Back To The Roots
In case you haven’t noticed, the trend today in marketing is going one way. Back to the roots. Now if you’re like me you question things, and you ask yourself: “What the hell are the roots?” In my perspective there’s one root to any form of marketing. It doesn’t matter if you’re using social media for marketing, if you’re using print, TV ads, whatever.
When I look at marketing I tend to try to ask myself one question:
What is the value of what I’m giving these people?
This seems like a fairly straight forward question. But the reality is so many marketers aren’t answering this question. It doesn’t matter if you choose Facebook, Twitter, a Blog, etc. You absolutely must provide some sort of value to your consumer.
As an online marketing dude, specifically my blog – I know that the value I attempt to provide is knowledge value. The ability to give my readers the opportunity to think about what they’re doing in their online marketing strategies.
So I ask you if you’re reading this, to leave a comment and tell me: What value are you giving your blog readers, your consumers?
Image Credit – James Cridland
Land a Job Interview Using Twitter
In the past 3 years, every job interview I have had has been one that I’ve either known the person through Twitter, or I had at least found the job opening through Twitter. The power, reach and possibilities that being able to seek information on Twitter gives any internet user is – to say the least – Amazing. When using only Twitter, I usually will tend to take two approaches, both of which are as effective. However, one is much more personal and probably better off for you in the end.
Hunt & Apply
In hunting and applying it’s a much less intimate and more of the, “Go on Monster.com and submit your résumé” approach. Here’s your opportunity to show your Search Skills.
Search.Twitter.com – depending on your industry you know what kind of job you’re hoping to get into. Hashtags like #jobs, #job, and #hiring are some of the most common, and usually lead to decent Twitter postings to a job description. By using Boolean search operators like AND or OR (they must be capitalized), you can add in multiple search terms and get rid of irrelevant posts.
For example, if you are looking for a freelance writing job your search terms might look like this: Freelance writing OR writer AND #Jobs OR #Job. This will find Tweets that have the words Freelance writing or in place of writing, writer. As well as the hashtags #jobs,or #job. The AND forces the search to include either of those hashtags.
Besides a solid Twitter search, there are many profiles which are automated aggregations of postings. One of the best ones for the D.C. area is the Washington Post Jobs. They have over 30 accounts with job opportunities listed in bulk on their Twitter feed, each feed for a different industry. See the full list. Looking for accounts like these are incredibly helpful, and you can build a list of only these feeds to keep a solid eye on them.
Build the Relationship
Thanks to Chris Penn‘s amazing email newsletter, he forwarded on this little gem of a tool.
Followerwonk.com – Similar to Twitter’s advanced search, but lets you search users’ bio’s. This is powerful. What followerwonk lets you do is target by keywords in Biographies and by location. In a job hunt this is crucial. For example, if I am looking for a marketing job in Raleigh, NC, I would try to reach out to a marketing manager or director of marketing in the area. Thus, my search terms would look like this: Manager OR Director OR VP AND Marketing, and in the Location use Raleigh, NC. Watch as the influencers/directors/managers, etc. all show up in your search results.
Tack these results into a list, and let the relationship building begin. Keep these prime users in a separate list, and engage them. Make yourself, your expertise, and the fact that you’re job hunting known. As these relationships build trust and the people begin to know you, your relationship with them gets stronger and stronger. When the time comes for you to tell them about your job hunt, you’re much more likely to be looked at more closely.
Never Overlook a Handshake
While a good Twitter search, or online relationship building never hurts, you must never overlook the power of meeting someone face-to-face. Be yourself, and be the same person you are online. Meet up for a beer, or lunch, or whatever, but being able to talk to someone in person holds its own power.