Simon S. Tam's Blog, page 16

How to Get a Free Lunch

Earlier today, I received a notice that a certain restaurant chain was interested in providing me with some free meals in exchange for reviews and tweets about them. When I shared the news with a friend, they asked “how can I get a free lunch too?”

Here’s the secret:there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

What they didn’t really understand was that the lunch wasn’t just given, it was offered in exchange for some promotion. However, that offer would not have even been extended if I didn’t spend t...

Unspoken Rules of Social Media

Ever see someone completely out of place trying to fit in? That is the set up for most comedies: the standard fish out-of-water scenario where someone is obviously out of their realm. If you look at online marketing, you won’t have to go very far before you see this happening.

Social media has its own unspoken code of honor. In fact, most sites have their own inside jokes, memes, cultural norms, language, and practices. Some jump into the water and sink right to the bottom. Others look to soci...

How to Be a Rock Star at Anything

My newest piece for Life Hack has just been posted. It’s on “10 Steps to Be a Rock Star at Anything.”

I hope you enjoy.

3 Broad Impacts the Internet has made on Marketing

I was recently asked to profile three, broad ways the internet has impacted marketing. Here’s my take on it:

The Internet has transformed marketing in a number of ways.Three of the greatest impacts include:

Consumers now have the power.Previously, brands had all of the control in terms of messaging. However, with the Internet (“Web 2.0″), that power has shifted back to users. Today, consumers can have conversations about brands, whether the organizations are involved or not. Social media has le...

The Community College Experience

Today, The Blog of the Century by The Century Foundation, featured a story about my community college experience. I talk a little bit on why, despite receiving numerous grants and scholarships, I chose to attend a community college over a top four year university.

Students today are facing more student loan debt than ever. Competition for jobs is fierce. Despite these challenges and the rising popularity of the “UnCollege” movement, I strongly believe that two year schools offer an exceptional...

The Problem With Computers Running the World

Last week, the Associated Press Twitter account was hacked and a false claim was made about the White House being attacked. Immediately as a reaction, the stock market took a dip of nearly 100 points. Most analysts claim that this was actually due to computer error: software that scans the news and automatically makes decisions based on key events. As they say, it’s easier to gamble with other people’s money rather than your own.

Each day, millions of messages are sent automatically. This incl...

How Often Should You Post on Facebook or Tweet?

How often should I post on Facebook? How often should I tweet? How many videos should I upload to YouTube a month?

It’s interesting that more people ask about the quantity of their social media posts rather than the quality of that content. Sometimes, that’s difficult to manage. One of the organizations that I manage social media for has over 80 departments, each with their own areas of interest, events, and updates that serve an audience of almost 40,000. In those instances, it’s like lookin...

Lessons Learned From Email Spam

Just a few minutes ago, I received an email from “Your INVITED by SV” with the subject heading as “Dear KELLAN.COOPER VideoINclusioN NEWSLETTER!”

Not only did I not sign up for this newsletter, but my name is not Kellan Cooper either. It turns out, this “newsletter” is supposed to be for a conference that “improves business practices.” I don’t know about you, but sending unwanted emailwith major grammatical errors and all capital letters to the wrong addressee isn’t optimal business practice.

W...

Branding Like a Badass

We often tend to think about branding in terms of our marketing properties: a logo, a website, social media accounts, printed materials. True, those are all part of “your brand,” but that isn’t really what a brand is, is it?

A brand is how people come to know who you are. Often times, that includes our marketing items, but it also includes: your reputation, your relationships, your history, and the perception of what you do or the value you provide. While these aren’t things that come out of y...

How to Turn off Farmville, Events, and Other Annoying Notifications on Facebook

If you’re like me, you’re sick of Farmville and Castleville invitations, constantly being invited to events by someone who doesn’t even live in the same state as you, and otehr annoying notifications.

There are two ways to do this: the long, cumbersome way of going through your account settings…or right in the notification bar itself.

The next time you receive an unwanted ‘ville notification,

Open up the messages in your notification bar.
Hover over the top right corner of that individual notific...