Does anyone really read resumes anymore? Human resources? Hiring managers? Department heads? If you sent your resume to hiring managers, chances are your resume was glossed over — if even that. The truth of the matter is, paper resumes (even digital files) are not the modern way of attracting your future employer. Instead, you should learn to Ditch Your Resume! There are numerous tech tools (free!) to increase your odds of being hired. You can learn these tools at the Jobzcafe-sponsored Ditch Your Resume seminar on Tuesday July 14. These tools will give a multimedia edge against a paper-stacked desk.

You may not be aware, but many job seeking sites format resumes to look like everyone else’s. They aren’t necessarily dated-looking but they are standardized. It is great for hiring managers — it allows them to see experience at a glance without the bells and whistles of fonts. Unfortunately, it does zero for the individual jobseeker. You are placed on the same playing field with your colleagues. Simply put, that is a problem. However, it isn’t an unresolvable problem.

The good news is that the tools are available to you — for free — to leverage that playing field. And chances are, you already use some of these media tools: Facebook, LinkedIn and even Twitter. By establishing your personal brand, you will become visible to managers. And your personal brand is every bit as important as those you recognize at a glance. McDonald’s. Ford. Apple. If you are able to display your skills at a glance to an employer, your chances of obtaining your dream job are much closer than you may realize. Today’s social networking sites can help you distinguish your personal brand from others.

I recently picked up an old copy of a resume guide book. Written circa 1989, the resume templates were designed to look as if they had been written using a typewriter. The formatting appeared vintage. Words such as “Objectives,” and “References Upon Request” littered the documents. Understandably so, they appeared dated. And that was only 20 years ago! Your resume no longer has to be a single sheet of paper. In fact, you can Ditch Your Resume. Numerous years ago, the goal was to achieve a paperless office. Now your goal can be to achieve a new position — paperless!

Thousands of people are being found using Google and LinkedIn. By populating your LinkedIn account, you increase your network and potential future hiring managers by multitudes. For example, if you have 100 contacts in your account, statistics show that only 2.5 percent of the community will find you. On the other hand, if you have a strong network of more than 500 contacts, 90 percent of hiring managers can find you.

Learn techniques that professionals in every industry are using at a Ditch Your Resume seminar on Tuesday 14 July, located in the Best Western Valley View. This seminar may be what takes you from a job to a career.

Click here to follow Jobzcafe on Facebook!

Can a company achieve rapid growth and maintain an environment of quality and excellence?

This is possible with a strategic plan for anticipating and experiencing rapid growth in the context of your company values.

(Expanded and adapted from: WilliamBuck.com )

1. Strategic Plan for Rapid Growth – A strategic plan provides a framework for smart decision making. It outlines the vision, defines goals, future events that may impact your business and profitable strategies to grow and maintain standards of excellence and company values.

2. Develop Sound Corporate Governance – A Strategic Planning Advisory Group can guide the development of corporate governance procedures, evaluate growth business opportunities and risks, distinguish between operations and strategic planning, and bring another dimension to the decision making process.

3. Develop Reliable Management Reporting Systems – Weekly reporting and tracking systems provide your business with timely information, including the progress of key performance indicators, financial forecasts for management, quality of service, talent search, and “marketing traffic.”

4. Know your Market and Competitive Environment – Conduct regular research and document your strategic advantage; anticipate competitor offerings, changes in the market and customer needs, and adapt accordingly. Identify what makes your business unique; use this knowledge to highlight strengths to customers and partners.

5. Build an Understandable Business Model – Your business model should clearly demonstrate the vision and benefits to your customers and partners in the context of your values. Identify growth and profit drivers, as well as limitations; then draw up an action plan to maximize the drivers and minimize limitations. Based on market changes, it should be flexible and updated.

6. Communicate the Vision – Engaging and aligning your staff, customers, partners and target market in your vision and model is the key to success. Simplicity; sharing related examples; repetition of message in different venues; living the vision in leadership’s actions; and explaining challenges contribute to gaining buy-in.

7. Focus on Resource Growth – Hire experienced talent that “get” the model and can develop staff and excellence in each functional area. This will cut development time and allow for rapid growth. Train key talent to assist the founder(s), and fast-track productivity with strong induction programs to the vision, model and values. If possible, implement incentive-based remuneration for key staff. Secure funds in advance where possible to achieve your growth plans. Manage working capital carefully to ensure it is relatively free from debt.

8. Adopt Best Practices – Research and employ tested technologies and administrative systems that create operating efficiencies. Offer your clients quality services that increase user satisfaction and build company brand and loyalty.

9. Manage Changing Risks – Rapid growth businesses have ever-changing risks to identify and manage through a combination of quality assurance, insurance and structuring and maintaining standards and procedures and brand promise.

10. Keep your Eyes on the Prize – Don’t let key business functions lag; develop sales, finance, talent management, marketing and information technology as your business grows. Don’t get distracted; maximize your core products/services before considering expansion.

If you are not attracting quality or diverse selection of jobs seekers, your team needs to reflect on its Recruitment Marketing Strategy – how you showcase your company, its vision, your local region, the job’s challenges and your career benefits to the job seeker.

Businesses are beginning to recognize the need to have strategies for attracting and retaining quality employees.  “Good businesses” perform the functions for hiring and firing workers. “Great businesses” distinguish themselves in attracting “Class A” talent and offering a challenging and responsive work environment to develop their potential.

Putting It All Together

For a successful social media strategy, you need to have a plan.  As the publisher, you control the power to distribute your content through social media platforms such as blogs, Facebook, YouTube and Twitter, just to name a few.  Most businesspersons are overwhelmed with all of the options and how and which to implement.  Social Media Mapping outlines the potential of each social media tool and outlines a strategy to implement them and achieve results for your business.

Step 1 – Value of Social Media

• Develop Understanding of SM and Online Community – How can you gain traction for ideas and grow your network to benefit your company?
• Determine Goals – What does your company want to accomplish with SM?
• Evaluate Social Media – Is it a good fit for your company/institution?

Step 2 – Social Media and Your Business

• Determine Organization’s Changes to Adopt Social media
• Demonstrate Value Added – How will you gain support for this new, often misunderstood initiative within your company?
• Determine your Social Media team – Who will design and implement your SM strategy?
• Determine your Audience – Who do you want to reach?
• Determine Competition’s SM Activity

Step 3: SM Tools

• Choose SM Tools – Select the tools that will support your goals.  Setup the Applications – Facebook, LinkedIn, Flickr, Twitter, blogs
• Train SM team on Using the Tools – profiles, frequency, professional image
• Guide SM team on Marketing the Tools – How to build and communicate with your target communities?
• Leverage Current Marketing – Use SM to augment current marketing efforts

Step 4: Content Development

• Develop and Post Content Consistently
• Develop Action Responses – How do you direct the user’s response: user-generated feedback, promote conversations, connecting with networks?

Step 5: Content Distribution

• Apply widgets to drive viral action
• Develop Search Engine Optimization strategies
• Integrated Social Media Strategy – Design, implement and manage your social media and integrate it with traditional advertising, online solutions and business networking

Step 6: Feedback

• Prepare for Feedback – How will your company respond to positive and negative feedback? What are the potential effects (positive/negative) of SM on the company?
• Evaluation and Adjustment – What is the effect of the SM strategies? What are the changes in the SM landscape that affect your strategy?
• Determine ROI -What is the return on investment in social media?

We have written an expanded document on Social Media Mapping.  We can serve as consults, coaches and trainers when implementing this mapping  plan.

Click here to download our Social Media Mapping Paper

Contact us for more information or for a consultation.

]]> http://optimizedstrategies.com/social-media-mapping/feed/ 0 http://optimizedstrategies.com/business-2009-times-they-are-a-changin/ http://optimizedstrategies.com/business-2009-times-they-are-a-changin/#comments Fri, 06 Feb 2009 03:37:51 +0000 Ira Kaufman http://optimizedstrategies.com/?p=88

The Setting

To grow in this current economy, businesses will have to learn a new mindset with a new set of realities

and develop a strategic response. They face transitions.

FROM		TO
Complaining how bad things are		Reinventing for success
Waiting for the economy to turn around		Change business model; seize new opportunities
Jobs are lost and not being replaced		Find new ways to accomplish old tasks; entrepreneurs surfacing
Advertising once ruled; old media is dying		Conversations are the new media and expanding virally
Waste overflowing		Conservation new ethic
Greed rampant		Generosity new mantra
Pushing people is a trespass		Pulling engaged participants is natural and sustaining
Attention economy focus on interruption		Attraction economy focus on engagement
Brands were created and controlled		Brands grow organically
Employers searching for talent		Talent searching for right culture
Divide and conquer; do it by myself		Collaboration
Unprecedented growth		Record declines
Security		Fear of the future
Taking things for granted		Being grateful for what we have
Oil economy is dying		Alternative fuels are growing
Health care costs out of control		Health care model will change
Baby Boomers had secure retirement		Boomers look to secure their future

Being Strategic

Business transformation is challenging at best. But a well-formulated strategy can leverage the vast opportunities and provide for an orderly transition.

“Any review of history will reveal that the majority of wealth in modern civilizations is more often than not created during times of significant economic crisis. Opportunities abound for those organizations that are truly strategic…” Dr. John Sullivan, The Economic Downturn.

Here are three lessons from corporate transformation efforts that could help:

Transformation doesn’t come from doing what you are currently doing better. Real change requires honestly looking at your business model in the context of current realities. It isn’t just about doing what you are doing differently. It involves a sharp departure from business as usual — stopping some initiatives, and starting others.

1. Start small. Step-by-step change builds confidence.  Get some early successes before expanding efforts.
2. Invest in the human side of transformation.   Don’t challenge employees beyond their capacities. Invest in building human capital. Engage your team – bring in inspiring, fresh mindset and gain agreement on the need for and the approach to  change

Seizing Opportunities

In face of the above changes, progressive businesses are seizing the opportunities. They are looking to innovate, reinvent and use the recession to build their new business model.

Saul Berman, Global Lead Partner of IBM’s Strategy and Change Services suggested:

“Changing times require new business strategies …This is a time to build future capabilities…. The winners are going to reapply certain assets, curtail some things and free up those assets to invest elsewhere.”

Will your company meet the challenge?

What is your Brand?
Your Brand is the sum total of your clients’ and prospects’ (product, company and competitive) experiences and perceptions. It resides within their hearts (feelings) and minds (intellect). Brand can be designed and marketed with the goal of influencing the user. In the current Social Media environment, the user often defines and creates the Brand.

Benefits of a Branding Strategy

• Define and establish your organization’s identity in the minds of your customers and employees
• Establishes a promise and an expectation of your products and services
• Develops a strategy to engage the online user in augmenting your Brand
• Separates you from your competitors; gives you value; and makes you special and relevant to your customers and prospects
• Enables you to launch new products more quickly and cost effectively
• Provides mechanisms for measuring impact

Creating a WEB2.0 Branding Strategy
Often customers, staff and key stakeholders will define your Brand differently.
Step 1: Competitive Analysis

• Marketing Audit of the communications of major competitors to

a. Determine the range of “values” that drive the category
b. How competitors “position” themselves
c. What positions are claimed, how strongly, and which are not claimed, hence available.
d. What users are saying about your competitors

Step2: Brand Perception Audit

• Marketing Research Survey

a. Reveals clients’ perceptions of your company
b. Defines most important “Brand Values”
c. Allows the company to compare its “Brand Image” with the company “Defined Brand”
d. Determines the factors that most influence your clients’ perceptions

Step 3: Brand Definition

• Focus Group: three hour working session among 5-8 customers, staff and key stakeholders to

a. Clearly define and gain agreement on your Brand
b. Take account of current company’s position in relation to its Brand
c. Determine a social media strategy in developing your Brand

Step 4: Brand Identity

• Marketing communications define your Brand’s voice and personality

a. Design logo and tagline with consistent look and feel and graphic style
b. Prepare business cards, stationery
c. Two pocket folder
d. Tabbed brochure

Step 5: Integrated Marketing 2.0 Strategy

• Leverage WEB2.0 Brand Strategy across all marketing communications (e.g., traditional, online, and social media) and extend the strategy into related departments (e.g., customer service, tech support).

It is accepted that social media has transformed the world of marketing, advertising, and sales. The popular business bestseller, Groundswell documents that social media is changing the user, the marketing tools and the mindset of businesses. New media is generating results and return on investment. How does your business gain value from the new media?

Change in Mindset

The challenge for business is that developing a social media strategy requires a fundamental change in mindset. A social trend is growing, as stated in Groundswell, “in which people use technologies to get the things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations.” Social media decreases the control of businesses and focuses on the relationships — the way users connect and create communities. Therein lays the new base of power in the marketplace.

Integrated Marketing 2.0

Marketing is redefined explains Brian Solis in Manifesto of Marketing Communications,

“It all starts with Respect….Listening, Participation, Media, Conversations, Comments are all marketing.”

Traditional advertising is declining as the dominant force in the marketplace but still plays a critical role in the new mix. A new approach to marketing is needed that incorporates the focus on relationships and reflects a new role for traditional media.

Integrated Marketing 2.0 – leverages traditional, online and social media with business development to create Marketing Capital and generate results. It analyzes your product/service; determines the relative power of each medium; and then integrates them to optimize your results. It is designed to connect users by creating relationships; thus creating communities of engaged and connected users sharing conversations.

Does Your Company Need Integrated Marketing 2.0?

If you ask the right questions you will get your answer:

• Do you want to be considered a leader in your industry?

• Does your target market use the internet to access information, evaluate products or search for a business?

• Are you satisfied the results of your marketing efforts?

• Are you thinking of re-inventing your business model in consideration of the new economic realities?

If you answer YES to any of these questions, your business will gain value and benefit from an Integrated Marketing 2.0 Strategy.

The Next Steps

The development of Integrated Marketing 2.0 is at its infancy. Marketing professionals and the “newly invented” social media strategists are experimenting with the new media – how to measure, monetize and combine it with traditional advertising venues. Here are the next steps for your business:

1. Gain agreement and commitment among owners and senior management to new ways of thinking. This is not easy and requires education to the new opportunities!

2. Assemble Integrated Marketing 2.0 Teams that blend an understanding and experience of the three different media. This might require an outside team to support your current staff.

3. Develop a strategy that uses the power of each medium to exponentially drive the message to a broader market. This requires both training and experience for your staff in working with the new media and evaluating the traditional media efforts.

4. Track and evaluate the results and adjust the strategy. With social media the statistics are available for each media pay. It requires the time to determine the effect and value of each tool.

Competitive Edge

The next three years will see a refinement of Integrated Marketing 2.0 Strategies. Businesses that engage these strategies will increase in their value and realize a powerful competitive edge. If you think and operate with new models, you will realize new results!

For more information click here to download my White Paper on Integrated 2.0 Strategies.