I need this assignment in 8 hours
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MAR 4354 – Marketing Yourself – Instructions
A4: Professional Contribution Assignments
Assignment Overview
To demonstrate your ability to contribute to professional dialogue through your use of reflective
commentary, you will be required to comment on several assigned articles and/or videos that present
marketing-related material. Your task is to use your previously gained experiences as well as
knowledge acquired from your courses to add to the dialogue from the perspective of your industry,
your organization, your position, and/or your personal/professional experiences in order to contribute
to the discussion of various marketing yourself aspects of the presented material. You will do this via
both an original Comment (6 points) and a Reply to someone else’s comment or reply (4 points).
When writing your comments/replies, remember that you are representing your own
personal/professional brand and, in essence, marketing yourself. Portray yourself as a professional in
all interactions. Do NOT repeat the question prior to answering. Do NOT reference the course/class
or refer to an “instructor” or “professor” because this may cause other readers to discount your
expertise due to what will then be perceived as your “student” status. Remember that your brand is a
professional one. All comments and replies should be of a positive nature and should be thoughtful,
intelligent, and, when possible, incorporate concepts learned in the course. Disagreeing with the
author/presenter is fine, but do so amiably and always on a professional level.
If you decide to share the article/video via social media (LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to
showcase your expert commentary, it would be best to share the article/video immediately after you
make your comment so that your particular comment(s) will be more accessible at the time of sharing
(rather than buried below other comments). You also might decide to use your comment on the
assigned article/video as a way to connect (professionally) with other individuals by making reference
to their articles, videos, websites, etc. You can do this by mentioning their name or username (as a
hyperlink in that platform) in hopes that they will be notified and thus see your comment, and/or you
can simply copy and paste your comment into an email message and let them know directly that you
mentioned them and felt compelled to promote their work. Previous students who have used this
technique have been able to connect with top corporate executives, authors, popular speakers, and even
some mid-level celebrities.
Your comments can be formal or casual, but use proper spelling and grammar as appropriate.
Remember that you are representing your own personal/professional brand.
Article/Video Topics
You will have to comment (and reply to a comment) for each of the following five short articles and
videos. You do not need to be an expert on any of the topics, but use your common sense and
personal/professional experiences to add to the professional dialogue.
For PCA-1, view “Perception vs. Reality” on YouTube at http://bit.ly/mmPerception
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For PCA-2, view “Master the Art of Conversation: How to Disagree Respectfully” on YouTube at http://bit.ly/ToDisagree
For PCA-3, read “Facebook's Sheryl Sandberg Says that You Don't Have a Personal Brand. Well, Do You?” on LinkedIn at http://bit.ly/NoBrand or view it on YouTube at
http://bit.ly/NoBrandYT
For PCA-4, view “Using the Stages of Change (Transtheoretical) Model” on YouTube at http://bit.ly/Guess77
For PCA-5, read “Customer Lifetime Value” on LinkedIn at http://bit.ly/GuessCLV
As you watch/read each video/article, consider how they could apply to your process of building and
managing your professional brand.
Specific Instructions Part One: The Comment
For each of the videos/articles, use your YouTube account (for videos) or LinkedIn account (for
articles) to provide professional commentary by writing two to four complete, compelling,
grammatically correct sentences, using one of the questions below as a guide (do NOT use the question
word-for-word, but only as a GUIDE). NOTE: for each video/article, you must use a different
question as the guide for your comment.
1. Which part of the video/article resonated most with you (or you most connected with) and how could you use that information or concept in your professional life?
2. What concept or idea from the video/article have you experienced in the past and what was your experience?
3. Which point of the video/article did you agree with the most, and why? 4. What is a “hidden gem” or something that few would notice in the video/article, that you find
to be noteworthy/critical/game-changing/enlightening/etc., and why?
5. What is an addition that you could offer to extend the concepts discussed in the video/article? 6. How does or could the material in this video/article (or some portion of it) apply to your
particular industry or field or job position?
7. How could the material presented in this video/article inspire or influence you or someone else to change your approach to marketing, sales, personal branding, or behavioral change?
8. What is an aspect of this video/article that gives you a different perspective on some aspect of marketing, sales, personal branding, and/or behavioral change?
9. Which point(s) of this video/article have you not considered before, and how could it change your thinking about the topic?
After you have made your comment, be sure to take a legible screenshot of the entire comment for
later submission in the Assignment Dropbox.
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Specific Instructions Part Two: The Reply
For each of the videos/articles, you also will be required to reply to another person’s comment (or
another person’s reply to a comment) in a manner that furthers the professional contribution of the idea
or thread portrayed in the comment/reply. Remember, your replies also should be of a positive nature
and should be thoughtful, intelligent, and, when possible, incorporate concepts learned in the course
and from your experiences. Your goal should be to add to the professional dialogue. After you have
made your reply, be sure to take a legible screenshot of the entire reply for later submission in the
Assignment Dropbox.
Specific Instructions Part Three: Submit in Assignment Dropbox
Complete the following in a document and then save it as a single PDF:
1. Student Name 2. YouTube User Name 3. LinkedIn User Name 4. For each of the five PCAs, include the following:
a. Which guide question did you use while formulating your comment for this article or video? (Write the number and the text of the question, not just the number please.)
b. Screenshot of the entire comment. Import/embed the screenshot of the comment as an image in the document. Be sure that you size the screenshot large enough that the
comment can be read easily. c. Screenshot of reply (note that reply screenshot also must include the referenced
comment and/or reply for context in grading). Import/embed the screenshot of the reply
as an image in the document. Be sure that you size the screenshot large enough that
the reply can be read easily. d. Save the final document as PCA-YourName and then upload it to the appropriate
Assignment Dropbox link.
5. Be sure to subscribe to the YouTube channels and connect with or follow the LinkedIn authors so that you can follow any dialogue that is inspired by your comments and replies.
Remember that this activity serves not only as an assignment, but as an opportunity to market your
expertise to your connections.
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