In a recent discussion with a friend she shared with me that her son was graduating college with a marketing degree, but had not done an internships or landed an entry-level job. She was concerned and I can understand why. In today's economy there are many experienced marketing professionals that have been laid off and are looking to reestablish their marketing career by re-entering the workforce.

This means that those looking for entry level jobs, internships or entry level jobs will face fierce competition and companies will have to make the decision on whether to hire someone who is experienced or someone who has recently graduated. Companies are also cutting back on internships, so they are not as available as they used to be.

What does this mean for college students and new graduates today? It means you are going to have step up your game. You will need a strategic plan in order to work towards landing the position that you desire. It's going to take some work as well as patience, but I'm here to share with you information  that can help.

• Five Tips for Landing a Marketing Internship or Entry Level Job
• Marketing Internships - How to Land the One You Want

Your turn: Are you a college student or recent graduate that has landed an entry level job or internships? If so, share your success story.

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A media plan is not an option, it's a necessity. It doesn't matter whether you do all of the public relations yourself or you are just part of a big organization. The biggest mistake when it comes to a media plan is that we tend to focus on internal aspects, processes and technical details. While these things are important, it's not the core of a successful media plan.

A media plan can help you in not only identifying who you are trying to reach, but also what you want your audience to do when they hear your message.

Take some time to learn why a media plan is important to your organization. Once you've done that learn how to develop a specific media plan for earned media as well as a media plan for social media and understand why they are different. You'll be glad you did.

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I'm a big proponent of social media marketing and I believe it will continue to play a large role in marketing as we continue move through the next decade. However, with that being said I also know that companies fear social media in general.

They fear handing over their brand to their consumers as well as how employees will use social media and how it will affect their brand both directly and indirectly. This is a warranted fear as we've seen in the past year. I can certainly understand where they are coming from and I would like know your opinion since it's something I've been debating for a while now.

Has the line between professionalism and personal been blurred when it comes to social media? While I agree that transparency and authenticity is important in the success of social media marketing at what point can that transparency and authenticity hurt a business? I'm not just talking about large corporate businesses here, but I'm also talking about entrepreneurs.

What are your thoughts? Can being too personal harm your business or marketing efforts? Should there be guidelines and if so how should they be defined so that they protect the brand represented without losing personality?

I want to know your thoughts -  Social Media Marketing - Is There a Line Between Professional and Personal?

Read what others had to say about this debatable topic.

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Recently a company contacted me wanting  to know where to post two high profile marketing jobs that they were seeking candidates for.  This got me thinking, I often provide information and insight to those seeking jobs, but not enough to companies trying to find great employees to fill open marketing positions.

I decided that if they had this question, others might as well, so I created a listing of my top 5 favorite marketing job websites.  These sites either cater specifically to marketing or allow you to really drill down into your own marketing specialties.  If you are looking for a position or seeking places to find great candidates you won't be disappointed - I promise.

Your Turn: Now, with that being said perhaps you are reading this and you have a favorite marketing job site that you'd like to share.  Feel free to do so in the comment section below  - you may just help someone else by doing so.

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