For example, you have the agencies that wear multiple hats. They’ll do your branding, your marketing, your PR, your web presence, and more if you ask them. I personally don’t see this as an agency (especially as they get into software). Their own marketability  seems to get diluted.

The flip side of this are the top-hat wearing specialists. They only do interface design, or  social media, or search engine optimization. I think there’s a strength in their focus. Look at other specialties, after all. You have electricians, specialized auto mechanics, foot doctors, and so forth. Not to mention the marketability increase dramatically – especially when starting out. Your “pitch” is quite nearly forced to become your elevator speech.

I bring this up because what kind of hat to wear, or how many hats to wear, has been a constant struggle of mine. The evidence of this should be blatantly obvious based on the content of my blog. Facebook and Business models aren’t exactly related — unless I’ve been talking about Facebook’s business model. Which I haven’t.

A convincing case for the top-hat mentality is that if you look at the companies that frequently get acquired, they tend to be top-hat toters. The irony, of course, is that they’re acquired by companies that wear multiple hats.

• Rotten Tomatoes only focused on movie reviews and was acquired
• YouTube only focused on user generated video content and was acquired by Google
• iLike which only focused on music for social networks initially was acquired by MySpace

Is there an answer to whether a top-hat is better than wearing multiple-hats? I think both can look fairly ridiculous. I am beginning to think that simply adhering to the business model that led to success in the first place should play a larger role. If you’re working to build that initial success, then the laser focus of a specialty may be the simplest way to get there.

What does that mean for me? It means I need to wear the hat that fits the best. Better question – what does that mean for you?

Hat tip to rattyfied for the only useful top-hat photo on flickr. Oh yes, pun totally intended.

The wedding was amazing. As everyone says, it goes by in a hurry. Thankfully, we had the whole live stream archived, and Stacy’s family has put the archived version to be viewable online until the edited version is finished. So if you’d like to see the archived live stream of our wedding – take a look!

The live stream was almost as important as updating our Facebook status (which we had to pay the hotel internet access to do). Yes, we’re that dorky : )

Yes. I am enough of a new media nerd and am thankful my in-laws are also nerdy enough to organize the live streaming of our wedding on Saturday at 4. More info on our wedding site: http://wedding.thesnell.com

A big thanks to Stacys family too (which comprises much of the Broadcast Group) for doing a masterful job with the event overall. They’ve really gone above and beyond and no doubt you’ll be able to tell.

As you might suspect. This also means I won’t be posting till next Tuesday (when our initial honeymoon is over – yes initial). Rest assured tho, I’ll be back with much to share. Both personally and about Facebook.

We don’t have them all up yet, as we’re waiting for them to be developed, but our awesome friend, Rachel Hodges, who took our photographs has a few of the digital ones available to view for those who are curious.

More posts coming soon… I seem to have misplaced my list of topics to write about during my unpacking phase!

It will be all quiet on the eastern front tonight and this weekend, probably through Monday. I will be heading up to Raleigh for the onething09 conference that’s taking place there over the weekend.

If anyone else is going to be up there, let’s meet up! Just tweet me @NathanSnell.

Thanks!

I am a little late getting this out (sorry guys!), as the Brazen Careerist team launcher their site this past monday, but better I’ve been out and about almost this whole week. Still, they deserve a post because they rock.

If you’re a young professional or a business owner and haven’t seen the new Brazen Careerist site, you’re missing out. I’ve spoken with the team over at Brazen Careerist a number of times, and they’re all fantastic, intelligent people and also really care about the community they’re creating on their site. Then again, they’ve done a good job of making it easy on themselves when it comes to fostering a community, especially with now launching the best online networking tool for Generation-Y.

A better young professional networking tool

LinkedIn has always been a great professional network but has always left a little to be desired when it came to personal touch and collaboration. On the flip side, Facebook has always been too touchy feely and not enough professional. That’s why I really love the new Brazen Careerist. I feel like it hits the sweet spot. It’s a great niche network for those Gen Yers who want to sharpen their skills in a professional, collaborative environment, while also getting their networking groove on (you may laugh, but some of the folks on BC are networking masters). Not to mention the way their new site is structured is very conducive to making you spend hours on it.

How businesses can benefit from Brazen Careerist

Brazen Careerist isn’t just great for young professionals. It will no doubt become a great tool for companies scouting for recent (or upcoming) college talent who are serious about work and life. Individuals who are on the edge or forward thinkers – the soon-to-be rockstars of companies. That’s the kind of community that’s being fostered over on Brazen Careerist right now, and it’s great.

All in all, how I picture it is Facebook is the neighborhood block party, LinkedIn is the business conference, and Brazen Careerist is the business cocktail/network party. So if you’re Gen Y and haven’t seen Brazen Careerist, do so now. Seriously. If you’re a business, I’d suggest keeping your eyes focused on that network. I know we will.

While wanting to amaze Stacy daily is all fine and well, I didn’t realize the spiritual significance of it until I was praying last week. See, the Lord pursues us as His bride much like I want to pursue Stacy as mine. He wants to woo our hearts, and amaze us with His Spirit and blessings. Just as I want to have an outpouring of love over Stacy daily, regardless of circumstance, Christ is seeking to pour out over us daily, regardless of circumstance. Christ’s pursuit for us is an active effort (assuming we allow it).

For example, in the parable about the Prodigal Son in Luke 15:20, the Father only caught a glimpse of his son coming home, and he was on his feet running toward his son to love on him. That’s an active love. The father wasn’t going to wait around for his son to get there, he was going out to meet him as soon as he could.

There are many times I feel so undeserving of blessings, but I felt this was a way in which the Lord spoke to me so I would understand – our Father just wants to pour out over us solely because He delights in His creation.