I was (now retired) and continue to think like a professional consultative salesperson. I truly feel that the most important factor in keeping you in business and making you successful is profitable sales. Therefore my only goal is to help increase your sales results, not mine. On the WEB this translates into qualified prospects visiting your WEB site and converting to clients or customers.
As before, I confess that I am not the King of Charm. In fact I am the antithesis. I also confess, I am almost totally left brained so if the following alienates you, perhaps we will never be able to effectively communicate nor collaborate. (more…)
Josh Braaten asks “Could your lack of knowledge of marketing fundamentals be holding you back in your career?” in his article entitled ‘Six Marketing Fundamentals to Help Advance Your Career‘ on Simply Blog. This is a blog for SimplyHired, one of the job search engines (see Job Search page) I suggest you subscribe to.
He lists six marketing philosophies and how to apply them to your career. He concludes the article: “Many marketing degree programs today teach these important principles. Apply them to your professional life to increase your odds of landing a job or earning that raise or promotion to advance your career…” I discuss all of them and more in my library and career training workshops. Braaten’s points include:
A unique value proposition (UVP) or what we call a USP, for unique sales proposition, is quite frankly what differentiates you from the competition. You have to be specific concerning your skills and talents in your resume on LinkedIn profile to stand out from the crowd.
Do you present a clear picture of what is your brand? This is also expressed as your passion, talents and/or strengths. How does you particular brand set you apart from the competition with your market? That is the market place in which you compete for your services or products.
Study the target or objective when you prepare for a job interview. Look at their Web sites and social media presence. Try to understand the culture. Learn about and use word cloud generators as suggested in my classes to study their keywords and emphasis. If targeting with a resume or cover letter, restructure the keywords to meet the target company’s keywords. Certainly prepare for a job interview with these keywords in your vocabulary.
Check out the competition (for the job you want). See what others in the same field are doing on LinkedIn and other social media platforms to promote themselves. Do not copy but learn from them and improve upon what they do.
Substantiate your claims. Demonstrate value. Let others do the talking for you. Get recommendations on LinkedIn even if you have to give away your services for a recommendation in return. I do disagree with Josh when he says to reciprocate in giving recommendations. You do not want it to appear you are merely ‘trading’ recommendations, especially at the beginning when you have but a few.
Get to know people and have them get to know you. Engage and share and ask for nothing in return. People buy from people they know, like and trust. You can’t barge onto the scene and make an immediate impact. Believe me when I say I know from personal experience it does not work.
Review Josh’s article at and my comments above. Then I’d like to ask: Have your overlooked any of these in constructing our resume or LinkedIn profiles? Do you have any comments or suggestions? Have any of these helped you in securing an interview or a job offer?
Gary Vaynerchuk has been missing off my radar as of late. He launches 2012 with a trilogy of new videos. On this first he takes the Ophray Winfrey Network to task for using Twitter to stuff a message down peoples’ throats by using the traditional push marketing philosophy. Rather platforms such as Twitter are to be used to start two way relationships with consumers.
On this second video Gary says there is no such thing as ‘social media’. It is just a phrase, a descriptor, that describes the current state of the Internet. Anyone who says they do not believe in Social Media is in essence saying they do not believe in the Internet. Vaynerchuk sums it up by emphatically stating: “If you bet against the Internet in 2012, you’re gonna to lose!”
To end this trilogy, Gary makes some bold predictions for what’s ahead in 2012. Dressed in a suit, of all things, in this video Vaynerchuk predicts:
Twitter will launch an IPO.
Facebook’s opportunity lies in mobile technology.
He sees the downfall of RIM and Blackberry.
He also talks about some smaller sites such as Pinterest, Foursquare (check ins) as well as boxmania (things are coming out in box from).
I guess we will have to wait another 364 (leap year – elections) to see if he is truly another Karnak alah Johnnie Carson.
Why Don’t Small Businesses “Get It”?
I just had another discussion again about Social Media with a friend and colleague over coffee yesterday. I don’t know why most small businesses don’t get how effective the Internet can be in attracting qualified visitors, and ultimately customers, to their Web sites by using the various platforms available under the descriptor “Social Media”. Yes, it is time intensive since there is a learning curve. But it is not rocket science either. It takes a basic understanding, some research work, and testing to determine where your existing and potential customers “hang out” on the Web. But once you do, by crafting a plan and committing to implementing it, one can reap a myriad of rewards.
I guess they’re too busy, or as Gary has said before: “They just don’t get it.” You must realize you will never get it until you try it out and gain some success.
An article authored by Dan Schawbel was published on Forbes.com titled “Why Most LinkedIn Users Don’t Get Results” New Year’s eve day. He interviewed Jan Vermeiren, networking coach and author of a results oriented book on LinkedIn. He points out a shift in inquiries about LinkedIn from individuals to sales and recruiters as well as CEO’s. I think this is because of the publicity and notoriety LinkedIn has caused. Firstly because business people are starting to see results and are talking those results up and secondly with what has happened since the IPO.
I know first hand the results to be gained with the number of new clients I gained as well as the many, many contacts I made through LinkedIn. Even my wife has learned to expand her business to consumer party business, A-BnC Parties, through LinkedIn groups. And, I have not been keeping this a guarded secret as many do, I have been shouting it out. Most of this blog is dedicated to LinkedIn and other social media sites. I teach classes for small business people and job seekers at libraries and for various job placement agencies. (more…)
Here are four recent blog articles I found for job searchers. Two talk about using Social Media for job seekers, one is how recruiters use social media to screen applicants and the fourth talks about why branding, or your personal image is important in job search and business.
6 Job Hunting Tricks For A Web 2.0 World from the folks at PC World Business Center. They focus on my favorites: LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, along with two other points.
Job Seekers
And look at this blog and infographic from The Undercover Recruiter on How Recruiters Use Social Media Screen Applicants. 91% of recruiters use social media to screen job applicants, 47% after receiving an application and another 42% after initial or detailed conversations.
And another blog article from The Undercover Recruiter and Why Should You Care About Personal Branding. In it he says: “Your name is your greatest asset and will stay with you for the rest of your life. Transforming it into a personal brand that others will recognize and appreciate is your best strategy for long-term success in business. By standing out from the crowd and showing the world how unique you are, you will be equipped to tell your customers why they should choose you instead of the competition. Remember, the stronger your personal brand, the more likely you will be to have a great demand for your services and you will be in a position to charge a premium for it.” He emphasizes five points:
Grow your network
Attract opportunities
Establish credibility
Increase your online clout
Securing work
For some tips To Become More Successful On LinkedIn, check out. (Note: reinforces what I have been talking about in my presentations – so you get it from another source!)
Finding a job for a lot of you is no cake walk through a rose garden. It’s time to be unique and stand out from the crowd. For more hints and tips, especially about using Web 2.0 in job search, visit my LinkedIn and Social Media pages.
Although focused at recent college graduates, the advice holds true for all job seekers in a tough market. It advices to use some creativity in your job search. The article points out the following ideas.
Think like an entrepreneur gain professional experience and network. Look for a jobs that exist, don’t just try to sell your skills. They may not be in demand!
My favorite – using social media to build an on line profile and connect with potential employers. (As well as keeping abreast of job openings and postings.) Although young job seekers may be tech savvy, they may not know how to use the technology in a professional manner.
Consider being mobile in terms of location as well as industry. Cast a wide net.
I also added two new pages as follows:
Social Media For Job Search which talks about using the top three social media sites (Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn) for job search. I have been preaching this for some time now, and also recommend setting up an independent WordPress resume site to expand your exposure to Google and other search engines.
Mobile For Job Search which shows an interesting graphic about how many and why mobile users are using mobile technology for job search. The graphic is also downloadable in pdf format.
And please visit our Job Sources page for a sample list of search engines.
Here are some real easy instructions on how to embed a YouTube video into your WordPress Web site or blog. You can thus content to enhance the information to attract visitors. Add your comments and act as a ‘curator’ to others.
Follow the steps starting with clicking on the ‘share’ button to get your embed code. Determine if you want to show the suggested videos when the embedded video finishes (I suggest not since it will take visitors off your site).
Just please remember, whether you add to a new or existing page or post, you must drop the code into the html view. You cannot add in the visual window.
You can even modify the screen size that will be displayed to accommodate either your main viewing area, a sidebar an even a footer area. When you enter a custom width (in pixels) the heights is automatically adjusted according to the original size of the video.
Add a title, optimization factors as well as your comments or narrative above or below the video, or both (as I demonstrate here).
For more information about using WordPress as a Web site or a blog, please see our WordPress page.
I added this video yesterday for a new site we published Jewish Melting Pot. It is meant as a short tutorial for contributors who will be guest bloggers or authors and have little knowledge of WordPress publishing.
Contributors are not allowed to upload files (like photos, videos, pdf’s or audio files). So they must forward them for editing and inclusion. The entire process safeguards against a novice bringing down a site. It is a step by step procedure in gaining the experience and confidence of publishing on the Web.
For more information about WordPress and publishing your own site please visit my WordPress page.
This great video from Business Development University gives you a great BIG clue on what to do with that list of connections you have so diligently gathered on LinkedIn because you listened to me in the first place and grew that base.
Let’s assume you did not join LinkedIn to make new friends, but to grow your business, as this video also suggests. You should never expect to make an instant sale at a face-to-face networking event. Likewise, you can also not expect to do so on digital media, and especially so on LinkedIn. (Or is that coming as a surprise to you out there?) You are networking to make a contact (or connection) which you hope turns into a relationship which perhaps leads to some business.
So, heed the advice and get to work. And if you need some advice on getting your profile to that 100% plateau so you can expand your network, look no further than LinkedIn Profile Evaluations.
GMJ4H runs a series of articles to Wall Street Occupied about why they can’t find a job. This is number #9 You’re Invisible. It also included this great video about using Social Media.
Five “Hot” jobs for retirees include Health Care, Retail, Government, Computer Work (What have I been saying?) and Temp Agencies.
An article in Forbes online about ‘What To Say On LinkedIn When You’ve Been Laid Off’. Some advice here is to: “Label yourself as what you would like to be, rather than feeling limited by what your last job title was.”
Another Forbes article says amongst “9 Reasons You Should Blog” is blogs are your new resume. And I quote: “We are no longer in the world of 1 page resumes.”
Career Problems talks about pitching your talents in this article. Some good tips like touting your experience and fake it until you feel it! (Salesman slang for – Operate from a position of strength or bluff it! It works!)
The Undercover Recruiter tells us companies are using social media to screen you (whether you like it or not.
And check out my new LinkedIn Profiles assisted evaluation… “Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher!” – Japanese Proverb
Too many LinkedIn profiles do not have links to the profile owner’s Web sites or blogs or merely use the “generic” default descriptors: “Company Website” or “Blog“. Well LinkedIn is a phenomenal source of links back to your site, which are good for Google search engine results. Yes, they may be nofollow links, but they still come from a site with a page rank of 9 (out of 10) and an Alexa traffic ranking of 12 (Google is numero uno!) You can simply add keywords or descriptors to entice people to click through to your site. Follow these simply steps to differentiate yourself from the herd.
Therefore my only goal is to help increase your sales results, not mine. On the WEB this translates into qualified prospects visiting your WEB site and converting to clients or customers.
