Fishdogs-Career Branding for Social Animals

Pinterest Can Help Recruiting Get Visual

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 14:19:38 PDT

When I see Alison Doyle posting on About.com how to use a certain platform for job search, I generally know its time to take that platform seriously for recruiting. I’ve been advising recruiters and employers on how to use Pinterest for recruiting for a few months now and have been highlighting it at TalentNet Live events. My overriding theme? Job postings can and should be more visual.

Crystal Miller posted a great article today on TalentNetLive.com describing some ways Pinterest, the most hyped online scrapbooking platform in the history of ever, can benefit recruiting. And on 4/17/12 on the #TalentNet Radio Chat and #TalentNet Twitter chat, we discussed Pinterest for recruiting with Elise Oras from Payscale.com.

Some interesting brands touched on in the post, like General Electric, PepsiCo, and Friday’s, do a great job of describing company products and culture. Others do a great job of visualizing employment and recruiting like Taco Bell, Pizza Hut , Aon, and Hershey.

One thing they all share is a great visual interest element that speaks to a modern audience. Both Pinterest, and Facebook’s new timeline format for pages, give you a great opportunity to tell your employer story in pictures. Pinterest, because graphical is the only choice. And Facebook, because the timeline only looks good with plenty of graphical elements.

Here are my top 5 ways to use visual interest to your recruiting advantage.

1) Make your job descriptions more graphical. Tell the story of the job and company culture in pictures and graphs instead of run-on sentences and internal corporate language. Maybe create a custom infographic to attach. Use this type of job description on an alternative job listings page or blog attached to your company site. At the very least, include a compelling photo in your job description. Snag a job is doing this with great success: http://pinterest.com/search/?q=job+description.

2) Make it Pinnable. Add a Pin It button to your job description: http://pinterest.com/about/goodies/. This way, anyone who wants to can Pin graphic elements from your job description to Pinterest and it will link back to your job page.

3) Create a custom Pin board for your jobs. Get creative. Check out how Work Club created an entire Pin Board to showcase its search for a creative director: http://pinterest.com/sandozzz/work-club-is-looking-for-a-new-creative-director/

4) Use the RSS feed from your boards to repurpose that material to a Facebook page or sidebar on a blog. The raw feed url looks like this for all your boards: http://pinterest.com/fishdogs/feed.rss, or this for a specific board: http://pinterest.com/fishdogs/linkedin/rss. That gets you the raw xml code. Funnel that through something like Feedburner to create something very usable: http://feeds.feedburner.com/fishdogspinterestlinkedin.
Check out the example on the bottom of the side bar of the TalentNetLive.com site where I inserted a bit of code to show the TalnetNet Pinterest feed.

5) Use videos about company culture and job descriptions. Pinterest allows you to Pin videos as well as pictures. What better way to showcase your employer brand?

Want more? One of my favorite posts about the various features and marketing opportunities with Pinterest is here: http://www.simplyzesty.com/social-media/top-tips-for-brands-on-pinterest/.

Have you found more good examples of employers using Pinterest or getting graphic with their job descriptions? Share them here!

Your online baggage

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Thu, 12 Apr 2012 09:07:33 PDT

“If you are going through hell, keep going.” Winston Churchill said that. I love that quote. It addresses both travel and tough times.

Jason Seiden and I were trading quotes two nights ago walking through the streets of Manhattan. We were on our way to meet a client. The next day would be a big one for us.

This trip was the culmination of 6 months of selling and then analysis work on an employer brand audit for a major media company that has some PR issues. It was a successful project. There will be more work to implement strategy, and more trips to New York because, that next day, presenting the results to the client team went very well.

Seiden, my partner in this effort, and I have spent a lot of time in New York recently. We’ve decided we’re okay with that.

He and I have been working together for nearly a year and a half. We found a groove. We team up well for presentations at conferences and are equally effective in board rooms. We, and our colleagues at Ajax Social Media, have been showing companies a new way to look at marketing and branding that involves empowering their employees to support the company in their personal social media profiles and activities.

Seiden is an excellent story teller, speaker, and writer. He thinks about the way most people tell their stories online. Most people, he knows, could do it better. Most people post their outdated resume to their profile and never look at it again until they are searching for a new job.

Along with partner Vincent Gatti, Seiden founded Ajax Social Media with the idea that individual business people could have better online profiles on places like Linkedin by telling their stories vs. posting their resumes. Combine that with a strategy to engage with their audience better and support their employer in the process, and their companies start to look better online to prospects of all sorts.

He took this methodology to some VIPs at Linkedin, and they loved it. Linkedin made Ajax the first Linkedin Live Certified training company in North America, asked Ajax to train Linkedin’s own internal sales teams on how to use Linkedin better, and then asked Ajax to “Pimp Profiles” of attendees of its most recent user conference in Las Vegas.

We are onto something big here. It took us a few months to hone our product and service offering. We now have something valuable and unique in the market. We show companies how to use Linkedin and Social Media for sales and recruiting efficiency and brand amplification, down to the individual employee level. The process, which we call workforce marketing, can make the entire organization look better online.

Seiden and Gatti are building out a vertical in the Financial industry. I was brought in to work mostly with recruiting teams and employer brands. David Fisher (no relation) rounds out the core team with training and product strategy for all areas. We all switch hats as necessary.

"What I learned from Ajax in 5 minutes would have taken me 6 months to learn on my own." A digital strategist from a major financial firm said that.

We have been working and travelling intensely. But we are as balanced and practical as possible with family time. It’s a pretty amazing thing that is taking on a life of its own. We are getting calls from major brands all over. People are telling us we are becoming synonymous with LInkedin strategy. We do more than Linkedin. But we are okay with any and all labels.

“Why buy good luggage? You only use it when you travel.” Yogi Berra said that. If you’ve seen my Foursquare updates on Twitter or Facebook over the last couple of years, you know that I’ve lived half my life out of a suitcase. Those updates are part of my story online. I choose to have good baggage. How about you?

How Social Media Can Help You Land That New Job [INFOGRAPHIC]

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Wed, 11 Apr 2012 14:29:02 PDT

“Dude, your on Mashable!” was the message that popped up from a friend in my chat window in March of 2009. “What??” It tuned out Sarah Evans had just written an article for Mashable, HOW TO: Find a Job on Twitter. In it, she listed a few recruiters to follow, including me, Christa Foley from Zappos, Jennifer McClure, and Jim Durbin.

Mashable is one of the world’s largest websites, and one of the top social and tech news sites on the web. I am a huge Mashable fan. So it was a thrill for me to be mentioned there. And this article created some great buzz for those of us who were referenced.

It would prove to have an ongoing impact. Early last year, bits of this article were captured for video in an NBC news story that went out to affiliates across the country. And there I was again.

And just last week I find that parts of that original article were used to create an infographic and study pulled together by OnlineDegrees.com, and re-posted on Mashable! Check out 3 Recruiters to Follow on the infographic below.

More than just buzz, this post helped generate work and clients for me, including Zappos! The point is that if you want to be hired for something, write and post about that thing in places where those you want to work with can find it (Your own blog, Twitter, Linkedin, Facebook, Youtube, etc.). Become a consistent resource, and people will start to associate you with that skill set. Then network with the people and companies online with whom you want to work. That’s what I did anyway.

So I just wanted to say a quick “Thank you!” to Sarah Evans, and give a shout out to job seekers who have been inspired by that post. Many of them have shared success stories with me over the years of finding jobs through social media. It seems kind of silly now to think that anyone ever doubted social media’s potential in job search.

I would love to hear updates and new success stories if you have them.

Meanwhile, pin this graphic on Pinterest and help your neighbor understand how to get social with their job search. Its shows some great ways and reasons to optimize your own profile to get found by recruiters.

A little social can go a long way. Believe it.

Courtesy of: Online Degrees

Top five ways to think beyond employer branding

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Thu, 22 Mar 2012 21:36:38 PDT

It's called many things: employer or employment branding, recruitment marketing, talent attraction, talent marketing, etc. It's a largely misunderstood thing that is really just about what your company looks like as a prospective employer to job seekers.
Wikipedia describes Employer Branding like this:

Employer brand was first used in the early 1990s to denote an organisation’s reputation as an employer.^[1] Since then, it has become widely adopted by the global management community.^[2]^[3]^[4] Minchington (2005) defines employer brand as “the image of your organisation as a ‘great place to work’". Employer branding is creating this image.^[5]

Just as a customer brand proposition is used to define a product or service offer, an employee value proposition (EVP) is used to define an organisation’s employment offer. Likewise the marketing disciplines associated with branding and brand management have been increasingly applied by the human resources and talent management community to attract, engage and retain talented candidates and employees, in the same way that marketing applies such tools to attracting and retaining clients, customers and consumers.

That sounds like messaging and image management. I got a similar feel from a nice post I read today on ERE.net, Unearthing Employment Brand by Matt Lowney. In it, Matt said that, after years of wondering what all the fuss was about with employer branding, he now gets it since he has moved into a talent leadership role at an ad agency.

Here is my perspective. It is based on working with major employer brands like Zappos, JCPenney, Yum Brands, Linkedin, and more, on social recruitment strategy and branding practices. It comes from getting to see, up close and personal, how these, and other great brands like Rackspace and Pepsico are doing it. I have done the job advertising side of it. Creative writing and strategic placement of job postings for major corporations has been in my job description for a long time.

Here goes. Ready...?

Employer brands should be about your people, not ads. Yes, you have to figure out where your audience (job seekers) hangs out online (in some cases offline). Yes, you need to know what appeals to them. But if you are really going to be authentic, your message should be focused on what appeals to your current employees about your company. And that message should be spread by your current employees as much as by your marketing and recruiting teams.

Think about it. If I am a savvy job seeker, I can easily find, on your company's web site, careers page, or job posting, what you want me to know about your company. But I am going to dig deeper than that. I'm going to Google your company to see who works there and review what they say online about working there. I'm going to look on Linkedin to see what employees and executives do at your company, and how they describe their job. I am going to attempt to network with your employees for either inside scoop or an inside track on the job and company. And I'm going to get a feel for the culture beyond what your brand message is. I want to work with people I like, or with whom I fit.

Employer brand is about employee brands. Here are my top 5 ways to think beyond employer branding. Ask these things about your company:

How do your employees and executives appear on Google and Linkedin to a potential job seeker or customer doing research?
Can you feel what it's like to work at your company from what your employees say online?
Are your employees' online profiles and activities brand positive, brand negative, or brand neutral?
Have you given your employees the tools to help them carry the authentic employer brand to market if they so choose?
Is your company helping to tell your employees' stories? Or is it just presenting a brand message?

This isn't a fad. The companies who are doing it well have major resources working on employer brand. Michael Long, one of the best examples of someone who is pioneering in this realm, has a team of eight dedicated employees documenting and highlighting what he calls the "culture brand" at Rackspace.

For most companies, there is only one employer brand, but many employees. And your employees, in large part, all have a story online that the average Joe researching your company can see.

For more about how employers can empower employees on social channels, check out this post I wrote for Universum Quarterly back in March of 2009, Organic Branding for Employers. And there are plenty more resources here http://blog.fishdogs.com/search?q=employer+branding
For more on Michael Long and Rackspace, check him out live on April 2nd, 2012. He'll share his insights about 'culture branding' at the TalnetNet Live social recruiting conference at JCP HQ.

Everyone in your company makes the employer brand. It's not about the ads. Your thoughts?

My Timehop to London

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 10:51:44 PDT

Do you use Timehop? It can be a bit of a ‘time suck’. But sometimes its really cool to remind you what you were doing, or at least posting on Facebook, a year ago. And today it showed me that a year ago I had just arrived in London for TRULondon 4.
This time next week I’ll be landing in London again for TRULondon 5, which is February 22 and 23rd.
This will be my third time to join Bill Boorman for TRULondon, which is always a great unconference full of smart people and good times.
This year I’ll be discussing how to use cool tools like Foursquare and other innovative methods to find, profile, and connect with your prospects. Hope to see you there.
Below is a peak at my first evening in London last year, and my expedition into the historic Brick Lane area of town. If only I had been using Instagram back then!

Your day, a year ago on February 14, 2011

Timehop Abe abe@timehop.com
9:04 AM (3 hours ago)

to me

MONDAY FEBRUARY 14, 2011

Good morning Craig!

This day last year was a Monday. Let’s see what you were up to...

03:27 PM

City Hotel London
Hotel Hello London! First bonus, this hotel had a good bar with excellent pan Asian food!
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10:16 PM

Cafe 1001
Lounge SHARE
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exploring Brick Lane
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at The Big Chill
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1001
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The Lane Bar at City Hotel

5 ways to change careers

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:27:24 PST

Pin It
The problem with trying to change occupations or industries, is that most people don’t have the skill set to support a broad leap in jobs. So they end up willing to do practically anything other than what they are currently doing, and subsequently flounder in their job search.

After 15 years in recruiting, helping companies to find and hire teams of highly specialized consultants and executives, my job is now to teach employers and recruiters how to find and attract talent better. But one of my primary passions remains helping job seekers along in the career process. I donate time speaking to career groups, and regularly do calls with job seekers in distress.

One of the main subjects discussed, especially this deep into what’s turning out to be a fairly long recession, is transitioning industries or occupations. Many people just aren’t having enough success in their current vocation. Or it has been a struggle in their industry for so long that they are burned out.

What many of us struggle with in changing occupations is lack of focus, and poor understanding of our own market. We think the grass looks greener over there. But over there is across a big pond. The odds of jumping across it are low. So, instead, we should think of side stepping around to get across.

Moving to adjacent or complimentary industries is a straight forward option that most of us don’t think to consider.

If you want to change careers, look at the companies that align with or serve your current industry. They may not be what you think. Look at every vendor to your current firm and your competitors’ firms. Chances are those vendors hire people like you in some capacity. Then you can start side stepping around the pond to the place you want to be on the other side.

Here are 5 ideas to help job seekers who wish to change careers

1. Look at adjacent/complimentary industries or companies, and vendors to your current firm or competitors firms. Ask who supplies your company with various items or services, who does your web site, PR, marketing, CRM software, office supplies, food service, etc. Chances are there is a company that services your current employer, or one like yours, who would be interested in hiring good people from inside the operation. Think about how you can apply your existing skills in other areas vs. completely changing skill sets.

2. List other things you do as ‘jobs’. If you are on a board, volunteer, help a friend, whatever, there is a story there and you use certain skills to do it. Probably those skills are something you are passionate about. List those things on your Linkedin profile or resume under “additional engagements” just as you would a job. It is experience… use it.

3. Start a project online to study the industry or skills with which you want to work. Get a friend or colleague to help. Create something that a company you are targeting might find valuable. Document the process. List it on your resume as a real job (you’re not fabricating anything if this actually becomes part of your experience).

4. Start an industry blog about your target industry or occupation. Post articles, both re-blogged from others, and original material that you research and write yourself, that people in your target market can use in their work, retweet, reblog, etc. You might even document your job search process. Highlight the knowledge you are gaining as you strive to master expertise as you go along. You will start to pop up on the radar of employers and recruiters in the industry you target.

5. Focus, focus, focus. Make some lists: What you get paid to do, What you like to do, What companies will pay you to do that you like. In that final list is your focus. Check out my post on How to Create Focus Lists to Narrow Your Job Search:

Source: bitsandpieces.us via Craig on Pinterest

When you decide who your targets are, and who the players are within those companies, network with them, be supportive, retweet, like, and share their posts. Cozy up and get friendly…and listen…before you ask for anything. Post useful information, tips, and articles in groups and places you know they participate.

Then, when you have become a valuable resource, let them know that you think they are great, and that you are very interested in their organization. Invite them to a phone call or a cup of coffee. Be honest and tell them you want to change careers and you think their company is a good prospect for you and you for them. Ask about the best way to get referred in. Chances are, if you have proven yourself knowledgeable and valuable, you will get an intro to the firm.

Job Search Handbook for the Recently Unemployed

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:28:22 PST

Have you decided to put your job search on hold for the holidays? Well don't. I have just returned from a great Talent Net Live recruiting conference in Chicago. It was attended by employers from all over the Second City, and the U.S. Guess what? They are all hiring.

Here are some nice resources to help get you, oh holiday job seeker, through the break. The amazing Laurie Ruettimann, who did a fantastic job as emcee of TalentNet Live this week, posted this nice article about holiday job searching, Get a Job in December.

Next we have a post I did for Keppie Careers awhile back. Recruiters Don't Ease Up During the Holidays - Neither Should You.

Finally, I recently contributed to an ebook titled "Handbook for the Recently Unemployed," produced by QLab's Huntsy (http://blog.huntsy.com) as a valuable and free promotional tool for job hunters.

This is a fantastic compilation of original writing and carefully selected posts from over 15 authors on the topic. Its a funny read, and a great reference for anyone looking to re-enter the workforce.

You can download the ebook here. It’s free!

By: Margaret Kavanagh
Edited by: Kara Hiltz
Featuring posts from:

If you are unemployed this holiday season, don't give up hope. I'm cheering for you. You can do this!

Happy holidays. -CF

What Not To Tweet

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:28:45 PST

I love this post by Lisa Barone

Make Time For Social Media By Not Tweeting BS

http://www.businessinsider.com/make-time-for-social-media-by-not-tweeting-bs-2011-11

by Lisa Barone | Nov. 18, 2011, 10:43 AM | 102

By far the question I’m asked most in regard to social media is how do I make time for it. There’s SO much to do in a day – as a business owner, how do you find the time to tweet or Facebook or do any of the other social actions you MUST do to find your customers? My advice is typically two-fold.

Schedule social media the same way you schedule other tasks.

Stop wasting time doing shit that doesn’t matter.

If you want to be successful in social media, you need to take it seriously. The same way you schedule other work tasks – answering email, meetings with staff, work projects – to make it fit in your day. If you didn’t schedule in that meeting with your business partner, you’d probably find you didn’t “have time” for that either at the end of the week.

However, you can also save and CREATE time by not wasting it engaging in pointless social media. There are certain types of tweets and updates that, as marketers, we no longer need to write. And by NOT writing them you’ll not only increase your influence by being less of a social media douche, you’ll also free up time in your day to engage in ways that matter. It’s like magic.

Below are 10 tweets you can save your fingers (and your audience) from having to create.

1. The “Good Morning” Tweet

Waking up to see “Good Morning” or “Good Morning, Twtter” trending every day makes me seriously fear for us as humans. Why are you doing this? No, I want you to ask yourself. Why on Earth do you feel the need to say god morning to Twitter? STOP! While we’re at it, you also do not need to say goodnight to Twitter. Twitter will sleep just fine even if you’re not there to tuck it in.

2. The Inspirational Quote Tweet

One way to show how not deep and poignant you are is to tweet/share quotes that are intended to make you look deep and poignant. If you can’t think of something clever or motivational to tweet all by yourself, then save your tweet for when you can. Or maybe you can get Ashton to tweet from your account since he’s gone and outsourced his. At least he outsourced his account to people who are alive. You outsourced yours to Shakespeare.

3. The Vague Hustlin’ Tweet

You’ve seen them.
“Super awesome product to announce soon. Sorry, can’t share details yet! HAHA! #hustlin”
Hey, jerk, if you can’t talk about it, don’t tweet about it. It’s that simple. Because now you’re just show-boating and annoying all of us. Not surprisingly, the tech space is a huge offender of this one.

4. RTing Content You Know Everyone’s Already Seen

Maybe you’re just doing it in some vain attempt to increase your Klout score but Mashable doesn’t need you to RT their iPhone release news the same way Chris Brogan doesn’t need you to RT his post on human business. If they wrote it, people are probably going to find it on their own. Because they follow these guys and because everyone ELSE on the Internet is going to RT it first. If Chris has an exceptionally awesome (like even more awesome than usual), sure, share it. But instead of repeating the echo chamber all the time, find worthy content that’s NOT being RT’d or shared to death. Your audience will appreciate it more.

5. The Name-Dropper Tweet

Every time you tweet that you’re having dinner with Scott Stratten, Brian Solis, Missy Ward, John Jantsch and [Insert Someone Else] AT THE SAME TIME you make the whole Internet roll their collective eyes at you. Because if you were really that cool, you wouldn’t feel the need to out your dinner party to the whole world. You’d just eat and enjoy their company. Now we see how inadequate you feel that you needed to point it out. And we all feel sorry for you.

6. The Constant “I HAVE THE BEST WIFE/HUSBAND/SIGNIFANT OTHER” Tweet

Hey, I am super stoked for you that you’re in a relationship. Congrats. That’s awesome. But…not one really cares. I mean, we care in that “you’re a good person and we want you to be happy” way, but we’re not in the way that we need (or want) to be reminded of your relationship 24/7. The louder you yell about it, the more we think you need a shrink more than a RT. Because, people who are actually happy compared to those who pretend to be SO HAPPY is that you don’t really feel the need to tweet about. You just kind of are. Focus on the value people are coming to you for.

7. Bandwagon Tweets

Someone popular said something dumb and now the Internet has come together to CALL THEM OUT and let everyone know how WRONG they were about that thing. POWER OF THE PEOPLE! Yeah…it’s just another day on the Internet so maybe just sit out on this one? Why be one more voice in the noise? If you’re having a hard time fitting social media into your day, you definitely don’t need to be wasting time in bandwagon flame wars. Go talk to a potential customer. The Internet with flog their A-lister all on their own.

8. The Holy Passive Aggressive Tweet

We’ve all been there. We’ve all be irked by someone we know and felt the burning hot urge to share our frustrations with the world. It’s the American way, after all – we’re not happy until everyone around us is miserable. However…maybe keep it yourself. Think of what you could accomplish if you saved all that passive aggressive tweet energy and focused it to something more productive! Like, maybe a new blog post. Or a cool contest. Or rescuing a kitten from a high tree.

9. The “Read My Latest Blog Post!” Tweet

Sure, you should let people know you have a new post out and maybe they’d like to mosy on over and read it but don’t be a tool. Don’t scream it. Don’t tweet it 10 days in one day. Don’t act like you’ve just cured cancer. Just let people know it exists, and then get out of the way.

10. The “I Love Mondays” Tweet

Just shut up, okay? Monday’s hard enough.

If you don’t have time for social media, isn’t best to at least use the time you do have wisely?

Read more posts on Outspoken Media

HR Tech Europe 2011 Preview

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:30:02 PST

On Monday I'm heading to Amsterdam to cover HR Tech Europe 2011. In addition to interviewing the heads of some of the coolest tech firms in the HR space and blogging about the event, I'll be judging the European iTalent start-up competition.

HR Tech Europe 2011 is Sold out!

Europe's most important event on how software, systems and collaborative tools are bringing about surmountable change in the way organization’s work, is now closed to new registrations. So pay no attention to the call to action in my video below. If you aren't already booked, its too late. If you are going to be there please let me know.

HR Tech Europe 2011 represents the best source of intelligent information on HR technology, workforce solutions and collaborative tools being used by enterprises across Europe. New systems and software are set to create the next wave of change. Featuring two days of learning, featured enterprise panels, networking and hands-on demos, HR Tech Europebrings together an exclusive line up of speakers to discuss some of the innovations and applications driving this change, and their implications. Post-event attendee's will be equiped to take intelligent action and enjoy major takeaways, tips, and a set of recommendations for management to help maximize your current HR investments.

My appearance at HR Tech Europe is courtesy of HRN Europe, JSTN, Radical Events, and Ajax Social Media. Hope to see you there!

Museums
Rijks, Van Gogh ...

Amsterdam is a city of museums. Rain or shine, winter or summer, museums are an attraction you can forever depend on. It would be a pity if you left Amsterdam without visiting at least some of the world-famous museums in the city. There are more than a 100 museums within the city. Here, we compile a list of top ten museums.

....more

Tourist Attractions
Dam Square, Canals ...

Amsterdam has so much to offer, from history to art to canals to sex and drugs, it is hard to make a top ten list. Neverthless, here we make a list of those that you definitiely shouldn't miss, and we hope that you can sample at least a bit of everything that this wonderful city has to offer.

....more

Entertainment
Cinemas, music ...

You will find something to entertain yourself in Amsterdam, whatever your taste might be. Classical music, Films, Underground music, Jazz, Standups and what not. Our list tries to capture the same diversity that the city has to offer.

....more

Restaurants
Pancakes, Addis Abbaba ...

To say the Dutch are not famous for their food would be a gross understatement. And it is definitely advisable to have a list of recommended restaurants handy if you ever find yourself here. But that is not to say Amsterdam doesn't have good good restaurants. Quite the contrary

....more

Beer Bars
Belgian, Dutch, German..

Amsterdam has variety of beer bars, some of them carrying more than 300 different kinds. Pick your favorite from this list and hit it.

....more

Coffeeshops
Of course...

A lot of tourists come to Amsterdam for a puff of marijuana and other 'smart drugs' like magic mushroom. Try these joints...

....more

How to auto-optimize your resume

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 20:07:38 PDT

Is it possible to automatically focus your resume for a specific job description?...Sort of.

Today, Alison Doyle reported on an app, called Resunate, that allows you to input your resume, then input a job description to which you wish to apply. It then spits out a version of your resume that is re-arranged and slimmed down to focus on the skills you have that most match the job.

Alison's idea is that this app may help your resume fare better in search results within the hiring company's applicant tracking system. Many recruiters use an ATS to retrieve resumes that come into the company by doing a keyword search of their system. And some ATS's automatically recommend the top resumes, again based mostly on keywords.

I'm not sure the Resunate version of your resume will rank higher in an ATS because it doesn't appear to add keywords. But it could help a recruiter or hiring manager to focus in on the highlights when a resume is reviewed.

For more ideas to help with ATS optimization of your resume, take a look at The Best Format for Your Resume (Hint: It's not .PDF). Another article you might want to peruse on this subject is Top 5 Shiny Happy Resume Optimization Tips.

Resunate gives you a score of how closely you match the job both before and after optimization. It works, sort of. I tested it a few different ways with mixed results.

Alison suggests, as do I, that, if you use Resunate, don't just use the exact resume it returns for the desired position. Review it carefully to ensure it makes sense, is accurate, and still tells your story.

Resunate does some pretty cool things and may help you focus your resume. It isn't perfect, but it's pretty cool. Just remember that you, or a professional resume writer, are still your best editor.

Get an Applicant Tracking System Advantage
By Alison Doyle, About.com Guide October 11, 2011

My Bio

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Many employers use applicant tracking systems to select candidates to interview. It can be hard to know how to write your resume so it's a good match for the jobs you're applying for because you don't know the criteria the employer is using. However, there's now there's a way to match, in advance, your resume with the job description.

Resunate works like an applicant tracking system in reverse by providing job seekers with the same information employers use to select candidates. To use Resunate, which is free, job seekers can upload their existing resume or create and format a new resume on the website.

Once a resume is in the system, the next step is to enter the job description of a position you're interested in to see how your resume rates in the application process. Resunate then creates a "JobFocus Score" out of 10 points to demonstrate how closely a resume fits the job requirements. To improve this score, Resunate then focuses the resume, eliminating information that is unnecessary based on the job description.

Resunate provides a good starting point for a job seeker who needs assistance in drafting a resume. However, don't rely solely on the "JobFocus Score" and Resunate's focusing of your resume.

Not all applicant tracking systems work exactly the same way, not all employers use them, and there is still a human element involved in the applicant selection process, Resunate could possibly recommend that you eliminate an item from his resume that an employer may view as valuable. You don't want to eliminate information from your resume that could boost your chances of getting selected and that could leave your resume with information gaps.

That said, Resunate is a good tool to use to gauge how your resume measures up. Just use your own judgement when it comes to the final version of the resume you use to actually apply for jobs because you know best when it comes to your qualifications and skills.
More: Resunate

Cool Tools HR Tech Wrap-up 2011

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Thu, 06 Oct 2011 11:32:22 PDT

There I was, at a steak house on the Vegas strip, with 4 Brits and a German who couldn't pronounce Mojave. They had, as I had, driven into Las Vegas from Los Angeles, through the mountains and desert, a couple of days prior for HR Tech 2011.

That dinner was one of many highlights for me during a few days spent speaking at HRevolution and covering the HR Tech 2011 Conference.

I was very impressed with the unconference conversations and sessions at HRevolution. The planners did a great job, and it was an excellent way to kick off the week on Sunday.

Monday and Tuesday, at HRTech, I did briefings with sixteen HR technology vendors, and chatted with several more. I found some really cool tools and ideas that are helping me to shape an opinion of the future of candidate experience and employee engagement.

In spite of a slightly dry "Awesome Tools" presentation to close out HR Tech 2011, I came away inspired and impressed with the conference and many of the vendors involved. Check the #HRTechConf hasahtag for the tweets from the event.

First, some thoughts:

1. Everything will be scored. Soon. When we first started thinking about how Klout and other social influence measurements could effect hiring, there was a great deal of skepticism. But Klout is now a major factor in many ways. I think we will see scoring for everything from culture fit to skill set in the near future.

Think about it. We already have the assessments. But now candidates and employers alike will be given scores and matching numbers for each job. And most of it will be candidate self-service style on the front end of the application process. A candidate will know, before he even fills out an application, if the job and company are a good fit, and how much he or she is worth in the organization. I think we will even be able to give the candidate what their career trajectory within the company will look like based on their history, social influence, etc.

Link your job board profile to the assessment, answer a few culture questions, and, BOOM, you have a score that includes social influence, culture fit, skill level, salary worth, and probable career trajectory, laser targeted for each applicant.

No one is quite there yet. But the pieces are there, or getting there, in several tech firms I spoke with. When someone puts it all together we are in for a major shift.

2. You can't create culture with technology. There is a great deal of focus on employee engagement right now. I am a fan of the concept. I also think applicants should be treated the same as if they were already in the organization. The "candidate community" should be the same as the "employee engagement" platform. There should be no surprises once an applicant is hired.

But I don't believe you can create culture with technology. And that seems to be what tech firms are implying is possible. I still believe that if you want to engage employees, give them interesting work, reasonable pay, and good feedback.

Enterprise-wide engagement, collaboration software, fitness programs, etc. all help to create a good story. And they are generally appreciated by employees. But not having those things doesn't equal boredom or dissatisfaction in your job.

I would love to hear your thoughts on my thoughts...comment if you have some please!

Some companies I talked with that piqued my interest:

* Halogen Software - very innovative in Talent Management
* SHL - interesting direction for assessments
* OneWire - Pretty amazing overlay for your existing ATS that helps source and sort candidates in your system for precise matching
* HireVue - Think interviews on-demand. A hiring manager can now have interviews queued up in a DVR-like system with candidates answering key questions in short videos. Check, check, check. New CMO, Kevin Marasco, is doing a superb job of positioning HireVue with this concept.
* TALX - Employment verification and new workforce analytics with the help of newly acquired eThority
* Monster - The SeeMore semantic search technology is really cool. And Monster continues to position itself as thought leaders with the MonsterThinking blog and the best marketing team in the recruiting industry.
* HR Marketer - If you are a vendor in the HR space, just watch their demo. Great stuff.
* The Star Conspiracy - aka Starr Tincup pre 10/11. There is something fishy going on there, as their fun re-branding suggests. If you need marketing, call them and demand full disclosure. They rock.
* Jobs2Web - Excellent talent management and analytics tools, and new talent community marketing platform. I am keeping a close watch on this. Really interesting.
* Jobsite - The UK's leading job board (and owner of one of my fav job posting distribution platforms, Broadbean) is an idea factory that has had projects incubating for years, that they keep rolling out, and which keep impressing me. How do you pronounce Mojave?
* Branchout - With their recently announced partnership with CareerBuilder, and some expected new releases, Branchout is making the job board / social candidate platform landscape very competitive. Expect big things here.
* CubeVibe - I know I said you can't create culture with technology. But CubeVibe is doing some fascinating work in measuring employee sentiment and contribution.
* iCIMS - Reduce cost-per-hire and time-to-fill. Solid talent management platform continues to get better.
* JSTN - Branded, search engine optimized, highly mobile, employmer and job description videos. CNBC for employers. The Job Search Television Network is pretty darn cool. I'm hosting the next TalentNet Live at their studios in Chicago on 12/5.

Pronunciation courtesy of Wikipedia: "The Mojave Desert ( /moʊˈhɑːvi/ or /məˈhɑːvi/; High Desert)"
Synopsis courtesy of Craig Fisher: "It's not all dry." Congrats to the HRevolution team on a great kick-off to the week, and to Bill Kutic and company on a great HR Tech 2011.

On Wednesday, I joined Bryan Wempen for a post-conference wrap-up show on DriveThruHR Radio. Check it out below.

Listen to internet radio with Bryan Wempen on Blog Talk Radio

3 Facebook Tips for Better Engagement & Edgerank

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 07:42:40 PDT

Edgerank is the evil culprit that is most responsible for what you see on your Facebook timeline. Yes, it has a name. Facebook is arguably the best tool in social media for engaging your customers or friends. But if you want to be really good at it, below are 3 tips to help you up your game from Carmen Sofia Grant at http://www.suite101.com/.

Facebook Tips for Increasing Engagement and Follower Activity

By Carmen Sofia Grant

Facebook is an amazing tool for increasing client, reader, and customer engagement. It is a direct conversation with people that want to read your updates.

Facebook Pages are an amazing way to get your business seen online. Facebook allows you to have a direct conversation with clients and readers and understand what they want, and what they don't by their online behavior. Facebook monitors your posts and ranks them using their EdgeRank algorithm and there are a few things you can do to strategically get to the top of a feed.

Always Keep Facebook's Edgerank in Mind when Posting

According to Jim Lodico, a contributer at SocialMediaExaminer.com, there are three aspects of the Edgerank algorithm that affect the chance of a post getting seen. Ever notice how you could have hundreds of facebook friends but you only see the posts of maybe 15-20? It isn't a coincidence. It is Facebook EdgeRank at work finding which posts have the greatest "affinity, interaction, and timeline."

Jodico states that affinity is the relationship between you and your friends, interaction is measured by how many people likes, comment, and share a post, and timeliness just refers to how new the post is.

Therefore, a newer post that is getting a LOT of interaction and is from a person that you normally and consistently interact with is going to get to the top of your timeline.

Plan your Facebook Status, but Don't Schedule it through an Aggregator.

Using an aggregator to schedule your Facebook status updates is very convenient, but it hurts your Edgerank. The exact process is not known, but if you were to post a status update in Facebook organically versus through an aggregator, like Marketmesuite for example, the organic post will always have a higher rank. Taking the personal time to log into the account and post through the real Facebook page means more to Edgerank than using a cold and impersonal aggregator. So if a post is ridiculously important, post it yourself. It adds affinity to your rank.

Keep Facebook Status's Moving

This happens to everyone. You post something brilliant, and nobody comments. Nobody likes it. Nobody shares it (you can now see who is sharing your status updates on Facebook). If you have a Facebook status flop. Ignore it. Move on, and post something else. Desperation is not attractive on Facebook or in person, so commenting on a lonely post asking for opinions is not a good strategy. Don't dwell on a stagnant post. Just move on.

Now that you know a bit about how Edgerank works, apply these tips to all future Facebook posts. Remember to be timely, engaging, and interesting and always gauge what your readers like to give them more of what they want.

Xobni's Smartr for Gmail less intelligent than Rapportive

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 20:20:06 PDT

How well do you know your email contacts?

Today Xobni released its social intelligence app, Smartr, for Gmail. I was interested to see if it would work for me as a compliment to, or even "smarter" replacement for Rapportive.

I have been using Rapportive since early Summer as a social profile viewer/CRM inside my Gmail inbox. It helps me connect with, and visualize recent activity of, people in my inbox. Here is a pretty good Mashable write-up of Rapportive: http://mashable.com/2011/07/15/rapportive-compose/

I installed Smartr today only to find it to be dumber than Rapportive. At lease for me, at least for now. It could be that it takes time for the app to get to know me. But in a side by side comparison of data for contacts I have recently emailed, Rapportive was better able to show profile data and connection to me.

Smartr missed on Linkedin profiles several times, showing "no matches". It did, however, in a couple of cases, show me Facebook profile data of a contact where Rapportive did not.

Smartr also boasts some unique features around relationship history (in gmail, not IRL). But it does not have a place to take notes on that contact like Rapportive does.

I will give Xobni more time to work out the bugs and process my inbox. I'm going to keep both going for now because they each offer really cool insight into your contacts social activity and message history. We'll see if Smartr gets smarter with age. I'll keep you posted.

Do you have a different experience with these tools? Let me know in the comments.

Xobni Brings “Smartr” Social Intelligence Apps to Gmail & Androidfrom Mashable by Jennifer Van Grove
Social intelligence startup Xobni first found favor with Outlook and BlackBerry users. Tuesday, the company is extending its contact management and productivity capabilities to those with Gmail accounts and Android devices.

The Gmail and Android applications, branded under a new product suite called Smartr, are designed to give users a complete picture of the people they email or communicate with via mobile.

Smartr Inbox for Gmail, the official release of Xobni’s private beta Gmail application, is a social intelligence sidebar for your Gmail or Google Apps account that works as you read and consume email. It’s available on Safari, Firefox and Chrome.

In the inbox view, the sidebar displays a grid of photos to highlight the people you communicate with the most. You can hover over photos for a quick glimpse at the person or click a photo to view a full profile.
You can also filter the view for a Facebook or Twitter-centric view of your contacts.

In the message view, the sidebar zeroes in on your communication history with a single contact, grabs the person’s recent social updates from Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, and digs up contact information from previous email messages.

Smartr Contacts for Android also launches in public beta Tuesday. The product is meant to re-envision the mobile phone address book and take it from a context-less contact list to something infinitely more intuitive.

The app analyzes data in your phone and on online networks. It promises to keep contact information up-to-date, allow for better search, rank contacts by importance and show you a contact’s profile with latest photos, company info, message history and social updates.

A similar application for iPhone is slated for release later this year.

Users not happy with new Facebook changes

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 27 Sep 2011 06:53:12 PDT

Interesting Post today from CNN Tech blog.

Here we go again.Facebook has made big changes to users' pages, and people are responding in droves with their metaphorical "dislike" buttons.
News Feeds were popping with not-so-gentle complaints Wednesday as many of the social-networking behemoth's 750 million users began seeing the overhaul."This is absolutely the worst of the many wrong-headed 'improvements' you have made, and that's quite a feat," a user named Franklin Habit wrote on the site's official Facebook page. "I think Facebook's usefulness to me has now been outstripped by its lack of ease in use."

Others were more succinct.
"This sucks," wrote user Brandon Howell. "That is all."
To be fair, griping about Facebook changes is a time-honored hallmark of the site. Change is hard for some people, and users grumble every time Facebook revamps their pages.
And it's perhaps a touch on the ironic side that many of the current complaints are coming from folks who, in turn, complained in December when the current format was rolled out. Or the time before. And the time before that.
Which isn't to say that the changes aren't pretty dramatic.
Instead of defaulting to your friends' most recent posts, the News Feed (which people hated when it was introduced) is now topped in many cases by what Facebook calls "Top Stories" for you. It uses an algorithm that combines such factors as which friends you interact with most and which friends' posts have the most comments and "likes" on them.
That algorithm, of course, was in its infancy on Wednesday, leading many users to say the top stories that Facebook suggested were random, at best.
"The 'top stories' needs to be gotten rid of," wrote user Kristy Montaney. "They're out of context and I want to check my News Feed from most recent to oldest, none of this 'top stories' stuff."
In a post on The Facebook Blog, developer Mark Tonkelowitz said the idea is to help people who may not log in to the site all the time find the best content, not just the newest.
"Now, News Feed will act more like your own personal newspaper," he wrote. "You won't have to worry about missing important stuff. All your news will be in a single stream with the most interesting stories featured at the top."

13 Steps to Master Search Marketing

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 03:29:16 PDT

Do you have the proper mix of organic and paid search strategies? Are you using social media to boost your search rankings? Are you measuring the right things when you evaluate your search efforts? Are you optimizing your website for organic search and making smart paid search decisions?

This month I am pleased to be a presenter in a 13-class online course, Search Marketing School, presented by MarketingProfs. As my friend, you can save up to $200 with my promo code AJAXVIP. Register here!

Live, online classes September 15–30, 2011
Access recordings for 12 months!

In September, join MarketingProfs University for Search Marketing School, a 13-class course designed to help you be a better search marketer. This course covers the art and the science of search marketing and is taught by experts like Rand Fishkin and Lee Odden. Check out our class descriptions below and register now.

How does it work? Each class airs live (see dates and times below) and is recorded during the broadcast. Participate whenever it works best for your schedule. You can watch (and re-watch) the classes at your convenience through August 2012. For each class, students have access to the class lecture and Q&A (streaming media), as well as several support materials: the slide deck (PDF), the audio track (MP3) (so you can listen to the lectures on other devices), a transcript (PDF), and a "cheat sheet" (PDF). Once you view all of the classes, you can download a Certificate of Completion (PDF). As part of the course, you'll also get access to our course-exclusive Facebook group to network and share your own questions and insights with fellow MPU students, staff, and instructors.

As a Search Marketing School student, you'll get these free additional course materials (a $171.95 value):

A free copy of the book The Findability Formula: The Easy, Non-Technical Approach to Search Engine Marketing by Heather Lutze (a $22.95 value)
Access to Take 10: How to Add Your SEO Keywords to Your Website Content, a MarketingProfs tactical webcast ($10 value).
Access to Take 10: How to Select Your Keywords Using a Free Tool From Google (a $10 value).
Access to MarketingProfs Makeover: Optimizing Content for SEO (a $129 value).

Search Marketing School includes these 13 classes (each 30, 60 or 90 minutes long):

GOOGLE

What Every Marketer Should Know About Google

Speaker:
Maile Ohye—Senior Developer Programs Engineer, Google Inc.

Thursday, September 15—12:00pm-1:30pm ET

If you want your products and services to be found online, it goes without saying that you need to understand as much as possible about Google Search. In this session, we will cover the latest in Google Search and the evolving search landscape. We will also take a look at successful approaches—and, just as importantly, the pitfalls to avoid—when building a site that is truly helpful for searchers.

You will learn:

The latest Google Search features relevant to marketers
How to build websites with Google Search in mind
The most common Google Search-related mistakes websites make

STRATEGY

Modern SEO Strategy: Adapt or Die

Speaker:
Lee Odden—CEO, TopRank Online Marketing; Editor, TopRank's Online Marketing Blog

Monday, September 19—12:00pm-1:00pm ET

If content or media can be searched, it can be optimized for better performance on search engines. Google handles more than 10 billion queries per month, so for businesses to stand out, a holistic, strategic, and customer-centric approach to search engine optimization (SEO) is essential. Modern SEO is more than keywords, links, and XML sitemaps. An adaptable SEO strategy intersects with multiple disciplines—including content marketing, online public relations, and social media—to ensure that brand content shows up wherever customers are looking.

You will learn:

How SEO, social media, and content create more opportunities for customer acquisition and engagement
The seven-step process for holistic SEO using searcher personas, social keywords, and social content for link promotion
Best practices from B2B and B2C companies using this holistic approach as part of their online marketing strategy

KEYWORDS

Keys to Practical Keyword Research

Speaker:
Brian Posnanski—Founder and Principal, TrafficPRM

Monday, September 19—1:30pm-2:30pm ET

Keywords, keywords, keywords. The importance of optimizing content with keywords is something discussed in countless blog posts, whitepapers, and webinars. But keyword research itself seldom gets the kind of in-depth, how-do-you-do-it attention that it deserves. If you're a social media, public relations, or marketing professional of any stripe and not directly involved in SEO, the keyword research process may strike you as a tad mysterious. In this class, we'll push back the curtains and explore the topic of keyword research in a practical, down-to-earth way.

You will learn:

Where to begin your keyword research—tips and tools
Best practices for selecting keywords and optimizing content
How you'll know when you have the right keywords

ETHICS

SEO Ethics: The Morality of Great Marketing

Speaker:
Rand Fishkin—CEO and Co-founder, SEOmoz

Monday, September 19—3:00pm-4:00pm ET

Tragically, the history of organic search is littered with stories of manipulation, malpractice, and spam. In this class, we will explore many of the ethical issues facing search marketers and provide recommendations for those wishing to remain wholly white hat while still producing remarkable, effective results.

You will learn:

Where moral/ethical conflicts may arise in the practice of search marketing
How to creatively solve tough issues without resorting to tactics that violate guidelines or ethical best practices
Specific tactics that are remarkably effective yet wholly white hat and ethical

PAID SEARCH

Five Fundamentals of Paid Search ... That Most Companies Get Wrong

Speaker:
George Michie—Co-founder and CEO, Rimm-Kaufman Group

Wednesday, September 21—12:00-1:00pm ET

Paid search is complex and ever-changing. The myriad new product offerings from Google, the buzz about attribution, and the plethora of misinformation in the blogosphere can be disorienting. This class covers five fundamental truths of paid search that most advertisers and agencies get wrong. By focusing on core principles of paid search, smart advertisers will get an edge on their competition and make paid search an efficient, effective, and significant part of their business.

You will learn:

Why aggregated performance data can hide true performance
Why bidding to position guarantees inefficient advertising
How to use layered match types to grow a search program efficiently
How to vastly improve your overall paid search effectiveness

LINK BUILDING

Link Building and Link Marketing in a Post-Panda Web

Speaker:
Eric Ward—Chief Link Evangelist, AdGooroo; President, EricWard.com; Publisher, URLwire.com

Wednesday, September 21—1:30pm-2:30pm ET

You know link building is important, but you don't know what (or who) to believe—let alone where to spend your time and money. You need step-by-step implementation instructions. In this class, we'll help dispel the fog around link building so you can stop spinning your wheels on linking tactics that are destined to fail. And although your Google ranking is important, we'll show you why link building is about much more than search rank.

You will learn:

How link building today differs from years past and what it means for your site and linking strategy
How to recognize viable linking opportunities that can help your search rank and click traffic
How to keep the links coming over time

Note: Google radically changed it's search algorithm earlier this year with a release it calls Panda. To learn more read Evan Britton's post on Business Insider and this post from Google.

LinkedIn and Search Engine Optimization

Speaker:
Craig Fisher—Vice President, Ajax Social Media

Friday, September 23—1:30pm-2:30pm ET

Everyone knows that you can use LinkedIn to find new employees and potential clients, but LinkedIn can also play an important role in your organization's search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. In this session, we will look at practical ways that you can leverage your company profile—and even individual employee profiles—to boost search rank and help your company get found.

You will learn:

How Google treats LinkedIn
Tips on improving your profiles to boost search rank
Guidelines on involving employees in these efforts

SOCIAL

Social Media Tools & Tactics for SEO

Speaker:
Rhea Drysdale—Co-founder & CEO, Outspoken Media

Monday, September 26—12:00pm-1:00pm ET

Now that you have a strong foundation in SEO, it's time to talk about social media. What does social have to do with search? A lot! With recent changes in social networks and search engines, social media can have a significant impact on search results. In this class, we'll take a closer look at the ways in which social media influences search, and discuss the tools and tactics you'll need to effectively integrate this into your SEO plans.

You will learn:

How social media can influence search engine rankings
Tactics to help combine social media and SEO
Tools that help you execute an effective SEO plan

LANDING PAGES

Optimizing Landing Pages

Speaker:
Janet Driscoll Miller—President and CEO, Search Mojo

Monday, September 26—1:30pm-2:30pm ET

You've got a great pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaign with a respectable click-through rate (CTR), but site visitors aren't converting. Why not? The answer may lie in your campaign landing pages. Landing pages—the Web pages that ad respondents "land" on after clicking on your PPC ad—can be the difference between conversion success and failure. Although CTR is a measure of how well your ad copy resonates with a searcher, conversion rate is a direct measurement of the impact of your landing page—its messages, usability, and offer—on the ad respondent. In this class, we'll learn how to create and test landing pages to ensure that you can continually improve conversion rates and guarantee return on investment from your PPC campaigns.

You will learn:

Best practices for landing page layouts
How to customize landing pages based on the ad respondent's search query
The importance of real-time A/B and multivariate testing on pages, and how to set up and run A/B and multivariate tests
Which page elements to test

MOBILE

The Mobile Search Marketing Advantage

Speaker:
Bryson Meunier—Director of Content Solutions, Resolution Media

Wednesday, September 28—1:30pm-2:30pm ET

Mobile search is set to surpass desktop search in four short years, according to IDC, and Google's mobile search product manager expects mobile search to surpass desktop search even sooner than that. When that happens, will your business be ready? Maybe not, as 79% of businesses don't have a mobile website. In this class, we'll look at the ins and outs of mobile search and discuss the best practices your competitors haven't even started to think about yet.

You will learn:

Mobile website or apps—which is best for your business
How mobile search engine optimization (SEO) differs from traditional SEO
Today's top five mobile search marketing action items

METRICS

Meaningful SEO Metrics

Speaker:
Stephan Spencer—Consultant and Co-author of The Art of SEO

Friday, September 30—12:00pm–1:00pm ET

Search engine optimization (SEO) represents a major commitment of time and resources, so you want to make sure that you are using the most relevant metrics to gauge the effectiveness of your efforts. Rather than relying on old-school SEO metrics such as PageRank, rankings, and link popularity, or meaningless metrics such as "keyword density" or KEI (Keyword Effectiveness Index), you should be considering SEO metrics such as brand-to-nonbrand ratio, index-to-crawl ratio, search traffic per page, visitors per keyword, and many others. In this class, we'll explore the full range of useful SEO metrics and how to leverage them for SEO success.

You will learn:

How to conduct scientifically valid SEO experiments
How to identify weaknesses in your site's SEO
How to expand your keyword list, improve indexing, increase rankings, and boost link authority
How to prioritize your efforts, allocate resources, and budget effectively

IN-HOUSE

SEO Trials and Tribulations—How to Avoid Them Both as You Start In-house SEO

Speaker:
Jessica Bowman—CEO, SEOinhouse.com

Friday, September 30—1:15pm-2:15pm ET

Whenever you are paying an agency to do something, you inevitably think, "Why don't I just do this in-house?" Of course, answering that question is harder than it seems, and it can be particularly tricky when you're talking about something as ever-changing and seemingly arcane as search engine optimization (SEO). In this class, we will discuss just what it takes to successfully do SEO in-house and everything you need to consider when making the move—whether you're leaving an agency or starting from scratch.

You will learn:

When to do things in-house vs. hire a consultant
How to hire the right in-house SEO for your organization (and vet for the right skillset)
How much time you need to dedicate to SEO
What needs to be included in a 12- to 18-month roadmap

REPUTATION

Proactive Reputation Management

Speaker:
Tony Wright—CEO and Founder, WrightIMC

Friday, September 30—2:30pm-3:30pm ET

In a world driven by search, your reputation is whatever Google (or Google Instant) says it is. So beyond making great products and providing outstanding service, what can you do to manage and positively influence your reputation on Google and elsewhere? In this class, we will look closely at the online reputation management landscape and provide concrete steps that you can take to develop a proactive approach to managing your brand's reputation.

You will learn:

Why online reputation management is important and how best to monitor your reputation
The characteristics of effective social media policies
The key to reviews management and proactive reviews management strategies
Critical elements of an online crisis communications plan

How Businesses Use Social Media for Recruiting

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 13 Sep 2011 20:59:24 PDT

Mashable.com today posted a great article and infographic:

How Businesses Use Social Media for Recruiting. by Erica Swallow

Savvy job seekers have turned to digital and social media tools to help them in their job searches, and now recruiters are on board with the power of social media as a recruiting tool.

LinkedIn isn’t the only social network that helps in the job search process — Facebook, Twitter, YouTube andGoogle+ have all been used by people to land jobs in innovative ways.

And interesting takes on the digital resume are increasingly popular, with job seekers creating infographic resumes, video resumes and other visual resumes that set them apart from other job applicants.

Employers are taking note of the importance of social media in the recruiting process, and the majority of businesses are turning to social media to find and evaluate job candidates, according to this infographic compiled by Career Enlightenment, a resource for online job seekers.

Take a look and let us know what you think of using social media to find a job.

Why I love smart job seekers

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 02 Sep 2011 08:38:35 PDT

How many things in life really make you happy?

Last Friday I was hosting the 3rd annual TalentNet Live Social Recruiting Conference at Pepsico's Frito-Lay campus. I was not just hosting and moderating, I was presenting in 3 different sessions. So I was busy. But Eugene Chu managed to get my attention.

At some point during the day I heard buzz about a job seeker at the conference. No one knew him. Yet there he was, actively participating, asking smart questions, networking, and thanking people for their help. I just smiled. I met Eugene later that day and was very impressed.

There is always a great deal of recruiting and networking that happens at a TNL conference. But Eugene stood out. He just showed up, very sincere, hoping to meet some good people who could help him connect with a job, and to learn more about social networking. Smart.

I speak to job seeker groups every month about how to be smarter networkers. Seeing people "get it" and actively help themselves is one of my great pleasures in life.

My happy list goes something like this: My kids, my boat, hummus, smart job seekers, running, reading, travel, Burn Notice... You get the point.

Eugene is a recent U.S. Army Commander, with a background in HR and operations, looking for work in the private sector. His Linkedin profile is here http://www.linkedin.com/in/eugenechu1. He's getting started on Twitter at @eugenechu1. If you have a few minutes to connect with Eugene, please do. He would love your help.

Cheers, Craig

From: Eugene Chu <eugene.t.chu@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 29, 2011 at 11:01 AM
Subject: Appreciation and thanks for TalentNet Live from job seeker
To: Craig Fisher

Dear Mr. Fisher,

I attended TalentNetLive on Friday and had a great experience. Your event was top notch, beneficial and entertaining. The sessions of corporate recruiter secrets, location marketing, secret track, LinkedIn optimization, and social do's and don'ts were highly informative. Though I was a job seeker and not a recruiter, everyone welcomed me with open arms and happily gave me their contact information for networking. I accomplished more in learning and networking because of TalentNet Live than I did in previous weeks of job fair attendance.

I am currently on Facebook, LinkedIn, and recently started on Twitter. I would like to follow up and connect with you on those accounts. I would appreciate your support regarding social media in order to work and provide for a company's future success or connect for business school opportunities. Again, thank you for the conference in social media development and for the outstanding opportunity. I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Eugene Chu

Google+ early adopters may be targeted by recruiters

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 11:17:03 PDT

Remember when people said Twitter isn't good for recruiting? I am a huge fan of bold new platforms like Google+ for networking and recruiting purposes.

I am not going to do a full explanation of what Google+ is in this post. Andy Headworth has already done a nice job of that on his blog. Check out What is Google + and should you use it for recruiting?

When Caty Kobe recently hit me up to answer a question on the FOCUS platform, "Recruiters: Does Google+ fit in with your recruiting strategy yet?”, I thought my answer could use just a wee bit of expansion. So here it goes.

The small number of people who use Google+ are early adopters. Early adopters are generally open to being contacted by other early adopters with the proper approach.

If you use Google+, build your network, and contribute good content to the stream on a regular basis. People in your circles will be open to giving you referrals or taking your call if you ask occasionally. But don't just ask, and don't be a creep. Be a good citizen. Contribute!

Just like with any other network, your profile needs to be interesting and credible when prospects go to check you out. This is a social place. Have a good profile pic and some other photos people can check out on your profile. Write something interesting about yourself. Your profile should be full of conversation starters as well as keywords so people can find you. Hint: your name is a keyword. Repeat it often.

Searching for people on Google+ is pretty straight forward with FindPeopleOnPlus. Want to find a mobile app developer, or a CTO? Just look. You get a pretty short, targeted list that is easy to scan, with bio pic, etc. FindPeopleOnPlus is not an advanced search engine, but it works. And if you find people you wish to contact, add them to a specific circle, or invite them to a hangout or huddle.

I am hearing of people every day who are abandoning Twitter and Facebook for Google+. It's not perfect yet. And the other networks will still be used for a long, long time to come. But Google+ is definitely growing. Take advantage now while you can still search through a short list of early adopters.

You can connect with me on Google+ at gplus.to/craigfisher

Here is Andy's breakdown of Google+ elements:

The quick overview of the different parts of Google+ are:

Stream: like Facebook, this is a feed of all the updates made from people within your Circles (your self selected network)

Sparks: this is Google's way of recommending content to you that is the most relevant to your search words.(Your didn't think Google wouldn't get an opportunity to use it's search algorythms here did you?)

Hangouts: clever, clever, clever. Essentially a group video chat function for up to 10 people at any time. The clever bit is the way that Google+ switches from person to person in the group chat depending on who is talking into the microphone at the time.

Huddle: think group instant messaging for people in your Circles and you get the idea.

Circles: the deal breaker for Google+. It allows you to create your own unique social networks and add whoever you want into them. You can then interact and engage with these individual Circles. (If you are in recruiting or sourcing - this is has HUGE potential

Photos: a comprehensive photo application - with Picassa sitting behind it.

Search: I have added this as an extra, because with my recruitment mindset, finding people is key to me. Google is all about search, and with Google+ there are great ways of finding people (as you would expect!)

Have you heard the Google+ song yet? I saw this on Huffington Post yesterday.

I'm still learning too. But these are my suggestions:

Adopt: Learn the rules and the ropes
Build: You can only recruit if you connect
Contribute: Post good content to the stream. Share content from those who you want to get to know better. +1, comment, and reply to others content often.
Profile: Full profile with photo and interesting background information about you
Recruit: Reach out occasionally for referrals and candidates. Ask your targets for their opinions and expertise, not just if they want a job. And don't just post jobs all the time, that never works.

We are going to deep dive on Google+ and other cool tools at the TalentNet Live social recruiting unconference on 8/26 at Pepsico in Plano, TX.

So what do you think? Can you use an early adopter platform like Google+ for targeted prospecting and quick connection?

Is Your Employer Brand A Social Object?

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Thu, 18 Aug 2011 10:08:55 PDT

By Craig Fisher, originally posted on MonsterThinking.com
How interesting is the job for which your company is hiring? How interesting, for that matter, is your company? Is there a compelling story? On July 26th, 2011, the recruiting community in San Antonio discussed this in a live conversation with Robert Scoble as he kicked off TalentNet Live at Rackspace HQ.
Talking recruiting and branding with @Scobleizer was just one of the perks of hosting TNL at such an innovative brand’s home office.
He detailed these stories in a recent article he posted on his favorite new social spot,Google+. Here’s an excerpt from the post, aptly titled, “How do you recruit the best talent?“ Which is a question on a lot of our minds these days.
Here’s Scoble’s take:

“Graham Weston, in his TEDx speech, laid it out a bit better when he tells us how an organization can succeed at a human level. “What we all want is to be valued members, of a winning team, on an inspiring mission.” You should watch the rest of the speech (below). His leadership is a majority of the reason I work at Rackspace.

Another friend, Hugh MacLeod , says you need to turn work into a social object. IE, something that creates a conversation. If you haven’t read Hugh’s thinking on social objects, you should (click here). He’s the artist who drew the cartoon on this post.
The best companies tell a story that creates a conversation that creates those powerful feelings after the recruit goes home. Here’s some examples I’ve seen:
SOASTA: They buy every employee two 27-inch monitors. One for home and one for the office. That sounds extravagant, right? But it’s the best recruiting technique I’ve seen (and one that today doesn’t cost much money). It resonates with me, I turned down a job once because the guy who would be my boss came into the interview with a crappy computer. If the company didn’t give HIM the best tools, well, then, there was no chance they were going to support me with the best ones.
GOPRO: GoProbought a race car for its 70 employees to share. Here’s a video of it with CEO Nicholas Woodman driving:

Wide HERO race car testing. Laguna Seca July, 2008 from GoPro on Vimeo.
He told me it’s one reason he was glad to hold off taking venture capital so long “a board would probably not have approved that expense.” But talk about a powerful social object “the startup I work for has its own race car, isn’t that cool?”
It’s not the only social object they have, either. Their cameras are being used right now to film the X Games and employees are there working to capture that.
HEALTHTAP: They create a fun atmosphere at work. When I met CEO Ron Gutman he took me on a tour of their office, and showed me conference rooms that have themes. The one that caught my eye is the 1950s room:
So many conference rooms I’ve been in just have the same boring furniture. Not here, they bought a 1950s restaurant table and TV. Ron told me “and it only cost us $350 on Craig’s List.”
Which demonstrates “we’re gonna have fun and we’re not gonna kill the bank while doing it.” Of course, you need to know the rest of the story. Ron gave a TED talk this year on the hidden power of smiling, which then went viral.
Wouldn’t you like to work for a guy who did a TED video on smiling? I bet that’s a fun place to work and the fun themed conference rooms back that up.
Other companies that have fun workplaces?

SCRIBD, which has a zipline and electric go cart races inside the offices.

YFROG which has a rock star CEO (one of the first employees at Google) who takes his employees shooting (a different kind of power) and has a room full of blow-up frogs.”

Scoble’s presentation was very interesting. But the best part was that he saved the last half for Q and A. I’ve seen many great speakers do their thing; frankly, I’m not easily impressed. But the Q&A session with Scoble actually gave me goose bumps. I’ll admit it. It was great. And it set the perfect tone for the rest of the conference.
Throughout the day at TNL, we learned how some well established employer brands,Rackspace, Intuit, Monster, and AT&T, approached recruiting and engagement. We learned from Bill Boorman how Hard Rock Cafe could hire 120 people in four weeks using Facebook and Eventbrite.
We also got a glimpse of new technology and smarter approaches to recruiting and branding from SmartRecruiters, BizzBizz, SilkRoad, BraveNewTalent, and Ajax Social Media, not to mention Monster’s newBeKnown Facebook app. All very interesting social objects.
Does your company have a compelling story? Come and share it when TalentNet Live happens again this month in Dallas on 8/26 at one of the world’s most recognizable and iconic brands, Pepsico.
TNL Dallas will explore the latest ideas and real world tools to rock your brand and streamline your recruiting process. Pepsico marketing and recruiting leaders Chris Hoyt and Jim Schnyder will be on hand along with many of your favorite social recruiting innovators who are in the trenches, their everyday work executed from the talent trenches.
It’s the work that creates a conversation about the big picture, smart people talking about smart topics that matter to recruiting and talent management. Sound good? Well, I’m interested.
If you are, too, I hope you can make it to Dallas on August 26th. I look forward to meeting you in real life, but if you can’t make it to Plano, click here for some ways you can join the #TNL conversation online.
And don’t forget to check MonsterThinking.com starting Tuesday, August 23, for complete coverage of the event in Dallas – and what the conversation in Texas means for the global talent community.

Is Google+ Eating Facebook and Twitter User Engagement? Yes!

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 22:06:33 PDT

I've been really enjoying Google+ over the last few weeks. The conversations are good. The stream is clean. It seems fresh, fresher than Facebook and Twitter. I've heard many of my peers say the same thing. But I wondered if it is just a handful of power users voicing this opinion. Apparently not, according to a recent poll. We'll see where this goes. But it is interesting.

Google+ Eating Facebook, Twitter User Engagement

By: Clint Boulton originally posted at eWeek

Google+ is a hot commodity and is chomping user engagement from the likes of Facebook and Twitter, according to a Bloomberg/YouGov poll. Can it last?

Google+ is enjoying user engagement at the expense of rival social networks Facebook and Twitter, according to YouGov, which expects another 16 million U.S. users to join the new social network over the coming year.

Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) launched its Google+ search engine to limited field-testing June 28. The social network, which lets users add contacts manually in buckets called Circles, acquired over 25 million users worldwide in just over a month since its launch, comScore found.
Google also just refreshed the Google+ for iPhone application, which is popular among + power users with those Apple smartphones.

Google+ appears to be chipping away at engagement levels on Facebook and Twitter, said Bloomberg and researcher YouGov. The two surveyed 1,003 online adult users in the U.S. from July 29 to Aug. 2 and found 45 percent of Google+ users said they read content once a day or more. That compares to 62 percent of Facebook users that said they read Facebook content daily.

Moreover, 46 percent of Google+ users said they created content, whether it be posting status updates or links at least once a week. That's more than the 42 percent of Twitter users who claim they post at least once a week.

With Google reporting 25 million accounts already and an estimated 16 million more U.S. adults reporting that they plan to join over the coming year, Google+ can be a threat to both Facebook and Twitter, Michael Nardis, head of YouGov investment products, said.

Of course, Nardis also said 31 percent of early Google+ joiners report having abandoned Google+ accounts or have not yet created any content on it—a sign that that the social network is not impervious to social-media fatigue, despite the hype.

Here are some other figures for contemplation. YouGov and Bloomberg found that 13 percent of adult Web users in the U.S, have signed up for a Google+ account with another 9 percent planning to sign up in the next 12 months.

ComScore said Google+ users in the U.S. currently number about 7 million or 8 million, with users in India, the U.K. and Canada leading the remaining 18 million or so users from the rest of the world. Bloomberg and YouGov said another 16 million U.S. users alone could be on Google+ by this time next year.

If the geographical demographics from comScore are true, and YouGov is correct in claiming another 16 million U.S. users will join in 12 months, Google+ could add 23 million or more U.S. users alone, and another 30 million or 40 million users in the rest of the world by this time next year. That's 50 million to 60 million-plus users by August 2012.

Such a number will hardly threaten Facebook's near 800 million worldwide user base, but remember that Facebook took three years to hit 50 million users. Google will be much closer to Twitter, which has accrued 200 million users. The question remains whether Google manages to entice users to spend more time on Google+ than on Facebook or Twitter.

That could happen if Google builds a gaming and/or applications platform for third-party developers many expect it to launch for Google+. There's no reason Google couldn't duplicate if not surpass the success Facebook has had with Zynga and its Farmville game with this approach.
Nardis said that as Google+ gains followers, it could blunt Facebook usage, as some 30 percent of Facebook users who already use Google+ claimed they planned on cutting down time spent on Facebook this year.

How to Follow a Conference Virtually

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:19:51 PDT

By Trish McFarlane originally posted on MonsterThinking.com
This Friday I planned to cover theTalent Net Live (#TNL) conference atRackspace in San Antonio for you. Unfortunately, business needs necessitated my being in St. Louis this week. This does offer me the opportunity to share how to attend a conference virtually using several social media platforms.
The following are some of the ways I plan to stay connected on Friday with the great content being shared and discussed at TNL:
Twitter: The most important thing to do is search “TNL” either via Twitter or on another Twitter-based platform such as Hootsuite orTweetdeck. By creating this search, you will see all that is being shared including quotes from sessions, video links, book mentions and more.

Additionally, to make it easy for you, I created a Twitter list for the event. Just go to my profile on Twitter (@TrishMcFarlane) and click on Lists. You’ll see the list TNL -San Antonio - 2011 which is a complete list of speakers. Follow that list in order to hear the perspective of the speakers at the event.
FaceBook: Be sure to “Like” the FaceBook fan page for Talent Net Live. There you’ll find updated blog post links about the event and be able to see pictures taken on site.
Blogs: Your first resource is right here on the Monster Thinking Blog. We’ll be here providing you with insights from many of the sessions. We have Matt Charney on the ground and he’ll be working with a team of people to bring you the best ideas shared at the event.
Join in the discussion or the controversy! In addition, there will be several other bloggers at the event. Here is just a sample to get you started:
○     Jason Seiden
○     Jessica Miller Merrill
○     Alicia Arenas
○     Michael Long
○     Kelly Long
Google+: The newest of the platforms will also offer a unique new way to experience conferences in the future. You’ll be able to set up a circle of friends or people you know who are attending. If you don’t personally know anyone, you can follow the TNL founder, Craig Fisher, and many of the speakers.
Since Google+ is new, if you don’t have access and need an invitation, send your email address to TrishaM 89@gmail .com and I’ll invite as many people as I can.
As you can see, trying to follow a conference you are not able to attend is achievable. And, there is no need to use all these ways to follow. Choose your top one or two then sit back and have fun learning remotely. I’ll be there in spirit with you!
Monster supports TalentNet Live’s mission of turning thought leadership into action and continuing the conversation about the trends and ideas shaping the evolving world of work on MonsterThinking.com.
For more on TalentNet Live, check out:http://wordpress.talentnetlive.com/

Fishdogs exclusive: Zappos recruiting secrets revealed

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:20:09 PDT

Recently I shared my really cool experience consulting with the Zappos recruiting team. It was truly one of the best and most unique client experiences of my career. That whole process started when I met with Christa Foley (aka @Electra), Recruiting Manager at Zappos.com, about an NBC news story that featured both of our Twitter profiles.
Now in this exclusive exposé, Christa reveals Zappos secrets of talent selection and great candidate experience. Okay, maybe its not much of a secret since Zappos is one of the most documented brands in social media for its awesome culture and "WOW" customer service. But Christa was game to answer a couple of questions for us.

Fishdogs: You must get a ton of applicants. How are you increasing your candidate quality and decreasing those that don't fit.
Electra: We do! So far ytd, we have had over 30,000 applicants. Honestly, the challenge of the initial candidate screening with such volumes is challenging. However, as a company that prides itself on being about WOW service, we in recruiting look to provide our candidates (who are our customers for sure) with a WOW experience – even if we don’t end up hiring them. To that end, we don't leave our positions posted for days while 100s of people apply. We manage our requisitions by putting them on hold for a day or 2 once they reach 50 applicants so we can be sure that we review each resume and get back to every candidate. Our applicant tracking system, Jobvite, sends an auto reply to acknowledge a candidate's application but upon resume review (either by the recruiter, the hiring manager, or a combination of the 2) the recruiter will send a personalized note to the candidate either letting them know we want to move forward to the next step or thanking them but gently letting them know the role isn't a fit. Rejections are never fun but we have gotten so many replies back from candidates who are simply amazed that we took the time to get back to them. I think it is not atypical for a candidate's resume/app to go into a "black hole" where the person has no idea if anyone even saw their resume.
Additionally, at the same time we review a candidate's resume, we are also reviewing customized pre-screening questionnaires per req that we work with hiring managers to set up to help determine if the person is the right fit to move forward in our process. And, we have really been encouraging candidate's to submit cover letter videos versus cover letters. While it isn't required, it definitely helps us make a first culture assessment while considering the technical skills on a resume. For us this is key as we hire for both culture fit and technical fit – just having the experience/skills isn't enough at Zappos.
Finally, we've also started using video "job descriptions" or "dept overview videos" done in a fun and zany Zappos style. We aren't for everybody and are continually trying to find ways to convey to candidate's what they would be getting into if they joined Zappos. ;) We have had folks self-select out based on these types of things.

Fishdogs: What do you do as a recruiting manager to keep your team motivated and equipped to find the best candidates.
Electra: So I am super lucky in that our whole entire organization believes in and is committed to our culture. This means hiring the right people – those that are technical AND cultural fits. There is not the same pressure here to focus on metrics like time to fill, rather, we view our team as protectors of the Zappos culture and therefore, take our role very seriously in hiring the right people that match both criteria. We believe in hiring slowly (and firing quickly) to ensure our culture continues to thrive as we grow. Long story short, if I have done my job in hiring the right recruiters, they know their number one priority is finding the best for Zappos. :) Our culture in general makes it easy to motivate my team (and any other team) by offering an amazing work environment and co-workers you view as friends and family.

Fishdogs: You shared a story with me about how everyone in the company gets on the phone over the holidays to do customer service. Tell me more about that. Any funny stories?
Electra: Yep, everyone we hire, regardless of title, dept, level of role, attends our 4 week new hire training class when they first start. The class has 2 major functions. 1st, we teach all new hires how to do the job in our customer loyalty team (call center). If our brand is truly about delivering a WOW service experience, it can't just apply to our call center. It has to be the priority in every dept. with whichever "customers" they interact with. New hires learn how to use our phone system, our back office system for assisting customers, and our philosophy of what WOW service means. In fact, everyone takes about 1.5 weeks of calls with our customers – literally doing the job of our call center rep. The 2nd objective of the class is to really immerse new hires into our culture, what our core values mean, how we live them, what our expectations are of each employee to help maintain and grow our culture.
One business plus is that during our busiest time (holidays) when other companies may need to bring in supplemental/seasonal staffing… We don't need to do that. Everyone in the company is trained to take customer calls and is required to do so. Last year, we all took 10 hours of calls. It's super fun for us to see the heart and soul of our business and participate in it each year. And, I love telling a customer I am the recruiting manager (if it comes up in the course of the conversation) and listening to their reaction to the fact that we all jump in all calls. One of my favorite stories isn't specifically related to holiday phone help but relates to the fact that all employees are trained on calls. Not too long after one of our Finance employees completed his new hire class, our front desk accidentally transferred him a customer call instead of sending it to our call center. He easily could have apologized to the customer and routed her to the call center but just handled the call himself. To hear him talk about it he just thought, why not? He was trained, able to help her, and would avoid transferring her again which isn't a great experience. :)

Thank you Christa!

TalentNet Live SanAntonio Sessions and Schedule Announced #TNL

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:20:29 PDT

July 29th in San Antonio - Join us for a TNL Social Recruiting Unconference in the Alamo city.

The second of three TNL conference events that we are hosting in Texas this year will be held at Employment Brand leader, Rackspace.
What can you expect from TNL San Antonio? Those who have attended TNL events in DFW in 2009 & 2010, or this years TNL Austin at SXSW, know that this is no ordinary conference. This unconference will show you powerful strategies and the latest tools to help you and your team:

Search and source better,
Attract more targeted talent and prospects
Build a better brand online!

Attendees can expect to learn about hands-on methods they can put into practice that day. Most of all, TalentNet Live is Fun! Visit www.TalentNetLive.com for more details!
Some of the top Social Media and Recruiting industry experts in the world will share their tips for Blogging, Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, Employer Branding, Content Development, Profile Optimization, Cold Calling to Warm Calling, Personal and Corporate Branding, Locaiton / Mobile Recruiting, and the latest Cool Tools!.
Presenters include:

Robert Scoble
@scobleizer
Half Moon Bay, California, USA
Technology news, videos, opinions, from an enthusiastic Rackspace employee who grew up in Silicon Valley and has interviewed more than 3,200 geeks.
http://www.google.com/profiles/scobleizer

Trish McFarlane
@trishmcfarlane
St. Louis, MO
HR strategist & practitioner/ HR Blogger, HR & new Media speaker & consultant, co-founder ofHRevolution & WomenOfHR.com, Innovator, Mom of Twins http://www.hrringleader.com

Stephanie Lloyd
@StephanieALloyd
Atlanta, GA
executive-level recruiter + sourcer | channeling my inner rachael ray | gluten-free | distance runner | next race: outerbanks, nc half-marathon 11.13.11 http://www.radiantveracity.com

Todd Schnick
@toddschnick
ATLANTA, GA
INTREPID business blogger, marketing consultant, political strategist, host of Intrepid Radio, half-marathoner, todd(at)intrepid (dash)llc(dot)com | Be Intrepid http://intrepid-llc.com/twitter/

China Miner Gorman
@ChinaGorman
Nevada
Business leader, public speaker, free agent and supporter of all things HR.http://chinagorman.wordpress.com

Regina Caffey
@ReginaCaffey
Dallas, TX
Regina Caffey, Inc. specializes in exploring, analyzing and harnessing the power of digital/emerging media and technology.
http://www.reginacaffey.com

Jerome Ternyck
@jerometernynck San Francisco
Entrepreneur, Investor, CEO of @Smartrecruiters, Founder of the Zero Unemployment mvt #ZeroUE. It's time to change the nature of recruiting
http://www.smartrecruiters.com

Don Ramer
@DonRamer
Sausalito, California
CEO & Founder of Arbita.
http://www.arbita.net/

Gail Houston
@ghouston
Plano, TX
Recruiter Intuit, Sourcing, Social Media, VP www.dfwtrn.org Co-lead, Speaker Sourcecon / TalentNet, Crossroads Career Transition Workshop http://intuitcareers.com

Joel Cheesman
@joelcheesman
Phoenix, AZ
Internet recruiting junkie
http://www.joelcheesman.com

Bill Boorman
@BillBoorman
Northampton, UK
Co - founder of #TruEvents. Unconferences globally in and around Recruiting &HR.Recruiter. Trainer. Key-Note Speaker. Dad. http://recruitingunblog.wordpress.com/

Maren Hogan @marenhogan
ÜT: 41.261701,-96.174135
Head of US Marketing for BraveNewTalent, Boot-wearer, World-Traveler, Cereal Eater, Community Builder,& Awesome Sauce Con Carne. Serial CMO, Co-founder of #TBEX http://www.marenated.com

Michael VanDervort
@MikeVanDervort
Tampa, FL
Advice and leadership in labor relations, HR and social media http://about.me/edit/michael.vandervort

Bryan Wempen
@bryanwempen
Tulsa, OK USA
Other Farm boy from Nebraska. Co-host DriveThruHR Radio • EVP PeopleClues • Mobile HCM & Tulsa Area HR Association http://bryanwempen.com

Craig Fisher
@fishdogs
Dallas, TX
Linkedin Certified Training VP - Ajax Social Media • Partner/Recruiter SocialMediaTalent.com • Speaker • Host TalentNet Live Events & #TNL Chat • Dad of 3 boys
http://www.fishdogs.com

Marianthe Verver
@mverver
Dallas, TX
Recruiting | Sourcing | Social Media | Speaker | Marketing | I hear geeks and coffee | mariantheverver@gmail.com

Jim Durbin
@smheadhunter
Jim Durbin, social media consultant (since 2006) and co-founder of socialmediatalent.com http://www.socialmediatalent.com

Jason Seiden
@Seiden
Chicago
My company equips organizations to use social media to drive sales, marketing, and recruiting results. My blog just equips people to fail spectacularly.
http://jasonseiden.com

Michael Long
@theredrecruiter
San Antonio, TX
Husband to @Kelly_Long. Dad to @Sophie_Long. Head of Culture Branding at Rackspace. Strengths: Activator, Woo, Connectedness, Futuristic and Communication ;-) http://www.theredrecruiter.com

Alicia Arenas
@AliciaSanera
San Antonio, TX
Founder/CEO of Sanera, PDC. Small Business Coach | Speaker | Corporate Trainer | SPHR | Blogger | Singer | lover of life, dreams, family and God ~ Isaiah 54
http://www.SaneraPDC.com

Carrie Corbin
@thealphafemme
Mom & Alpha HR Chic resp 4 Strategy/Talent Attraction/ Employment Brand @AT&T, MBA/SPHR, owned by Eng Mastiff, #Wino, #OUfan, LifeChurcher. Opinions are my own.http://www.linkedin.com/in/carriecorbin

Schedule
8:30 AM - 9:00 AM                Registration & Breakfast
9:00 AM – 9:50 AM Opening Keynote - Robert Scoble
10:00 AM - 10:50 AM             3 Sessions "A"
11:00 AM - 11:50 AM             3 Sessions "B"
12:00 PM - 12:30 PM             Lunch
12:15 PM - 12:45 PM             Lunch & Don Ramer
12:45 PM - 1:00 PM               Sponsors and prizes
1:00 PM - 1:50 PM                 3 Sessions "C"
2:00 PM - 2:50 PM                 3 Sessions "D"
3:00 PM - 3:50 PM                 3 Sessions "E"
4:00 PM - 4:50 PM                 Ending Keynote - Seiden
4:50 PM - 5:00 PM                Conference Wrap up
Robert Scoble- opening keynote
Don Ramer - Optimizing Recruiting and Sourcing Effectiveness through Social Media - Lunchtime Keynote
Jason Seiden - Closing keynote - Profersonalism

Sessions A
Jerome Ternyck (from Smart Recruiters) - The next generation of Applicant Tracking, ie what's next in recruiting software.
Gail Houston - Employer Branding
Carrie Corbin - Employer Branding
Maren Hogan - Talent Communities, their purpose and function.
Matt Charney - Talent Communities, their purpose and function.

Sessions B
Craig Fisher - Linkedin Optimization
Jason Seiden - Linkedin optimization
China Gorman - Is Engagement the Antidote to Turnover?
Sharon Ferranti - Community Management

Sessions C
Michael Long - Culture branding
Stephanie Lloyd - Warm calls
Todd Schnick- Warm calls
Regina Caffey - Social Media for Recruiting (1 HRCI Credit)

Sessions D
Joel Cheeseman - Ways to crank up your presence on Facebook
Mike Vandervoort - Audience Building
Bryan Wempen - Audience Building
Alicia Arenas - Fostering Innovative Talent

Sessions E
Jim Durbin - Recruitment Marketing 201
Bill Boorman - Recruitment Marketing 201
Trish McFarlane - Social next
Alicia Arenas - Social Next
Craig Fisher - Location Recruiting
Marianthe Verver - Location Recruiting

TNL San Antonio will be held on July 29th, 2011 from 8:30am to 5:30pm at Rackspace Hosting, 5000 Walzem Rd., San Antonio, TX 78218.

Presented By

SHRM 11 got Zappified, and so did I

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:20:44 PDT

On my list of unique experiences, SHRM's 2011 National Conference is way up there. It was my first SHRM conference. And to say I was made to feel welcome is a huge understatement.
As a member of the social recruiting community, I have, at times, been led to believe that SHRM actually stood for "So Hate Recruiters Majority", or something like that. But it wasn't like that at all. Granted, my official capacity at this conference was as "press", more specifically "blogger". And my current main gig is more on the vendor side of things. But as a long-time 3rd party recruiter, my role has always been on the vendor side.

One advantage of hosting your conference in Las Vegas is that you might get Zappos CEO, Tony Hseih to speak at your event. And so he did on Tuesday morning. Tony and Zappos are all about "wow culture" and "wow customer service" from the inside out. His presentation was by far the best at the conference. It resonated with an HR crowd that, more and more, considers culture a prime factor in corporate success.
I was fortunate to see that "wow culture" first hand when I took the previous afternoon off from the conference to go and train the awesome Zappos recruiting team on some advanced Linkedin recruiting techniques and profile optimization. Even as a vendor, from the moment I walked in the Zappos front door, I was made to feel not only welcome, but part of the family.
After Tony's speech at the SHRM conference, I went to check out his book signing. There was a crowd gathered around the Zappos team (most of them my new recruiting buddies from the previous day's training, all of them wearing distinctive Zappos t-shirts) taking pictures and asking questions. When I walked up I was greeted with shouts of "Craaaaiiiiiggggg!!!" It was truly a WOW moment. Hugs, more pictures. Wow.
A SHRM camera crew saw this and came over to get my opinions about the conference on video. I ended up on the big screen (looking like I needed some sleep, ugh) in front of 13,000+ attendees, on the final day of the conference, right before Michael J. Fox closed things out with his ending keynote speech. More wow.
The Zappos experience for me was really cool. It was made even cooler by the "wow culture" that SHRM exhibited through everyone I met, and the hospitality I felt during the whole conference. Combine that with the huge vendor floor and great content, and you get a conference experience like no other in HR. I will definitely be back for more. See you in Atlanta in 2012.

Spread the word, Monster's New Facebook app, BeKnown, is a game changer

noreply@blogger.com (Craig Fisher) — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 19:21:00 PDT

Amazing things are happening in the world of HR. For instance, I am posting this report from high above New Mexico in a plan en route to Las Vegas to cover SHRM 2011. More importantly I got to preview a really cool tool earlier this week that was debuted today at the SHRM conference. I love cool tools and I love social media. So I was particularly intrigued by this one.
It's called BeKnown. And it's Monster's take on integrating with Facebook. The app is similar to Branchout in that you can import your profile or resume easily and build a professional presence on Facebook. With Branchout, you you import your Linkedin profile. With Beknown, you import your Monster profile. This is the exact connection I have been expecting job boards to make for a couple of years. Now it's here.

BeKnown has several things that distinguish it from Branchout. Most importantly is a referral function. There is more and I'll write about it as I play with the tool more.
Game changer? I believe this to be the start of a major trend.
My friend Jessica Merrell wrote a great piece on BeKnown. I won't attempt to recreate it as I just heard the captain announce our descent. I'll just paste here for you to view.

Monster Unveils Facebook Based Social Media Tool BeKnown at SHRM
by JESSICA MILLER-MERRELL on JUNE 25, 2011

Minutes ago Monster Worldwide, most known for its dominance in the job board industry unveiled its Facebook based social media engagement tool BeKnown at the SHRM 2011 Annual Conference. BeKnown is a professional network building platform that integrates with the Facebook API. Users can log in and share connections, build relationships, and search for jobs using the new online tool. Monster’s new tool is live and operating in 35 countries potentially reaching more than 460 million Facebook users almost immediately.
The rate of penetration by Monster and its ability for their product to be translated into more than 19 language puts them at a huge advantage against competitiors LinkedIn which has more than 100 million profile users and BranchOut, a Facebook style platform and tech startup that recently acquired 17 million dollars in venture capital funding.
I had the opportunity to get a sneak peak at the new tool and was surprised at how similar the platform is to BranchOut. BranchOut also uses the Facebook API to where job seekers can relationships and apply for jobs. Recruiters have the ability search for candidates and post openings within the network, similar to BeKnown. Monster taps into their 6Sense Semantic Search Technology to offer what they say is better search and integration for their human resources and recruiting clients who are looking to integrate social media into their hiring and candidate recruiting strategy.
Individual platform users and job seekers can choose to share their information with their personal Facebook contacts or keep a separation between personal and professional, which is a growing concern among candidates and companies. Like BranchOut, connections within the platform are not required to be your personal friend allowing for users to showcase their skills, abilities, and experience without worrying about companies viewing their personal photos or private protected information.
From the company and recruiting point of view, BeKnown offers a one-stop shop where positions can be posted and advertised on the site as well as their extensive network of websites and job boards. Company profile pages similar to those on LinkedIn will be an important part of the program and part of Monster’s sales pitch to employers about building their employment brands with social media. The reporting features integrate along with their already establish reporting capabilities making it easier for companies to add social recruiting data into their Affirmative Action Plans per OFCCP guidelines and better protect themselves in future social media discrimination employment law cases.
I was particularly intrigued about the referral feature where companies reward influential and connected members of the BeKnown community by offering them referral bonuses paid out to the referrer. This, my friends could be a very lucrative opportunity for other recruiters or connected persons looking to make additional income in different ways. Referrals are tracked by Monster through their reporting and analytics systems. Companies offer referral incentives and once a candidate is hired, the referrer is paid by Monster and not the company itself. I’m assuming that Monster will send annual 1099’s to those individuals, as these bonuses should be taxed as income accordingly.
Monster’s new product , BeKnown is certainly expected to shake up the social media marketplace as well as SHRM’s Annual Conference making the hype almost SXSW-like. While it’s no secret that a social media platform that integrates and provides HR reporting and analytics is needed, time will tell if and when companies are eager in taking advantage.

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MuseumsRijks, Van Gogh ...

Tourist AttractionsDam Square, Canals ...

EntertainmentCinemas, music ...

RestaurantsPancakes, Addis Abbaba ...

Beer BarsBelgian, Dutch, German..

CoffeeshopsOf course...

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Do you have the proper mix of organic and paid search strategies? Are you using social media to boost your search rankings? Are you measuring the right things when you evaluate your search efforts? Are you optimizing your website for organic search and making smart paid search decisions?

This month I am pleased to be a presenter in a 13-class online course, Search Marketing School, presented by MarketingProfs. As my friend, you can save up to $200 with my promo code AJAXVIP. Register here!

Live, online classes September 15–30, 2011Access recordings for 12 months!

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July 29th in San Antonio - Join us for a TNL Social Recruiting Unconference in the Alamo city.

SHRM 11 got Zappified, and so did I

Spread the word, Monster's New Facebook app, BeKnown, is a game changer

Museums
Rijks, Van Gogh ...

Tourist Attractions
Dam Square, Canals ...

Entertainment
Cinemas, music ...

Restaurants
Pancakes, Addis Abbaba ...

Beer Bars
Belgian, Dutch, German..

Coffeeshops
Of course...

Live, online classes September 15–30, 2011
Access recordings for 12 months!