I was asked to speak to NPA Worldwide, a global organization of personnel professionals, in a workshop for recruiters.  Social media and recruiting go hand-in-hand, especially in today’s climate where finding the ideal candidate is the name of the game.

Fortunately, social media sites like LinkedIn and Facebook provide some amazing tools to allow recruiters to target potential placements.  We all post such detailed personal and professional information about ourselves in online profiles that can all be easily searched, that means that finding that ideal candidate is (or can be) easier now than ever before.

Time
One obvious issue that was discussed is the time investment required to be successful in social media.  Several of our participants today voiced concerns about the level of involvement needed. My thoughts on the large time investment are this:  if you are spending tons of time on LinkedIn and you know that it’s working, then that’s obviously well worth the effort.   In order to justify the time, you have to be monitoring your social media efforts and quantifying your results.

PLET
I presented my PLET method for using social media, which covers the basics that everyone needs to know if you’re going to successfully take advantage of these new media channels: Post, Listen, Engage, & Track

Here are some examples that I covered for how recruiters can use this methodology:

• Posting information is crucial, and content is still king! But don’t just throw out your job posting like every other recruiter does- find some way to “hook” people and get their interest. Keywords are crucial, but finding your (online) voice and letting your personality show through are important.
• If you aren’t measuring it, then you can’t improve it (or for that matter, know if it is worth your time investment).  Measuring the effectiveness of social media efforts is a must – so using tools like URL shorteners (bit.ly) that allow you to see how many clicks you’re getting to job postings can go a long way towards helping you start to figure out what works and what doesn’t.
• Listening for opportunities is one of the chief ways to take advantage of online tools.  Google alerts to monitor for lay-offs or openings is a free way to extend your ability to know what’s happening.  We also discussed the importance of organizing all of that kind of information, and using RSS feeds with Google Reader is a brilliant way to not only organize, but it will give you the ability to do searches as well.
• I talked a lot about the great tools that Google provides, and Analytics was another one.  Knowing that your site or blog is getting increased traffic from wherever you are spending your time promoting is just as important as knowing if people are hitting your links.  The reason we can be so good at online marketing is because we can measure it on such a granular level!

Image by Mike Rohde via Flickr

We consult with clients all the time on optimizing their web sites, creating new and fresh content and tips on making their web sites “sticky” and encouraging visitors to return to them time and time again. One of the best ways to accomplish all of these goals is to write a blog.

I know, you just asked yourself what in the world you have to write about. And, how will you ever find time to write a blog? Well, it’s truly as easy as this blog post by Jim Osterman makes it out to be. Just write it.

Sure, you’re first few posts may be short. They may not offer a lot of depthor comment-inspiring content, but they are a start. And, once you begin to blog, it will become easier and easier. You’ll then start reading other blogs; you’ll find out what others in your industry are saying; and then you can write about or disagree with their ideas. Other blogs are a great way to find inspiration, and there’s no easier way to find content and writing ideas. Before you know it, people will be visiting your site to see what you’re writing and reading about. They will see you as a leader in your industry.

So take our advice, and that of Jim Osterman. Just write!

Now that you’re ready to blog, read more blog tips:

Related articles:

• The 3 Main Pillars Of Blogging (shoutmeloud.com)
• The Benefits Of Business Blogging (slideshare.net)

Firstly, thank you to James Hutto, not only for following us on Twitter but accepting our invitation to contribute to this blog.

Leading on from this, I’ll be discussing how utilising your blog can help you network with those within the same industry, as well as increase the success of your SEO campaign.

Many people know that a blog is a vital tool to have within a website, but are not using it to its full potential. A blog offers various opportunities for a business to succeed within the World Wide Web, if used in conjunction with other elements of SEO. Content is still King and what better way to voice ideas, opinions and strategies than using your own website to do so.

Blogging has mixed reviews. There are many people that have been contributing to their blog for a long while without as much as a single comment. Then, there are those blogs that seem to have numerous visits and are highly regarded as being a useful source to find out the latest information and goings on in specific areas of interest.

So what makes a good blog and how can it improve online relationships with both people and Search Engines?

Get It Out There:

Blogging is no good on its own. As with all aspect of SEO, you need various components to comprise a successful campaign. To get the readers you need to find them, and once you’ve got them you need to keep them. But how is this possible?

Well with social media for one. The most obvious place to find people is on some of the most highly populated websites; Twitter, Facebook and You Tube. Regardless of the industry there are people that always want to know more authoritative figures, but haven’t got the time to go searching. Make yourself visible by posting your information and highlighting news that you’re proud of.

There are various online tools that can link from your blog to your Twitter then to your Facebook so at the click of one button you’re covering all bases. Once you’ve got people visiting your blog, the hardest battle is won.

Keep Content Current:

Search Engines are fickle, they get bored and when something better comes along they are likely to choose that over something that isn’t reinventing itself. Search Engines want to see websites producing fresh content, taking the time to build links and spread themselves across the world wide web.

A blog is the perfect platform for reinventing a website, as it offers the opportunity to add fresh content on a regular basis.

The only rule that you should follow to ensure that your blog is successful, is related to the content that you are adding to it.

Make sure it’s recent, exciting and new. You blog doesn’t have to be stuffy, in fact it should be chatty and engage readers. Writing industry based content that is exciting will attract those with the power to influence your company, who will help spread the word within a community. This type of exposure isn’t possible with old copy that people have read about before.

Don’t Focus On A Time Limit:

It is healthy to set goals for a business and do everything to reach them. However getting a blog noticed and building up an authority can take a long time, it’s virtually impossible to put any timing together.

Instead of focussing on what isn’t being achieved, spend time planning what else could be done to improve the blogs authority. This may include increasing how many posts are being submitted, researching further afield or even requesting guest posts from other people to share their thoughts.

This brings me conveniently to how networking can enhance your blogging practices.

Networking for Blogging.

Networking provides the perfect opportunity to discuss elements of your business with others within the same industry. But why stop at tweets or comments? Surely the point of making friends, and followers is to engage in their recent activity and share ideas.

Blogging can strike conversations and with news that is well written, people will soon be keen to learn more about your company. Urge people to contact you and offer your services through your social media. It is called ‘networking’ for a reason and your news and updates are the perfect conversation starter.

It also opens up doors for people to contribute to your website and with so many different opinions on SEO it’s easy to see why blogging is crucial for any SEO campaign.

Improving your SEO is about engaging with those that can potentially help your business grow. Don’t focus on what your website isn’t providing but rather the people that can help get you where you want to be.

A blog holds more cards than perhaps many website owners realise. If you don’t currently have one it’s a must before continuing with your SEO campaign and if you’ve neglected yours recently, then ensure you get back writing, it’s a sure fire way to help expose your business and gain those all important contacts.

I’ve talked to or heard of a variety of people lately who are offering Internet marketing services to their clients due to the tremendous demand that has developed in recent years.  What’s always funny/sad/disapppointing is how many consultants are out there giving just plain bad advice to their clients – and charging them for it!

There are plenty of great articles about Hiring a search engine marketing company so, at the very least, do your homework and ask a lot of questions if you’re looking to hire. Here are some basic things you need to understand:

Marketing to search engines is an absolutely crucial piece of being successful online, but there is much more to search engine marketing (or even just SEO) than doing some keyword research and then changing page titles, meta, content, and ALT tags. Thinking that these efforts alone will drive massive change in your rankings is foolish, at best. It can be very costly and even damaging to your site’s effectiveness in the worst cases.

Search engines have evolved a lot over the past decade; they simple have to.  Google’s search market share is somewhere around 65% according to Comscore, and considering that Google’s market capital is $153.4 billion as of October 5 2009, let’s just suffice it to say that they have a vested interest in you and I continuing to use their engine.  What does that mean for us?  Well, we all find what we’re looking for in pretty short order on Google.com, right?  If you didn’t, then you would probably begin using another search engine, which is why Google has to keep their results accurate.  In order to do that, they have to figure out ways to rank more than 127 billion web pages by relevance.

What’s that got to do with search engine marketing?  Ask yourself this:  do you really think that some minimal effort and changing up the language and some tags on your site is going to put you at the top of those 127 billion for your market or industry?

Search engine marketing goes well beyond just “SEO” that inexperienced internet marketers (read: web designers who decided to call themselves internet marketers because they knew they were missing opportunities) will tell you is going to influence your rankings.  The fact of the matter is, truly marketing to search engines is a long-term plan that will involve content creation and syndication, social bookmarking, developing a robust link profile, and much more.

Don’t let that discourage you!  If you’re thinking about ways to drive more traffic to your site, this is still #1 on the list. Traffic that comes from search engines has a much higher potential for conversion than many other methods.

Here’s how it works – a great graphic from the brilliant minds over at SEOmoz.org:

Seems straight-forward, right?  Well, in the most basic terms – it is!  Of course, it helps if you have the experience to know what works and what doesn’t.  Here are some guides to help you get started:

• Learn Why SEO Is Essential To Increase Site Visitor Numbers (ronmedlin.com)
• 7 Secrets To Successful Keyword Research (slideshare.net)
• Use The Right Search Engine Optimization Company (webmanmarketing.com)

Using social media channels can be the promised-land for savvy marketers, with visions of virally-propagated sugar plumbs dancing through their heads.  The reality of social media marketing is that while everyone is clamoring to “go viral” since that seems to be the buzz word, there is no chance that is going to happen unless you give people something to talk about.

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Joe Hall nailed this concept in his recent post that referenced Bonnie Raitt, and he also has some great examples of how you can get people talking. This is an important step – mainly because you can be extremely savvy about how to use social media tools, but if you don’t have information that is going to get people talking, I think you’re ultimately going to end up frustrated and feeling like a failure.  Just because all these shiny new toys in the marketing arsenal have incredible reach with little or no cost, does not mean that you can take the marketing out of the equation.

We are currently working on a couple of Facebook applications to help spread the word for clients, but what word are we going to spread? Without something worth talking about- why would we even bother to build something like that?  The simple answer is:  we wouldn’t.

Make sure you can “give them something to talk about” before you go jumping into social media.  In my most recent presentations on creating WOW (Word of Web) using Social Media, I always talk about this:

If you can’t speak to me with conviction about what you do, why you do, and why I should want to be involved (or buy your product, or work with your firm); then you have no business trying to do that using social media tools! Online marketing is moving at an increasing pace to a completely online conversation, so if you can’t convince me in a face-to-face conversation that I should work with you, how do you expect to be able to do that online? The same old marketing/advertising tactics are not going to prove very effective.   I don’t think you have to go so far as Yoda says and “unlearn what you have learned,” but I do think that a different mindset must be applied.

Some Great Reading about Social Media and measurement:

• Going Viral isn’t Marketing…
• 7 Myths of Social Media Marketing 2010
• How to Measure Social Media

If you’re still on the fence about social media marketing as an effective channel for your business, you may want to think again.  Take a look at this calculator that shows how quickly the medium is advancing:

When it comes to successfully marketing a business, the key is to be where your customers are, but your competitors aren’t.  Considering the hesitation some businesses have about jumping in to social media, there is a great opportunity to be one of the first out of the gate.  The reasons why your business should explore social media are endless, and so many articles explaining everything from 101-type starters to strategy models; just get out there and do it already!

I gave a workshop this week for the Sales & Marketing Society of the Mid-South as part of their new workshop series for their members.  We covered our 4-step program to using Twitter for marketing or promoting a business,  The PLET Method:

Post  |  Why, What, When, How

Listen  |  Real-time searches and Monitoring Tools

Engage  |  Rules of Engagement, Best Practices

Track |  Analytics, URLs, Phone numbers

Here is a copy of the presentation that we went through. Although none of the screen-capture movies are there, you can still get the main ideas behind the PLET method:

More and more businesses are recognizing the need to get involved in social media, which means that social media “experts” are popping up left and right.  Beware anyone who tells you they are social media expert.  Here’s a great example of why I say that:  Click here But beware, definitely some R-rated language (funny though).

Three of my favorite points from this workshop were my reasons why everyone should get involved in social media:

1. 3 out of 4 Americans are using social technology
2. Typical cost of a social media account is $0.00
3. Social media is like word of mouth on steroids

It’s exciting that so many of those in the workshop were totally new to Twitter and wanted to see if Twitter had potential for their marketing and communications. With so much buzz coming up, we’ll have another series of classes on social media very soon with our friends at Howell Marketing Strategies.  More details on that soon, but this time we’re planning on a 4-day workshop, focusing one day each on:  Strategy, Twitter, Facebook, & YouTube (but possibly SlideShare or LinkedIn as well).

I spoke today to the Memphis AFP (Association of Fundraising Professionals) about integrating social media into their marketing efforts to engage supporters and donors, as well as to get people to help spread the word.

I think fundraisers and cause marketers are no different than the rest of us: in these trying economic times, everyone is clamoring for the same donation dollars.  The need for a more cost-effective strategy to spread the word is crucial. Communicating more effectively than your competition is the name of the game.

That’s why social media is perfect:

• Typical cost of a social networking account:  $0.00
• Audience: varies by platform, but some counts put social media users at well over 1/2 a billion (and continuing to grow quickly)

Here is a copy of the presentation:

We just finished up Day 4 of our Social Media Crash Course for Business that Howell Marketing is hosting with us.  We covered a lot of ground today – and I worked hard to make sure that the information was tailored to the questions that our crowd had yesterday in the Facebook 101 course.

The most pressing questions had to do with effective methods for using Facebook Fan Pages to market a business – a burning question in a lot of marketing minds right now.  I covered the Fan Page sales funnel that is a great method for drawing people to your Facebook presence, engaging them, and offering multiple ways for them to take action.

Here are the slides from today’s presentation:

Day 3 of our Social Media Crash Course for Business was an intro to using Facebook for marketing your business.  Since our surveys told us that most of the class already had accounts, we decided to skip the really elementary material and jump right into something really helpful: how you can separate your personal and professional life on Facebook.

Like all the other days of this seminar, we talked a great deal about strategy.  If someone doesn’t claim the saying “in all things, have strategy” then I’m going to!  Here are the slides from our class today:

Tomorrow we’re going to cover:

• Fan pages vs Groups
• Advertising
• How to grow your Page and add Fans
• Best practices for B-to-B organizations