now I’m taking action and trying to learn as much about online marketing as I possibly can.  I hope this blog can contribute too much of my learning, and I’m already taking it a step further and creating Facebook and Twitter pages.  Having said that, I’ll keep you all updated on when Chicago 2 South Beach goes live on Facebook and Twitter.

Stay tuned,

BH

Hello Blogging World

Before I explain what this blog is all about I have to give a huge thanks to David Meerman Scott and his book titled:  The New Rules of Marketing & PR.  If it wasn't for reading his book, there is a good possibility I wouldn't have built up the courage to start this blog.  Well, who am I kidding?  If I hadn't read his book, I wouldn't be writing this right now.  So again, thank you for sharing your knowledge, it is greatly appreciated.

So where do I start?  I'm sure all of you are wondering why I chose the title:  Chicago 2 South Beach.  Well, I was born and raised in the Chicago suburbs.  Went to college in Chicago, got a degree in marketing, then began to pursue my masters there as well.  Up until now my life consisted of well... Chicago.  And to be completely honest, I just got bored of the same old things that the windy city offered:  awful traffic, crowded subways, rude people, oh - and did I mention being a Cubs fan is the most frustrating thing in the world?  Due to all that, I left in pursuit of something new, something completely different.  And where did that bring me?  You guessed it - sunny South Florida.  Its absolutely beautiful here and am very excited to take on this new adventure.  The only problem is, in this tough economy I'm having trouble finding a good job.  Therefore, this blog is basically a documentary about the struggles of a young marketing professional and to lighten things up, I'll probably throw in some fun stories about my adventures on South Beach for some laughs.

So who is this blog for?  Well first off, its for my learning purposes to try and understand online marketing a little better as well as for those struggling in these hard times.  On top of that, I'd like to try and target as many marketing professionals as possible in hopes of getting feedback or advice, while striking some interesting conversation and debate through my posts.

Having said all that, its a beautiful Saturday.  South Beach here I come.

Sincerely,

BH