Posted by Ellie Mirman on Wed, Feb 25, 2009 @ 12:59 PM
Scott Kirsner of the Boston Globe came by our offices to talk to Brian Halligan, HubSpot CEO, to talk about how people can find a job (in or out of a recession, really).
In short: use blogs and social media to build your personal brand and expertise online so that companies find you and know who you are before you even send in a resume.
Watch the video:
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Mon, Feb 23, 2009 @ 08:15 AM
I love Twitter for a lot of reasons. One is that I get great links to articles and stories and all sorts of interesting things to read and think about. That's exactly what happened to me today, when I was checking out some of my new followers.
I was directed to this article about using social media for personal branding. This is a classic topic, but this article, though short, had some nice tidbits.
Do some pre-social media soul-searching before starting 
Most articles about using social media for personal branding jump right into the listening, participating, and publishing aspects. Few actually make the point to step back, figure out who you are and what value you provide, before jumping into the rest.
Some time ago I tried to figure out what I was going to do with this blog. So far, it's been a crazy mix of posts on anything from rants about facebook to funny YouTube videos to updates on what I happen to be cooking in the kitchen that week. Yep, not focused at all. Part of the reason is I haven't figured out who I'm writing for. Is it my friends and family who want to know what I've been up to? Or is it my marketing community where I live and interact all day every day on a professional level. This is where I really start to understand the whole business vs. personal social media dilemma.
So it's time for me to take a step back. Figure out who I'm writing for, and why. This is a hugely important step when you're going to use social media for personal branding.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Sun, Feb 22, 2009 @ 11:28 AM
It's been a crazy week for us over at HubSpot - and I swear this time it's crazier than usual.
HubSpot 1K Customers Celebration
First up, we had our HubSpot 1K Customers Party, at which we had probably 200 HubSpot employees, customers, friends, and family join us in our new office to celebrate our 1,000 customer base.
We had HubSpot TV live, SWAG and temporary tattoo stations, tarot readings, foosball, RockBand, and, of course, food and drinks. It was a rockin' time, as the photos will illustrate.
MC Hammer Visits HubSpot TV
And the very next day, just to top the biggest company party ever, we had a surprise visit from - are you ready for this - MC HAMMER. Yup, he just happened to be in town and decided to visit our little ol' internet marketing startup.
Really, what happened was another twitter success story. He tweeted that he was in Boston, a number of HubSpotters responded, saying he should stop by... and he did! As my fellow HubSpotter, Rebecca Corliss, said, twitter really does level the networking playing field. Could you ever imagine our little software company getting a celebrity like that to come to our office?
View a short clip from his visit to HubSpot TV:
World Wide Rave Video
Now, just to top it all off, today David Meerman Scott posted a new video that features over 100 people who have created World Wide Raves (triggering people to spread their ideas and share their stories for free). Watch carefully for my cameo at about 1:12 (right after John Hodgman). David was very nice to even credit me in his post - thanks David!
P.S. - David's new book, World Wide Rave is pretty awesome (I got an advance copy - thanks again, David!) and it officially comes out at the beginning of March, though online sales have already begun.
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Tue, Feb 10, 2009 @ 02:56 PM
Avocado, Mozzarella, and Tomato Salad
Mix cubed avocado, quartered mozzarella balls, and chopped tomatoes with a dressing of olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic, basil, salt, and pepper.
Serve in scooped out tomato or on toast or just on its own. Delicious!
Posted by Ellie Mirman on Wed, Feb 04, 2009 @ 08:18 AM
Zucchinis, zucchinis, and more zucchinis! These dishes turned out quite well - but how could they not? I pretty much love all the ingredients, and, surprise surprise, when you put them together they're also delicious!
As usual, I skipped ingredients and steps because, really, I'm not going to go boil fresh garlic or saffron threads... so below I've included the cliffs notes version of the recipes I made.
Roasted Vegetable Paella
Ingredients:
- 3 cups vegetable broth
- 1 large red bell pepper, cut into bite-size chunks
- 1 large yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-size chunks
- 2 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
- 3 tbs extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- garlic, chopped and fried, or powder
- 1 large onion, chopped
- 3 medium plum tomatoes, chopped (optional)
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1 1/4 cups rice
- 2 tbs chopped fresh parsley (optional)
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400F. Mix bell peppers and zucchini with oil, salt, pepper, garlic and place on a large baking sheet. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until tender and beginning to char.
- Meanwhile, in a large pan, cook the onion until lightly golden, about 8 minutes. Add tomatoes, oregano, thyme, salt, and pepper. Cook until liquids have almost completely evaporated, about 3-5 minutes.
- Cook rice in vegetable broth and add tomato/onion mixture.
- Stir in roasted vegetables and parsley and cook, stirring, until heated through.
Broiled Zucchini with Rosemary and Chive Butter
Ingredients:
- 3 tbs butter, softened (or, replace with olive oil)
- 2 tbs finely chopped chives or green parts of scallions
- 1 tbs finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp fresh lemon juice
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 4 medium zucchini, trimmed, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds
Directions:
- Preheat oven to broil. Lightly grease a large baking sheet.
- In a small bowl, mash together all ingredients except zucchini until well combined.
- Place zucchini on prepared baking sheet and broil until lightly browned, about 3 minutes per side.
- Remove from oven and, while stillhot, spread evenly with rosemary-chive butter.
Source: The Gluten-Free Vegetarian Kitchen