I just read an interesting blog post at Global Neighbourhoods , where mzingo ( a company that develops online communities for their customers), is running an experiment, where they are looking to fill 2 high level positions within their company, using only social media.
The plan is actually rather clever, in that they are generating a buzz that impacts marketing, just by running an HR experiment on their own site.
I learned about this experiment through a blog, and now you are learning about it through my blog. And, who knows what you will do with the information. That’s how information spreads, and word of mouth begins.
Mzingo is looking for:
Social Media Marketing Manager
and
PR Director
The Rules If you want to apply for one of these two jobs (descriptions here), these are the ground rules:
No resumes. At least not the kind written in MS Word.
If you want to get them info on your background, you have to do it in the “community way.” Either blog about why they should hire you or get them to your profile on LinkedIn (or your preferred social network.)
DON’T e-mail mzingo. If you are a community-centric person, connect Aaron Strout on Twitter or Facebook - you can DM him on Twitter or email him through Facebook.
I think the groundrules is what makes this ‘experiment’ interesting.
I have no doubt that they will fill these positions with very qualified people using social media.
LinkedIn is of course an excellent place to find top level candidates. There also a smaller, yet very active communities, such as Open Networkers which seems to have a lot of interactions between job seekers and job posters.
Building incoming relevant links to your website is what will boost your search engine rankings the most. This is an ongoing process, and this is probably the most time-consuming task related to online marketing.
An incoming link from another site, basically tells the search engines that your site may have good information on it. It’s a vote for you. The more links (or votes) you get from other quality sites, the higher you will rank in the search engines.
But what is going to make quality sites want to link to you?
First of all, it is important to look at your content (what you talk about on your website or blog). Is your website basically a sales pitch? If so, then it’s not very likely someone is going to link to you, unless they are an affiliate and get a commission for referring new clients to you.
To get people to link to you really requires that you have something noteworthy on your website or blog.
You may have heard the term ‘link bait’ before. Link bait is basically content that you put out, that attracts other people, and makes them want to link to you through their blog or other sites.
Do you have an insightful report that people might want to link to? Do you have something that is interesting, educational or funny on your site? Maybe you have a special tool that people can use, or resources that you have gathered.
These links are not only good from a search engine standpoint, but also from a referral standpoint. If a well known blogger talks about something on your site and links to you, you may very well benefit from a burst of new traffic.
Make sure you have an opportunity in place on your link bait page, to convert your visitors to new prospects or clients.
Happy St. Patrick’s Day. Thought you might enjoy seeing the Leprechaun Trap that my son built. If he can catch the leprechaun, maybe he can get that pot of gold!
Did you know that most executives in Fortune 500 companies have a LinkedIn profile, and that the average person on LinkedIn has a $108,000/year salary?
LinkedIn is a free tool that helps business professionals around the world network. Over 17 million people in over 150 different industries use LinkedIn.
I decided to interview Garren Du, who is an active user of LinkedIn, to learn more about how he uses this very powerful social networking tool.
Here’s the interview:
Rita:Tell me a little bit about your business Garren.Garren:After spending a decade of my life in the professional services industry ranging from marketing to technology consulting, I have decided to leave the client delivery business to my consulting colleagues and develop solutions to help them improve their practices (for some, reducing their level of frustration).I founded Invogen, with two of my closest friends to help professional services firms improve their operating cash flow.We do this by streamlining the invoice creation and management process.Consultancies, law firms, marketing agencies and organizations that require time and expense tracking information on their client invoices, turn to Invogen to overcome their challenges.Rita:Why do you use LinkedIn?
Garren:When I was a management consultant – road warrior traveling 45+ weeks a year – I used LinkedIn to keep in touch with my global network of business associates, clients and friends.LinkedIn is a great destination for me to keep track of my colleague’s contact information, employment status and whereabouts.LinkedIn also has a nice notification feature to alert you of your connections’ profile changes such as promotions, job changes, etc.
Rita:How often to you use LinkedIn?
Garren:I use LinkedIn when I need to review my contacts.LinkedIn is like my online address book.I turn to it when I need to find someone whom I have worked with in the past or prior to meeting someone for the first time.
Rita:What has LinkedIn done for you?
Garren:LinkedIn has helped me market my product and services.It is like an online resume for me and Invogen. LinkedIn shows me the degree of separation between a prospect and my current network.It allows me to get additional information about a prospect through my contacts, which has been helpful in first time meetings.I have also written recommendations to my business associates in the past, which has helped them market their services.
Rita:What tips would you give someone who is getting started using LinkedIn?
Garren:I recommend new LinkedIn users be selective in regards to who they accept as contacts.I see two types of users on LinkedIn:users who are selective and users who accept all invitations.Users that accept all invitations or invites everyone to join their network dilutes the meaning of networking.I recommend new users treat the LinkedIn community and tool as if it was their own personal phone/address book.This means you should accept the invitation if you really know the person - i.e., have worked with them before.I believe LinkedIn is more of a business networking tool and should not be treated as a social networking site like Myspace and Facebook.
Rita:Thanks for the interview Garren.Those are great tips.
If you are looking for a job or want to make business connections, hop onto LinkedIn, create a profile, and invite some of your colleagues.Chances are, they already have a LinkedIn profile too.
