You may have noticed that Matt Cheuvront of lifewithoutpants.com and I hang out a lot online.  It all started over a meeting about this very website.  Since then, our friendship has grown and so has our list of co-projects.

Today we are announcing our first official project- Social Media 101.  We will be hosting social media workshops in the Chicagoland area to educate small businesses, entrepreneurs and non-profits how to get more out of their marketing while spending less money.  Since we love the online space and have experienced serious growth because of it, we thought we should let others experience the same thing.

The workshop will be held on Saturday April 10 from 9am-1pm in Elgin, IL. We are offering the workshop for FREE because in this economy, small businesses need to stretch their dollar as much as they can.

Social Media can change a small business. Yet small business owners are usually the ones wearing so many hats that they don’t have time to think about learning social media basics too.  After leaving our workshop, attendees will be equipped with the confidence and knowledge to have the voice of a large company with the marketing budget of a small company.  We will provide new ideas that are crucial to today’s small business marketing strategy.

Don’t believe it? We know it sounds far fetched for those who are new to the space.  Therefore, Mari Luangrath of Foiled Cupcakes will be sharing how social media has played an instrumental role in her business.  It’s no accident that Foiled Cupcakes are Chicago’s most coveted cupcakes.  Not only are they delicious, but Mari has relied on social media and online marketing to create the buzz.  She’ll be sharing her story and answering all of your questions.

Also, Matt and I will are co-authoring a “Social Media 101″ e-book which will be 100% FREE for all attendees.   The e-book includes some of our best practices and case studies from small business owners. We’re not reinventing the wheel here, but are instead focusing on providing a tangible resource to all workshop attendees and anyone else interested in learning more about Social Media.

I’m pretty excited to give back to my hometown community by doing something I’m passionate about.  Plus, working with Matt Cheuvront is an honor.  Our meetings are just as fun as they are productive (and trust me they are really fun!).  I imagine the workshop will be the same way.  Matt knows his stuff, he has a knack for design, and he knows from experience what works and what doesn’t work when it comes to small business marketing.

For those of you who are in the Chicagoland area, please pass this info on to anyone you know who may benefit from our free workshop! You can register using the form below or here.

Many of us have a new guilty pleasure. And it’s kind of embarrassing.

We can’t stop watching Jersey Shore.

MTV’s latest disaster, Jersey Shore, is a reality show based on 7 (ridiculously exaggerated) “New Jersey Guidos” who live together in a house on the Jersey Shore together for a summer. The males on the show have amazing bodies, tattoos of crosses, funny hair styles and dance moves, and they have only one goal: hooking up with as many girls as possible. The girls on the show love their hair extensions, “poofs”, and wearing as few clothes as possible. Drinking, hooking up in the hot tub, clubbing, and doing cartwheels in a thong on the dance floor entail some of the “highlights” of this show.

Are you shamefully hooked on this show like I am?  If so, WHY can’t we stop watching this garbage?! 

These reality stars are all about 21. An age when many of us had a limited scope about our futures, careers or the long-term consequences of our actions. And what is America indirectly telling America’s newest MTV generation? That if you make a complete fool of yourself and do outrageous things to get attention, you can make it big too- no hard work required.

A few comments by David Claude on my recent post about Penelope Trunk got me thinking about the topic of self-publishing, reality television, and selling your dignity to build a personal brand.

Shows like Jersey Shore prove that America is a junk consuming nation. Whether we admit it or not, we love junk. We consume junk in droves whether it is in the form of reality television or food. We will swipe our credit cards and accumulate debt in order to pay for junk, we will google for junky quick-read/low-information articles. And the scariest part is that young people are being told that if you can create junk, you can make it big.

I sit there and watch Jersey Shore and think to myself, How do these Jersey Shore kids feel about their grandparents watching them talk and act like complete fools? Have they ever thought about what happens after the show’s popularity dies down? Was selling their soul to MTV really worth a lifetime of embarrassing videos to follow them? Are they convinced that doing the show is the start to a promising new career? How much more narcissistic can you be!?

And this cycle of producing and consuming junk comes back to my fears about Gen Y’ers in the workforce today. We’ve been raised on MTV: a place where you can make a career by hooking up and airing all of your dirty laundry on MTV.

We’ve been raised to think we can do whatever we want, whenever we want. We don’t know how to wait for things. Why would we? We can google, email, communicate and look up anything we need in a matter of seconds.

The media demonstrates that if we can capitalize off our story and personality, we can make more money than we ever would by putting in long hours and hard work.

How do you think shows like Jersey Shore affect the next generation’s perception of reality and hard work? 

What predictions do you have for the future careers of Ronnie, Sam, Snookie and, of course, Mike “The Situation”?

By, Ashley Crimaldi

Last week, I had the opportunity to see an amazing film called American Casino.  The movie details the financial crisis of 2008, subprime lending, and its impact on the housing market.  Director Leslie Cockburn investigates the relationship between Wall street and Main Street and in particular, how minority communities were targeted for subprime lending, causing many  to lose their homes. The film illustrates the aftermath of the crisis on communities such as Baltimore, where foreclosed properties become the norm. Former inhabitants became homeless, causing many to “squat” in boarded up buildings resulting in serious health and safety risks for the community.

The film does an excellent job not only explaining the effects of subprime lending on the American economy, but humanizes the issue so every viewer can relate. If you work in the banking industry, this film could be particularly eye opening as it shows how the every day decisions bankers make really impact the American people. As someone who doesn’t know much about Wall Street, I found the film incredibly moving and informative. The film is currently only playing in limited theaters nationwide. Check out their website to see if the film is playing in a city near you.

Hey Girls,

Featured “Career Girl” and amazing freelance writer Jessica Girdwain is looking to talk to people who have been burned because of something they posted on a social networking site like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn or even a blog. She needs to talk to people for an article she is working on for a national women’s magazine.

-Did you miss out on being hired because of something you posted?
-Did you have to have a meeting with your manager becasue of it?
-Did your health insurance agent notice your partying habits?
-Did you miss out on a promotion or get fired because of your social networking activity?
-Are you afraid to accept your bosses friend request because your social networking profiles reveal your entrepreneurial ventures which you’d prefer to keep quiet?

I’ve actually been through something like this at my job. I’d rather not discuss it here, but it really shook me up.

My mentor just told me about one of his younger consultants who was fired recently because she was facebooking and blogging confidential information about the client they were working on. She was canned immediately.

Be careful and share your stories here and email jlgirdwain@gmail.com. Thanks!

Here’s a brief breakdown of how the new stimulus plan could help you!

• First-time homebuyers who purchase their homes before December 1, 2009 would be eligible for an $8,000 tax credit, and people who buy new cars before the end of the year can write off the sales taxes.

• College students-or their parents- are eligible for tax credits of up to $2,500 to help pay tuition and related expenses in 2009 and 2010.
• We can expect to see about $13 extra in our weekly paychecks, starting around June, thanks to the new $400 tax credit to be given through the rest of the year. Couples would get up to $800.
• Those receiving un-employmet benefits this year wouldn’t pay any federal income taxes on the first $2,400 they receive.
• For those who have lost their health insurance as a result of losing their job, the government will now pick up up the tab for 65% of the cost of continuing insurance through the COBRA plan for the first nine months while you look for a new job. COBRA is typically very expensive, often over $1,000 per month so this is a huge cost savings for job seekers.
• Homeowners who add energy-efficient windows, furnaces and air conditioners can get a tax credit to cover 30% of the costs, up to a total of $1,500.

Information from the Associated Press.