As an accounting student, I have also been thinking about branding and marketing tactics to implement once I graduate.

Most local firms seem to focus on community involvement in some form, since they are serving a local or area community.

A regularly updated web site is a good thing to have, and it does not necessarily have to be in the form of a daily blog. I would think a blog would be more difficult to keep up, especially during busy season.

I’d love to someday be a freelance writer and photographer in the automotive genre, but until I get better at both writing and photography, and possibly move to a better location for both, it’s a pipe dream I’m not sure I can chase. Once student loans are off the table and I’ve got one job to focus on and not two, I’ll gladly throw myself more into my hobby in the hopes of getting rewarded in the end.

I’m hoping I can avoid a life of disappointment by learning early that dreams and passions are worth chasing, if it’s what you really want. Sadly, life seems so disenchanting once people deem you old enough to understand, for some reason, that logic tends to trump passion in life.

Didn’t realize how much having my own website would change my mindset from “I work for XXX Corp.” to “I’m a writer” (and if you ask, I work for XXX Corp.)

Trent, I don’t follow you on Facebook or Twitter (I don’t Twitter at all and am nominal on FB), I do like what you do with TSD and look forward to it, so maybe there is a way to do this without being annoying.

There may be some organizations out there who are providing a forward path for the motivated, but too many people find themselves in positions they can’t imagine being in in another five or ten years.

@ guinness416 – Thanks for reading the book and sharing your thoughts. Interesting observation about the case studies, too. They were actually evenly split (6 out of 12) between tech/social media and brick and mortar, but you’re right, there is so much time spent on how to leverage the web for research, marketing and tribe-building, I can see how the overall feel would read as being more technology/social media heavy. Definitely food for thought for me.

Also, one of the big benefits of that in this economy is that leveraging the web allows folks to expand beyond the limitations of their local markets, which is often a massive barrier to launching and succeeding. Again, thanks so much for your thoughts, you’ve given me something to think about.

@ steve – So glad you’ve been enjoying my blogs, always my pleasure to be able to share what I discover along the way

Read up on the characteristics of Generation Y…I think, as an X’er, you’ll find there to be many other reasons as to why there is less company loyalty these days.

Keep up the excellent work Trent, I follow your site every day- and I own your books as well.