BAS CARES/Answering Lynne's question

Lynne has a great point and her question is the top question going right now....Beyond changing the mindset about social media (it's about having a conversation with an audience and not advertising to them), another challenge is that far too many are intent on finding THE social media tactic that is right for them. That can be incredibly limiting. I enjoy using Twitter as much as anyone, but 5% of people with a computer are on Twitter right now. And while that particular tool is growing rapidly, this doesn't change the fact that companies and individuals need to diversify and use different tactics for different purposes (blogging, podcasting, Twittering, Facebook, LinkedIn and so much more). Choosing which tactics can achieve your individual or group (read- brand) goal with consistency is obviously where experts like the Linked IN meeting at BAS on 7/23 come in, but it won't be enough to tell BAS CARES members and others to get into social media. We have to show them how certain social media tactics relate to their audience -- without forgoing other parts of the media mix like letters, phone calls and networking at events, etc.... so how do I answer Lynne's question? .... with a question:

How does BAS CARES encourage HR professionals and hiring managers in the U.S. to share ideas about how job seekers can effectively use social media for their job searches so employers have access to the best available talent?

First the "traditional" step of "who am I and why do you need me?" should be addressed before thinking about marketing yourself.

When I was last fired/let go/whatever - well, after recovering from the shock I spent hours going through a self-assessment, identifying my styles, pinpointing my strengths and developing a short list of accomplishments which eventually became the core of my resume. This was hard to do because I am much better at helping others than I am at helping myself. However, food on the table and rent being paid helped me focus. After I discovered, painfully, what my strong selling points/strengths I was ready for the next step....

I was now ready to develop my career marketing campaign, and, in the process, I learned such a campaign usually consists of these eight tactics:

1. Developing an engaging personal presentation which shows how you can use your skills and experience to address one of a prospective employer's most pressing needs;

2. Writing letters of introduction which generate information/referral interviews for carrying out your market research;

3. Setting up appointments by telephone for information/referral interviews;

4. Writing thank you letters to those you meet through information/referral interviews;

5. Preparing for information/referral interviews through job, company and industry research;

6. Developing the questions you need answered during your information/referral interviews;

7. Managing the information you gain through information/referral interviews; and

8. Keeping people within your contact network informed and enrolled in your effort to create a job for yourself (yeah for BAS CARES and LinkedIN!).

Notice that these eight tactics carry you beyond the shotgun approach of blindly sending out a bunch of resumes to companies and beyond the routine of submitting your resume electronically to job sites.... sins I was very guilty of in my instant need to recover from no job.... and sins I learned did nothing to help me get a job and only added to my craziness about work and money ....

However, I discovered that the above is an indirect but effective marketing campaign that involves a high degree of personal contact. It's one in which you ask for information -- not a job. It's a marketing campaign that emphasizes research, a search in which you continually narrow down your job options to a position and a company that are right for you.

I quickly learned that "You are in charge of that process." That means you don't always have to follow today's guidelines for submitting resumes -- electronically or otherwise -- because you're bypassing the automatic filtering process that characterizes the contemporary job application process in many companies and organizations. A eureka moment for me!!!!!!!!!!

Becoming proficient in using each of these eight tactics required practice. It is all personal, like social network marketing. SO, I practiced, failed and practiced some more....

Soooooooooo ... what about Lynne's question..... Everyday I hear (and read) people talking about social media. They usually use social media toys to define social media. Not only that, they believe that social media marketing starts with “them” and not “you” or “us.” How many times have you heard that social media is “Twitter or Facebook”? How many people have you heard say that they use Facebook or LinkedIn to promote themselves or their their business? They are all social media marketers, right?

Not really!!!!!!!!!!!!

Social media is all about empowering folks (the public, you and me) to create their own content. Whether it is sharing photos (Flickr, etc.), videos (YouTube), audio (podcasts), written content (this blog) or simply ideas (Twitter), social media = public + content. So many think social media is about having a Twitter account and pushing out tweets (don't you just love the new lanuage of the net?) to their followers, who - if they are like me, by and large don’t read those updates most of the time .... unless it is something I want or need, which means me, you and us not them.....

Having a presence on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are a part of what it means to market using social media. Using those sites to engage users for the purposes of including them in the marketing process - whether soliciting their ideas (in conversation, social) OR evangelizing your resume is truly the secret sauce in social media marketing.

It never ceases to amaze me how many experts talk about social media but leave most of the important stuff out. They talk about transparency, and its true that being open and honest is a great thing, but it isn’t inherently “social media” — its just good public relations. Obviously, there is a place for PR on sites like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn (as well as thousands of other social networks).

Research tells us that a very small percentage of users on social networks actually take the time to create anything. That may well be true (and probably is, frankly), however, it doesn’t change the nature of social media. Marketers (i.e. you looking for a job are marketing yourself) must overcome obstacles every day in getting the word out about their "stuff." Those who can apply the right incentives, through active and thoughtful engagement using social networks, will be the ones who are truly successful.

So the next time you read (or better, talk about) social media, remember that its about the users and engaging them in a way that lets them take part in your process. From a marketing perspective, social media marketing is all about not just talking to your customers, but empowering them to talk for you.So the answer to Lynne's question is: Try them all and use the one or two or three that work best for you - and trust that with the right base (discovering your strengths) and the best effort of networking (live and online) something will come your way.