A few weeks ago, while attending a networking event, I ran into a fellow college alum and we got into a fast and easy conversation about our business goals for 2010.
He expressed concern about really growing his business, however, when I started to offer a series of marketing suggestions, he quickly cut me off and abruptly reminded me that he was a marketing major in college.
Not being the confrontational type of person, I smiled and nodded and wished him the best in his endeavors. Upon ending the conversation, we exchanged business cards and the minute my hands touched his business card, I knew why he was struggling to impress corporate clients.
So where am I going with this story? Well follow me as I take you down the path of poor marketing strategies:
1) His business card was produced on thin, flimsy paper and printed off a computer
You never get a second change to make the first impression! He could have gone to Vistaprint.com and ordered pretty good quality business cards for no more than $30.
Lesson: If you are getting direct referrals to key decision makers or securing information interviews, don't show up with resume printed on plain, copy paper. Spend the extra bucks and purchase heavy bond paper or resume paper available at any stationery store.
2) His marketing strategies were limited to advertisements and very little social media
Unfortunately, my college buddy is living in a vacuum regarding today's technology. He is hoping to land huge, lucrative corporate contracts by creating a few Facebook advertisements here and there and nothing else.
Lesson: Are you still holding on to outdated job search strategies? If the extent of your job search means that you created a few online profiles on Monster, Career Building and Yahoo jobs, I will be 90 before your ship finally comes in:)
Check out my previous posts on multifaceted job search/career marketing strategies:
Build and Promote Your Online Presence
What Stands Between You and Your Next Job
3) His Facebook profile was focused on personal activities and friends
If you are chuckling by now I am happy because it means you get it. I don't think I need to explain that personal and professional online activities should be separated.
Lesson: Don't let employers find you in awkward situations, if your Facebook profile is for personal use, don't connect to recruiters, former employers or other professional contacts.
I practice what I preach and have both personal and professional Facebook profiles - they each serve different purposes and are targeted to different audiences.
4) Searches on his company name through Yahoo and Google searches produced some interesting results.
First of all, I found out that there is another company in New York with the same business name that offers the SAME services. Secondly, there are other people that share his name so that confuses his personal brand.
Lesson: When last have you "googled" yourself? Are there a ton of other candidates that share your name? If you are consistent in building and maintain your online brand identity, you will not run into the same issues as my college buddy.
5) He was the ONLY fan for his Facebook business page
I think this was my absolute favorite one! You can have all the right tools and resources in the world, but if you don't leverage them, you are really doing nothing.
Lesson: Are you guilty of having a fabulous resume that no-one ever gets to see because you are waiting to be found? Just because you have a LinkedIn, Facebook and VisualCV doesn't mean that the job offers will coming knocking unless you are using every opportunity to lead employers and recruiters to them.
Perseverance + consistency + diverse career marketing = job search and career growth success
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