We have all heard the old adage, “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” It is about helping each other achieve goals and working towards mutually beneficial relationships. But, are we spending way too much time constantly interacting with the same people?

Everyone has a goal with social media. For many, (especially in North America) there is some element of monetary profit, whether that includes independent consulting work, landing yourself a great job, or even scamming others. For everyone, a goal on Twitter is to share a message with the public, whether it is your own or someone else’s. The time we spend talking, interacting and retweeting helps us meet new people, build relationships and even make new friends.

For this argument’s sake we will use the term “relationship” or “interpersonal tie.” With the help from a sociology article by Mark S. Granovetter written back in 1973, I’d like to prove that there is actually more value in a weak tie or than a strong one.

[Granovetter, Mark S. The Strength of Weak Ties. Volume 78. American Journal of Sociology, Issue 6 (May, 1973).]

In my mind, a study on social networks (connections of people, not tools like Twitter) back in the 70s is applicable because there are elements both then and now that have a strong influence on what I believe to be human nature, rather than simply being a reflection of a current societal trends. If we don’t look at the past, we’ll have a hard time understanding what is going on in the present!

Before I jump into it, I want to define ‘The Strength of Ties’ similarly to how Granovetter does by assuming it to be a linear relation. Hopefully we can agree that the strength of relationships is increased by combination of the “amount of time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy and the reciprocal services which characterize the tie.” Using these guidelines, we can intuit whether a tie is strong, weak or non-existent.

The strategy of Granovetter’s paper can easily be applied to Social Media in 2010. He shows how the strength of an interpersonal tie relates to macro aspects like diffusion, and social cohesion in general, among factors. It is important to understand that small-scale interactions have a huge impact on larger scale patterns of communication and, in return, these general trends affect small groups.

We’ll keep all peer groups small for argument’s sake. Let’s say we have a peer group of strong ties between persons A, B, C & D and another group comprised of persons E, F, G & H. It would be hard to create more than 10 to 30 strong ties per year, so this small model isn’t completely unrealistic! Let’s also say there is a weak tie between A & E, for example, which connects the two strong networks. I argue that removing this weak tie will do more “damage” to the transmission of information than the removal any of the strong ties in this model.

We are all bloggers here. We’ll use blogging as an example to show that whatever you are trying to diffuse to the masses can travel a wider social distance, and thus reach a larger number of people, when passed through weak ties rather than strong ones. If someone announces their blog post to close friends, and these friends do the same thing, many of the group will hear about the post multiple times. This is because people with strong relationships tend to share similar ties within their social group. After a week goes by and the motivation to spread the word about your epic “How to Sway Drones, Kill the Queen Bee, & Take Over the Hive” blog post dies down, the spread of information is much more likely to be limited to a few cliques than a blogger with many weak ties.

Those with many weak ties are the best at diffusing information.
Do you think Chris Brogan, Amber Naslund, Ben Casnocha, John Moore, Penelope Trunk, Mitch Joel, Brian Clark, Guy Kawasaki, Joseph Jaffe, Darren Rowse, Seth Godin, Jason Falls, etc… all achieved their success on Twitter by only building and maintaining strong relationships? No.

These people got into social media early and made themselves innovators and opinion leaders. In fact, anything they said was new and exciting! By maintaining weak ties and “droning” early adopters who would then pass this information on to their strong ties, these people have achieved an amazing amount of success. This becomes a growing cycle in which their views matter so much that they hardly even need to worry about making the effort to maintain weak relationships! All they have to do is respond to most of the people who casually tweet them and watch their messages diffuse rapidly.

Sure, some amazing bonds are created along the way and this is great because these people can support you emotionally, give you a trusted opinion, and inspire thought. But I believe that it is possible to create too strong of a relationship. Eventually, something will happen where you cannot maintain communication with that person for a couple weeks, for example, and you will let them down because of some commitment IRL (In Real Life). This creates a chain reaction of slips in mutual support and takes the “us” out of “trust” [just made that up!]. A relationship with sporadic contact is easier to maintain.

Again… Here is the early model of the Twitter network when we got started:

Over time we have grown through the early adopter levels, and we too want to provide the web with new and innovative ideas. I’m sorry to tell you, but if you want your ideas out there, you need to create some weak connections. This “weak tie” label does not mean that you do not care about these people, it just defines how much time, intensity and intimacy you devote to these interactions, as well as how much reciprocation you expect from these contacts. It comes down to who influences you and whom you influence. I realize that we were not the first ones to get into social media, so there are many people with a stronger influence than us and we should listen to what they have to say. We have embraced the fact that we have a role as both innovators AND as early adopters.

Shift Model:

Maybe this has been food for thought. Hopefully, some readers will realize that maybe they are spending way too much time interacting with a select few, which creates limiting cliques, while others may realize that it is good to seek out and respond to new people all the time.

Success in online communications takes strong critical thought, an open mind, respect, and checking your ego at the door.

*I found this article through Gavin’s blog http://servantofchaos.typepad.com/soc/2007/10/the-strength-of.html. Thank you.

Bryan is a Social Media & PR Intern with Jobsonica. He is passionate about marketing (strategy, account & creative), personal branding, and social media. My favorite thing about Bryan is how well he understands and practices the value of reciprocal relationships. He currently resides in Montreal, Canada.

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Though some people called him Negative Nancy, he was right, and we see it more often than we care to admit. In the comments Monica asks two important questions, “How do people know when they’ve become drones in someone else’s community?” and “How do we take down those that use social media to do this to people?”

To answer her first question, I suspect the overwhelming majority doesn’t have a clue when they’ve become a drone. For their benefit, some symptoms of drone syndrome include, but aren’t limited to:

• Nodding along with everything you read, never challenging the author
• Reading something like “work harder than other people and you’ll succeed,” knowing it’s as generic as the advice from a Tarot card reader, but accepting it just because technically it isn’t false
• Re-tweeting their posts without reading it just because they’re your friend, you respect them, etc.
• Referring everyone to their work regardless of their actual need

Since the history of time the average person wants someone to stand up and say, “this is what we’re going to do, follow me.” Many of you that read this post probably don’t fall into this category often, but you sometimes do.

How many times have you just wanted you friend, your significant other, etc. to just pick a movie, place to eat, etc. It might not be EXACTLY what you wanted to watch or what you were hungry for, but if it isn’t completely blasphemous you’re down. Besides, it’s easier than continuing to argue/be indecisive, right?

That is kind of what I liken this current epidemic to, picking out a movie. If someone’s content is ‘good enough’ you’ll go along with it. Calling out their taste in movies doesn’t work, and choosing your own movie and watching it in the back bedroom probably isn’t a very good solution either.

So then how do we answer Monica’s second question?

We’ve already acknowledged people just want someone to lead, and maybe that’s the key here. Maybe you have to consistently craft content so great that at some point they get tired of watching Channing Tatum try to act and they realize that The Hurt Locker will blow their mind.

And it’s hard. If it wasn’t the drones would easily see the trap they’re falling into and they wouldn’t aimlessly agree with everything someone else writes as he/she steps on their head like a rung in ladder to the top of the blogosphere.

For most people calling them out only makes you seem jealous. Pointing fingers at the drone questions their intellect (and nobody is going to respond well to that).

The solution is to get out of the fishbowl, make it a competition, and find a way to win. Drones are notoriously nimble bandwagon fans and when they see you take the lead they’ll try to ride your coattails. When they do, don’t manipulate them. Demand they call you on your bullshit. Demand they challenge you, and push you to keep stay atop your game. Then deliver the goods, not re-packaged generic garbage.

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If you’d like insight on how I would employ similar techniques for your small business feel free to shoot me an e-mail at ryanstephensmarketing (at) gmail (dot) com.

Enjoy!

1. Let’s assume you just opened a martial arts studio. You’re ready to begin classes. You have no students. What are the top three things you’re going to do to get the first fifty?

The problem with this question is the assumption that you should open a martial arts studio prior to acquiring any students. I think the first thing you’d want to do is start having conversations with other martial arts influencers and people wanting to learn the practice. Begin developing a reputation as someone who is knowledgeable about martial arts and then start providing value and building a community. Whether it’s offline, online, or both, the key is to get a handful of true fans that want to learn from you, and are willing to spread the word about your brand. Then you open the studio.

2. Do you think Twitter is a good tool for martial arts schools to be using? What do you think would be the best way for them to utilize it?

That depends. Are people who are interested in martial arts participating and having conversations about the discipline on the platform? A quick glance at http://search.twitter.com/ reveals quite a few people talking about martial arts so yes, it’s probably a sound tool. The important thing (unless you have a tiny niche) is to go where people are already talking and join the conversation – WHEREVER that is.

There’s countless ways to utilize Twitter. The BEST way is probably to engage people interested in martial arts that could potentially become your customers. You could also build Twitter lists of martial arts influencers, students, students by geographic location, etc. You can share links to good articles, videos, etc. I won’t inundate readers with examples, but there’s hundreds of ways to utilize Twitter provided it’s a medium your audience responds to.

3. Do you have any insight into how instructors could take your advice on building their personal brand, but not on what others want/think/expect?

All I mean by that is that people shouldn’t let others influence the path they want to take. So many people follow this unwritten protocol where they insist on being politically correct and ridiculously agreeable because they don’t want their personal brand to suffer. The problem with that is you become ordinary, and you don’t stand out to anybody. A lot of people think Dane Cook is hilarious. Plenty others think the guy is a total douche. The key is to be whoever you are without worrying about what others think. Define your brand on your terms and you’ll earn your true niche of fans.

4. Tell us about the tagline of your site: Building Intimate Business Relationships.

I think relationships (and ideas) are the foundation of good business so I’ve tried to create a platform where I can wax poetic about how important relationships are. People don’t associate with a logo the way they can a person, and people want to do business with people they like. Nobody wants to push 1 for the menu and the automated voice. I’m probably oversimplifying it, but that’s what it boils down to for me. Being genuine, helping people, and cultivating reciprocal relationships that ultimately help both parties achieve their goals.

5. Martial arts competes a lot with soccer, baseball, football, and other youth sports. What would you do to hold the competing sports at bay and retain more students?

I don’t think I’d actively try to hold other sports back. I think I’d do my best to tell compelling stories about martial arts. I’d try to highlight the benefits and unique selling propositions both for the sport and for my particularly school/studio. In lieu of competing with other sports, you might even try marketing martial arts as a supplement to other sports. Increase your concentration for baseball, discipline for football, quickness for soccer, etc.

6. Where would you place your focus more in 2010: Print Ads, Online advertising, or Other? Explain?

Again, it’s really dependent on the audience you’re trying to reach. Where are they? What do they respond to? There’s something to be said for a company, big or small, that can bring people together and engage in personalized and meaningful way. Personally, I’ve found this to be easier online. I don’t think it’s a coincidence a lot of money is shifting away from traditional advertising methods and towards the online stratosphere. I think it’s all about evaluating what you’re trying to accomplish and using the tools, mediums, channels, etc. to connect with your target audience in a way that makes sense (to them).

7. We like unconventional. What’s your top unconventional marketing tip?

Being yourself. Too many people, companies, brands, etc. want to follow others, to imitate rather than innovate, and to stick with what’s work for others, what’s worked in the past. I have a lot of respect for companies like Crispin Porter + Bogusky that aren’t afraid to take risks.

The truth is that I’m not the most creative person in the world. I like executing the simple things at a very high level. Put it this way: If I were a chef I wouldn’t use really fancy techniques. I would try to cook simple flavors better than everyone else.

If that’s not your approach, try to use the element of surprise to do things nobody else is doing. If it’s been done before, chances are it’s not that unconventional. Andy Nulman is the master of leveraging surprise.

8. Online video is getting big and will probably overtake many other forms of advertising in 2010. How do you use online video in your hypothetical martial arts school?

I would probably just show them the wise ways of the West Virgina Ninja.

Kidding aside. I would test a variety of different segments and see what people were responsive to. You could host very short videos where you demonstrated a move, discussed a mental aspect of martial arts, gave a tour of your studio, showcased student sparring matches, etc. The possibilities are endless.

I suspect there’s plenty of proud parents that would love to go online and watch little Johnny perform his moves on YouTube. It would give them something they could send to their friends, who could show their kids, who could become interested in your studio as well.

9. Lots of martial arts schools have trouble differentiating themselves from the other schools in their area. Facing this reality, what do you decide to do to make sure your school is the purple cow?

Pick out one thing (or a couple of things) that you want to be the fabric of why you do business. Execute relentlessly. Maybe it’s some of the strategies and/or tactics mentioned in this interview, and maybe it’s something totally different, but find something you can be the best at it. Then do that everyday with as much passion and as much respect for your students as possible and the rest usually takes care of itself. It sounds simple, but it’s the truth.

10. What is your first reaction regarding martial arts or the martial arts industry?

I know virtually nothing about martial arts aside from a few bloopers I’ve watched on You Tube, but I have great respect for people that have the discipline to hone a craft that has the ability to positive influence both their mind and body. That said, I’m pretty sure I could take Chuck Norris is a street fight.

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[Ryan's Note: I have a lot of respect an admiration for my community of readers and as a result I've been protective of this space and reluctant to allow guest posts. One, it's silly of me to think that you could learn everything from me when there are so many smart people out there. And two, since I rarely do this you know that I think highly of Rich and feel confident he's delivered the goods. Enjoy!]

I really love telecommuting. Want to know what I love more than telecommuting? Working for an employer that provides telecommuting as a productivity option. It is empowering to employees, and, well, let me stop there; I’m getting ahead of myself.

During my professional career I’ve worked for two companies thus far. Each had different opinions on telecommuting. The first company, Company A, was a staffing agency, and they didn’t allow telecommuting (unless you wanted to work after hours or on weekends). The second company, Company B, was a global software company, and telecommuting was allowed and even encouraged when needed.

Experiencing life as an employee in these very different companies gave me a first-hand look at why organizations should provide telecommuting as an option to its employees. So why should they? Here are 6 reasons:

1. Empowers Employees

Just having the option to telecommute will make an employee feel powerful and in control. Employees have busy lives outside of work, and if they know they are able to work from home when a situation comes up, they will feel that much better about their employer.

2. Less Pointless Meetings

Most meetings are poorly run, eat up productivity, and don’t have a point. When employees telecommute, managers are less likely to call a random, bullshit meeting that takes you away from your work. When the meetings are actually important, the employee will want to drive in, or fly in to attend.

3. Little to no Interruptions

How many times have you been in the office, working hard on meeting a deadline, when another employee stops by and starts chatting? More than you would like, right? A little bit of office chatter won’t hurt, but a lot is counter-productive.

4. Goodbye Commuter Stress

Driving to work sucks. People with a 10-15 minute commute should consider themselves very lucky. Most people probably report at least a one-way commute time of 45 minutes. Commuting forces us to sacrifice time, sleep, and the availability to perform other life activities. Introduce telecommuting and employees will be more refreshed and much less stressed.

5. Go Green Initiative

Does this need explaining?

6. Swine Flu

I’m sure you are aware of Swine Flu, but do you remember the Avian (bird) Flu, and SARS? It seems a new global pandemic scare pops up every couple years. When things like this come up, a company is responsible for protecting its greatest asset – its employees. Telecommuting is among one of the most effective methods for minimizing spread of infectious disease among company employees, while also keeping it from spreading around the globe.

If you are ready to play devil’s advocate, I know what your next two questions will be.

What about morale?
Most companies suck at morale. It usually starts and ends with management. When a company employs poor management, no matter which way you slice it, morale will suffer. At least with telecommuting, employees can avoid some of the stresses listed above.

What about employees staying focused while working at home?
This question is stupid. If I’m working from home and want to take 15 minutes to watch Regis and Kelly or do my laundry, then so be it. Don’t I take a 15-minute break when someone stops over to chat, or when a 15-minute random meeting is called? How about smokers? How many breaks do they take to go smoke outside during the day? When people aren’t working, it is pretty easy to tell. If a company trusts its employees, that trust will pay dividends.

What are your thoughts on telecommuting? Have you worked for a company that disallowed it? If so, how did it make you feel?

Rich DeMatteo is the creator of Corn On The Job, a job search, recruiting, and HR blog. Rich is a Philadelphia area HR/Staffing professional with experience in both agency and corporate recruiting. Connect with him through Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, or subscribe to his blog.

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A benefit of less, or no meetings is having enough “alone time” to let creativity flow and accomplish more without interruption. 37signals also prefers co-worker interaction to be the exception rather than the rule. Fried explains, “The conventional wisdom is to be together all the time. I think it is poisonous. Having too much of anything is bad for you. It’s better to appreciate the interaction you do have. We’ve made ‘away time’ the norm, and ‘together time’ the exception, so it’s something that people look forward to. — Jason Fried (37 Signals)

I’ve been obsessed with Jason’s approach to management and business design for quite some time now, and I’m not sure if it’s because it’s innovative, challenges the status quo, or if it’s just self-affirming for what I envision to be a really awesome and productive environment.

Just last week I discussed tactics for improving meetings stating that I often find meetings to be disruptive. Creative people need significant windows of time in order to process thoughts, develop strategy, code, write, etc. Task-hopping, meetings, and perhaps now togetherness (?) can be detrimental to those windows.

Sure it’s great to be able to turn around and ask a co-worker a quick question, but what if it comes at the expense of the co-workers concentration. Does she lose 10-15 minutes out of her day thinking about the thought she just lost? Getting back on task?

If you sent them an e-mail (or used task management software, Google Wave, etc.) they could answer on their own time, at their convenience, but then does that cost you valuable time on your own project?

I don’t know the answer. Collaboration can be invaluable and it’s certainly necessary, but how does that collaboration manifest itself in your workplace? If you only get together 3 times a week for an hour do people come more prepared with pressing questions and maximize that designated time?

Maybe what Jason is saying resonates with me only because I’m one of those people who needs time to process and work through things. I’m easily distracted, and can have a tendency to task hop. If I’m in the zone I don’t want to be interrupted.

But would it hurt my feelings if I wanted to bounce and idea off someone and they were too busy? Would I trust employees and/or co-workers to determine for themselves the importance of their questions/interruptions/distractions?

Maybe the answer is infinitely more complicated. Maybe a leader knows their subordinates well enough (an employee their co-workers well enough) that they know you can always ask Theo a question because he’s quick on his feet and can easily re-immerse himself. But don’t bother Cynthia because she really values her alone time in 2-hour spurts. If you send her something, she’ll answer during a break.

I certainly don’t know the answer so I’m looking forward to learning from you in the ensuing conversation in the comments.

Is alone time important? Is togetherness potentially poisonous? What kind of worker are you? What’s your ideal working environment for optimal productivity?

Photo Credit: dearoot

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I’ve enjoyed reading Seth’s posts (literally everywhere) to promote his new book Linchpin. First, because I think it is going to be a good read, but also because I love watching how often he takes a stab at meetings.

It’s not that I hate meetings. I just hate pointless meetings. You know the ones. I won’t get into it.

I’ve had a lot of meetings the last 2 ½ – 3 years. I have friends that work for big organizations that spend more time in meetings than they do actually doing work.

Meetings are disruptive. Sure they might break up a long Friday afternoon while you’re anticipating your weekend bar crawl, but most of the time they’re breaking up your train of thought, preventing you from finishing a report, or worse.

It’s my belief that 85% of meetings could be handled with a carefully crafted e-mail or two that the respective parties could answer at their own convenience.

Everyone once in a while a meeting is necessary, and when they are there’s FIVE things in my experience that greatly increase the likelihood of it being a success:

Understanding What Kind of Meeting You’re Attending

You would a treat a “Just so everyone knows meeting,” a lot different than a “What does everyone think?” meeting. Gosh forbid you bother with “hanging out” or “hear myself talk” meetings. Where I disagree with Seth is that I wouldn’t bother with a “What are you up to” meeting either. I say skip the two minute explanations (most companies do 5-10 at least), and go straight to the compilation of what everyone’s doing in one nice e-mail.

Have Clear Expectations Going In

The leader of the meeting should let everyone know what the meeting is about in advance. This ensures that everyone has time to think about the meeting and come prepared. Though it’s not always necessary, having a supplemental agenda handout with preliminary topics and background information is rarely a bad thing.

Collaborate/Participate

Nobody benefits if one person is doing all the talking. Everyone involved should participate and collaborate. This way a wide variety of opinions and insights get heard. Everyone should follow suit and respect everyone else’s contributions. Good leaders welcome all insights up front without ridicule and then narrow down to a solution later. They also let the team members know they’re ideas are valued.

*Side note. Just because someone won’t shut up doesn’t mean they have all the answers. Encourage everyone to speak up, but respect those that require time to process what they’re thinking by not putting them on the spot right away.

Put a Time Limit On It

Most meetings don’t need more than a half hour. Exchange pleasantries later. People have work to do. When the time is up, the meeting is over. If you didn’t accomplish you’re goal you’ll plan accordingly next time won’t you?

Next Steps/Responsibilities

Everyone should walk out of the meeting with their next steps and what they need to accomplish. Someone should be responsible for sending out correspondence immediately after the meeting so that everyone has a solid reminder, and no excuse to not be accountable.

So that’s what’s worked for me. What about you? Where am I wrong? What are some additional tips you have for having successful meetings?

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When Jackie asks me to edit his weekly report, I don’t hesitate because he’s also my editor (and he probably makes less mistakes than me).

But how about that friend that always takes and never gives anything in return?

Is a 15 minute video interview worth 30 hits and 2 new subscribers to your blog?

These are the kinds of things we have to navigate not only in the online world, but in our everyday lives as well.

Check out my video rant featuring 4 things you need to be mindful of when approaching someone to ask them a favor.

And be forewarned I think we all take ourselves a little too seriously sometimes so I had a little bit of fun with this video. I also tried holding the camera on my own, which in retrospect was not a good idea (MILK WAS A BAD CHOICE!) so as a disclaimer: You may experience motion sickness upon watching this video.

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Some of my other thoughts on teamwork and posts that might help you harness a bit of the secret for yourself:
You Can’t Lead a Team Unless You’re In It
There’s No “I” In Team. That’s Just Bullshit!
How to Guarantee People Want to Work For You
6 Ways to Build Better Relationships Wtih Co-Workers

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Did I simplify the argument to rouse a stir and amplify the discussion? I hope so. That was the intention, but the truth is I know a lot of people in this space (and others) that have received jobs without a traditional resume. Or merely as a supplement just to pass around to other constituents.

After going back and forth with one reader he finally said, “Well tell me what you’d do for one of these jobs.”

Here’s my response:

First of all, if they ask for a resume, obviously you have to give them a resume. If you know it’s going to straight the the HR person and get the impression they’ll look at, a typical resume is probably the approach. If you’re submitting a resume online — I’d personally do something really different or over the top.

(And I’ll admit I don’t know much about *developers. I suspect that, like engineering, doctors, etc. my strategy wouldn’t work nearly as well, if at all. It’s MUCH more applicable to any kind of activity that involves creative, right-brain work – either solely or as a big component of the gig. Not that developing doesn’t, but obviously you’d have to demonstrate the technical skill first.)

With the list you sent. Let’s pick one.

Let’s go with “Online Marketing Analyst” for Luggage Pros (as that’s pretty generic)

Who Would You Report To?

The first thing I notice is that you would report to the Sr. Marketing Director.

I familiarize myself with as much as I can about the company and Nick, the person I’d report to:

Since his last name isn’t there I’d try to find him via LinkedIn.

What Would Your Duties Be?

In reading the job description one of the things I notice is that many of their techniques are a lot of things that are still effective (Pay Per Click, SEO, etc.), but not quite as hot has social media marketing.

How Do You Demonstrate Value?

I might put together a proposal/plan, etc. explaining how I could use social media tools to develop a passionate community of travel enthusiasts.

Why? Travel enthusiasts need luggage and if Luggage Pros are the people that connect travel enthusiasts together they’ll be top of mind when it comes time to buying luggage.

In the proposal, which doesn’t have to be overwhelming I’d intertwine my knowledge of the skills involved in the job description, as well as, characteristics and skills I possess that I thought the company would value and appreciate.

The KEY to this approach is that if you start building these kinds of relationships way before you ever need the job you can spread what amounts to quite a bit of work out across a longer time period. Casually getting to know the person, a quick e-mail with a “have you thought about this,” or “I have a suggestion.”

How about all of you? If you wanted this job would you immediately e-mail your resume? What other techniques might you employ in this scenario?

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You’ve got your foot in the door. That was the easy part. Now you have to bust your ass to prove to whoever hired you that they made the right choice.

By landing an internship, you significantly increased your chances of being hired on full-time if you prove that you have what it takes. For the record, in this economy, that entails working your face off.

Sometimes you have to welcome the boring, tedious, mundane projects. That’s reality. Put your head down and get those done and it will speak volumes about your character.

At SMC we have lots of interns. Ask Jackie Adkins why he was the one that got hired on full-time.

To reiterate, in this economy you can’t just put in your hours and be one of the crowd. Employers notice when you go above and beyond the other interns.

Learn the company well enough to make your own suggestions.

Target a few of the employees you suspect you’d click with and get to know them. People like hiring people they’d get along with. If two people are equally talented, it’s definitely a separating factor.

Don’t burn yourself out. Working hard is extremely important, but if you try to do 12 hours a day, burn yourself out and half-ass your way through 8, we’ll notice. And not only that, now we’ll know what you’re capable of doing. That leaves a bad taste in our mouth.

Don’t limit yourself to the company you’re interning with. Keep building your brand and exploring other options. If you’ve done awesome work, you can always leverage that for a recommendation and put your name in the hat other places.

Ask lots of questions. We’d rather you ask questions than use “I didn’t know,” or “I was confused” for not getting something done. Brownie points for figuring it out and executing on your own.

Most of us have interned at one point or another, some very recently. What additional suggestions do you have?

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