Sirona Says

Don't forget about your social media mothership - your blog!

2010-03-10T10:29:31+00:00

Everyone is talking / chatting / tweeting / updating / messaging / emailing about social recruiting, social media and social networking - you could say we have all become a little obsessed with it all!

But when these subjects are mentioned it is always Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and (lately) Google Buzz. While these are certainly all part of the mix, there is something that people seem to keep paying scant lip service to - which is a BIG mistake - it is of course the mothership of social media - your blog!

Now just in case you are thinking of a sinister mothership image such as the one from the Will Smith film Independence Day (great film by the way), don't panic!! Blogs are not bad, they are not the anti-christs of social media and they are not alien platforms from another planet! Substitute the word 'hub' for the word 'mothership' (which might make you feel a little more comfortable with this concept) as a description of what I mean.

I think Debbie Weil sums it up well in her Corporate Blogging book, when she says that blogs are no longer online diaries (remember the phrase weblog?) - that was back from 2004, when 'Blog' was voted THE Word of the Year. Blogs should now be classed as 'social websites' and respected accordingly.

For me, this is absolutely what I believe to be the case, and always have done.

When you are trying to attract people through social websites - whether that be Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc - I believe that if they see your website address on your profile (because we all look at people's profiles before you decide to follow them or link up to them, right?), and what appears to be a corporate/businesslike web url, they could well be put off from the start. After all, we are talking about the word social here. If, however they see a blog url (or a non corporate looking url) then there is more of an inclination to click through and find out more.

My reasoning is simple - users of social media websites are becoming more and more sceptical, of companies trying to sell them products or promoting their services directly. They tend to push back - I know I do!

So there is me talking about the blog being your social media hub, but what does that really mean?

Very simply, you direct all your social media channels to your blog first , as shown below - (and you can even embed the content from all these sites into your blog, if you choose):

Obviously, you will have very obvious links from your blog to your website, and from your website to your blog, so don't think it will mean people will not visit your website!

Why a blog as the hub? It allows you to talk to your clients, employees, job seekers and the industry in a less formal way. It fosters a community that you create, that you can engage with in two-way conversation. You can start the conversation on Twitter (for example) and continue the discussion on your blog.

The world is fast going social, and having a central medium where you can enable and aggregate your online conversations will be key to your online success. Blogs allow you to do this.

Your 'brochure website' will still be there - it will get you sales and it will attract customers and job seekers who want to 'buy' - but it won't engage them in a conversation like your blog will.

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Where does a tweet go once you press 'send'?

2010-03-09T08:01:00+00:00

Ever wondered what happens to a tweet when you have sent it on Twitter?

I want to share with you a graphic I saw today that I thought were very interesting! Itwas highlighted on the Penn-Olsen blog by Sarah Chong. Entitled The Journey of a Tweet is self explanitory....

I thought this was excellent, what about you?

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What is the most important social media channel?

2010-03-08T10:15:34+00:00

There are many people questioning the validity of social media in recruitment - aka social recruiting - and while there may not be too many case studies in the UK to speak of, there is one area that can't be questioned. That is using the social media platforms as drivers of traffic to websites, career sites and recruitment campaigns.

This traffic will of course yield candidates and (ultimately) successful examples of recruitment via these channels. But just for now we need to look at what these channels can do in the form of traffic generation.

Over the weekend I read a very good blog post (as usual) over at the Hubspot blog. It was about a recent study they have conducted on Inbound Marketing, comparing social media against normal channels like email marketing, direct marketing, telemarketing etc (all the methods recruiters use, I might add!).

According to their 2010 report, the most important social media channel is a blog. Surprised? You shouldn't be - they are very powerful indeed. Here is the table from the report showing the results, of the question posed to businesses, How important are these services to your business? :

The Hubspot report is interesting and if you want a copy, click here for a copy, Download Hubspot inbound marketing report 2010

I guess it is no surprise that blogs are number one, but is your company using one at the moment as part of your recruitment armoury? The one question I always get asked from companies - what do we write about on a recruitment focused blog?The answer, is that the list is endless! But as a starting point, my blog post called 101 Things to write about on a recruitment blog should get you started.

I will be covering blogging in a new post soon, so if you have any questions regarding blogging, please leave them in the comments below, and I will accommodate the answers in my blog.

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The ten most read blog posts on Sirona Says so far in 2010

2010-03-05T08:44:37+00:00

Yesterday I started a new feature for my blog - the top ten most popular blog posts based on the number times each post has been read.

You will see on the tool bar at the top the link - Most Popular Posts, but as this is the first month I thought you would like to see which posts you have been reading the most in 2010, so here they are:

1. The Four Twitter Emotions (Cartoon)

2. Should you put your photo on your CV?

3. The Top 10 Handshakes and what they reveal about you, your clients and your candidates

4. My Top 10 Funny Job Interview Cartoons

5. I bet you can't answer all these!! Is this the most comprehensive list of interview questions you have seen?

6. A simple guide to what RSS is and how to use it as part of your social recruiting strategy

7. 50 Practical tips to help job seekers find a job, including LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook advice.

8. 10 Ways to use Facebook to find a job

9. Generation Z'ers - 10 Things you need to know

10. My Top 10 Social Media monitoring tools you should start using today

It is an eclectic mix of posts - which is good, but interesting that for me one of the (still) most contentious issues in our industry comes in 2nd - should you put your photo on your CV.

This one will of course go on forever (unless you are French, who have just changed the laws accordingly!), and it it always raises debate. This is a pre-cursor to what is the other big CV question - video CV's, and should we have them. There is lots of debate around this and that is a subject I will be dealing with in a blog post soon.

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Think you know your social media logo's? Try playing my Social Media Bingo

2010-03-04T10:04:25+00:00

This was inspired by a blog post I read this morning while having my coffee - 56 social media sites everyone should visit. While that is not the most realistic approach to social media and somewhat missing the point, I thought I would take it a little further!

So, I have created a social media bingo board for you to play with!

The concept is an easy one - which of these social media logo's do you a) recognise and b) use regularly?

How to judge yourself with your scores:

0-10 Still in newbie territory

11-20 You understand social media and are probably using it every day

21-30 A well read social media person that needs to start focusing on 'real' work now

31- 40 Ok, you are now moving into social media saddo territory, put your iPhone down just for 5 mins!!

41 plus Go and get a life!! Have you spoken to your family recently?

I hope you have some fun with this!!

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'Fishy to the backbone' or social communicator?

2010-03-03T09:12:21+00:00

It is amazing what you pick up from centuries past, isn't it? The title of the blog post refers to types of leaders - modern day management styles, if you like - and , of course they could still be applicable today, 200+ years on.

I am reading an excellent book called In the Heart of the Sea, the true story that inspired Moby Dick. Very simply, it is the story of Whaling ship from Nantucket, USA, that got attacked and sunk by a huge sperm whale, leaving the crew to survive in the Pacific in their rowing boats. It is the story of attrition, survival and the men stuck on these very small craft for three months.

On one of these whalers, there were three men in charge (with twenty further crew), with the captain being the leader, and the Mate being his deputy.

What is interesting is that back in the 1700's and 1800's they knew what made a good Captain and a good Mate and they were able to articulate it accordingly.

The greatest compliment they could pay someone from Nantucket was to call them 'Fishy to the Backbone". this meant that the person was authoritarian, lacked the tendency to self-doubt and self-examination that could get in the way of making a decision.

(It is a shame that a good few people managers I know, are not 'fishy to the backbone' - they are more like indecisive blobs of jelly!!)

What is interesting is the management style of the No 2 in these whalers - the Mate. They were chosen for their 'social' skills!
Of course they needed an element of being 'fishy to the backbone', but more importantly they had to temper this with a more personal, outgoing approach. They were there to instill a sense of cooperation amongst the men. This required them to remain sensitive to the crew's changeable moods and keep the lines of communication open. (Bear in mind that a whaler typically went away for 2 years at a time)

So even all those years ago, and in seemingly brutal times, the Owners of the whaling ships, knew how to effectively manage their crews - they would balance the contrasting personalities of a Captain and a Mate, to get the best from their crew.
They had a saying at that time which said, "it is a pity to spoil a good mate by making him a master".
Not all the Mates had the edge to become a Captain, and there were future Captains who didn't have the patience to be successful Mates.

Makes you think doesn't it? Hundreds of years ago, but the fundamentals of people management are somewhat similar aren't they?

I bet you can identify some 'Captains' and 'Mates' within your own companies, who just maybe are in the wrong job? I have certainly known a few in my time!

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Seth Godin: Is your company remarkable? (video)

2010-03-01T08:00:00+00:00

Last week when reading the excellent newsletter called The Buzz from JobSiteAdvisor, I saw a link to a great video from the thought leader Seth Godin. It is so good that I have included it in this blog for you to watch as well.

If you have never seen Seth in action, then this video will be a treat for you. This is the one where he talks about The Purple Cow (it is a truly brilliant analogy) - which is one of my favourite books - as well as other things. He asks you to consider the question you should be asking - is your business remarkable?

So grab a coffee, sit back and watch this excellent video.

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Reality Check: Social Media will not save the world :)

2010-02-26T09:45:24+00:00

Over the course of the last couple of weeks, I have spoken to a good few people (individuals and corporates) about social recruiting, social media and social networking in a work environment (which some people would call corporate social networking).

Quite frankly, I am amazed how some people are still viewing social media and what it can, will, should, guaranteed (take your pick here) to do!! I think that Jennifer McClure - @cincyrecruiter - seems to have some similar frustrations in her blog post today.

So in the spirit of giving a reality check to people regarding social media, please take note of my points below:)

1. Social Media is NOT going to save the world! Capiche?
It is fantastic at spreading the word, but unfortunately we need to rely of the likes of Obama and the other world leaders to do that for us (I am not including my 'friend' Comrade Brown as a world leader because he won't be one soon! <<Yippee!)

2. Social Media won't help us get to the Moon
Although, Soichi Noguchi, the Astronaut on the ISS is sending some awesome images via Twitter of the earth.

3. Social media WILL NOT mean that your business will grow exponentially just because you are on Twitter or Facebook.
It can help, of course, but you still have to understand what you are doing with it, where and how you are going to use it, and then put some hard work in to make it happen! >> Have you got a strategy yet?

4.Social Media won't 'as if by magic' deposit new clients on your doorstep.
Yes, it will help initiate conversations but you still have to close the deal!

5. Social Media will not stop every job seeker in their tracks and say, " I have to go to your career site".
It will however give you a chance to engage with them and influence them - then they might just well come and have a look at what you have to off! >> Job boards please take note!!

6. Social Media is not about tell, tell tell (I could substitute sell, sell, sell in here as well).
It is a fantastic tool for engaging with new people and developing relationships. I bet, like many of you, I have initiated relationships on Twitter and LinkedIn that have moved offline into successful business relationships.

HOWEVER.......Social Media is, if adopted and used in the right way, a fantastic way of fostering relationships, building recruitment communities and developing new and innovative ways of engaging with job seekers, clients and industry peers, for the benefit of your business.

No, it wont save the world, but it will change the way you do business in the 21st century :)

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Are Brands failing to follow the rules of candidate engagement?

2010-02-24T09:41:38+00:00

While reading Marketing Week yesterday, I came across a a very interesting article entitled, Brands Fail to Follow Rules of Engagement. And while it sits in a marketing magazine, I believe that the same applies to recruitment and candidates.

Research from Targetbase Claydon Heeley (now that's a catchy company name, if ever I heard one!) suggests that the majority of company marketers (for my analogy substitute HR Director) are confident they are engaging with their audiences (for me, prospective employees), while consumers ( the job seekers) believe the opposite.

Here is the summary of their results:

What do you think the results would have been if they had asked HR Directors similar questions?

Do you think that 41% would have selected 'Demonstrating understanding of the customer' (read job seeker)? or 44% would have selected 'Personalised and tailored communications' (with job seekers)?

While I think they may well have made a utopian selection (just to look good in a survey!), experience tells me that, in reality, they actually have no understanding of the job seeker at all!

There are some very good organisations of course - the best I have seen for a while is Deloitte's - , but they, I believe, are currently in the minority........unfortunately.

What do you think? If you substituted a recruitment slant to the title of the table above, would it look much different?

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Do you struggle to find people on Twitter? Try this superb new Twitter tool - it just searches people's Bio's!

2010-02-23T09:00:12+00:00

Are you having trouble finding people on Twitter? As a recruiter, sourcer /researcher or business development person looking for specific companies or individuals on Twitter, it can be frustrating sometimes - I know I have done it!!
I want to share with you a Twitter search tool that (using the Twitter API) searches the Bio's of everyone on Twitter. It is simple and brilliant. Don't be put off by the name - FollowerWonk, even though it sounds like something out of a Dutch porn movie, this tool is superb!

The search screen is simple - don't forget to use the usual search commands - for exact phrases put in speech marks.
As an example, I just did a search for "social recruiting" in Twitter Bio's - here are the results:

Now, as with searching on all the other online databases - LinkedIn, Job Boards etc just remember that people have many things they call themselves. For example, someone in sales might call themselves a 'sales executive', 'sales representatives', business development manager' or just ' in sales', so try different combinations of job titles, words and phrases to maximise this tool.

Now.......get searching and go find the people that you want:-)

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