This year requests for training on Social Media and Twitter have gone through the roof.  A-List Solutions is at the forefront of small firms using Twitter and Social tools for Marketing, Brand awareness, and Recruiting.  I have trained top recruiting organizations, businesses, and professional groups in DFW and nationally on Twitter and Social Media effectiveness.  I explain how to best utilize these tools for branding, recruiting, marketing, sales, jobs search, list building, etc.  Here are a few comments from previous presentations:

"Excellent presentation: great analogies and you took the fear out of social networking." - Joel Friedman, VPIT, member DFWTENG

"Craig brings deep practical experience in his training to anyone that wants to leverage Twitter or other social media. This is especially valuable to anyone in the staffing/recruiting business. However, anyone can improve their Web 2.0 effectiveness with Craig's help. I found his presentation and ability to answer nearly any question very valuable to the point I am rolling with my new social media strategy! :-)"  - Rick Rene, Professional Services Regional Director at Matrix Resources

"I've had the pleasure of knowing Craig for more than 10 years. He's without question one of the most savvy recruiters in the business. Craig is a complete professional and is someone with a high degree of integrity and ability to get results for those fortunate to work with him. In addition to being a "thought leader" in the recruiting space, he's a recognized leader in all aspects of social media. He's someone I consider to be a trusted expert in this emerging force. Craig has always been willing to take time to share with others his insight and experience, lending a helping hand whenever asked. I look forward to a continued partnership and friendship for many years to come." - Jon Davis, Director, Western Operations, MATRIX Resources, Inc.

"Great presentation yesterday! We appreciate your willingness to present to our quarterly meeting. Many of our team members listed your presentation as the most valuable take-away from the meeting (you're a tough act to follow). We are a lot more knowledgeable now." - Dane Reese, Senior Vice President at Eurosoft

"The presentation was not only very professional, but very educational as well. This was on of the best "Personal Networking" seminars that can really be applied that I have seen." -Steven Flad, Director at Stark Holdings

Here is some additional recognition I have received (my Twitter handle is Fishdogs):

Mashable.com HOW TO: Find a Job on Twitter

Twitter Grader Top Recruiters

#TalentNet and Social Recruiting By John Sumser

ExtremeRecruiting.TV

Featured on The Recruiting Animal Show-highest rated show to date!

The Career 100

http://WeFollow.com/tag/recruiter

I would be glad to train your team either in-person, or remotely by Webinar. 

The ROI of utilizing Twitter correctly is excellent.  Recruiters and companies can vastly increase their visibility and greatly broaden their client and candidate base with just a small amount of time per week.  The consequence of attempting to do this incorrectly is hours of wasted time.  I see a many companies just posting jobs or Marketing/PR info and getting nothing in return.  There are tools and techniques that can help you target your activity with laser precision.  Knowing what they are and what to do with them is as much a key as is your general approach to social networking.

Labels: branding, marketing, Recruiting, Social Media, Social Networking, training, Twitter, web2.0

The way social media can effect recruiting and retention was a hot topic at the recent ERE Social Recruiting Summit held this week at Google headquarters in Mountain View, CA.  Jenny DeVaughn attended and wrote a nice synopsis of her experience that can be viewed on the ERE Community site.  I watched many of the presentations through streaming video that was made available.  And I monitored the conversations that emanated live from the event on Twitter. 

One of the topics that caught my interest was the idea of "relational onboarding" presented by Sacha Chua.  Jenny DeVaughn describes the session:

"Sacha Chua led our next discussion on how we all can have the most awesomest job search ever. Sacha was unapologetically enthusiastic about her love for her current role with IBM.  Sacha described how important "relational onboarding" is to new or potential employees. It is vital to have genuine connections and relationships with your future co-workers before you start working. I agree with @JohnSumser, this is the key to seamless recruiting. Sacha also mentioned, once you are an employee, you are an ambassador. Laurie Ruettimann retweeted one of my tweets during this session while I was sitting two seats away from her. How cool is that?"

Here is a presentation Sasha Chua posted just prior to the SRS:

I touched on this subject in my article for Universum, Organic Branding for Employers.  The idea is that Social Networking should not only be encouraged at work, but that it should now be considered an essential part of the onboarding process and is key to company culture, retention, and job satisfaction.

Also of interest was the presentation by Reid Hoffman, CEO of LinkedIn, who believes that we should all think of ourselves as a small business.  Here are the slides from his presentation:

One of my growing fascinations is the potential for better communication with candidates and clients through Mobile Recruiting.  So you can bet I was dialed in for the Mobile Recruiting presentation by Chris Hoyt and Michael Marlatt.  Per Jenny, "They discussed the mobile myths: mobile is just hype, only used by the youth generation and that it is only a device for spam. They also shared that SMS (a text message to your phone) has a 94% read rate. We all participated in a live step-by-step text (short code) demonstration. In mobile marketing, we are only limited by our creativity; however, one must consistently create value."

Overall it appeared to be a really great event with cutting edge information shared by entertaining presenters.  Once again I was amazed at how easily those of us who couldn't attend could follow so closely through the live stream and on Twitter. 

Local Dallas recruiters and HR professionals will be treated to two low cost events here in DFW this year that will cover some of the same topics and more.  The Texas Recruiters Association - Workshop Seminar and Networking Event will be held on July 16th from 4pm to 7:30pm at the Hilton Dallas Lincoln Centre.  The cost is a very affordable $40.  I will be one of those featured on the "expert panel" along with Chris Hoyt, April Leah Grady, and Dennis Smith.

The next event will be loosely based on the popular Twitter forum for Recruiters, #TalentNet.  TalentNet Live will also feature me, Chris Hoyt, Dennis Smith, and others who will provide training on leveraging the latest tools and techniques to more effectively recruit and grow your business.  It will be held on September 11th at Frito Lay Headquarters in Plano, TX.  Additional details for this event will be available soon.  This local recruiting expo will also be available for a low entry fee, a portion of which is planned to be donated to a charity for the families of firefighters. 

If you are one of the many Dallas area staffing professionals who couldn't attend the ERE Social Recruiting Summit, please consider coming out to one or both of these local workshops.  They will each provide unique and useful information that you can use for motivation and strategy in recruiting.

Labels: #TalentNet, branding, careers, Hiring, Recruiting, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

I ran across a great video today by Marty Nemko, career coach and contributing editor for U.S. News and World Report, on writing resumes.  Marty offers some great advice to job seekers on ways to make your resume stand out.  I agree with everything he says.

Below are the highlights, but the video is short and worth the watch.

• Target the employer to which you are sending your resume.  One resume may not work for every situation.
• Use a chronological resume, not a functional resume.
• Tell a couple of good 3-4 sentence success stories in your resume.
• Do a video intro.
• Write a white paper to highlight your ideas.

Labels: branding, careers, Job Hunting, Job Search, Resumes

By: Dan Schawbel | Personal Branding Blog

REQUIRED: A Custom Facebook URL For Your Brand Name | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

At midnight on June 13th, Facebook is releasing custom URL's for both profile and fan pages. This is a big move by Facebook and if you review their announcement this afternoon, there are a few details that you want to pay attention to.  From my perspective, this is perhaps the most important news since Google released their profile pages a few months ago.  I want to take a few minutes to go over what this means for your personal brand, the brands you associate with and, of course, Facebook.

Your personal brand

A custom Facebook URL, or http://facebook.com/YourFullName, is extremely valuable to you. First, since Google is how people find you, including the press, hiring managers, and customers, claiming the results for your name is imperative.  A custom Facebook URL will rank very high in Google and can fill up one of the results for your name.  Second, a shorter URL will be easy for your audience to remember, so if you make a presentation or you want to link to your Facebook profile, it's seamless and obvious.  Third, if you don't claim your custom URL and someone else does, you're out of luck and have almost no chance to reclaim it at a later date.

Recommendation: Friday night, June 11, at 11:01pm CDT, rush to get your custom URL and choose "yourfullname" (one word) instead of the other options Facebook gives you because it's more SEO friendly.  You can claim your user name here.

REQUIRED: A Custom Facebook URL For Your Brand Name | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

Labels: branding, FACEBOOK, Social Media, Social Networking

Last night at a Tweetup in Dallas, a girl who I have become friends with through Twitter asked me why I tweet back a thank you to her when she retweets something I have posted.  "Because I appreciate it!"  I said honestly.  "But you know me."  She replied.  Recently I have had more and more people asking why I thank them for retweeting me.  And some saying that thanks for retweeting is not necessary. 

It is a great compliment to the original tweeter.  And I was raised to always say thank you if I receive a compliment.  Beyond that, I am posting to my network and yours that I appreciate the fact that you retweeted me.  This exposes you to my network as someone who sees value in quality material and will help send that message on to others.  People will follow you because of this.  These are the reasons that I publicly thank you for retweeting me.

Some people feel that kind of thanks is best sent in a direct message, one that only you and the recipient see.  But that doesn't spread the love as much in my opinion.  Does that make sense?  I don't just thank people I am already familiar with.  I thank new followers everyday.  This further gets their name out and helps to build their network. 

Applications such as Twitter Grader track how often you reply to people both in your network and out of your network.  And for good reason.  People who reply and converse publicly, whether it is just to say thanks or to comment further, are more fun to follow.  Its great to follow famous Twitter users who have tens of thousands of followers and provide good content on a regular basis.  But after a while it gets a bit old if you never hear anything from them directly.  And then, if you do hear something back, its only in a direct message.  A direct message from a top Twit is great too, don't get me wrong.  But it doesn't show your twitterverse that the Twitter celeb is actually acknowledging you.  I know that sounds trivial, but unfortunately that's one of the things that gets others to follow you.

Twitter cynics will say,  "But I don't care if people follow me.  I don't need big numbers."  Well, good for you.  But personally, I like networking with many people.  It's sort of my job because I am a recruiter.  And if you have a job, or a business, or anything else that networking is good for, then you should agree.  The whole idea is to get to know new people.  Some of my best resources on Twitter have come from the most unlikely of followers. 

So thanks to you all for retweeting me.  Much appreciated.  Cheers, CF

So do you agree?  Should retweeters be thanked publicly?  Am I nuts?  Let me hear from you.

Labels: branding, MicroBlogging, Recruiting, Social Media, Twitter, web2.0

This week I had the dubious honor of being the featured guest on the Recruiting Animal Show on Blog Talk Radio.  The Recruiting Animal is sort of a Jim Rome type of interviewer.  His shtick is to be bombastic, throw curve balls, cut people off if they don't answer quickly or interestingly enough.  But he is smart and thoroughly researches his subjects who he enjoys picking apart.  So it was, with not so slight trepidation, that I joined him on his show on possibly the worst day for doing so, April Fools Day! 

Well it turned out that some friends called in to support me when the talk turned to searching for job candidates on Twitter.  And we ended up with a very informative show.  I didn't have to talk nearly as much as I feared I would have to for a one hour show.  Some listeners even complained that they didn't get to hear enough from me.  But I was fine with that.  And to Animal's credit, he expertly edited the audio to create an 18 minute file that clearly shows, step by step, how you can use Twitter to identify and contact prospective job candidates.

I have personally had good success recruiting with Twitter.  There are plenty of job seekers there, with good reason (there are lots of good recruiters there)  And I love technology.  And Twitter (as beautifully simple as it is) is still a bit of a technical wonder.  I think we converted some skeptics, and presented some great info for the recruiting community's collective tool belt.  One of these days I'll have time to do a written version of these tips.  But for now, here is the audio:

Here is the short version MP3 file of the edited Audio, How to recruit on Twitter

Here is the link to the show and the full-length audio

And here is Animal's post of the show on RecruitingBlogs.com

As to Animal (@animal on Twitter), I appreciate the work he puts into his show.  He wants it to be entertaining.  And guests are expected to help make that happen.  So I can't fault him for jumping in where he thinks it is warranted.  After all, its his show.  I had listened to it a few times before and winced along with the rest of the audience when he would pounce on an unresponsive guest.  But my experience with him was great.  Not always comfortable, but still great.  Sort of like when a comedian picks you out of the audience. 

Now I have to emphasize again that I had HELP!  Animal had a couple of sidekicks along (ostensibly ready to refute my stance that Twitter is a good recruiting tool) when I called in, recruiters Jerry Albright (@jerry_albright) and Harry Joiner (@ecommercejobs).  Maureen Sharib (@MaureenSharib) acts as producer and is always on hand.  Karla Porter (@karla_porter), David Graziano (@davegraziano), and Jason Davis (@recruitingblogs aka Slouch, creator of RecruitingBlogs.com) all called in for the discussion.  Everyone had something instructive to add and it really made for a good exchange. 

Here is a bit of what I wrote to Animal after the show:

"The only person I didn't know before the show was Harry Joiner.  And he played a great role.  Karla and Dave are pretty good Twitter friends of mine (damn it still sounds weird to say "twiiter friends").  And I kind of know Maureen, Jerry, and JD through Twitter. Recruitingblogs.com, TalentBar.com, etc.  Everyone did well and chipped in, which was quite a relief for me."

Thanks to all.  And a special shout out to Susan Kang Nam (@pinkolivefamily) who connected me with Animal in the first place. 

So, my friends, if you dare square off with Animal, my advice is to be sure you get to the point quickly.  And be sure the point is worth getting to.  Or have your friends ready to prop you up with some great subject matter. 

Good show Animal!

Labels: branding, careers, Hiring, Job Hunting, Recruiting, Recruiting Animal Show, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

I was recently asked by international employer branding news journal, Universum Quarterly, to be the guest writer for this quarter's edition.  Subscribers in HR organizations worldwide will receive the publication this week.

Universum Quarterly began in 2006 and is the world's first periodical for Employer Branding.  Each issue brings feature articles which investigate best practices and trends in employer branding, as well as examples of employer branding in action and instrumental tips for succeeding in certain industries, locations and with certain types of talent.

Organic Branding for Employers

by Craig Fisher, Courtesy of Universum Quarterly

An employer brand should be built from the inside out. Just as part of an organization's marketing message should come from its customers, the employer brand should be championed by its employees.  For better or worse, they are the vehicles by which the message will be conveyed on blogs and social networks. Smart employers will take advantage of this tremendous PR opportunity and embrace social networking, encouraging intercompany collaboration, and communication with those outside the corporate walls by their employees acting as their brand champions in social media.  The brand message itself must be authentic, unique and attractive. Job seekers today do not care about boiler plate HR selling points.  Sure, the message should be stated clearly on an effective recruiting Web site. But if it is not first conveyed to the internal employees and reinforced by meeting or surpassing their expectations, the organization will not have the brand champions it needs to convey that message online to job seekers.

Social networking at work

Organizations that place broad restrictions on the use of social media at work will soon feel the backlash in lower employee recruitment and retention. Workers at many levels these days are used to communicating and receiving information at a speed that is difficult to achieve with standard email and corporate intranets. In economic times such as these, where cutbacks are common, communication with your workforce is vital to maintain morale.  Social networking cannot only expedite communication, but also improve employees' sense of belonging and worth.

Top firms like IBM and Sun Microsystems have successfully incorporated social networking in the workplace. IBM created a wildly successful internal social network for communication and collaboration. Sun hosts a Twitter account that is automatically updated by Sun Microsystems' employee blogs worldwide.  Both companies have very clear employee guidelines about the use of social networking encouraging responsible engagement, communication, learning, and contribution.

Reach new talent Web 2.0 style

Jobseekers regularly google a prospective employer to find out what current and past employees are saying about working at that company. How do companies encourage a positive online portrayal by its workers? Social networking best practices should be taught in the workplace. Employees should be empowered to feel they are part of the positive message an employer wants to communicate. Your HR team can double as community managers by setting up employee group pages on sites like LinkedIn, Ning, or Facebook. Companies need to encourage employees to join and share knowledge. They should post helpful tips for new employees to get them integrated and productive quickly by networking with their peers and managers.

Prospective employees should be exposed to such networks to get a sense of the people with whom they will work and a feel for the corporate culture. Your new community managers can even use services like Twitter to announce updates, further promoting the brand.  With such an effort, your social collaboration will become an attractive feature to future employees. 

Control vs. respect

Companies cannot completely control what is said about them on blogs or social networks.  But viewing social media as a potential liability will not help matters. Companies who rely on simply a corporate blog or Web site to convey their message to customers or potential employees will miss the mark. Individual brand advocates within your ranks can be trained to effectively relate any message to the masses on social sites. Zappos.com is a company known for excellent customer service. However, Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, has said that their main focus is not customer service, but rather their internal people. That is a powerful branding statement. One can easily ask Zappos.com's employees how they feel about it, as many of them have Twitter accounts with names like Zappos_Alfred or Zappos_Lynn.

It is natural to be concerned about what may be said by employees who are laid off by their former employer. Company policies of surprising workers with news that their job has been eliminated, locking them out of their offices, and ordering them off the premises are common place. Smart organizations can avoid this PR disaster with better communication and by assisting their displaced workers.  Instead, companies should set up a network for those who are laid off and post advice and leads to assist in job searching and outplacement.  Taking this a step further, they can even organize a "pink slip" party. Set it up on Facebook and invite local recruiters and career coaches to come and offer assistance to those outgoing workers. Word gets around fast about companies who treat their people well, even in the wake of layoffs.

Reinforce the message

A company's employer brand must be authentic, unique, and attractive. To consistently have the company message positively reflected in the external comments of workers, a company must clearly convey that brand to current and new employees and work to meet the expectations set by that message. From the perspective of new recruits, there must also be a strong employer recruiting site that clearly states the message and gives a good picture of what work-life at your company is like. Many of the top corporate career sites use recruiting videos that can be viewed on site, as well as on social spaces, like YouTube. These are particularly effective when utilizing current employees rather than actors.

Creating a positive atmosphere of trust and empowerment within a workforce will help to assure that the right message is communicated online. If employers remain true to their message, the brand is built naturally from the inside out. Social media becomes less of a liability and more of a recruiting tool. Empowered employees will be the best employer brand champions.

Growing your brand with social media

. Determine your authentic, unique and attractive brand message.
. Convey the message to employees and on an effective recruiting web site. Meet the expectations it sets.
. Embrace social networking in the workplace.
. Empower your people to champion your brand through social media.

Craig Fisher

Owner Principal A-List Solutions
Dallas, Texas, US

Craig Fisher has more than 18 years experience in sales and is a specialist in IT recruitment.  He is the co-founder of A-List Solutions, a full-service staffing and recruiting firm for management and IT professionals. Craig is also an avid blogger.

A-list Solutions is a full-service staffing firm providing permanent and contract placement services for management, marketing, and IT positions to organizations of all sizes. They consult with both job seekers and employers on branding strategies that utilize social media and web 2.0 technology.

Headquarters: Southlake, Texas, US

Labels: branding, careers, Employer Branding, FACEBOOK, Hiring, LinkedIn, Recruiting, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

Personal Branding.  Do those words make you cringe?  Let's choose something else like, Name Equity.  Whatever term you use, it's really all the same thing.  Mitch Joel posted a great article today on his blog that clearly illustrates the current need to take control of your online persona.  No matter who you are, or what you do, with today's technology there is no excuse for not having a good handle on your personal brand, and a substantial contact network to back it up.  I'm not just talking about people in the technology industry, or in marketing, or any of the industries you might associate with social media, networking, etc.  I am talking about you: manager, college student, stay at home mom or dad, accountant, fireman.

Can you conceive of a situation where you might actually have to ask people for help?  Or want to promote something?  Anything?  Garage sale?  Sell your house?  Help your spouse or kid find a job?  Raise money for a sick friend or relative?  You can certainly get on the phone and call people, or send out a group email to all your friends and contacts.  But most people, without the benefit of a social network, don't have the network power to make the kind of difference that can be made with a healthy group of online contacts.

If you have an established brand that people can find on Google, your chances of building a substantial network, getting a better job, getting venture capital, whatever, are increased exponentially.  People online will network with people they can "check out".  Employers will hire or recruit people who "check out" in a Google search.  People will offer assistance to you if you are active on social networks and have a trustworthy "brand".  But if someone goes online to Google you and all they turn up are some old high school photos that someone posted of you on MySpace or Facebook, well...

Here is a quick tip.  It's sort of the essence of branding.  Many of us have common names, or names that would compete with more famous or prominent folks of the same name online.  So find your niche (a word, or two words) and associate it with your name wherever you choose to place your brand.  My name, for instance, is pretty common.  There are hundreds or maybe thousands of people online with the same name, many of whom are more famous or more public a figure than I.  So everywhere I put my name online, every social media spot, blog post, directory, whatever, I always put what I do and list my web sites. 

Many people don't like to write anything about their work on social media sites because it is supposed to be social, right?  Wrong.  If you don't associate your name with the things you want to be known for, something that is specific and not too generic, you are doing yourself a disservice.  Google Craig Fisher and you will find me.  But I'm not right up there at the top.  However I'm in the recruiting business.  And I help companies and people to brand themselves better online so that I can more easily match them up together.  And my web sites where I write about all this are Fishdogs.com and AListSolutions.com.  So Google Craig Fisher and Recruiting, or Craig Fisher and branding, or Craig Fisher and Fishdogs or Craig fisher and A-List, and the results are much more satisfactory.

This exercise is not only an ingenious way to get people to Google me, it also demonstrates that if you, Jane Jones of knitting fame, pair your name continuously with something online that you would like to be known for, you are well on your way to creating a brand for yourself.  Now don't forget to be consistent, and genuine, and helpful, and informative, and creative, and knowledgeable...

Personal Branding Is Not An Option - It's Crucial To Success

March 26, 2009 5:58 AM

Posted by Mitch Joel

More layoffs. Giving back bonuses. Fewer work days to save the company from firing people. Doing the job of the three people that were let go in your department. Not hiring the five people you were thinking about hiring. Trying to find a job in this climate.

Whether you are an employee in a big, medium or small business, or an entrepreneur, or about to enter the workforce, never has it been more important to understand the power of having, maintaining and developing a strong personal brand. Never before has there been more ways for you to connect and build your personal brand through digital channels.

Never has a simple search on Google been able to tell us more about a person, who they are, what they do, and why they matter.

What does Google say about you?

If brands matter more than ever (and they do, just ask Apple, Starbucks and Twitter), then the ability for individuals to build a personal brand has never been more important. Maybe the idea of "branding yourself" seems ridiculous. It's not. It's a subject that famed management guru and author of the best-selling business book, In Search of Excellence, Tom Peters, first tackled in 1997 for an article in Fast Company magazine titled, The Brand Called You.

"Regardless of age, regardless of position, regardless of the business we happen to be in, all of us need to understand the importance of branding. We are CEOs of our own companies: Me Inc. To be in business today, our most important job is to be head marketer for the brand called You. ... You're every bit as much a brand as Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop. To start thinking like your own favourite brand manager, ask yourself the same question the brand managers at Nike, Coke, Pepsi, or the Body Shop ask themselves: What is it that my product or service does that makes it different? Give yourself the traditional 15-words-or-less contest challenge. Take the time to write down your answer. And then take the time to read it. Several times."

Peters gave us the beginning of an insight: like big corporate brands, all of the people we connect with have some kind of similar emotions and thoughts when they think about us as people. That mental tattoo that our personas and reputations create in their mind's eye is the essence of our personal brand.

But Peters wrote this in a world where individuals were limited by how they could spread their personal brands - the Internet was just taking its commercial shape in 1997. Now, in a world of Blogs, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn, our personal brands are resonating 24-hours-a-day, and the content we put in there and link to says more about who we are, as individuals than any one-page resum� ever could.

There's a small caution.

People working on their personal brand sometimes seem a little snake-oil salesy-like. They would state that they were working on their personal brand in a way that made it look like they were trying too hard. They were the same kind of people who manoeuvred through the local chamber of commerce event dumping business cards in any available and open hand No need to be that person.

The amazing thing about developing your personal brand online in social networks and by blogging, is that you can hone in on connecting with those that have shared values and similar interests.

One of the best places to get started is a search engine. Start looking for blogs in your industry, and start following some of the more notable people on Twitter. After you get a feel for the type of content people are publishing, you can dip you toes into the personal branding waters by leaving comments on those blogs or spaces. You can even go neck deep and start your own blog to demonstrate your own, unique, perspective.

Personal branding and the new media space creates a unique and mutually beneficial relationship. Anyone can express who they are to the world. And, if you're not sure what you have to say that is unique and different, just remember the immortal words of Oscar Wilde: "Be yourself, everyone else is already taken."

Labels: branding, careers, FACEBOOK, Job Hunting, LinkedIn, marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

Sometimes its who you know and who they know.  Last summer I was introduced to the president of The Loomis Agency, Mike Sullivan.  Maybe re-introduced is more accurate.  We first met years ago at the wedding of mutual friend, Lauren Mulkey.  Now Lauren, in her business development capacity with Loomis, a 20-year old Dallas creative firm, was getting us together again to talk about some ideas to get Loomis more brand recognition in Social Media.

Like many companies, Loomis was sort of half way into social media.  But Sullivan knew they could do more.  And being a brilliant executive, he consulted with people who had expertise.  And he also talked with me.  I had a couple of suggestions that they actually put into practice with great success.

Loomis had a few things going for them that I suggested he take advantage of.  One of those things was numbers.  They have a pretty good sized team.  I recommended getting everyone in the shop to get on LinkedIn and Facebook to help Loomis establish a presence there.  From an SEO standpoint, having all those users with Loomis as their current employer, and with links back to the Loomis homepage, LinkedIn and Facebook would be a great asset and would give them additional Web real estate at a very affordable price.  

Mike Sullivan himself is a pretty dynamic guy.  So I also suggested a targeted company blog with Sullivan being very visibly involved.  I thought that would be enticing to both prospective clients and prospective employees.  It also gives the current staff a solidified vision straight from the top. 

Recently I caught up with Mike to see how his plan was coming along.  I knew Loomis had done a great job with their revised blog.  And I had seen a viral holiday video they produced that was a stroke of genius.  So I was curious to get his feedback on the impact social media branding has had on Loomis.

Me:  This summer we met for a brainstorming session about corporate brand marketing through social media (social networks, corporate blogging, personal branding of employees, etc.)  What ideas from that meeting have had an impact on your strategy?

Mike: First off, I've encouraged all of our team members to get on LinkedIn and Facebook and begin using those tools actively. We've created a company presence in both those places, as well. We've used both tools as a means for generating traffic to our blog site, and I've noticed that it seems to have improved search results for our company.  If you search "Dallas ad agency," for example, we've moved up quite a bit.  Depending on the day you search we pop up just above or below the fold.  I believe that's largely a function of the increased social activity of our team members. 

Me:  What new steps have you taken to boost your brand awareness?

Mike:  I've personally built a fairly tight LinkedIn contact base. I think I have somewhere around 290 professional contacts, and most of my team members have fairly large, but tight, contact lists as well.  We have extended the distribution of our regular monthly e-newsletter, "Off The Chain," to this group of professional contacts.  I think our total team member list is somewhere in the neighborhood of a couple thousand contacts on LinkedIn.  Of course, we have an opt-out option, so we are not engaging in SPAM tactics.  But, we've received a ton of positive feedback on the content of the e-newsletter and I know it's been forwarded to others.  We used this tactic to launch our "sock puppet" video during the holiday season and that video was ultimately viewed by more than one million people.  Again, the content was the rocket fuel for that, but the initial LinkedIn database was the launch pad.

Me:  How has this new approach complimented your more traditional marketing efforts?

Mike:  I think that's just what it is-a complement to the traditional business development work we've done for years.  We still do all of the traditional stuff-OB calling, direct, networking-and the social networking and blogging has been an excellent overlay for that activity.  The goal is to show up in as many places as we can, and this helps us accomplish that with limited resources.  We're exploring other ways to use the social tools, as well. For instance, we are putting the final touches on our first monthly podcast this week and will be distributing that the way we've distributed our blog and e-newsletter.  The social sites will play a big part in that distribution.

Me:  Has this had an impact on your efforts to hire or retain talent? 

Mike: It certainly has been great for hiring.  We were fortunate to be in hiring mode recently and found several excellent candidates through LinkedIn and hired two of them.  We always prefer candidates who come with a referral from somebody we know and trust, and both of these panned out that way.  The interesting thing is that one of the hires came directly from a referral through one of our team member's LinkedIn contacts (2^nd degree).  If it hadn't been for that tool, we would never have found that particular candidate.

Me:  What kind of feedback have you received?

Mike:  It's been excellent.  Certainly, great content drives the best feedback. A really good blog post or something like our sock puppet video garners attention and generates a lot of positive feedback.  With respect to the video, we had people calling and e-mailing from all over the country.  That was fun and effective, and we plan to do it again. Of course, we've also had a lot of companies contact us asking if we can do videos for them. 

Me:  After your research and experience in the process of social brand marketing, what advice would you offer to other business owners and executives?

Mike:  First, just be sure to get in the game and encourage your staff to get out there and represent you.  Old school thinking tells people to stay away from this stuff during work hours, but I think nowadays our professional and personal lives are blended to the extent that it simply doesn't make good business sense to try to restrict social networking activity during business hours.  Encourage it, and recognize and reward those who do the best job of it on behalf of the company.  Writing good blog posts and making smart use of social networks requires good thinking. 

Second, stay current because it changes fast.  Twitter is a new frontier for us, as an example.  It feels like that just popped up and we're already playing catch up.  But I know a lot of people swear by the results they are seeing with it.  Staying current also requires a forward-leaning disposition as a company.  It needs to be an encouraged activity.

Finally, it still all comes down to quality content.  Are you communicating something people want to hear, read, or watch, or not?  The marketplace will vote as it always does.  Be sure to use the right side of your brain when you're leveraging all this left-brain technology!

Labels: blogging, branding, Employer Branding, FACEBOOK, LinkedIn, Recruiting, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

Penelope Trunk  recently wrote a great article with some take-action suggestions for anyone who is laid off or otherwise out of work.  She suggests spending time creating projects for yourself that will lead to increased productivity and networking.  This is very good advice that anyone can use to get moving in the right direction while on the job hunt.

5 Things to do when you're unemployed. Hint: It's not job hunting. | By Penelope Trunk

Let's say you get fired, or laid off, or you quit because after two weeks you know you're at the worst company on the planet. In all of those cases, you will face the interview question: What happened at your last job?

Here's the answer you should always give: "I left to do x." And you fill in for x.

Which brings me to what you should be really focusing on when you are unemployed: Learning and growing. Because this is what you are going to talk about in job interviews.

Most people require about six months to get another job. This is a big chunk of time that you can piss away sending resumes to Monster and wondering why no one responds. But you cannot job hunt for eight hours a day. Really. You'll go nuts. (Wait. Here's a time-saving job hunt tip from my mom.)

So spend the time creating projects for yourself and executing on them. This is good for you mentally - because you are doing something meaningful with your time and that will keep your spirits up.

But this is also good for you in your job hunt. Because when you talk about why you left the last company, you spin it in a positive light by talking about how you are excited about doing what you are doing. Your interview should include you telling a good story about focused personal growth, and no one will get stuck on why you left your last job. Here are five ways to set that story up:

1. Create a job for yourself. These projects can be wide ranging, but they have to show that you are driven, ambitious and focused. During one stint of unemployment, I worked for free for my boyfriend's company for a couple of hours a day. That way I didn't actually have a gap in my resume; a resume doesn't show part-time or full-time and it doesn't show pay or no pay. So volunteering at my boyfriend's company for a couple of hours a day ended up looking like a full-time job on my resume.

2. Focus on ambition and execution and not so much on work per se. Another time I got laid off I spent my days learning to swing dance. I took one or two lessons a day and practiced at night, and after my six months of job hunting, I was good enough to teach dancing just off Broadway. I didn't put that on my resume, but when people asked me why I left my job, I told them about how I gave myself time to fulfill lofty goals as a swing dancer.

3. Start a blog about the industry you want to go into. Blogging is a great way to keep up in your industry, network without looking desperate, and leverage the fact that you have more time on your hands that people who have jobs. Everyone who is unemployed should be blogging as a way to get their next job. Put your ideas out into the world and connect with people that way. This is why you want to be hired, right? For your ideas. So show them. The reason that people who blog have great careers is that bloggers are always thinking about issues in their industry. Show that side of yourself to people. Blogging takes a lot of time, sure. But you have a lot of time. So use it. Here's my guide for how to start a blog.

4. Start a company. Do you have a company idea? Try it now. During unemployment. There's nothing stopping you. You have time, and you can try ideas to see which one sticks. Also, whether or not your company does well, you'll be able to talk about it in an interview as a huge learning moment that will deflect from any problems at your last job. The company that never got out of your parent's basement can sit on your resume as professionally as a stint in the Fortune 500. It's all about how you write the bullet points: talk about accomplishments and learning.

5. Practice talking about yourself with everyone. High performers practice for interviews. So now you know what you're aiming for, but you need to talk about it with everyone - parties, at the gym, on the phone with friends. When they ask how you're doing, talk about what you're doing like you are in the job interview. And the good news is that the better you get at talking like that, the more you will actually believe your story, the story that being unemployed is lucky because you have learning opportunities.

What's important to remember here is that no one can tell you what experience you can gain and what you can't. You don't need a job in order to learn cool stuff and be on cool projects. You control what you do with your time and you can make it useful. Talk about that. There is no reason to talk about why the last job didn't work when you can talk about the great things that leaving opened up to you.

Labels: branding, careers, Job Hunting, jobs, Productivity, Self Improvement, Social Media, Social Networking, web2.0

Thanks to Flora Felisberto and Martin Burns of ZoomInfo for including me, alongside recruiting industry great, Lou Adler, in this edition of the newsletter.

If you haven't done so, I would recommend going to www.zoominfo.com and searching for yourself.  If you find yourself, but the info appears out of date, claim your profile and update the information.  This is a great place on the web to stamp "brand you".

Here is an excerpt from the February Zoominformer:

The social media phenomenon is no longer breaking news, but its impact on talent (finding, recruiting, and retaining) has started to accelerate.

Over the coming months, we'll be taking a closer look at social media trends. We're working with our clients and industry thought leaders to get to the "actual" behind all of the hype. It's our goal to help you work in the present, as well as understand the future. This month's newsletter will focus mainly on some of the practical impacts of social media, but we are also looking to a future that may be wildly disrupted by new methods of connecting with prospects, companies, and candidates.

If you have any ideas and interesting examples, please let us know. We are always amazed by the creativity of recruiters in navigating this world.

Stay tuned..

Are You a Web 2.0 Wannabe?
by Lou Adler

According to Lou Adler, "If you don't invest in finding tomorrow's candidates today, you'll become history." By investing time in key low-cost technologies, recruiters can increase both the visibility and interest of their job postings. In this article, Lou Adler describes the six most important web 2.0 trends and tools. Read on to find out if you're a "Neanderthal or a new ager."
Click here for the full article

Employer Branding with Web 2.0 & Social Media
by Craig Fisher

If your company's HR department is not already utilizing web 2.0 tools and social media to market the company to job seekers, it should be. A new report by Gartner, Inc., shows that even though corporate marketing and web strategies are embracing social media, HR departments are generally slow to align with those efforts for the purpose of employer branding.

Click here for the full article

The newsletter is: http://www.zoominfo.com/About/m/newsletters/february_2009.asp

You can subscribe to it here: http://www.zoominfo.com/About/resources/newsletters.aspx

ZoomInfo is a business information search engine used to quickly find information about industries, companies, people and products. ZoomInfo is used by sales and marketing professionals to identify business opportunities, by recruiters to locate talent, and by anyone conducting in-depth research about products, services and businesses. ZoomInfo's semantic search engine continually crawls the Business Web - the millions of company Websites, news feeds and other online sources - to identify company and people information which is then organized into fresh, comprehensive and objective profiles. ZoomInfo currently has profiles on more than 40 million people and over 3.5 million companies, and its search engine adds more than 20,000 new profiles every day.

Labels: branding, careers, Employer Branding, Hiring, jobs, marketing, Recruiting, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

A Twitter friend was having trouble with the shortened URLs of 3 job search articles I posted there, so I am posting the full URLs here for his and anyone else's convenience.

Your Next Employer Wants to Know: Where in Google Is That Guy?

http://articlemarketer.com/b2/b/article_marketer_blog.php/2009/02/18/your-next-employer-wants-to-know-where-i

How Adding a Tailored Sound Bite to My Resume Doubled Interview Requests

http://personalbrandingblog.com/how-adding-a-tailored-sound-bite-to-my-resume-doubled-interview-requests/

Help prospective employers find you

http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/career/?p=542

Labels: branding, careers, jobs, Resumes, Social Networking, Twitter

For many people, especially those new to Twitter, one of the big questions about this popular application is, "who should I follow?"  Well, there are many good answers to this, all depending on your purpose for using Twitter.  But there are a few shortcuts you can use that will make life simpler and get your Twitter neighborhood growing quickly. 

First, find someone else on Twitter who has your same position or interests and follow the people who follow them.  Since you are in a similar line of business or have similar interests to the person those followers are following, there is a good chance they will follow you back if you have clearly stated these interests or position in your Twitter Bio.  A good way to find this initial same-brainer is Twitter Search.  Just type in the keyword that tickles your fancy and you'll find lots of tweeps who are talking about it.  I, being a recruiter, might type in terms like "hiring" or "jobs" or "recruiting" to find similar users.

The next quick and easy method is to register with Twellow.  Twellow is like a yellow pages for Twitter users.  Once you register and include the proper identifying info (so other users can find you too), you can search for users by location or category.  If you dare to check the enhanced features box just below the login area (this temporarily stores your Twitter password) you can follow users right from the search results page.  You can also use Tweepsearch to search user profiles  for prospects that fit your networking needs.  This is very quick and very easy.

Quick and easy jumps to a new level when you use the "Find People" link at the top of your Twitter home page.  Once there, click the "Find on other networks" tab and locate users from your Yahoo, Hotmail, MSN, AOL, or Gmail accounts.  Don't have one of these free email services?  No problem  Just export your Outlook contacts to a .csv file and upload them to the free email service of your choice and you're in business. 

Another great trick is to export your LinkedIn contacts to a free email service to achieve the same result with your current LinkedIn Network.  On your LinkedIn home page, click "Contacts" in the box on the left of the screen.  Once on the "Contacts" page, look at the bottom of the list and you will see an "export contacts" link.  This will create a .csv (comma separated values) file suitable for upload to any of the above free email services.  If you upload them to Gmail you can categorize them all at once as "LinkedIn contacts".  Then go back to Twitter and find all your LinkedIn contacts who are currently on Twitter, through the same import process mentioned above, and follow away.  You might also update your LinkedIn status that you are now following all those in your network who are on Twitter and list your follow-back Twitter id.

See?  Quick and easy.  Happy Tweeting.

Follow me on Twitter, www.twitter.com/fishdogs

Connect with me on LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/in/wcraigfisher

Labels: branding, LinkedIn, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

Very funny post on EmploymentMetrix.com about the extremes some job hunters go to in order to get noticed.  Talk about branding yourself!  Great stuff, enjoy.

EmploymentMetrix.com: Extreme Job Hunting - How Far Would You Go to Get Hired? by Jeremy Hatfield

"Experienced M.I.T. grad for hire," and "I will buy an interview," are the messages of many brave job hunters looking to draw attention to their career aspirations. On a daily basis we hear major corporations reducing human capital as a means for cutting costs and counteracting this recession. Jessica Dickler of CNNMoney.com recently reported that candidates outnumber job openings three to one. Is it any wonder that individuals seeking jobs will go to extreme lengths to attract the attention of potential employers?

The Untraditional Method for Finding Employment

Put aside the traditional methods of attending job fairs, emailing resumes, and networking.  Those tactics work in a stable economy, with normal unemployment rates, but when times are tough it is a MUST to stand out from the crowd!

Desperate Times Call for Creative Measures

Many professionals are pioneering new job search tactics as evidenced in the following job search stories.  Keep in mind that these guerrilla tactics should be taken with a grain of salt as not all of these actions have resulted in employment.  

Send Tangible Objects To Get Their Attention!

. After an interview, one candidate followed up with the interviewer by sending him a T-shirt that said, "I interviewed Bob and lived to tell the tale."

. Another applicant sent his resume on a giant hamburger roll, implying that "he was on a roll."

. After going on a first interview and taking notice of an employer's relatively empty office the job seeker showed up for the second interview with a plant to "add some life". 

. It's even been reported that some job seekers have used singing telegrams as a creative way to get their resumes in front of prospective employers.

. One applicant had breakfast delivered to the office he wished to work at for an entire month until he was finally hired. 

So if you are looking for ways to get a potential employers attention, below are a more extreme job search tactics to consider.

Sell Yourself

A few job seekers have tried putting their services up for auction on eBay. This was successful in gaining the professionals attention but also led to eBay removing the listings from its site.  Perhaps they overpriced their services?

Create Public Visuals

.Now famous Joshua Persky, stood in the streets shamelessly self promoting his skills on a wooden sandwich board while passing out resumes to passersby.

.Javier Pujals had the interesting idea to pay companies for their time.  If they took the time to interview him he would pay them based on the type of position he was being interviewed for. Employers could visit BuyAnInterview.com to access his fee schedule. 

.One candidate even rented a billboard and placed a personal advertisement within view of a company's office so the HR representative would see it.

Place a Bounty

One job seeker leveraged his personal network of family, friends, and colleagues to help him in his job search.  He offered a cash bounty to the first person who referred him to his next job.

So How Far Would You Go To Get Your Next Job? 

Would you audition on American Idol to sing your resume objectives?  Or hire a sky writer to inscribe your contact information within the clouds?  Whatever the method you use in these tough times, keep the outcome of your actions in mind.  Remember to maintain a level of professionalism in whatever tactic you choose to distinguish yourself from the crowd and understand that if one of these crazy antics does get you're hired that you'll have an interesting reputation to live up to.  Good luck and happy hunting!

Posted by Jeremy Hatfield

Labels: branding, Hiring, interview tips, jobs

Steph Auteri has written a wonderful guest post on TwiTip.com about how Twitter has jumped off of your screen and into your home town.  I can attest that the networking potential at a Tweetup (a meet-up of Twitter enthusiasts) is superior to most networking events, chamber of commerce gatherings, job fairs, etc. that I have ever attended.  My goal in networking is about getting to know people interested in Social Media and also employers (potential clients) with hiring needs. 

But I feel strongly that job seekers with a genuine interest in Twitter and other social media would find fertile ground at a Tweetup to network for a new position.  The job you seek doesn't have to be related to social networking or new media, but your interest in it should be your entry into conversation.  Don't show up knowing nothing about Twitter and expect a good conversation with people that might lead to a job prospect.  Immerse yourself in all things Twitter as much as possible before attending a Twitter related event.  Newbies are welcome, but it really helps to be at least familiar with the terms and the technology.

8 Twitter Networking Tips: From Online to In-the-Flesh

I didn't know quite what to do with Twitter until I read a post on Problogger that advised setting Twitter goals. My mind immediately grasped upon the possibilities for promoting my multiple blogs and, since then, I have (I hope) maintained that focus. (Just ignore those tweets that mention Xanax, wine, and my three cats.) It was a happy surprise when it became clear just how much Twitter could help my career in other ways.

Read on for tips on how to use Twitter to take networking from online to in-the-flesh.

1. Use Your Twitter Profile As You Would a Business Card:

Those cards I had done up at VistaPrint are so perfect. They include my name, title, phone number, e-mail address, and website URL and, best of all, they even match my site's background! I love how they represent the brand I've created for myself. Your Twitter profile should operate in a similar manner. Pimp that URL of yours in the appropriate space. Craft a well-written professional description in the spot meant for your bio. Personalize the background also! It will help you stand out from the pack. And then include a link to your Twitter account on every last social networking site you belong to, and in your e-mail signature as well. (Bonus tip: If you want to go all out - and frighten friends and family! - order a T-shirt with your Twitter ID.)

2. Let Your Twitter Feed Be Your (Ongoing) Portolfio:

While I maintain a portfolio on my professional site, I often suspect that no one actually goes there. Even when I include a link in my cover letters. This makes me sad. But nothing beats the immediacy of a tweeted link! I tend to tweet the links to my latest clips, and also point my followers toward the blog posts I'm most proud of. This way, people don't become overwhelmed by how amazingly prolific I am, or mistake me for a spammer. If this is not a worry, there are Twitter applications - such as twitterfeed - that automatically feed your post titles and links straight to Twitter. Not only will you get a nice bump in traffic from your own tweeple, but followers might find your work so gosh-darn awesome that they retweet it, placing it in front of a constantly growing number of eyes. Who knows what could happen then! I've actually received additional writing assignments from those impressed with my already-existing work.

3. Grow Your Twitter Network:

If you're doing everything right - posting helpful and interesting tweets, maintaining a healthy level of back-and-forth, and seeking out other Twitter users worth following - your network will grow organically. Once you have them there, it's time to harness their remarkable power.

4. Get the Lowdown:

.by getting the lowdown on things like professional organizations, conferences, and other events. In musing - via tweet - about the pros and cons of joining the EFA, the NWU, or Freelance Success, I received immediate feedback of others' personal experiences with each. Being able to determine the effectiveness of real-work events and networking groups before paying an arm and a leg, based upon the firsthand experiences of others, can be invaluable.

5. Tweet Yourself Up:

.by advertising your wares. I tweet about the blog posts I'm working on. I tweet about the manuscripts I'm copy editing. I tweet about the articles I'm researching. It makes me sound way productive. Plus, it gives others an idea of where my skills and talents lie. If you happen to tweet a lot about your amazing grasp of the behavioral sciences, or of medical writing, you'll be the first person people think of when they need a medical copywriter. Or a shrink.

6. Ask for Help:

.by sending out an SOS. It's been known to happen. People have acquired employment by simply letting others know they were looking for work. But you can start smaller. Ask for input on that blog post you're working on. Search for interview subjects for that next article (I use Twellow or Twitter Search). Ask all of the tens of thousands of web developers out there why that plugin didn't work when you did the whatchamacallit to the thingamabobber. There is a world of wisdom out there, just waiting for your call.

7. And Help Others:

Is there a way to measure Twitter karma? Or is it wrong to quantify the ways in which you help others? Either way, I believe karma exists, and the more you help others, the more others are willing to help you. This can mean simply answering others' queries, making suggestions, or offering your help when a fellow Twitter user appears in distress. Some twitterers go a step further, and create accounts meant solely for charitable purposes. Twestival - which "brings together Twitter communities for an evening of fun and to raise money and awareness for charity" - is just one example (more information can be found here). Another one I've recently come across is JobAngels. They define themselves as a movement, in which they ask followers to help one person find a job. Several of the people I'm following have already retweeted their request.

8. Plan a Tweetup:

All of the above has referenced the real world only indirectly, by mentioning actions you can do in the Twitterverse in order to affect your non-virtual life. For my last point, I'd like to mention Tweetups, the happy and inevitable cousin of the Meetup. Rather than waiting for an event to happen, why not plan your own meeting of the (Twitter-based) minds? You can follow tweetup to learn about happenings in your area, or just send a shout-out to your own followers, asking if anyone would be game for taking things offline. While online networking can be amazing in its influence, I often find that nothing beats a face-to-face meeting. Placing a face to a name.being able to talk at length with more than 140 characters.bonding over a glass (or five) of wine or the healing powers of a cup of coffee.all of these things can help you to develop a more concrete connection with someone you've only been conversing with online. In marveling over the powers of the Internet, don't discredit the traditional tactics.

Labels: branding, careers, Hiring, jobs, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

It was great fun to see the two largest job boards go head to head in Sunday's Super Bowl.  I really liked both of these ads, but I have to tip my hat to CareerBuilder this time.  I think it's the Koala with the coffee cup and the glasses, but there are many great things about this one.  Monster was a very close second, and I really laughed when I saw the other side of that wall spin around. 

With the current economy, you know these two companies are really scrapping for their share of the employer market.  Who do you think won the advertising contest on Sunday?

Labels: branding, Funny, jobs, Social Media, web2.0

Social media sites are fast becoming the go to outlet to compliment a marketing campaign.  Companies of all sizes are embracing the technology and the ability to interact with their audience to boost sales and enhance marketing.  But as I stated in a previous post, Employer Branding with Web2.0 & Social Media, HR and PR departments are lagging far behind.  Those responsible for a company's image, apart from sales, and product or service marketing, should be at the forefront of the company's efforts in the online arena.

We have already seen two recent cases where a company's reputation can be hurt quickly by the viral spread of stories or video posted to networking sites like YouTube, FaceBook, LinkedIn, MySpace and Twitter.  The cases of KFC and Motrin are now well documented.  Just do a google search on KFC and rats, or Motrin and Twitter, and you'll see what I mean.

My question, apart from the obvious effect of tarnished reputation and loss of market share, is how does this effect the morale of existing employees, and the interest of perspective employees, of the companies who own these brands?  Motrin responded with an apology and stopped running the offensive material.  This was material that was meant to be good marketing and ended up as a PR headache. 

CV Harquail at AuthenticOrganizations.com has found a nice presentation that illustrates the basics of reputation management.  She points out in her article, Online Reputations and Authenticity a few keys that can be derived:

* Many managers and management scholars are unaware of how important an organization's online reputation management is to the organization's overall corporate identity, the organization's corporate social responsibility efforts, and the organization's employer branding.

* Managers who remain ignorant of blogs, or twitter, or whatever online tool is being used to discuss an organization, do so at their organization's peril.

• Although online reputation management seems to be taken seriously only by those in social media and marketing circles, an organization's online reputation can influence everything about how an organization is perceived . When you consider how perceptions of an organization affect how every stakeholder in the organization's circle responds to the organization, you can begin to imagine the power of an organization's online reputation.

And, if that is not enough to get you to pay attention, think more selfishly about your own 'brand'. Online reputation management is also critical to individuals- as any teenager on Facebook can tell you.

Four points made nicely in this presentation - That we all should use online reputation management tactics to:

1. Offset negative content by promoting what is good, and true
2. Take ownership of your reputation in (yet) another medium,
3. Address negative feedback in a constructive way, and
4. Be open and transparent - and authentic - in your communication and self-presentation.

Labels: branding, Employer Branding, FACEBOOK, Hiring, LinkedIn, marketing, Social Media, Twitter, web2.0

Great post from CareerFire.com

by GUEST BLOGGER on JANUARY 4, 2009

Today's career environment is different, at least for the information workers. What's different is that there are more ways to influence getting a job than in the past. You probably already know that the old saying is true: "it's not what you know; it's who you know." Well, the people you know has expanded a bit, thanks to social networks, and what people know about you has grown, too, thanks in part to the various tools you can employ in social media.

What follows are some ideas on building your online presence with your career in mind.

Your Blog Is A Resume

If you've not considered this yet, let me explain that my blog has been responsible for HUNDREDS of inquiries over the years. Why? Because people who might want to know about using video, or blogging, or making podcasts, or tying this all together into a strategy see examples, almost daily, of what I think, what I know, and how I've accomplished some of this in my own life and career.

Blogging about this stuff is like writing out my experience for a resume line by line. (Only less boring).

Use These Tools For You

The story of our work lives, and the story of what we do after work when we're expressing our passion can now be captured in ways we didn?t have available to us before. With free tools, free or inexpensive distribution, you can share your accomplishments with the world, and with Google, which most prospective employees use as a matter of course these days in their hiring diligence.

Elements To Consider

Once you start thinking that way, about your blog as a way for people to know more about you, what you stand for, who you are, you might consider doing a few things.

• Consider adding a picture of you on the main page. I admit that I take this to the extreme, but whatever. You won't ever NOT recognize me at a conference or a social event, and that's my goal.
• Make your ABOUT page robust. I write a lot about who I am, where to find me, what I am passionate about, and other things on my about page. In my case, I even have a speaking page, so that people know what I speak about at events (or some of what I speak about).
• Make it easy to contact you. My email is right there on the blog, as well as my phone number. People use them both all the time, and these bring me interesting opportunities that don't always land in the comments section.
• Consider WHAT you talk about in your blog. Even if you don't consider your blog your resume, Google will help your prospective employers figure out your web presence.

The Social Media Resume

Listing your previous jobs and titles is not nearly a full picture of who you are, what you know, what you're capable of, and who you know. There are other ways to do this. You might want to give more thought to posting more information about you online. There are ways to do this that don't seem as threatening to current employers, by the way.

If you haven't considered using LinkedIN, that's a baseline. But LinkedIN is still a resume of sorts, only with a few (really useful) features added in. LinkedIN can be explained to wary employers as a way to network with fellow professionals in your field and to find people who share interests. But don't stop there.

A few people have talked about a social media resume. My first exposure to it was Bryan Person's post about it, with a link to his own social media resume. I've not employed this specifically, because I feel my profile on LinkedIN covers all that ground, but I could see someone choosing to split out their professional credentials from their social media experience, and then this would be the right tool.

Social Networks for Networking

First, I have to say that I have a problem with the notion of traditional networking, in the social sense. I perceive networking to mean those cocktail gatherings where you stand around and ask each other what you can do for each other. Though I understand it's usually genuine in intent, I've rarely found the right kind of relationship by doing the cursory dance at these events. Too shallow for my tastes.

Online social networks are different, insofar as we have the opportunity to know more about someone through repeated interactions. If you and I are friends on Twitter, I get to see what you deem interesting enough to post into a box. If we're friends on Facebook, I might learn a LOT about your interests and the like from what you put on your profile, which groups you belong to, your other posted media.

One more thing about Facebook: the repeat question of whether or not it's for business is only coming from people who aren't in there messing around with it. It's not the best thing in the world for businesses, and I can tell you lots of things I hate about it, but it's a way to find a more enriched profile of someone than what you get on LinkedIN, and that's the value statement there.

I think social networks, blogs, and all these various places like Seesmic, Utterli, Flickr , are great touchpoints to understanding someone's personal interests, tastes, and learn about their professional proclivities as well.

The Bonus Round

You might consider putting up a video about yourself. There's something different and more intimate about making video, and people can see even more about who you are, how you act, in a video.

One friend, Ben Yoskovitz, made a startup out of the idea of video in recruiting. It's brilliant, really, because it adds that piece that's missing.

And making video isn't especially hard these days. You can use a Flip video camera and pop a video onto YouTube without a lot of effort.

Now, making a GOOD video is another matter altogether, but then you might consider getting some help from a local expert. I've got friends in video all over the place, so if you want a little help with that, let me know.

A Note About WHERE To Find Jobs

This has changed a great deal over the last few years. Popular blogs and websites now have their own job boards (37 Signals, TechCrunch, and tons of other places, for instance). It's not just the world of Monster or HotJobs. Now, people and individuals are becoming hubs for jobs. Oh, and don't forget Craigslist.

At any one time, I have someone pinging me for either a social media position that's open, or a software engineer, or someone with an Internet skillset that isn't easy to find by sifting through resumes. So, be attentive to that as well. Sometimes, jobs aren't circulating in the traditional places, so the folks who might want to find you, are the same ones spending time online.

This post is part of a series by Chris Brogan, a social media expert, and is taken from his eBook titled Using the Social Web to Find Work.

Labels: blogging, branding, careers, FACEBOOK, Flickr, jobs, LinkedIn, Resumes, Social Media, Social Networking, web2.0

I have collected the most clicked upon recent links that I have shared on Twitter about interviewing and job searches as compiled by Tweetburner.

There is some great info in these articles.  Hope you find them helpful.  If you want to tune in for these links in real-time you can follow me on Twitter, http://www.twitter.com/fishdogs, where I am always sharing great career, hiring, marketing, and branding tips daily.  I will continue to list them here as well. 

Let me know what you think.

1. fishdogs: Life after layoffs: How to move forward after a job loss: http://twurl.nl/qxv5vj

2. Preparing For Your Next Job (Hint: start now) http://twurl.nl/qiq8y8

3. Happy Thursday good Twittizens: Do You Want Your Executive Resume to Generate More Interviews? http://twurl.nl/i31k2g

4. In Depth Interview Preparation and Checklists: http://twurl.nl/tekq3w

5. 8 Job Interview Tips: http://twurl.nl/vrccwv

6. Looking: Applying, Follow-Ups, and Interviews: http://twurl.nl/ns5zyf

7. Phone Interview Tips for Entry Level Job Seekers: http://twurl.nl/sc7tyh

8. The Idiotic Things People Say in Interviews : http://twurl.nl/d78rc1

9. How To Prepare for a Newspaper Interview: http://twurl.nl/cakyus

10. Pour some sugar on my . . .job search.  http://tinyurl.com/6mh9l4

11. Job seekers, don't take December off, experts advise:http://twurl.nl/sa0hlv

12. The Importance of Interview Practice: http://tinyurl.com/6rrdoe

13. Resumes and Interviews: A Thin Line Between Embellishment and Lies:http://twurl.nl/8ixvg5

14. Can social networking hurt your job prospects? Or help them?http://twurl.nl/tbvalr

Labels: branding, careers, Hiring, interview tips, jobs, Resumes, Twitter

If your company's HR department is not already utilizing Web 2.0 tools and Social Media to market the company to job seekers, it should be. A new report by Gartner, Inc., shows that even though corporate marketing and web strategies are embracing social media, HR departments are generally slow to align with those efforts for the purpose of employer branding.

Job seekers today research companies the same way recruiters research job seekers.  They look at what other people are saying about them on social media, blogs, and other Web 2.0 outlets.  HR Organizations who don't attempt to control their employer brands online are missing a great opportunity and run the risk of missing the most sought after job candidates.

A recent study by Potentialpark Communications, a Swedish-based research and consulting firm, surveyed 1,800 U.S. students and recent graduates in an effort to identify the leading corporate careers sites.  Rusty Weston wrote an article about the study, Checking Out the Best Corporate Careers Sites, that states:

"about one third of the rated companies use videos to present possible future colleagues, a walk through the office or the day-to-day work," says Potentialpark's Magdalena Knott. "The use of blogs, pod casts and web casts has not advanced too far until now, but the importance is rising."

The Top 10 U.S. Corporate Career Websites

by Potentialpark Communications

1. Deutsche Bank

2. Microsoft

3. BCG (Boston Consulting Group)

4. Merrill Lynch

5. Accenture

6. Charles Schwab

7. UBS

8. Booz Allen Hamilton

9. Intel

10. Bertelsmann

The Gartner report concludes that "By 2011, Organizations That Do Not Manage Their Employer Brands Effectively Will Fail to Attract Key Talent.

"Organizations are investing significantly in adopting marketing and sales strategies for social software, and Gartner predicts that by 2010, more than 60 percent of Fortune 1000 companies with Web sites will have some form of community that can be used for marketing purposes. Although many organizations hasten to adopt and exploit social computing in marketing, sales and customer support roles, Gartner has found that HR tends to lag behind."

According to Gartner, the first step that organizations need to take is to understand what is being said about them on social networks and informally benchmark this against competitors and peers, as well as companies that tend to lead in this area. They need to be prepared for candidates to enter the recruitment process with a much-deeper understanding of the organization than would have been expected previously. The organization must also look at new ways of improving its image online."

So where is an HR organization to start?  UK-based Web 2.0 development firm, Organic Development, offers these suggestions.

5 ways social media can benefit an Employer brand

1) Blogging is a great way of building up your online presence and generating awareness of what it is like to be employed 'on the ground' within a company. They help the business engage with candidate and employee audiences directly. Moreover, with blogging comes the opportunity to 'comment', where readers can actually speak back to the business, giving their opinions and input: free market research.

2) Engage and respond to feedback. Responding to your candidate and staff opinions makes for a stronger relationship, gaining your customer's trust and understanding. If people say good things about you, say thanks. This shows that they are genuinely being considered and their opinion matters.

3) Recruitment and HR Managers should welcome social networking sites such as Facebook, Linkedin and Myspace into the workplace. Not only are they tools for colleagues to recruit, promote HR policies, interact with employees and build relationships with each other but having them viewable by the public makes the company seem more approachable and engaging. Many companies are now using these sites already to recruit new members of staff, search for new business or to induct new team members.

4) Advanced search facilities allow people of all interests and niches to find and target what they are looking for quickly and easily. New and evolving audiences can be identified and reached without spending a penny.

5) If you create media that people enjoy and find useful in some way, they are likely to pass it on. Therefore, it is worthwhile seriously thinking about how social media could be incorporated into your business. The beauty of the concept is that through processes such as word of mouth, making a success of social media means sooner or later your audience will start to do the work for you. "

Blogger beware!  Corporate blogging has its pitfalls.  In an article written by Forrester Research analyst, and co-author of the book, Groundswell, Josh Bernoff comments on the recent Forrester survey that showed Only 16% of online consumers who read corporate blogs say they trust them.  Bernhoff says, "This means that if you blog, your goal should be to create a blog about which people say "I like that - I don't think of it as a company blog." For the most part, that's a hurdle you need to jump to gain their trust. I don't mean to hide who is writing the blog. I mean it has to be more about your customers than it is about you."

The survey, and Bernoff's comments, are geared more toward corporate marketing efforts than employer branding.  But the lesson is good for both.  The job candidates you are seeking are savvy.  They do read blogs and utilize social media.  So relying solely on a blog for your HR and employer branding is not advised.  Nor is posting the usual HR propaganda.  Get your real employees involved and make your message transparent and believable.  And use that content in conjunction with social media to create an organic source of top job candidates.  Give them a real face to associate with your Employer Brand.

You can find more great articles for Career and Employment at the A-List Solutions Weblog

Labels: blogging, branding, careers, Employer Branding, FACEBOOK, Hiring, jobs, LinkedIn, marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, web2.0

This is a great post by Jun Loayza on Brandon Mendelson's blog for Newby internet marketers, existing bloggers who are not monitizing their efforts, and jobseekers wishing to brand themselves as experts in their field in order to get noticed and recruited.

How to make a profitable blog with under $20 - The Graduate Student Survival Blog - Graduate student Brandon Mendelson - Albany NY - Times Union#comment-772

December 2, 2008 at 12:19 am by Brandon Mendelson

If you’re a graduate student, you’re probably broke. How can you make some money to help pay for school? How about blogging? With a budget of less than $20, what steps would you take to build a blog that would turn a profit in 90 days? I asked the experts, and they answered. Want to tell us your thoughts on making a profitable blog for under $20? Write a guest post.

How to make a profitable blog with under $20

By: Jun Loayza, jun[dot]loayza[at]gmail[dot]com

I was challenged by Brandon to write a post about how to make a profitable blog with under $20. I of course cannot turn down a challenge, so I excitedly accepted. Here are the assumptions of this blog post:

* I will give advice that is concrete and actionable. All of these tips should be things that you can immediately start doing tomorrow. You will find no generalities here
* Domain names cost $10 to register
* Hosting is $200, so you will be unable to host your own site
* The blogger is starting from absolute zero personal brand and equity
* For the purpose of this post, we will assume your focus is Fashion
There are several ways to make money with a blog: advertisement, consulting services, eCommerce, or speaker events. If you honestly think about it, it all boils down to one thing: traffic. If you have the traffic, then you will be able to leverage it to make money.

This challenge really isn’t as hard as you may think. It’s going to take A LOT of extremely hard work, but you CAN do it. Let’s go ahead and dive in.

Step #1 - Control your personal brand online

The first thing you’re going to do is sign up for every single social network, bookmark, and micro blog out there. Furthermore, you’re going to buy your domain name for $10 and build your blog on top of that domain name using Wordpress

Social Networks and Micro Blogs:

* Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter
Social Bookmarks

* Digg, Stumble, Mixx, Delicious

You do not have the money to host your own account; therefore, you’re going to have to find a friend or contact who can host the domain name for you. If you must, give him the other $10 you have to make it worth his while.
What if you do not have a friend who you can bum hosting from? Then what you do is go to every single blog out there and build a relationship with each of them. Once you have found someone who you have become great friends with, ask her if you can use her host to host your domain name. Hopefully she’ll say yes. We’ll talk more about how to build relationships with bloggers below.
Recommended blog network to start at: Brazen Careerist

Step #2 - Create your identity and thought leadership
Blogs that are profitable focus on one topic and one topic only. Just take a look at ZenHabits. Leo focuses purely on personal development. He focuses on it religious, to the point that he lives and breaths personal development. This is what you’re going to have to do.
Take a moment (a week or month if you have to) and really find that one thing that you absolutely love and have the deepest passion for possible. I’m talking about such a deep passion that you could talk about this one topic for the rest of your life and never get sick and tired of it. This is what you need to find.
Found it? Ok, lets get moving. (Remember, for this post, I am assuming your focus is Fashion)
Set up every single online outlet that you have to reflect your expertise in Fashion. Take a look at Dan’s Personal Branding Blog. I dare you to google personal branding or his name. This guy lives and breaths personal branding. Everything from his Facebook, Twitter, to LinkedIn all reflect personal branding. This is what you have to do.
Every single link, picture, about me, and status update should reflect your expertise in Fashion. Great, so now we have found your thought-leadership. Lets keep going!

Step #3 - Blog your life away
You now have all of your social networks set up and your thought-leadership figured out. You want to make a profit blogging right? Well, it’s time for you to blog.
Don’t write great posts; write posts that are TO DIE FOR. I learned this from my good friend Derek who writes Prevential. In the next step I will teach you how to market, but if the content is not to die for, then people will not subscribe and keep coming back. Worse, if your content is not to die for, then they won’t tell their friends and promote it all over Twitter.
Write a post every single day. You said you want to make money right? Well, you better be blogging a to-die-for post every single day of the week in order to build the traffic you need to make money. If you take one single break, then you’ve lost it.
Guest write on every blog out there. Yes, you should write a guest post for blogs that are about Fashion, but you don’t have to necessarily stick to just Fashion blogs. Write a guest post for a Tech blog by writing an article about the new Web 2.0 fashion style. Write a guest post for a marketing blog by writing about how Fashion companies can use social media to promote and brand themselves. There is a way to write a guest post for every single blog out there. Go out there and do it!

Step #4 - Evangelize, Evangelize, Evangelize!
After you write a post each day, you’re going to go out into the blogging community and comment on every single blog out there that has written about a very similar topic.
Use Google Blog Search to search recent blogs that have written about a very similar topic. If you wrote a blog post about Paris Fashion, then write those exact keywords on Google Blog Search. Now go to each of those posts and write a very relevant comment that adds value to the post and tell them about the blog post that you just wrote. Tell them that you feel your post is similar to the post that they just wrote and that you would value their feedback on it. They WILL go to your post, read it, and comment back.
Use Twitter Search in the same way you use Google Blog Search. Search for the keywords “Paris Fashion” and @reply to each one of the Tweeps who Tweeted about it. Tell them that you love Paris Fashion as well, and that they should definitely read your blog post. Tweeps are super friendly! They will @reply you back and hopefully follow you as well.
Build relationships on Stumble, Digg, and Mixx. This can be an extremely time consuming process, but if you do it very well, then it’s very worth it in terms of growing your traffic.

Step #5 - Generate Revenue
With enough hard work and amazing content, you can build your readership to 100K+ a month. Once you have this traffic, you can leverage it in any way you want to generate revenue.
You can of course, lay out ads all over your site. But isn’t that just so boring and messy? Here are some exciting ways that you can generate revenue:

1. Fashion Consulting. You have proven to be a powerhouse in the world of fashion. So what if you didn’t go to FIDM. So what if you haven’t worked in the corporate world of the fashion industry. You have 100K+ people following every word that your write about the fashion industry. You can leverage this following to become a fashion consultant.

2. Speaker Events. People want to read your every word about Fashion; therefore, organizations and companies will want to hire you to speak at their events. This works double time for you because you make money, and more importantly, you reach a new group of people who you can turn into your evangelists.

3. Sell an eBook for free. Yes I said it: “Sell it for free.” Why? Because I don’t believe you should sell an eBook for money. However, do ask for Donations. Write on the bottom of your eBook: “If you loved this eBook, I would greatly appreciate a $5 donation.” Trust me, people will give you money if you have high quality content.

And there you have it. In under $20, you just turned your blog into something profitable. You turned your blog into your career, and you did it by building your personal brand and spreading your thought-leadership.

Labels: blogging, branding, careers, marketing, Social Media, Social Networking, web2.0

This month Lisa Parker, CPRW, posted a great article with straight forward advice for establishing and marketing your business online.  Most of these principles can be applied to personal branding for other objectives, such as job hunting or hiring, as well.

The Art of Establishing Your Personal Business Brand

Each of us sports around our very own, unique personal brand. The many things that separate and identify us as individuals serve to become known as our personal brand. All of the principle components of our personal brand; to include first impressions, demeanor, accomplishments, and the value we place on interaction with others determine the level of success we experience in both our personal and professional lives.

As we establish our business and working relationships, we must incorporate those same principles in the strategy we use to develop our personal business brand. As an entrepreneur myself, I would like to share with you three basic steps I took to establish the foundation for personal branding in my business.      

Service and Reputation – The first step toward developing a personal business brand is to determine the type of service or product you intend to provide your clients or customers. You have to decide what your mission is and always deliver the service or product as promised; in the utmost professional manner. The expectation of, or perceived service is the reason your customers will choose your services over other competitors.  By visualizing the end result of your efforts, you will be able outline a plan of action in reaching your goals.    

In promoting my business, I researched other service providers in my career field, and chose to provide my clients with a level of service that I found missing in a sampling of my competition. Quite simply, “One-on-One Customer Service”.  The availability of this simple, consumer expectation is severely lacking in today’s market. A client can hardly expect satisfaction in seeking services when contact with a concerned service provider is practically extinct. As my business continues to grow, I note that most of the comments from satisfied customers focus on the need to express their appreciation of being able to contact an individual service provider.                        

Once you identify the needs of a potential client base, market your business based on the provision of those needs.

Marketing Strategy – The second step in promoting your personal business brand is obtaining visibility.  With the unlimited resources and marketing avenues available today, you don’t have to spend a great deal of money (if any) to establish your foundation. You may consider my techniques “shameless self promotion”, however I consider the results monetarily rewarding. In addition to a variety of local advertising assets such as newspapers, magazines and the Chamber of Commerce; there are plenty of online resources just waiting for you to tap into the benefits they provide. One little known example: using popular free blog websites such as “Word Press” will help you to get your information out on the world-wide-web in minutes.  I spent a short amount of time researching some of the opportunities available for free advertising, and you can view the results of my efforts first hand by taking time out to “Google” my business name in a variety of configurations (parker cprw, parkercprw, lisa parker cprw).  

Networking – The third step in laying a successful foundation for your personal business brand is to never underestimate the power of networking. In addition to the efforts you employ through other advertising and marketing resources, remember that opportunities for networking happen on a daily basis. Aside from the many organizations that enlist members to promote networking with others in your specific career field; there are plenty of opportunities to volunteer in support of events in your local community. As a business owner you can provide free workshops, schedule product demonstrations, distribute opportunities for entry into free drawings at local businesses and a number of other activities that will support the growth of your business. The key to effective networking is to be diverse in your connections, and by this I mean that you should not limit yourself to a particular region.  If your organization supports local events, wear a professional identification badge that mentions your business or service.    

A large amount of my clients have sought out my services after only seeing the business name, or speaking with other satisfied customers.

Association – The ultimate goal is to have your business name associated not only with the service or product you provide, but with your own personal name as well.  Most of us already have a business name before we begin to research and understand the importance of branding. That doesn’t mean that you should wait any longer to begin marketing your name side by side with that of your business. Consider “Trump Plaza”, Trump Towers”, “Trump University”, and “Trump Financial”. Do you know who I am referring to?

Personal Branding is the art of following the “Golden Rule” in the provision of service and interaction with clients and customers.  By learning how to manage other people and their perceptions of you and your business, you will naturally establish the unique value that sets you apart from competitors in your career field.

Labels: blogging, branding, careers, Hiring, marketing, Social Media, web2.0

"I am Elmer J. Fudd, millionaire.  I own a mansion and a yacht."  That is an example of a personal branding statement.  It's concise, to the point, and pulls no punches.  It sells the fact that you are in the presence of a successful and powerful person, sort of.  But you'll need more than that for a good first impression.

It's easy to forget that Personal branding is about more than your online persona.  Occasionally we must creep from our lair to venture out into the real world in the name of business and networking.  For those times when you have to endure a face to face encounter, here are some keys to making a strong first impression in the physical realm:

body language - establish your space, don't slouch, make eye contact;
conversation skills - focus on the person you are speaking with, not yourself;
your voice - avoid speaking in a monotone, too quietly, or too quickly, 
elevator pitch - aka your personal branding statement.

These excerpts from How to Make a Powerful First Impression, an article on Entrepreneur.com by Robert Jones, offer some great insight:

"Lillian Bjorseth, a communications consultant and author of Breakthrough Networking, says people decide many things about you within 10 seconds of seeing you--usually before you even open your mouth. That's why entrepreneurs should always be conscious of their aura, she says.

Body Language
"The aura is the area around you that you create by what you wear, how you act, how you look," she says. "It all goes together to make one impression. You could wear a very expensive suit, but if you stand slumped over with your head down, you won't give a confident aura."

Though every person's aura is complex and unique, Bjorseth says entrepreneurs can focus on a few simple, non-verbal priorities to appear confident and in control. First, don't slip into a room "all smiles." Instead, "claim your space" in the room by planting your feet six inches to eight inches apart, one slightly ahead of the other--a stance that will make you feel grounded and confident.

After you've established eye contact, Bjorseth says a smile will create an upbeat, positive environment. Maintain eye contact 85 percent of the time during a conversation, she recommends. Doing so will make you seem trustworthy and it will demonstrate that you're interested in what the other person has to say.

Conversation
When it's time to move beyond the handshake stage, simple conversational skills are the key to a successful first meeting, says Rosalie Maggio, bestselling author of How to Say It and The Art of Talking to Anyone.

"Prepare in advance, then just try to forget yourself," she says. "Being too self-conscious is the quickest way to shoot yourself in the foot. Remember that it's about the other person--that's the best possible way to make a positive first impression." 

Voice
Beyond body language and conversational skills, the actual tone of your voice is an important part of the impression you create, says Sandra McKnight, owner of Voice Power Studios in Santa Fe, N.M.

"In face-to-face conversation, the other person first sees you, then hears the tone of your voice, and only then listens to your words. It can create a negative impression very easily if you're not in control of the way you speak." 

Branding Statement
To avoid a fumbling introduction, Bjorseth says every entrepreneur should have in mind a "verbal business card"--a quick, 30-word summary of who you are and what you can do. Focus on benefits for the other person rather than job titles or even company names, she recommends. "You want to make sure people remember you as opposed to others who do the same thing you do."

When it comes time to offer your verbal business card, elevator speech, personal branding statement, or whatever you like to call it, an article on The Interview Edge entitled   Networking - How to Capture Attention offers these tips:

"You need to get around the barriers and cut through potential resistance to or apathy about your message.

Let’s say you’ve just met Jim, and asked him what he does. Which of these answers is more apt to peak your interest?

“I’m the VP of Sales at Company XYZ.”

“I deliver extreme bandwidth into people’s homes.”

I’ll bet you were more drawn to the second statement.

In the first response, Jim simply labels himself. The second answer describes an action (he delivers)…and the benefit derived from this action. That’s more effective than a label.

There’s also a good chance you want to know more. How does Jim accomplish this? What exactly does he mean when he says extreme bandwidth? How much is extreme? You might be a lot more interested in his company. Maybe you want to know how you might get that kind of performance in your own house…or how can you get it for your customers. You get the idea.

It’s a more effective conversation starter. It's more likely to engage the other person.

Think about what you do, and how you might describe it in a way that will make the listener want to hear more. Avoid labeling yourself (“I’m a financial analyst” or “I’m an ad sales director”).

Instead, turn it around. How do other people benefit from what you do? What’s “in it” for them? Try crafting your answer to “what do you do?” in those terms. "

If all else fails, tell the other party that you are, indeed, Elmer J. Fudd, Millionaire, and that you own a mansion and a yacht.  If they aren't too young to know what you're talking about, that will be a good icebreaker.  But I recommend working on your branding statement ahead of time so you don't have to resort to that.

I am Craig Fisher.  I use the power of social media to help great companies recruit talented people, and to help talented people get noticed and move ahead.  And I own a mansion and a yacht.

Labels: branding, Branding Statements, First Impressions, Social Media, Social Networking, web2.0

I have been running across so many good articles with resume tips lately.  I pass most of these along on Twitter.  But I thought it would be a good idea to start compiling them in a post here every once in a while.  I will do additional posts like this with interview and job hunting articles.  You can also find additional resume tips in my blog post on the Best Modern Resumes.

These are the resume articles that I found were most worthy of late.  Hope you find some advice here that you can use.  -CF

Is that a gap in your resume? http://twurl.nl/3vspyx

5 Ways to Drastically Improve Your Resume in 10 Minutes: http://snipr.com/5heod

Are you sure your resume is accurate? Funny Job Search Article - http://snipr.com/5d8ar

A Unique Cover Letter Tip for a Tough Job Market http://snipr.com/5d43r

Answers to Some of the Most Frequently Asked Resume Questions http://snipr.com/5cebs

Renew your resume and get ahead: http://snipr.com/4jxwx

Labels: branding, Resumes

As I sat watching live, streaming video from the Word of Mouth Marketing Association Summit and Research Symposium in Vegas last week from the comfort of my cushy office chair in Southlake, TX, it occurred to me that the corporate philosophy being shared by the enigmatic Zappos.com CEO, Tony Hsieh (pronounced "Shay"), echoed something written over 70 years ago.

The video stream was courtesy of Interactive Marketing expert, David Armano, who makes a habit of live streaming from the various high profile marketing conferences and other events he attends.  When he announced on Twitter (see my Twitter blog post) that he was about to stream Hsieh's presentation, my interest was piqued.  According to this recent interview, Zappos is on track to better the $840M in gross sales it did in 2007.  Hsieh previously founded LinkExchange which he sold for $265M to Microsoft in 1998.  I follow him on Twitter.  He's good.

So I clicked on the link and watched Hsieh as he shared some entertaining stories and interesting ideas.   It was a good presentation.  I made a couple of notes and prepared to turn it off.  But then he said something toward the end that struck a chord with me. 

He said that Zappos, which is known for being fanatical about customer service, does not hold customer service as its first priority.  He and the company are more concerned with its people - hiring great people and fostering an excellent company culture.  Hsieh believes that if you hire great people who share your corporate philosophy of great service, then great service will take care of itself.

This sounded to me like more of a partnership than a typical employer to employee relationship.  And it reminded me of something I had read in the seminal work of author Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich.  In this, perhaps the best selling success book of all time, Hill shares his 13 principles for success in the form of a philosophy of personal achievement. 

  The book, originally published in 1937 and abridged by Hill himself in 1960, was inspired by Hill's association with American billionaire Andrew Carnegie, and Hill's interviewing of over 500 of the most affluent men and women of his time.  The chapter on the "sixth step to riches" is entitled Organized Planning, and Hill has a section within called The New Way of Marketing Services-"Jobs" are now "Partnerships".  Here is the excerpt:

Men and women who market their services to best advantage in the future must recognize the stupendous change that has taken place in connection in the relationship between employer and employee. In the future, the "Golden Rule," and not the "Rule of Gold" will be the dominating factor in the marketing of merchandise as well as personal services. The future relationship between employers and their employees will be more in the nature of a partnership consisting of:

a. The employer
b. The employee
c. The public they serve

This new way of marketing services is called new for many reasons.  First, both the employer and the employee of the future will be considered as fellow-employees whose business it will be to SERVE THE PUBLIC EFFICIENTLY.  In times past, employers and employees have bartered among themselves, driving the best bargains they could with one another, not considering that in the final analysis they were, in reality, BARGAINING AT THE EXPENSE OF THE 3RD PARTY, THE PUBLIC THEY SERVED.

In the future, both employers and employees will recognize that they are NO LONGER PRIVILEGED TO DRIVE BARGAINS AT THE EXPENSE OF THOSE WHOM THEY SERVE. The real employer of the future will be the public. This should be kept uppermost in mind by every person seeking to market their services effectively.

"Courtesy" and "Service" are the watch-words of merchandising today.  They apply to the person who is marketing their services even more directly than to the employer whom he serves, because, in the final analysis, both the employer and his employee are EMPLOYED BY THE PUBLIC THEY SERVE. If they fail to serve well, they pay by the loss of their privilege of serving.

Tony Hsieh's approach of carefully hiring great people, and placing the employees and the company culture first is an inspiring means to this end.  Everyone is on board and understands that great customer service will be what sets the company apart.  And the customer benefits because the whole organization is made to feel they are playing a critical role, plus they like their job and love their company. 

This is a partnership based on mutual commitment.  Zappos notoriously offers new employees a $1000 bonus to quit after the first week of  its four week new hire training.  About 10% accept the offer.  The rest are committed to the cause.  And the company is committed right back.

According to a recent article in the Las Vegas Sun online, Zappos is a tight-knit company that buys its employees lunch each day and has a dodgeball room in its corporate headquarters.  And when the company reluctantly  laid off 8% of its 1,300-member workforce earlier this month due to the economic downturn, Hsieh said in an email to the employees, that "laid-off employees will be paid through the end of the year, and employees who have been with the company for three or more years will receive additional pay. He also said Zappos will pay for six months of health coverage for all laid-off employees."

"In doing all of this to take care of laid-off employees, we expect that it will actually increase, not decrease, our costs for 2008, but we feel this is the right thing to do for our employees," Hsieh wrote.  "It will put us in the position of having a lot more financial flexibility in being able to respond to potential changes in the economy in 2009."

The book, Think and Grow Rich has many more lessons that apply here.  But this book was originally compiled over a 10-year period beginning just prior to the Great Depression.  No streaming video, no Twitter, no Internet.  Hill just found, through exhaustive research, the common qualities that bound hundreds of highly successful people and organizations.  And he was undaunted by the financial woes of the time.

In our current struggling economy employers and employees alike can benefit from thinking of our jobs as partnerships.  And, like Zappos, we can create a competitive advantage by employing the "Golden Rule," and not the "Rule of Gold" as the dominating factor in the marketing of merchandise and services.

Labels: branding, careers, Hiring, jobs, marketing, Social Media, Twitter

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In general it's a good idea to avoid a scorched earth policy when leaving a company, even if you were treated unfairly.  I'm all for standing up for yourself, but it's not worth it to tell off your employer and then trash their name publicly after you leave their employ. 

If you are tempted to do so, just sing "It's a Small World After All" to yourself to remember that there may very well come a time when someone from that company will come back into your professional life one way or another.  I see it all the time.  And I am always amused to see the "scorcher" acting surprised that the "scorchee" has somehow come back to bite them. 

Etiquette writer Jodi R. R. Smith of the Huffington Post has written a nice article outlining how to graciously leave your job.  Here are the high points:

I Quit! ~ While it is tempting to include a manifesto of the company's ills in your resignation letter, you are better served by keeping it simple. A resignation letter needs only three pieces of information. 1. Your last day. 2. Contact address and phone number. 3. Your signature with a date.

Time Your Timing ~ Once you have decided to leave a company you often become a lame duck. Plan your announcement and your time remaining carefully. When quitting, be sure to factor in time for a replacement to be found and some training to take place. Do not linger.

Let's Celebrate ~ As employees leave a company, it is common to arrange a good-bye party. The company should cover the costs of such an affair. The celebration can range from an after-hours cocktail party to cake in the break room. (Be aware, sometimes it is best not to have a public good-bye.)

Exit Interviews ~ Many companies interview outgoing employees to gather information. Answer all questions judiciously. Some exit interviews are confidential, while others are not. In addition, you want to be sure not to burn any bridges. Boomerang employees are more and more common. (Employees who leave a company only to be hired back a few years later.)

Six Degrees Of Separation ~ Just like the song says, it is a small world after all. If you have specialized in a specific field it is highly probable that you will cross paths in the future with the people you are leaving behind today. Keep relationships positive and the communication open. You never know when you might see these people again.

Take The High Road ~ Leaving a company can be a stressful and unnerving time. But it is at times like these that it is especially important to keep your wits about you. Do not yell at anyone, do not destroy company property, and do not disparage the organization to the media or to the clients. What you do reflects on you.

Keep In Touch ~ Be sure to build and maintain your professional networks: join professional organizations, attend alumni events, and subscribe to journals relating to your field. These networks help to ease the transition process.

Always Update ~ Even after you have found the job of your dreams, you should always keep your résumé updated. Because, as you have learned, you never know!

Jodi R. R. Smith: Gracious Good-Byes - Careers in Transition

Labels: branding, careers

Image by Jacob Bøtter via Flickr

A solid list of personal branding tips today on Resume Spider by John O'Connor.

5 Tips for Executive Jobseekers Who Want to Integrate Personal Branding Into Their Search

November 10th, 2008 by John O'Connor
Check and Refine Your Existing Online Brand. Your personal life is part of your professional brand, so inventory every part of it – in person and online. “I realized that I was casually on MySpace, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Facebook and even YouTube,” Jane Harding says. “I didn’t have anything embarrassing out there, but I wasn’t doing anything to properly network and raise my positive impressions when you Google searched me.” Jane Harding reduced and focused her social status online and immediately posted professional images and short videos, as well as gained references and referrals.

Associations Work, So Work Them. Immediately after noticing her lack of participation in groups supporting her volunteering efforts, she jumped back into those groups and took on leadership roles. “My network probably increased directly by 200 professionals overnight,” says Ms. Harding. “I put the causes and organizations first in my efforts, but also utilized this time to professionally let people know what I was looking for inside and outside of healthcare.”

Use Your Expertise to Contribute. “With some coaching,” says Ms. Harding, “I developed and delivered three speeches, filmed them and posted them on YouTube and to my online web portfolio. I started my own blog and wrote book reviews on Amazon and Barnes & Noble online. Additionally, I authored four articles and published them in a volunteer magazine, on an online blog and in a regional sales magazine. It’s really stuff I could have and should have done while I was working; I learned that looking for a job is about branding yourself, not just pumping resumes out. The funny thing was that by doing this I got more responses from TheLadders and other postings too!” Join groups like Toastmasters and industry-related associations. Network and find ways to contribute productively first then ask for advice. Build relationships first and focus on what you can do for others. Then find subtle ways to introduce your needs.

Stop Making Excuses about Building Your Brand. Ms. Harding states, “On the surface I was successful and busy, but when I visited some young cancer patients during my job search I realized how lazy I was. I always had time, no matter how busy I was, to give back. I will never make excuses like that again.” For example, Ms. Harding hated writing, but she did it anyway because publishing helped her personal brand. She always seemed to be too busy to do the fundraiser, put in an hour at the hospital for volunteer stuff or to capture and edit video during her educational and other appearances. “So many opportunities are available to you to build your personal brand while you are deeply focused on your work. Even my former boss asked me why I hadn’t thought of it while I worked with him.” Ms. Harding also states, “I did things during my job search to take my own excuses away and it worked.”

Define Personal Branding for You. “What I found out is that personal branding is not a phony line made up by an advertising person,” says Ms. Harding. “For me it was about reinventing myself to be more like myself, if that makes sense. I decided to start by committing to things that mattered most to me – kids, volunteer activities, causes – and this inspired me to push myself way out of my comfort zone. I developed new, strong and enduring relationships. I became more like myself.” This advice can work for you. It simply does not matter if you find yourself in a high-flying sales position or in a low-profile operations position; you need to light a fire under your career and the core values of your personal brand. In today’s world of intense competition for the best jobs, becoming and staying proactive in developing your personal brand alongside your career is a must. Don’t wait until a layoff like Jane Harding. Staying proactive about your personal brand while employed is mandatory. Lightning can hit any global or highly-exposed industry at any time. For Jane Harding, the skies didn’t seem to be gray. It may take a forward-thinking friend or career coach to push you to work on your personal brand when you’re comfortable. So, what should you do now? Stay proactive about personal branding and it will drive current and future career opportunities. 

Labels: branding, careers, jobs, Social Media, Social Networking

Image by Ujwala Prabhu via Flickr

I don't know about you, but I constantly tweak my professional bio.  When I see someone do it better, I take a lesson from theirs and make improvements to mine.  Pete Kistler at www.blog.brand-yourself.com has written a great piece that not only breaks down the great professional bio of branding mogul, Dan Schwabel, but also offers a follow-up with 8 really helpful tips for writing your own.

I especially like tip number 6, mostly because it always feels so silly to describe yourself (or what you are doing in the case of Facebook and LinkedIn updates) in the third person.  But it is a necessary evil. 

6. Talk in the third person. Since your bio is something other people use to describe you, make it sound like someone else is talking about you. Good: “John Doe is a portrait photographer with six years of hands-on experience working with clients… etc.” Bad: “I am a portrait photographer… etc.”

So here is the link to that article.  Now I have to go tweak my bio!  -CF

http://blog.brand-yourself.com/2008/how-to-write-a-short-professional-bio-on-yourself-learn-by-example/

Labels: bio writing, branding, Social Networking

I have a problem.  I really like Twitter.  And you should too. 

In my quest to learn and pass along personal branding tips I have experimented with all kinds of tools.  I firmly believe you need a good blog to help establish your personal brand.  But you need to get people to read it.

In addition to consistently posting Pulitzer quality articles about your area of expertise or interest, you need to utilize the most effective  Web 2.0 tools to generate traffic for your blog.  And right now one of the best tools for that is Twitter. 

Not familiar with Twitter?  I hear a collective groan from the existing Twitterers and Tweeps out there (skip to "Tweeting is fun" below).  I won't spend too much time explaining what Twitter is.  Suffice to say it's like public instant messaging where you update those who choose to follow you about what you are doing, reading, find interesting, etc. in 140 characters or less.  Mahalo has a comprehensive guide here.

LinkedIn and Facebook have similar "what are you doing" updates.  But I found that my blog traffic increased dramatically once I began following people on Twitter who in return followed me back.  I occasionally post my blog updates to Twitter and I have my blog url listed on my Twitter profile page. 

Tweeting is fun.  Maybe too fun.  I'm pretty new to Twitter and decided to jump in with both feet in the spirit of good research.  And I liked it.  I caught myself sneaking in updates during breaks from Tivo or movie watching.  I even joined a Ning network group called Twitters Anonymous!  Gasp!  And then someone invited me to a local Tweetup, and...I went. 

Being a career sales guy I've been to lots of networking events, most of which were fairly useless and pretty lame.  But this Tweetup was different.  It was hosted by Forrester Research, who's marketing conference was going on nearby at the Gaylord Texan.  However at least half of the 50+ people who attended the Tweetup were just area twitterers and social media fans.  The topics of conversation were about Twitter, Tweeting, Social Media, and how all this is effecting marketing and business. 

I met some great people, including such Twitter and social media luminaries as Jeremiah Owyang (@jowyang - see top photo above from the event, he recently won the 2008 Personal Brand Gold Award by Dan Schwabel, congrats!) , and David Armano (@armano) .  I even made a silly name tag to wear that looked like my Twitter profile so tweeps would remember me.  And of course I took a stack of business cards. 
 

And guess what, my Twitter following grew and so did my blog traffic. 

Twitter has also helped me grow my networks on both Facebook and LinkedIn.  If you use the Twitter application on Facebook you can kill two tweety birds with one stone by simultaneously updating both.  And both Facebook and now LinkedIn have apps that allow you to feed your blog updates directly to your respective profile pages.  Do this and many more readers will peruse your bloggy blog, provided you are writing that Pulitzer quality material, or at least something interesting, informative, or funny.

I can't wait to post an update about this on Twitter!  Tweet me @fishdogs -CF

And now here are a whole bunch of helpful links about Twitter...

Labels: blogging, branding, FACEBOOK, LinkedIn, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter

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Just in time for Halloween comes this frightening article from Nicholas Carlson on Silicon Alley Insider: Here Come The Pro Accounts. 

In this article Nicholas confirms something I have long feared.  The days of all free Social Media services are numbered. 

I am probably not alone in my fears that, like LinkedIn and Flickr (which both already charge for premium services), it wouldn't be long before my other favorite personal branding and social networking tools would come up with premium services to make it nearly impossible for someone as addicted as I am not to pay.  The article lists several services here, only a few of which do I currently utilize.  But, mark my words, the day is lurking not far out when all of our favorite Web 2.0 toys will cost us an arm... or a leg. 

On the bright side, it's probably good for the economy and web marketing in general.  Many users have said they would prefer paying for a Pro account vs. having ads all over their page.  I would love to know what you think. 

Personally I'm sure I will pay.  But I'm still scared.  Happy Halloween!  -CF

Excerpt below from Here Come The Pro Accounts:

"Here are companies that have launched, are rumored to be launching, or we expect to launch pro accounts:

Tumblr Plus is coming soon.
What you'll get: Back in April, Tumblr founder David Karp said there are more than 10 features in the queue, including a tool that allows readers to submit content, more customizable themes and special page layouts. We're betting Plus users will get unlimited music and photograph storage, too.
How much it'll cost: We hear something like $5 a month or $60 a year.

Web video tools provider TubeMogul's premium accounts are already here.
What you'll get: "tools like viewership demographics, keyword intelligence (which allows measurement of how many videos/views on YouTube mention a given keyword), a data feed, api, mrss upload and more," says exec David Burch.
How much it costs: "We typically charge $1,000/month," says Burch.

A pro option for live-streaming site Ustream is rumored to be under development.
What you'll get: We don't know, but probably something close to unlimited streaming and higher resolution.
How much it costs: We don't know, but probably close the $60 a year Vimeo charges.

File-sharing site Drop.io launched a premium option.
What you'll get: According to Drop.io, you get: "drop names under 7 characters; storage capacity (up to 25GB); duration (up to 3 years); multiple uses (up to 10)."
How much it costs: $10 per gigabyte per year.

Meetup has Organizers.
What you get: Each Meetup group needs to have an "organizer," who can collect member payments and generally… organize things. How much it costs: $12 to $19 per month.

Vimeo Plus debuted this month.
What you get: More bandwidth, 1,000 HD plays and a "white label" player with domain level privacy controls.
How much it costs: $60 per year.

Twitter cofounder Biz Stone told the Wall Street Journal on Monday that it might charge for premium features in the future. Surprise: He didn't offer any more details.

Tumblr's lead developer Marco Arment is also something of an entrepreneur on the side. His most useful creation is Instapaper, a simple bookmarking service hooked to an iPhone App which comes in free and pro versions.
What you get: Tilt scrolling, adjustable fonts "and more!" says the iTunes page.
How much it costs: $9.99

Metrics site Compete.com launched pro accounts in July.
What you get: According to the site,"Compete Pro unlocks exclusive reports and extends data on all compete.com tools!"
How much it costs: $199 to $499 per month.

Video site Veoh has Pro accounts
What you get: From a Veoh forum: "Veoh Pro is a new program, free to sign up for, that in addition to regular Veoh, users have the option of charging for the videos they upload, as well as being able to syndicate those videos to other sites and blogs such as Google Video, YouTube, MySpace, Facebook, Blogger, WordPress, etc., so that you just upload your video to Veoh and we'll automatically send it to those sites to upload. Additionally, we'll transcode your videos into iPod format. Also your video will be encoded into a higher quality than the users who aren't Pro."
What it costs: Veoh splits revenues with its pro members.

Document publishing platform Issuu announced new premium features yesterday.
What you get: Issuu keeps ads and Issuu branding off your publication.
How much it costs: Reports TechCrunch: $1.10 to $19 per 1,000 publication views.

Video-sharing tools site Magnify launched pro and enterprise offerings in April.
What you get: According to the site, "The Pro product is a customizable video solution for content enthusiasts, online communities and small businesses looking to add video to their websites."
How much it costs: Pro accounts range from $25 to $160 per month. Enterprise accounts are more.

Labels: branding, Flickr, LinkedIn, Social Media, Social Networking, Twitter, web2.0

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The other night I was reading a bedtime dinosaur book to my two "older" boys (ages 7 and 3).  Looking at the vibrant illustrations in the book, my adroit 7 year old asked, "Dad, if Paleontologists learned about the dinosaurs through fossils, then how do they know what colors they were?"  "Good question!"  I replied proudly.  "Mostly they don't.  They can guess and estimate about the color of the creatures from what they know about their feeding habits and their environment.  But they don't really know for sure."

Modern historians learn about more recent human civilizations through written records.  Yet there is often still much debate and interpretation over what may have actually occurred.

An article on www.columbiatribune.com called Your online status: Looking for attention got me wondering what historians of the future will make of our generation.  The article quotes B.J. Fogg, the director of the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University, "This is huge. There has never been anything like this before.   We have never had the tools to capture and recover and share our lives like we have today."

Will future philosophers be led to believe that every one of us was famous?  Or just that we all wanted to be?  Certainly they won't have any trouble discovering what important things were happening in our age as long as silicon (computer chips, not breast implants) survives any forthcoming apocalypse. 

It may just be so easy to look back at our age and see what happened here that there won't be any need for such a  job as historian.   And it may also be that all of our blog posts and Twitter Tweets just won't be very interesting compared to issues and technology of tomorrow.   -CF

Labels: branding, Social Networking

  Joe President (not his real name) sits stiffly across from me at a Starbucks sipping a latte.  He hasn't been in this position very often.  "Craig, I don't think my current company has my best interests in mind and I want to look for a new job.  I don't really know where to start.  I would look at any executive level position, even a step down.  But I can't let my current company find out that I am looking!"  This is paraphrased from a conversation I had with the President of a privately held software firm this summer.

It's a fairly common thing these days.  I run across business leaders often who tell me they would like to quietly look for a new job.  The kind of jobs they want are rarely advertised and are not as numerous as a worker-bee job.  Many executives haven't been in a job interview in years and really don't know how to market themselves to get one without announcing to their network that they are looking.  They have never thought about personal branding.  It wasn't taught in MBA school back in their day. 

So I advise them to start building their personal brand and that this will have a dual effect.  It will increase the marketability of their current company if properly done (perhaps elevating the satisfaction of their current job).  And it will increase their personal marketability and recruiter calls without overtly searching for a new position. 

In an article from London-based Brand Republic, Brian Oliver says that "many business schools now teach personal branding and reputation management to their MBA students."

It also highlights the fact that many companies are now bolstering their marketing programs via the personal branding of their top people.  This, of course, has the side effect of these people getting a much higher number of recruiting calls.

Marketers build brand 'me' to promote their careers - Brand Republic News - Brand Republic

Labels: branding, careers

There is a nice article posted last week by Eric Brantner on DigitalLabz.com entitled 10 Secrets of the Best Social Media Users .  It is a terrific list for businesses wanting to use the

(less and less) alternative marketing conduit of Social Media.  Most of it applies to individuals for promoting your personal brand as well.  Here is the list:

1.    Do Your Research- Every successful marketing strategy is based on good research. You can’t just blindly go to a social media site to submit your content and expect immediate success. You need to find social media sites that fit your niche. For example, if you’re trying to promote your medical business, you should find sites where health related articles tend to be popular.

2.    Interact with the Community- The biggest rookie mistake in social media marketing is to completely ignore the community. It’s called social media for a reason. Take advantage of the social platform by interacting with the community. The closer you become with community members, the more likely it is that they’ll help promote your content.

3.    Write for Your Audience- This is Writing 101, but many people tend to ignore it. If you want your content to go hot, it has to be tailored toward the audience on the social media site. When you’re interacting with the community, get to know their likes and dislikes. Also, take note of what type of stories tend to get the most attention. You’ll see patterns develop in the types of themes and content that consistently go hot.

4.    Be Relevant- Relevance is the key to social media marketing. Don’t believe me? Just go to the front page of Digg or any other social site. The vast majority of the top content is related to late-breaking news. Be the first to break a story in your industry; or, give your unique insight on a hot news item.

5.    Keep it Short- Internet users don’t like reading long passages of text. They tend to scan online content rather than taking the time to fully read it. For this reason, you need to accommodate their reading habits by keeping your content short and easy to scan. Brief paragraphs and bold, descriptive headings are great ways to make your content more scanner-friendly.

6.    Focus on Design- When users come to your page to read your content, are they greeted with a clean, welcoming design? If not, they might just turn around and leave your site. Remember, it’s not just enough to have great content; how you present it is important as well. Use a design scheme that’s easy on the eyes and that assists the reader in scanning the content.

7.    Stop Trying to Sell- Another social media marketing rookie mistake is to constantly try to sell your products. Sure, the ultimate goal of marketing is to promote your brand, but you’ll never gain any respect on these networks if you’re constantly pimping out your products. Instead, contribute useful content that the community can learn from.

8.    Create Great Headlines- I don’t care if your article is good enough to be the cover story in Time Magazine. If it doesn’t have a great title, it won’t get any attention on these sites. Think about it- thousands of users are submitting content to these sites all day long. What makes someone click on a post to read more? An eye-catching title.

9.    Help Out Others- This goes back to #2 and #7. If you want to become a top user on a certain social media site, you have to help others out. Don’t just submit and promote your own content. Find useful articles from different sources that your audience will enjoy. By promoting content that’s not yours, the community will begin to see you as a great resource for relevant information.

10.    Convert Hot Content- One mistake many social media marketers make is to not capitalize on hot content. If you’re fortunate enough to have a piece rise to the top, you need to make that attention last. How can you do this? By creating another great post to follow the hot one. That way, when visitors come to your site to read the popular post, they’ll see you have new content. Ride that wave as long as you can!

And yesterday www.businessblogconsulting.com posted an article by Krishna De of BizGrowthNews called Why Blogger Is No Good For Business Blogging.  What Krishna means by this is that companies should host their own blogs so that the links to their blog are also the links to their corporate web site and thus driving the traffic to their own domain.

She also sites WordPress.com as being a "no no" for business blogging.  She makes a good point about driving traffic to your corporate domain, but fails to mention that companies can use both Blogger and WordPress.org to host their own blog on their own site.  And both have advantages. 

Graham Jones of http://www.grahamjones.co.uk points this out in his comment on Krishna's article.  At the same time, Graham illustrates "secret" #2 above, which is the importance of being an active participant in social media beyond just posting your own material.  In his comment he not only made a good point, but also  plugged his own business site thus generating a hit and a mention by me. 

He also somewhat violates "secret" #7.  But it's a passive plug and it was effective as mentioned above.   I say that is not only allowed, but smart.  And since I do it all the time, we'll let Graham get away with it too. 

-CF

Labels: blogging, branding, marketing, Social Networking, web2.0

Do you remember the Atari game, Pitfall?  Great game.  The main character, Pitfall Harry, was constantly having to grab jungle vines, cling and swing for dear life to avoid quicksand, crocodiles, and tar pits. 

As anyone who does much of their work from home can attest, telecommuting can have plenty of it's own pitfalls.  From family interruptions to poor time management, the modern remote worker has to be wary of the quicksand and tar pits at their own home.

The current economy, combined with advancing technology and increased respect for balance in work and home life, have led to vast increases in remote workers.  According to a survey recently released by WorldatWork, a global HR association, 42 percent of U.S. companies now say they have a telework program, up from 30 percent in 2007. In Canada, the percentage jumped from 25 percent to 40 percent.

Author Susan Aston recently posted Four Golden Rules of Success with Telecommuting and Online Jobs:

Rule # 1: Set Out Your Schedule and Stick To It
Don't pay any attention to those lame television commercials professing that you can sleep until noon, work for an hour or two in the afternoon and still make mega bucks. Working from home is not about working at your leisure. It is about working without travel and overhead expenses. Haphazard, lazy schedules are extremely self-defeating. You cannot regard a telecommuting job as a "goofing off" opportunity. It does give you the flexibility though to work in the evening if you are not at your best in the morning. But whether you are a night lark or a morning bird, draw up your schedule and stick to it. Success will soon follow.

Rule # 2: Designate a Specific Work Area
Don't try to do your telecommuting work lying in bed with your laptop on your chest. This is a big "no-no" because it really cuts into your ability to be efficient. Instead, you should designate a room or a part of your home as an office. This will provide the cohesion and organization needed to make the workday effective.

Rule # 3: Dress for Success
As with having your workspace properly set up, it is also important not to dress too casually when working form home. Remember, anytime you are too leisurely in your approach , your ability to be efficient will be limited. You don't have to wear a suit and tie or a power outfit, but you should wear something conducive to a professional approach to your work - you do feel more business like if you are dressed accordingly.

Rule # 4: Make The Most of Tax Deductions
If you are employed on contract as opposed as an employee, be sure to take those special deductions related to working from home. For example, you can deduct a percentage of your rent or mortgage based on the amount of space your work area takes up. Other expense deductions can also add up so be sure to keep detailed records on what you spend related to your work.

Here are a few additional resources to help you recognize and avoid becoming a telecommuting Pitfall Harry. 

The Five Most Common Pitfalls of Telecommuting article on The Telecommuter Forum

Pitfalls of Telecommuting article from CareerBuilder on CNN.com

Telecommuting 101 by Kate Lorenz, CareerBuilder.com Editor

Labels: branding, careers, jobs, telecommuting

After reading a great article by Patrick de Laive on the Next web called the ultimate personal branding wordpress theme, I started thinking about something that I wrote in response to his main question which was: 

"if blogging is a must in personal branding, how come there is no ultimate personal branding blogging theme for Wordpress?

I was looking for a new design of my personal blog. I wanted an upgrade, something that would

1. look neat.
2. would make it easy for me to update on a regular basis.
3. a blog that keeps track of what I’m doing all over the web, so my parents, less web savvy friends and people who are interested in me (for business purposes) get a one stop shop blog with all (interesting) info."

I know how Patrick feels.  Anyone trying to get a quick handle on personal branding does too.  What I wrote in response got me thinking that maybe I should come up with the answer myself...

"What we need is a branding service that will automatically generate a web site for you with all of your preferred social networks and blog spaces integrated and formatted with a cohesive, easily changeable theme. Is that too much to ask? Or would that take all the fun out of it?

If it’s not already out there I’m sure it’s not far off."

So if there are any ingenious developers out there who are not at this moment stealing my idea for themselves, and who would care to partner with me on the next big thing, let me hear from ya!! 

Until then I guess I will try to keep posting tips to make this branding thing easier on us all. 

But seriously, you ingenious developers?  www.fishdogs.com/contact   -CF

Labels: blogging, branding, Social Networking

We have a tradition of attending the State Fair of Texas in Dallas on opening day each year with some family friends. By far the best day to go. Next best is the Oklahoma and Texas game held during the Fair each year at the Cotton Bowl since 1929.

Both days give you a unique look at Fair Park, which is a National Historic Landmark, and boasts the largest collection of art deco exposition buildings in the United States. 

These are a few of the photos we took while there on Friday, September 26th, 2008.

Labels: branding, Family

Image via Wikipedia

I'll admit that I have always wanted the ability to turn invisible.  Always.  Probably one of my earliest wishes.  I still wish this on a daily basis.  Think of all the things you could see and do if nobody knew you were there!  Way better than flying or super strength.

But if you are a job seeker, either active or passive, this is the last thing you should wish for, really.  I touched on this in my previous post, "Which is Worse, Bad Brand or No Brand?".  And it bares further exploration. 

Believe it or not I still run across people who are afraid to list any public info on social networks, etc.  However these same people will often upload a resume to a job board containing their full address, phone number, etc.  Makes no sense to me. 

If you are truly afraid of identity theft, telemarketers, or any number of other valid concerns then you should be on top of everything that is available about you on the Internet.  You are likely not quite as invisible as you think. 

If you think that anonymously posting extreme opinions or lewd comments on blogs or forums gives you that invisibility power, think again.  Many of the sites on which you post have ways to trace you.  And if you have ever registered for anything with your real email address, but didn't use your real name, try checking out Spokeo to see how transparent you can be, or not be.

 Web Worker Daily has some good thoughts on keeping your personal brand clean and safe in this article.  These steps will help you get a handle on how your are seen on the web.

The benefits of beefing up your online profile are numerous.  If you are a job seeker, they are essential.  Sure, submitting resumes to want ads still pays off occasionally.  But you should spend some of that time carefully crafting a profile online that steers potential employers directly to you.

Start with something easy like LinkedIn and maybe Facebook.    Gear your profiles here to give a full picture of your successes and capabilities.  Think of your target audience as someone for whom you would like to work (wow, proper grammar sounds strange sometimes).  This minimal effort will be a big difference in your favor over another job candidate who is "invisible".

Believe me when I tell you that when a recruiter or hiring manager goes looking for you (or someone like you) while seeking candidates for a job opening, or more info about a specific candidate they are considering for a job, and finds nothing, it's not a good thing.  Although it sounds fun to to be invisible, if you are looking for a job, you want to be as visible as possible.

Ask Kevin Bacon (Hollow Man), Jessica Alba (Invisible Girl), or Daniel Radcliffe (Invisible Cloak); they will likely tell you that it's fun to play at being invisible.  And they all probably wish they could really disappear at times.  But when it comes to being considered for a job they likely want as much positive info available as possible.  They want to be seen and found.  -CF

Labels: branding, careers, jobs, Social Networking

Image by Zach Inglis via Flickr

Employer friendly online profiles should be in your bag of tricks.

Is your online persona a feature rich sales tool or a barren dessert where only cactus might live?  And who wants to hire a cactus?

A recent CareerBuilder.com survey shows us that 22% of hiring managers are checking out job candidates via social networks.  Of those, one-third (34 percent) reported they found content that caused them to dismiss the candidate from consideration.

But 24% said they found content that helped to solidify their decision to hire the candidate.  This shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone.  The link above has all the details.

But my question is one that is not addressed in this survey.  What do hiring managers and recruiters think about candidates who have no online profile at all?  In my experience,  when an employer is seeking additional info to help make up their mind, no profile is far worse than a good profile.  Obviously a bad online personal brand is worse still.  But no brand at all is a close second.

Think about it.  If someone who has influence on whether you get hired or even considered for a good job has decided to take the extra step of doing some online research, they are far more likely to have a positive reaction to a strong social networking presence that paints you in a good light than to finding that there is no info at all online to help them in their decision.

Those candidates who choose to believe that staying under the radar and not participating in the modern methods of networking and communication are selling themselves short and are risking a negative reaction from nearly a quarter of the hiring managers out there.  If there is even a chance that someone who may hire you someday is on the fence about that decision, then you should take steps now to create a solid online persona for yourself.  It will help in other aspects of your business networking.  And it's fun.  So rev up your profiles, start a blog, get with the program! -CF

Personal Branding Roundup
Alison Doyle - Hiring Managers Are Checking You Out
Ryan Moede - Resources on Personal Branding
Bill Vick - Is Your Career LinkedIn?  and
Ethan Horowitz -  Social Networking Sites Become Vital Tools in Job Searches

Labels: branding, Social Networking, web2.0

I found an interesting discussion thread on TechRepublic surrounding an article by Toni Bowers called Hiring manager: Step away from the Facebook!  about a job candidate who was sent a friend request for Facebook from the corporate recruiter with whom they had just interviewed.

I don't really care one way or another about the recruiter's motivation.  Either they were brilliant and it was a great test to see what the candidate has on their Facebook page, or to see how the candidate would react, or the recruiter was just plain silly.  There is general outrage on the article's thread about how these social networks should remain social.  Only a few clear heads touted the "that's life in the here and now" mantra.

My response was typical:

Labels: branding, careers, Social Networking

Your Brand In a Nutshell (Personal Branding Statement)

Yahoo HotJobs' has a nice piece by Joe Turner of JobChangeSecrets.com on Four Ways to Improve Your Resume.

Number 3 is, you guessed it, your Personal Branding Statement.  Joe suggests a 1 sentence description that shows how you are unique from other applicants.

I would recommend adding your personal branding statement to your LinkedIn profile, your blog, etc.  These are the other places that a good recruiter might find you when performing in a candidate search.

Joe also makes a good point here about keywords in your resume.  Again, the same applies to your LinkedIn profile, etc.  There is more about this in my article on Best Modern Resumes.

Bottom line, great article that any job seeker should read. -CF

Joe Turner

Four Ways to Improve Your Resume

Labels: branding, Resumes

One page or two? Functional or Historical? What is the best Brand of Resume for me?

This week Jonathan Schneider, owner of The AFTERLIFE creative design firm, posed a question on LinkedIn asking what is the best format for the modern resume. There were many great answers. But the overriding opinion was that a resume needs to be detailed and historical and you shouldn't worry about how many pages it takes to make it so. This was my answer:

This is a great question. I have been recruiting I.T. pro's, Creatives, and Executives for many years. I tell them all the same thing. The key is in getting the resume in front of the person who will make a hiring decision. So unless you have a personal relationship with that person, someone has to first "find" your resume. That could be the hiring manager, an HR person, or a recruiter.

For most people, submitting your resume to a want ad tends to be kind of a black hole. So your resume has to have enough info to get a decently high search ranking wherever it is posted. Don't have a posted resume? That's okay, LinkedIn ranks very high in search rankings if you have the proper key words worked into your profile.

For the resume proper, 1 page, 2 pages? The answer is put down as much as it takes to get your job history down. Give detailed descriptions for the last 10 or so years, then list the companies and job titles beyond that.

Just putting down the names of the companies and a title for all jobs won't do. When scanning a resume (and that's usually all that happens) the reviewer generally looks for:

1)keywords that apply to the job for which they are hiring
2)job titles
3)specific duties as they apply to the job
4)job history
5)overall tenure

Functional resumes are nice, but won't tell the whole story. Many companies have a specific profile by which they like to hire. You can't get that from a functional resume. Put the functional part up front in your summary and accomplishments. Then list the job history as stated above.

A designed resume is fine. You at least want a resume that looks professional. But many times, the resume that ends up in front of the hiring manager has been stripped of that formatting. If you want to show off your design abilities then list a link to your web site. This is highly recommended for creatives.

Don't tease with only minimal info. But don't list a whole page for one job either. 1 or 2 solid paragraphs and some bullet points is good. Talk of your specific duties. Okay, you were an Art Director. But that means different things in different companies. Were you in charge of photo shoots? Did you do any broadcast work? Do you do hands on design?

You want your resume to serve two purposes. Get you noticed and found, and tell your story. Key words and specifics. Make sure your story is told well and you'll make the cut if you are right for the job.
Hope this helps.

LinkedIn: Answers: More questions and debate on modern résumés.

Labels: branding, Resumes

 
There is a recent article in the NY Times (courtesy of Yahoo) about using social networks (LinkedIn, Facebook, MySpace) for job hunting.  While it does a great job of discussing the networking benefits, it does not discuss optimizing your personal profiles to best promote your expertise and maximize your exposure to potential employers. 

The benefits of optimizing your social network profiles (your personal brand) are at minimum two-fold. 

• It allows you to showcase your expertise in conjunction with your personality in a way that posting your resume to a job board will not.  Job boards are less and less effective.  And I have always believed that the best way to find a job is through networking.  So take advantage of the platform social networks offer.
• You can aid your current job or business while passively trolling for another one.  Add links to your company, your blog, your other sites.  Links increase your Google search ranking.

On LinkedIn you should have basically your resume in your profile showcasing your jobs and accomplishments for the last 7-9 years.  Make sure you are hitting the highlights.  And provide a solid summary laced with keywords that a recruiter might use to search for someone with your skills.  Ask and answer questions about your industry and show off your knowledge.  This site is all about networking and self-promotion, so be confident and get connected. 

On Facebook you should connect with current and old friends, classmates, former colleagues etc.  This is not a place to show off your resume.  But you can link to your LinkedIn page, your blog, your company, etc.  And it is a solid networking tool.  You can also add info about what you do in a more limited format.

MySpace is most casual.  Really good for keeping up with family and friends.  Also good for adding links back to your other pages.  Remember all this cross-linking improves your search-ability.

On all these sites you must be careful about being too casual about what you say, post, and do.  Think of the personal brand you are putting out there (and believe me, recruiters and HR personnel will find it, private or not).  Whether for the benefit of finding a new job, or promoting your current one, ask yourself, "Would I hire me?"

The-Social-Network-as-a-Career-Safety-Net

Labels: branding, careers, Social Networking

These are some of the standard interview tips I give to job candidates prior to an interview.  Of course there are endless other suggestions that can be made on a case by case basis.  But this is a solid general list.

Follow these tips all the way to a job offer.

• Be confident

• Ask the interviewer what he or she believes is the most important skill for this job.  Gear your answers to highlight that skill in your experience

• Answer questions thoroughly.  One to two paragraphs, never one word answers.  But don't give   a full page answer either.  If you feel that more answer is  necessary but have already given your one or two paragraphs,   stop and ask if this is what the interviewer is looking for and would they like you to continue.

• Be specific - you don't want an interviewer to feel that they have to pry information out of you.

• Don't say anything negative about your current or former employer.

• Remember that your object is to get a job offer.  So no matter what you think about this job, you want to be professional, enthusiastic, and get the offer.  You can't turn down an offer you never get.

• Towards the end of the interview ask the interviewer if there is any reason you are not a perfect fit for the job. If they give you a reason, then answer this objection.  "I have done something very similar to this (give example), and I am a very fast learner.  So I really don't see this a being an issue."

• Close again - any other reason you wouldn't offer me this job?

• Express your interest in the position:  "I am really interested in this position." or even "I want this  job, I am perfect for it, it is perfect for me."  Be enthusiastic!  Many people interviewing for a job feel that it is implied by their being there that they are interested in the  position.  But often after an interview the employer will call me and say that they "really liked so and so, but they just don't seem that interested in the position."  So and so didn't ask for the job.

• Find out what is the next step.  If an interviewer commits to you what the next step is during   the interviewer they are much more likely to follow-up   accordingly than if you don't get that commitment.

• Say thank you.

Related Fun:  Here are some crazy interview questions...

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• The best job interview questions from Microsoft, Google... and IKEA (Royal Pingdom)

Labels: branding, careers, interview tips, jobs

This is an excellent list of sites and tools you can use to promote your personal brand online, position yourself as an expert, and attract the attention of recruiters and hiring managers.

By Phil Rosenberg

Top 50 Web 2.0 Tools for Job seekers - Secrets of the Job Hunt Network

Labels: branding, careers, jobs, Social Networking, web2.0

What in the world does this mean?  Well back in the mid 90's I started teaching myself web design because I wanted to know more about the tools that developers and designers were using so I could better understand job requirements from my clients and better screen job candidates (I am a headhunter if you didn't already know that).  Plus it was a fun creative outlet and problem-solving time-waste (just try it, you'll see).

Over the years I have used these web skills to craft creative job postings, attract the attention of potential job candidates and hiring managers, and built a respectable network of client and candidate connections.  You see, building your brand online isn't just about self-promotion.  It's about generating a ready network of contacts, creating an alluring web presence, and making yourself visible and available when opportunity wants to knock.

You may have seen my other blog which was mostly job postings. It's still alive, but will be undergoing some re-constructive surgery to get new skin.

In this new blog I wanted to illustrate the power of online branding. I often advise business leaders and job seekers to get their personal brand online to further their cause, upgrade their web presence, get noticed, etc.

I have had Fishdogs.com up since 1999 and have gotten steady traffic and plenty of connections because of it (in addition to keeping friends and family up to date). But in the last year I have been advising executives about online marketing, for themselves or their companies, outside of a corporate web site. It became apparent that I should have a good example of my own to show.

So here it is. I will be discussing the following topics among other unlimited tangents and unrelated minutia...

• Digital Branding - furthering your cause through strategic use of web presence, social networking, cross-linking, etc. Companies and job seekers alike benefit from carefully crafted exposure.
• Attraction & retention of top talent - how does a business market itself to great job candidates? Job boards are less and less effective. Candidates see them as a black hole. The answer for employers? You guessed it, digital branding, social networking, and assistance from key recruiters who know how to work that system.
• Job Seekers and Web2.0 - an overused term but a reality all the same. Just posting your resume doesn't cut it any more. What you have to do to get noticed in this era.
• Business Marketing, Sales, Recruiting, Job Hunting/Careers - my usual rhetoric on these topics (finely tuned after 18+ years in business) plus tips and articles from around the net.
• Internet and technology - no explanation required
• Web Design - one of my favorite hobbies

That's all for now. I have work to do!

Labels: branding, careers, marketing, web2.0