Mike Abasov

While many still doubt the importance and power of social media used for marketing, some of the world’s largest corporations start to catch up. Particularly interesting is the decision of P&G to lay off 1,600 of its employees and pay more attention to the cheaper, less traditional media, such as Facebook and YouTube. After the enormous success that Old Spice brand managed to achieve using viral video campaigns with a personal touch in 2010 and 2011, it doesn’t come as a surprise that Procter & Gamble would question the relevance and the ROI of the old-school channels.

Furthermore, I would expect many other large companies to see this as a sign to get on board and start channeling their expenditures into social marketing, which means more job cutting and restructuring.

What Graduating Students Should Consider

I bet a lot of business students looking for a career in marketing for consumer packaged goods companies like P&G are trembling from fear right now. How are we supposed to get employed in this environment of cost-cutting and lay-offs? Are we going to stay without a job? What do we do?

Do not panic! I, personally, believe that this is a great news for everyone who’s young and willing to adopt to the new conditions. As more corporations are looking to utilize the power of the Web, they will be looking for people who feel most comfortable with using the new media, and who have grown up connected to the Internet 24/7. This could be you. In fact, many of the students are already falling into the category of digital natives, and I see an extraordinary opportunity to position yourself as one, develop your e-marketing skills, and be on board when CPG Enterprise Marketing goes 2.0 on a large scale.

— Why would I learn that? Will I get paid more?

I’ve heard these questions a lot of times. Indeed, why would you spend time learning about something that doesn’t have a direct impact on your future salary? Why would you read that book, if it doesn’t have answers to the questions on hand? Why would you meet these people, if they have no connection to your industry? Why? Why? Why? Be-fucking-cause! 

Learn it before you need it

First of all, things change: your questions on hand change, your job evolves, you change too. Something that doesn’t seem beneficial today may be critical tomorrow.

When learning HTML back in 2005, I had no idea how influential this knowledge would be. But when the right time came, this interest became a foundation for my freelancing job and, later, my social media obsession.

The same is true for networking or anything else.

Do I have any idea when Psychology 101 or Politics 110 will come handy? Not at all, but I still study them. And meanwhile, they are already altering my perception of the world by helping understand better how things work.

See the world differently

You have probably experienced this yourself. You learn something new, and it changes how you view the world. 

For example, after taking an advertising course, all commercials start making sense. Or after learning to play the guitar, you start hearing strumming patterns and classic blues leaks.

The more you know the more you can do; the better judgments you make; the smarter alternatives you see; the more successful you become.

Talk to me

Smart people are also fun to talk to. I love chatting with someone I meet beyond the classic “what brings you here?” and “what do you do?” Why not talk about sports, religion, space invasions?

When you have something to share and you are interesting to talk to, people will seek you company. While if you are a boring dumb-ass… well, you’re just a boring dumb-ass.

Curiosity is key

Be curious. Learn beyond your curriculum. Decide for yourself what to learn and then learn it. Here are some things I’m trying out right now:

• Philosophy of death, free video lectures from Yale.
• Daily facts in pictures.
• “Linchpin”, a book by Seth Godin (review coming up).

Anything you’ve learned recently or want to check out? Share in the comments!

The finals are coming up. Can you feel them? I can. 

Over the years of epicly failing and wining on exams, I have developed a list of tools and tips that I use to get through any test. Today I want to share them with you, and I encourage you to post your own advice in the comments!

Tools

1. To-Do lists. 
I use these a lot. For every assignment, textbook chapter or test, I have a task, a due date and other details. 

I also tend to divide chapters into subtasks like 13.1, 13.2, and 13.3 instead of “Ch. 13.” This gives me the satisfaction of crossing out something without competing the whole chapter.

2. iTunes U and Academic Earth. 
These apps save me time trying to figure out concepts that I’d missed in class (I blame it on you, Facebook!).

3. Double-sided highlighter.
Makes reading textbooks twice as productive! One side is red — for terms; the opposite one is yellow — for explanations. Mine is handmade, but you will probably look less weird, if you buy one.

4. iPod, Last.fm. 
I can study only with music. iPod for listening at a coffee shop, Last.fm for a perfect shuffle.

5. Coffee Shops. 
Starbucks, Blenz, Waves, whatever. Remember to check for free Internet access, good coffee, large enough single tables, and hours of operation (24/7 all the way).

6. Grades.
An awesome iPhone app that allows me to track my performance in every class. Replaced a lot of calculations I used to do myself every time.

Tips

1. First test is your  reconnoiter. 
Yes, I said reconnoiter. It doesn’t matter that much how well you do on your first midterm, but it matters a lot what you find out. See how the test is structured, what types of questions are there, how multiple choices work, how is the whole thing marked. 

The more data you collect, the better you’ll be able to do in the future by adjusting your learning style.

2. Raise the stakes. 
If I fail a course at UBC, I will waste 4 months, $2,000 of my parents’ dollars, get my ass kicked by the same parents and might as well loose my chance to immigrate. Surprisingly, I try my hardest not to fail or even get anything lower than a B+.

Raise your loss in case of failing. I don’t know, give a $100 to a good friend and and ask them to burn them, if you don’t get an A. Make a bet with another friend. Whatever you do, don’t leave yourself the power to change your mind — you will always cheat.

Good luck!

Only you decide what you get on your tests. Not a mean prof, not a crappy textbook, only you. Get used to this fact and show them how badass a student can be!

So what are your tips and tools for getting through the finals?

Hello fellow students,

Over the course of the last few months, I’ve been trying to find my voice on this blog. I talked about social media, marketing, professional development, etc., creating inconsistent content and, probably, boring you. But it’s time to put an end to this!

From this day forward, I going to write useful posts and try to help every student who’s looking for ways to succeed faster and is striving to be the best in their profession. I’m really excited about this!

Why this topic?

I’ve been a student for the last 5 years. I’ve been in every stage possible: from not knowing my purpose in life and almost failing courses… to finding my passion and getting straight A’s (well, once, and this will never happen again :-).

I’ve worked, and I’ve studied, and I’ve participated in many student initiatives, and I graduated, and I transferred,.. and I talk too much.

Being originally from Ukraine and living in Canada, I can honestly say that I have a lot of international experience too.

So I want to use all the knowledge that I have gained to help you.

I am going to be sharing my experiences, tips and thoughts about living the next level of learning — the level where you do more than just go to classes an parties, the level where you grow everyday and, hopefully, succeed sooner than any of your peers.

So welcome to the new Mike Abasov’s blog!

The Next Steps

I will be blogging every day, except for the weekends, big international holidays, and lazy days. In order to keep track of my posts, I advice you subscribe to this blog.

Every Sunday, starting next week, my email newsletter will be coming out with great additional information on how you can improve your college experience. This content will not be published on the blog; it will be exclusive to subscribers, so fill out a very short form now!

All my posts are going to be very topical and useful to the max. Check out the new About page to find out what I mean. Simply put, no boring crap anymore. I know you’re glad :-).

Thanks, everyone who supported me and provided feedback on this change. Especially to Derek Jensen, who helped me out more than I could expected.

I’m looking forward to seeing your pretty faces in the comments section bellow,
Mike