If you're a recent college grad (read: out of school for five years or less) there's a good chance that you're broke, living with mom and dad or both. Unless you had the foresight to major in engineering, computer science, economics or finance you've probably been left to wonder, "Aren't I supposed to be making the big bucks now? I could make almost as much as I do now at my 9-to-5 bartending, and I wouldn't have to wake up till noon!".
Most of us understand that our measly salaries will not always be so meager, and our education will soon pay off once we are promoted and have paid our dues. After all, America can't afford millionaire CEOs if they are paying the grunts more than $30K a year, but I digress...
To help young professionals in their first few years I'm proposing brands acknowledge this economic hardship. I ask you, where is our Young Professional discount? Seniors get them. Students get them. Why not us?
It's no secret that many young pros are already taking advantage of some of these discounts by way of our old student IDs, but not all of us feel great about it.
Offering a young pro discount is a great way to encourage young pros to become brand advocates early on. While many 20-somethings are already brand loyal to Coke versus Pepsi and Apple versus PC, we don't hold many loyalties to banks, health care organizations or accountants. We are just starting to figure these things out, and a brand that talks directly to us will certainly become a winner. For instance, banks could offer young pros a slightly better rate on savings accounts, credit cards and/or loans. A bank that is willing to work with me, is a bank I'm going to stick with for a very long time.
This approach would also work well for the arts community. In college I had some money to burn. It was enough that I was able to see a couple shows at the Marcus Center for the Performing Arts each year. Now that I'm a working gal I can't afford that luxury, but I get a call each year asking if I'd like to purchase a pack of tickets. If the Marcus Center offered a discounted package for young pros I would be much more likely to return, recruit friends, promote events and become a lifetime supporter. In short, the Marcus Center would become my performance venue of choice. Professional organizations are another group that could really benefit from this idea.
What do you think? Do you see the value in providing young pros with special discounts? Young pros, is this something you would be interested in?
I hope everyone had a good weekend and is ready for the start of another work week. In this week of links you'll find numerous Twitter stories, sweet Milwaukee airline deals, new studies and much more.
- Great speech by @skydiver about social media and "making it about you." http://tinyurl.com/kwgx6g
- RT @RochelleVeturis HOW TO: Back Up Your Tweets http://bit.ly/FHVut via @mashable
- RT @Razorfish What happens when u deprive American families of TV? @Razorfish did a study: http://tinyurl.com/ljbu54 #CannesLions
- RT @danschawbel REPORT: 88% of millennials said they still counted on their parents for advice http://tinyurl.com/m2ytw4
- NYTimes article on BB etiquette. http://tinyurl.com/nxcfqe What do you think? If nothing else it encourages presenters to be more engaging.
- Cool tool from @Culvers RT @culvers U can use our new Meal Builder tool 2 plan ur meal & learn its nutritional value! http://bit.ly/Z9qt1
- RT @julieannwarner Touche, Dan Bice? MKE Magazine says Bice is the real journalistic shame in Flynn's affair. http://ow.ly/fxnG
- RT @RochelleVeturis 10 useful Twitter presentations http://is.gd/1acjc via @leeodden
- RT @TDefren Wife & I were Alice.com (client) beta users. Love it. So many fewer trips to WalMart. http://www.alice.com. - Looks interesting.
- RT @NancyStall Just in. Vikings equip manager has already ordered #4 purple jerseys with Favre's name on back. http://bit.ly/NAbKq
- BK Blow job ad. http://tinyurl.com/b6sp24 Disturbing and hilarious. Thanks for the heads up @agencyspy.
- If you're planning to fly in or out of Milwaukee book your tickets now. http://tinyurl.com/mw5p7b
- RT @laermer @carlosdiamond Fortune 100 CEOs Who Are Social Media Slackers http://tinyurl.com/n6xwnz - This is kind of sad.
- RT @streetzapizza A listing of all of the summerfest deals and ways to get in for free... http://milwaukee.about.com/...
- Why Google and Virgin Airlines Online Scavenger Hunt Campaign Rocked http://tinyurl.com/lba3z7
- RT @briansolis A List of Top Media Outlets and Blogs: http://bit.ly/5jMRc - A handy list for PR pro's.
- RT @mashable Twitter Guide Book: Mashable Launches Hub for Twitter Resources - http://bit.ly/JfX4H - A great resource 4 everything Twitter.
- RT @prblog: Okay, PR friends, here's the tool for your journalist research: Google News byline search http://ow.ly/fVSS (via @DwriteN)
The PR agency Waggener Edstrom has recently launched a new Twitter tool called Twendz. This tool is incredibly valuable for PR people and anyone else who is in charge of 
managing a brand. By now we are hopefully all aware that the first step to take before using social media is to listen. But even this first step can be daunting. After all, who has time to sift through hundreds of tweets? This is where Twendz comes in.
After entering your keywords the tool pulls the latest tweets and displays the overall mood be it positive or negative. It's a great way to monitor what people are saying about your company or client. My only complaint is depending on your keywords it can take quite a while to load before you have any tangible results.
You can read more about Twendz on CNET. Go check it out and let me know what you think.
