Tag Archives: facebook

Fish Where The Fish Are – Use LinkedIn To Job Search

I’ve already talked to you about LinkedIn being the number one resource where employers go to identify a great job candidate.  In the spirit of “fish where the fish are”, if you find yourself searching for a job, the first thing you need to do is to update your LinkedIn profile. Bait for the big fish.

Your LinkedIn Profile should be as fresh and up to date as fresh squeezed organge juice

And packed with Vitamin C.  Give it that oomph, that sparkle. Take a cue from Guy Kawasaki’s LinkedIn profile and make it personal, engaging, conversational.  In fact, Guy has admitted he had some help from an exec at LinkedIn writing one of his best known blogs on how to use Linked in (Guy explains he didn’t know how to use it that well at the time.)  If Guy needs a little help sometimes, perhaps you do too.  If you are not the world’s best writer, hire one to help you.  By that I mean hire a college student or put out an ad on Craig’s list or eLance to find a good writer.  There are a lot of writers out there and a lot more of them than usual are probably looking for some extra cash about this time, with the recession and Christmas double whammy. It wont’ require a lot of cash either.

Point them in the direction of Guy Kawasaki’s LinkedIn profile and tell them, ok, you haven’t been a venture capitalist-entrepreneur-mover and shaker with Apple -founder of tech companies like Guy but you do have a solid profile of professional accomplishments and you’d like to put the best face on it. You want to exude power, confidence, experience and expertise.  And you want to be engaging, not dry as a pile of dust, while doing it.  A good writer can achieve that for you.

Important Point

If you’re currently unemployed, The LinkedIn Blog »  Getting Back-to-Business Checklist for Job Hunters suggests listing your current position as “open to opportunities.” Good idea.

Now: Edit your LinkedIn Profile.

The LinkedIn Blog also suggests, “if you just recently lost your job, make sure you update your status field in your profile so your network know that you’re looking for a job. It’s a quick and easy way to let folks you’re connected to know that you could use their help. David Stevens, one of LinkedIn’s users, updated his status upon being laid off. Within seven business days someone in his network knew of an open position, which Dave landed shortly thereafter.

Network, Network, Network

You should also put out the word on Facebook and any other social networks you belong to.  Then get on the phone and tell all your friends:”Open to opportunities.”  Then go to all the professional networking events you can squeeze in.

Networking is crucial. I just heard from one of the leading business consultants in the country that one of his biggest mistakes, when starting out, was sending out all these printed brochures to strangers when he had just come from a major company with hundreds of close associates who knew and respected his work already.  When he started working the phones with them, he starting pulling in consulting engagements.

Like this old pro, most of the work you get will come, one way or another, from people you already know.  Start calling or emailing them.  Then point them to your LinkedIn profile.

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Time Crunched? Put Tweet On Autopilot

Image representing Twitter as depicted in Crun...

Image via CrunchBase

Let’s face it.  Sooner or later we’re all going to have to learn to tweet. We had to start blogging, even if some of the Net’s world class visionaries were not early adopters…..Guy Kawasaki ratted himself out on this recently on his late blooming blog… we all had to come around.  We came around to Google.  We will come around to Tweet, if we are not there yet.

It’s just hard for a start up entrepreneur, a serious webmaster, a dyed-in-the-wool blogger or just about anybody with a job, except a celebrity with a big staff, to find time to tweet. ( Of course, the answer is, I’m told, you soon get addicted and can’t help tweeting wherever you are or wherever  you go, all hours of the day and sometimes night.)  To get you started however, you can put your tweet on auto pilot and as people start following you, that may give you the inspiration you need to delve deeper into it and invest the time to put yourself more into it.

Automating Social Media Activity | Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing has some excellent advice on this:

“Does automating some of your social media activity automatically make it, well, less social? That’s the question I’ve been batting around a bit with some social mediaists. See, I think that small business owners sometimes stay away from some new media tools because they seem like a lot of work with little immediate return.

EasyTweetsI’ve long preached the middle ground that brings some relief for time strapped business owners trying to juggle it all and that middle ground includes the “smart” use of tools that help you get more done with less time invested.

Now, in most cases I suggest utilizing some of these tools in conjunction with good old fashion social networking that is individual and one to one. Automation is not a substitute, more of a supplement.

Here are a couple shortcuts and resources that come to mind.

1) TweetLater or EasyTweets – allows me to auto follow back anyone who follows me and auto send a welcome message via DM. – This one gets mixed reviews from Twitter maniacs as it can be abused – don’t use it to auto send your spam selling messages, use it to greet a new follower in a fun and engaging way. I get lots of messages back from my auto greets as many people don’t sense it’s an auto generated message. You’ve still got to reach out to people and connect, but this gets the ball rolling automatically and saves a great deal of time. (I’ll do a screencast on how to do this if I get some requests)
2) Twitter Tools – A WordPress plug-in that republishes my blog posts to Twitter, effectively letting followers know I have new content on my blog. Again, mixed in with twitter posts of a more organic nature this is a decent way to keep content flowing and generate some traffic to your blog.
3) Twitter application in Facebook – posts my Twitter updates to Facebook status. I seem to have a different network on Facebook than I do on Twitter so this helps spread the content. I don’t think this is a high level use of Facebook by any means, but I do get interaction from Facebook folks from this activity.
4) Feedheads application in Facebook – I read lots of RSS feeds and using Google Reader and the Feedheads application for Facebook I post my shared Reader items to my Facebook profile each day.
5) TweetDeck – Desktop application that allows me to show Twitter searches, DMs and Replies in one screen. There are any number of tools to get this done, but I like the interface of TweetDeck
6) Facebook Toolbar for Firefox – shows status updates of network in the background as I work. This can be annoying but it keeps you in touch easily with your network. I’ve snagged interviews with journalists looking for sources this way.

So, what are some of your socially accepted shortcuts?

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Build It Before You Need It : 37 Ideas to Grow Your Job Search Network Right Now

Studies , including a recent one last month by Impact Group, confirm and reinforce the axiom that networking is the best way to find a job.

One key thing to remember as Jeremiah, Sr Analyst at Forrester Research points out, even if you work for someone else, you are a company of one: even though your paycheck is being delivered through your employer, you are solely responsible for your direction, what you learn, how you perform, and how much you’re paid. You’re in control of your own destiny.

Therefore, be part of the party/conversation/network before you need anything from anyone. Start now, and continue to build relationships by giving now: share knowledge, help others, and become a trusted node and connector, not just an outlying ‘dot’ of a comet that swings in every 4 years or so.  Since it takes time, and a certain amount of giving of yourself, and contributing, seeding, nurturing and building of the network,invest the time to build it before you need it.

JobMob says in 37 Ideas to Grow Your Job Search Network Right Now:

To excel at networking, the key question to ask is not “what can you do for me?” but rather “what can I do for you?” The more you give to your network, the more you can get from it.

1. Get an easy-to-remember email address. A good format is firstname.lastname@webmail.com where “webmail” is Gmail, Yahoo Mail, etc. Use this address for job search/work purposes only.

2. Choose your personal tagline. Find a 3-4 word phrase that relates to who you are professionally and puts you in a positive light. You want people to think that phrase when they hear your name, and everything you do work-wise should match your tagline. Use it in your email signature and begin by saying it when people ask what you do.

3. Prepare an elevator pitch. In 30 seconds you need to be able to describe who you are and which problems your expertise can solve. Practice until it comes naturally. Tweak as you go, judging by listener response.

4. Build an impressive web profile. A recommendation-filled LinkedIn profile with the right LinkedIn Applications can show off your accomplishments, successes and elevator pitch. LinkedIn will also give you an easy-to-remember url to put in your email signature, on your resume and business cards, encouraging people to connect with you. Use your personal tagline and easy-to-remember email address.

5. Become a LiON, a LinkedIn Open Networker. This is a quick way to grow your number of LinkedIn connections to the top level of “500+” but the looseness of these connections means you shouldn’t expect much from them. Still, all it takes is one good connection for this to be worthwhile.

6. Be active on LinkedIn Answers and LinkedIn Groups related to your profession, responding to questions and drawing other LinkedIn users to connect to you.

7. Sign up to Twitter. Take a few moments to flesh out your profile, putting your personal tagline in the Bio box and customizing the background image. Use TweetLater to automatically follow back any people who follow you, then search for people to add to your network. Once your network has grown a bit, use Twubble to find more people to follow from among your followers’ favorites. Setup a separate account for personal use.

8. Create a Facebook Page. Use Facebook for more than staying in touch with friends and family. Separately from your personal profile, use a Facebook Page to promote yourself professionally,  giving Facebook users a place to follow you as an expert in your field.

9. Carry business cards with your personal tagline and contact information to give out to potential business contacts. Try to always leave a note on the back before handing over your card, for example, to write where you met.

10. Ask for referrals when handing over business cards. People are more likely to respond to this than if you ask about open positions in their company. Give them extra cards if they have any potential referrals.

11. Use calling cards for non-business occasions. They’re like a business card, but with personal information. I haven’t tried this yet but I like the idea. The novelty aspect alone will leave a good impression.

12.  Join real-world business networks and chambers of commerce. You want people in your industry to notice you. Find local networks by googling “business network” and the name of your city.

13. Join general purpose business social networks. Besides LinkedIn, there are other networks like Xing and ZoomInfo. Use the one that is most popular in your industry.

14. Join industry-specific social networks. In many cases, these are business social networks created on the Ning platform. Use Ning’s search to find relevant networks or start a Ning network yourself.

15. Start blogging about your profession. As a super virtual resume, blogging is a terrific way to not only grow your network and show your expertise but also to attract job offers.

16. Follow industry blogs of different size readership. Subscribe and comment on them so that their bloggers discover and interact with you, especially if you have your own blog too. It’s better to get a lot of attention from 10 small blogs than no attention on 2 big ones.

17. Participate in industry discussion forums and mailing lists. Become the expert that people want to hear from on the topics you specialize in.

18. Become a member of professional associations. Every market has a group of people who are creating the standards and organizing member professionals. Being part of such groups can net you recognition from across the industry.

19. Create an industry newsletter for an industry niche that doesn’t have one. Or, you could become a contributor to an existing newsletter, but only if there’s a clear way for your network to profit such as via a link or email address in the byline.

20. Go to industry conferences, and make time to meet people and exchange business cards. Also great is to use conferences to finally see people face-to-face after having met online.

21. Attend local (speed) networking events. Have lots of business cards with you and a polished elevator pitch.

22. Organize informal industry events like launch parties or anniversaries. If you choose the right type of event and promote it well, the success will carry over to your personal network and people will want you to do it all again so that they can bring along other contacts who missed out.

23. Bring friends along. You can network in parallel and compare notes, opening doors for each other.

24. Join a job search support club. Also called job clubs or job search clubs or groups. Network with like-minded people.

25. Volunteer. Meeting new people is one of the best reasons why job seekers should volunteer. If there aren’t many opportunities locally through e.g. religious institutions, find them online using a site like Idealist.org.

26. Join a gym. A great place to network with people from across different industries and positions, there are also many other reasons to be exercising regularly.

27. Get a career and/or job search coach. Among the many benefits, the coach will be able to guide you to other ways to grow your network.

28. Find a mentor or mentoring community. You want people who have achieved your goals and can help you achieve similar success. Take your mentor out for lunch and pick their brain.

29. Do information interviews. This is a great way to get your foot in the door, and you’d be surprised how often in can lead to a job, even in a different department or company.

30. Email friends and family and ask them to put you in contact with anyone that can help your job search.

31. Talk to people you see regularly. Neighbors, parents at your kids’ school, taxi drivers. Cast your net as wide as possible.

32. Offer a cash bounty when you email your personal contacts. They’ll be willing to help you for free, but encourage them to forward your email to their own contacts for whom the cash will be a big motivator.

33. Join an alumni jobs network. Placing alumni in jobs is usually a major goal of  university and college alumni networks but also military reserves associations.

34. Nudge people in your network from time to time. A simple “any way I can help?” is a great way to stay in touch and not be forgotten.

35. Keep track of your contacts’ needs. Then, fill those needs whenever you can. The more you give, the more you’ll get. Here are another 9 ways to keep value in your network relationships (lower half of the article).

36. Always follow-up. Whether to confirm a referral or send over a link to an article you discussed, find a good reason to follow up with new contacts before they forget about you, which is usually within 24-48 hours.

37. Use thank you notes. Always take the time necessary to appreciate the people in your network. Just because people are happy to help doesn’t mean you should take their help for granted. Snail mail will make your note stand out even more.

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Conclusion

Like a tree, a network requires caring and time to branch out to its full potential. The more you invest in your network, the more you’ll get out of it. Even if you can only afford a few minutes per day, start growing your network as soon as you can and continue nurturing it until you need its fruits.

This article was written for Job Action Day 2008. This year’s goal is to “empower workers and job-seekers to take proactive steps to shore up their job and career outlook.”

If you liked this article, you’ll enjoy 8 Creative Ways to Use Social Media for Your Job Search.

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Do It The Way Rome Did – Overwhelm The Competition

Book cover of

Book cover via Amazon

AdvancingWomen.com

Whether you are a home office worker, an entrepreneur, or a corporate CEO, your job as the leader of your business is to succeed. Success does not come from good ideas of even brilliant performance unless it is totally integrated with the mission or your company, which, in one way or another, must come down to the bottom line of making money.

Recognizing that inescapable fact, a leader’s job is both less complex, but more difficult than one might imagine.

At a tech conference I attended, Glyn Meek, President and CEO of Triactive, now President and CEO of Software On Sailboats explained his theory that the job of CEO, has only 2 components:

  • Never stop raising money.
  • Create a buzz about the company.

Someone Else Can Do Everything Else

True, although this is particularly applicable to high tech start ups where “two young geeks in a garage” create the original technology and, at some point, someone has to bring in venture capital and they definitely will want an adult, that is someone with major big company experience,to run the company.

From this skeletal beginning three other jobs of a boss/leader become clear.

Building An A Team

The CEO or leader must be a team builder. Having a marketing whiz or a tech guru or even a bona fide genius on hand is simply not enough in today’s increasingly complex, rapidly changing, intensely competitive business environment. To both keep pace and solve complex problems quickly you need a team and not just any team. Having an A team is absolutely mandatory. A CEO must be secure enough to hire A players, people who are as smart and talented and driven as he or she is, and more accomplished in their particular area of expertise.

A Players vs B Players

If you don’t hire A players but rather B players, you will not only not achieve the results you want, but your company’s performance will tend to deteriorate, or, at the least, require a lot more energy to sustain as time goes on. B players trigger certain dynamics, since they aren’t likely to hire A players and may not be secure enough to hire even B players. Your company’s performance may decrease as employees begin to consist of more and more C players. This is what Glyn Meek called the Meek Theory of Company Deterioration.

Install Systems to Insure Communication and Synchronization

Once you have your A team on board, then you must constantly communicate with them and put in place systems within your organization which allow your team to stay in constant contact with each other.

Ram Charan, advisor to CEOs of Fortune companies like GE, Ford, DuPont, EDS, Universal Studios and Verizon, believes that continuous and focused exchange of information leads to synchronization in a company which leads to success.

“A synchronized organization is like a champion rowing team-people working together with a certain rhythm that allows the group to do things the individual could not do. Synchronization expands the capacity of the whole group” Ram Charan points out in What the CEO Wants You to Know.

The reason why many small businesses never expand is because they don’t know how to create mechanisms for constant communication between individual employees and managers.

Whether it’s through regular conference calls, emails or personal meetings, it is the job of the CEO to see that there is continuous communication and feedback throughout the organization.

Where the Rubber Meets the Road-Creating a Sales Organization

Giving your organization a sales orientation, rather than a development orientation will make or break your company. No matter how superior your product or effective your service, there are no positive financial results, which business is all about, until you get a customer, and consequently generate revenue. ( Meek developed a very unique and fresh approach to solving this as-old-as-selling problem. Clearly the Internet has changed the face of sales prospecting. More information is available now than ever before. Raw business information is available from open-sources like LinkedIn, Spoke or Jigsaw. So his company integrated a browser within Desktop Sales Explorer to help you gather business details into your prospecting database. And Desktop Sales Explorer directs the integrated browser to help you find email addresses, home pages, contact information and more. Pretty slick, no?)

As Meek put it, “Rome didn’t build a great empire by holding meetings. They did it by killing all who opposed them.”

Metaphorically speaking, the only way to douse your competitor’s flame is to overwhelm them with so many successful sales by your organization that they become increasingly unable to compete.

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Business Applications for Facebook Marketing

Business Applications for Facebook | Small Business Marketing Blog from Duct Tape Marketing.

Facebook is just so-so as a business tool:… the real power comes when you hang the proper accessories, known as applications, on it and really trick it out for business and professional use.

There are thousands of application available with one click once you have a Facebook profile. But, don’t get caught up in adding every goofy dodad, just because you can. Think logically about your goals for being on Facebook and then choose the tools that will help your communicate, achieve and amplify those objectives.

Here’s a directory of Facebook applications

And, here are my favorite applications for business use.

  • Telephone – With Telephone you can call, send and receive voice messages through Facebook, just like having voicemail on your phone. All you need is the application and a microphone and you can start sending messages to your friends.
  • Slideshare – SlideShare is the world’s largest community for sharing presentations. You can upload your own PowerPoint, OpenOffice, Keynote or PDF files and view presentations shared by others. This is a great way to spread thought leadership and expertise through presentations you may have delivered locally.
  • CircleUp – For Groups and Events is a lightweight collaboration app for groups and events. This tool facilitates some of the communication needed to promote your group activity and events on Facebook and elsewhere. This is particularly useful if you’ve created and maintain your own group on Facebook or often promote teleseminars and workshops.
  • Free Conference Calls - Use Free Conference Calls to organize a business meeting on the fly. With free conference call you can call in from anywhere; your home, mobile, Skype, or any VoIP service. Using this app inside of Facebook can help make some immediate connections a little deeper.
  • Facebook Video – Facebook Video provides a high-quality video platform for people and pages on Facebook. With Video, you can upload video files, send video from your mobile phone, and record video messages to your friends. This application is so easy to use that it makes sending video introductions or message a powerful way to network on Facebook
  • Testimonials – Use Testimonials to gather your personal and professional references in one place. Encouraging customers and contacts to post testimonials about your work and expertise adds great marketing content to your profile.
  • Introductions – Introduce your friends to each other and make new ones. Ask for an introduction to a web programmer or good lawyer. Then make introductions for your friends. This application speeds the process of effective networking by helping focus on giving and receiving introductions in a systematic way.
  • Business Cards – Business Cards helps you network better on Facebook. Personalize your card and attach it to your Facebook messages! View postings and network with others! This application is much like the signature common in email messages. It’s just one more way to say business when using Facebook.
  • My LinkedIn Profile – Makes it easy to promote your LinkedIn account with a badge on your Facebook profile. Cross promoting social network activity is a great way to extend your reach.
  • What I Do – Allows you to promote your services/products to your Facebook network. Display your skills/wares on your profile box and list yourself in a business directory. Recommend your colleagues services and products too.