HR Search Marketing

Recruitment Social Media – Are you Being Left Behind?

2009-11-12T20:11:00.002-06:00

A few days back I saw the first ever job posting on Indeed advertising for a “Talent Community Manager”. (Kudos to Deluxe for taking a huge step forward in recruiting and leveraging this opportunity) Using social media for recruitment takes time, technology and people and they “get that”

Considering Facebook alone as over 300 million users, ½ of which log in to their account in a given day it would not be surprised to see other organizations follow their lead and take advantage of this untapped source of finding and engaging candidates.

Being that this is a VERY new type of position to any industry, let alone recruiting I can imagine how finding someone to fill such a position would be challenging.

Social Media Communities – It’s Not a Waste of Time

In addition to the enormous challenge of finding someone who can successfully build, manage and engage members of a community how do you convince the powers that be that social media is more than a big playground? The way I see it, there are a few different ways social media tools can be used in recruiting including;

Finding candidates
Building relationships with potential candidates
Enhancing your employment brand

I don’t think many would argue with the above bullet points but how do you create a business case for allocating resources?

Measuring the ROI of Social Media used as a Recruiting Tool

Measuring the effectiveness of social media is another challenge because it means that people need to shift their way of thinking from quantitative to something more qualitative. That said, below are some ways to measure your social media success:

Career Site Traffic – The more people coming to your career site and specific job postings the more people that are applying for your jobs. A free analytics tool like Google Analytics will help you track referrals. If you are sharing links to specific jobs on Facebook and Twitter, URL shortening tools like Bit.ly and Traceurl can measure click through rates
Influence – The greater influence you have in social media, the bigger your reach and of course audience and the more visibility your organizations employment brand gets. Your Twitter influence can be measured with tools like Twinfluence and Twitter Grader. Facebook has a similar tool that lets you measure the influence of your business pages.
Buzz & Chatter – Are people talking about your organization? What are they saying? With any luck their talking about your career opportunities, what interviewing is like and how great your company culture is. Other important things are how often people are linking to you or mentioning you on Twitter. In addition to the tools mentioned above, you’ll want to use Google alerts to monitor both positive and negative buzz.

Social media is more of a long term investment; results won’t happen overnight. Simply creating a Twitter account and a Facebook business page won’t cut it – You have to take time to get to know people, the RIGHT people, listen, contribute and be transparent.

At the end of the day social media is an opportunity for your organizations to have engaging conversations with potential & current employees. Don’t be left behind.

Feel free to post a comment if you are actively engaging in a social media strategy, I'd love to hear what's working and not working for you!

Three Strategies for Success in Your Job

2009-11-10T13:10:00.004-06:00

You figure you’re in the right job or business. But you’re not fully satisfied. You feel you could be doing a bit better. And things may be set to change in your market or company. What should you be doing now to prepare for such change?

You need a robust strategy for success. Here you would do well to borrow from business. Whether you’re employed by a company or self-employed, think of yourself as a business and adopt one of the tried-and-tested strategies used by business to achieve competitive success.

Envision what the ideal provider of your services would look like in three to five years’ time. Do some brainstorming. You need to think creatively about how your marketplace may change over the next three to five years and how the needs of your employer or customers may be affected. What will the ideal provider of your services look like? To what extent will he or she be different from the ideal provider of today? More qualified? In what? Better trained? In what way? More experienced? In which areas? More skilful? How?
Next, set your sights. To what extent do you wish to become like the ideal provider? You’ll never get there, of course. No one is perfect. You may not want to get there, given the impact this could have on other aspects of your life. But you may want to stretch your sights and narrow the gap. You need to pinpoint your goal.
Finally, adopt one of the three generic strategies for success, detailed below, needed to bridge the gap. The first two are based on generic business strategies. To develop a sustainable competitive advantage, companies generally follow either a differentiation strategy or a low-cost strategy. They either do something distinctive and well, or do more or less the same as others but at lower cost. What they would be well advised not to do is exactly the same as other companies do, the so-called me-too recipe for lack of success. The third is a strategy not recommended for business, but appropriate for individuals in certain circumstances: working on your weaknesses.
Differentiate with the Stand Out! strategy.
You can use this differentiation strategy whether you’re employed or self-employed. Stand Out! is about making what you offer distinctive and different from others in your position. It builds on your strengths and circumvents your weaknesses.

A study by Marcus Buckingham and Donald O. Clifton found that people’s greatest room for improvement is in the area of their greatest strength. Identify your greatest strengths, and figure out ways to build on them to set yourself apart from others or become special to someone or some group of people (customers, for instance). Think Madonna. Love her or loathe her, her sustained Stand Out! strategy since the 1980s of image reinvention and self-publicity has yielded extraordinary success.
Go low cost, with the easyU! strategy.
If you’re self-employed, your earnings are typically a reflection of your charges on the one hand and your volume of work on the other. Are your rates keeping you from being as busy as you want to be? If you’ve researched the market, as suggested above, you probably have a good idea of what the market can bear. Sometimes, to maximize your exposure in the market, get more clients, and generate more free advertising via word-of-mouth, lowering your rates can be a sound growth strategy. Perhaps you need to make it easy for clients to call you first, before anyone else. (Think Southwest, which found a way to do it cheaper—and stole customers from the rest of the airline industry.)
Improve your competitiveness with the Sharpen Act! strategy.
You may not be able to differentiate sufficiently in your job, and you may not choose to become the lowest cost provider, but you do need to stay in that job. To pre-empt being squeezed out, you need to improve your competitiveness. In the Sharpen Act! strategy, you build on your strengths to the extent that you’re able to in the circumstances, but meanwhile you work on some of the weaknesses that are holding you down. These could, for example, be presentation/public speaking skills, computer skills, appearance, leadership skills, marketing, networking, or organization. Identify one or two and work on raising your capabilities, narrowing the gap with the ideal provider. Who knows, you could even transform a weakness into a strength.

EXAMPLE: Take Debbi - She works in the marketing department of a professional services company. Her brainstorming reveals that the ideal employee a few years’ hence will need to be adept at presenting on her feet. Yet public speaking is one of Debi’s greatest fears. What should she do? She can’t carry on as is. She has either to look elsewhere, or bite the bullet. She joins Toastmasters International. As for thousands of others, worldwide, it transforms her life, and is a huge amount of fun to boot. Her Sharpen Act! strategy enhances, possibly even saves, her job.

Many people feel stuck in their jobs. But they know they could do better, for themselves, for their company. The best way to boost your performance, pay, and job satisfaction is to follow a robust strategy, whether Stand-Out!, easyU!, or Sharpen Act! Such strategies work for companies, and they can for work for you as well.

* * * * *

Vaughan Evans is a renowned economist, business strategist, sought-after speaker, and the author of Backing U! A Business-Oriented Guide to Backing Your Passion and Achieving Career Success - Business and Careers Press, 2009, http://www.backingu.com/

Article courtesy of the recruiting blogspot a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Quick Internet tips to help find a job

2009-11-04T16:26:00.005-06:00

Although the economy may not be the best for job seekers right now, there are jobs out there...YES, really great companies are looking for talent.

Here are some quick internet tips to help find a job. Courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:
From: Matthew Warzel, MJW Careers

________________________________

When a job seeker says "I don't have Internet access or I'm not Internet savvy," it cannot be an excuse in this competitive environment the job market has become. Here are some quick thoughts:

Sorry, but faxing doesn't cut it anymore
Get email account for FREE at Yahoo, Hotmail or Google
Go to a friend's house with Internet or to your local library because they have internet!
Enroll in a free or sometimes very cheap, local "Learn How to Use Internet" classes at Library or community colleges, high schools, etc.
sign up for a $25/class to learn basics of internet terms, navigation, etc. Even Microsoft Word to develop your resume and cover letter.
Post your resume onto general and niche specific job boards as well as company portals.
Almost all companies post their job openings on their website...so go to a company website, find the CAREERS section and enter that career section (called a portal)...sometimes you can even setup an account before applying to a job, post your resume onto that company career account and setup keyword alerts....thus, if you're a mechanical engineer and they post a job a month later for an mechanical engineer, the company will let you know via this alert to your email, which will allow for you to apply as soon as it's posted...this can allow for you to be on top of the application list too for recruiters, because sometimes recruiters at companies will only look at the top 100 applicants as opposed to all 1000 candidates who applied (and being one of the 1st to apply, can make you higher on that list, thus in the top 100)
Setup Google news and Yahoo news alerts for the word "'relocating' or 'relocation' and the job seeker's city or near-city's name" to find companies who are relocating to the job seeker's area; "expansion" and "growth" to identify growth companies and emerging opportunities for you to seek out hiring decision makers and recruiters at those companies
Review leading online and published newspapers like Forbes and Wall St. Journal to keep up on those growth industries (as well as your local paper)- DON'T BE INTIMIDATED OR ASHAMED! You want and need to learn and you are bettering yourself. This is the right step forward. IF YOU AREN'T DOING IT, YOUR COMPETITION IS!
Finally (non-Internet related), try to place yourself into growth industries (biotech, nutrition, energy & renewable energies, photonics, and IT) that you can fit into in respect to your transferable skills as opposed to dying industries (textile, printing, apparel manufacturing & general manufacturing such as steel, and airlines)

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Nice is a Four-Letter Word

2009-11-02T09:11:00.002-06:00

The following post is courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap:
From: Candice Arnold
______________________________

Starting a new job can be nerve-racking, especially when it comes to adapting to a new work environment. It's as important for new hires to be able to mesh well with their coworkers as it is for them to be able to quickly learn how to do their new jobs. So what's the best way for a new employee to endear himself to his coworkers? Should he strive to be likable or nice?

"I would say that the phrase 'being likable' implies that you are easy to get along with and that you respect other people, whereas, 'being nice' denotes a lack of sincerity," said Holly Stokes, author of "Train Your Brain, Get Results."

Melody Brooke,author of "Oh WOW, This Changes Everything," agrees that nice people seem insincere and untrustworthy. "Being likable is a personality thing ..." she said. "There is something about the person you feel warmly toward. Likable definitely gets you further than being nice."

Mark Stevens, president of MSCO and author of "Your Marketing Sucks," is also in support of being likable instead of nice, if forced to choose. "Nice people are often treated disrespectfully. Is this fair? Of course not. But human nature isn't always fair. Boy by a long shot," said Stevens. "On the other hand, people are often 'likable' because they are self-confident, exude charm and power. They may or may not be 'nice' but they are 'liked' because they are interesting or exhilerating to be around. You don't have to choose between nice and likable, you can be both, but push come to shove, take the latter. It's a lot more fun."

"If you work to be kind, the people who are worth their salt will like you," said Dick Cheatham of Living History Associates, Ltd. "Thus, you get both ... being kind and being liked."

Psychotherapist, Dr. Nancy Irwin gave a broader perspective, pointing out that each has its benefits in the professional world. "Each quality has its place. There is not one that is better than another, inherently. Different businesses and jobs have different qualities that are needed. [For example], public speakers should come across as likable, as should most performers. Yet, being nice (authentic, real), is more important for teachers, health professionals, etc."

Truly, the best way for any new employee to work well and get along with his coworkers is to first be himself, whether it's his nature to be nice or to be likable. In time, his colleagues will see for themselves who he really is and any preconceived notions they may have had about "nice" vs. "likable" will go right out the window ... at least in his case.

Article courtesy of the Recruiting Blogswap, a content exchange service sponsored by CollegeRecruiter.com, a leading site for college students looking for internships and recent graduates searching for entry level jobs and other career opportunities.

Increase Relevant Traffic to Your Career Site w/ Content Re-purposing

2009-10-30T12:59:00.007-06:00

One of the biggest challenges with blogs is coming up with new and fresh content on a regular basis and you are not alone, note the date on my last blog post. It’s especially challenging in this economy where resources are completely tapped.

One solution is to use a resource called The Recruiting blogswap. The Recruiting Blogswap is a FREE service of job board, CollegeRecruiter.com, but is used by an international collection of job boards, recruiting blogs, and other career sites.

How it Works:

Once you register as a publisher, you'll receive articles from authors who specialize in recruiting, career counseling and more, which you may choose to accept or decline based on the needs of your career site. The great thing is that you’re never obligated to publish an article so you don't have to worry about publishing content that isn't appropriate for your site. I just signed up for this service and you can to, registration takes less than a minute!

Other Content Re-purposing Strategies

Turn Press Releases Into Conversational Pieces – Let’s face it sometimes press release can be pretty boring to the everyday person. Try taking key messages within the press release and write them in a more conversational way, cite examples, offer helpful tips even link out to an additional resource.

Old is the New….New – If you have years of content on your blog or website peek through some of it to see where update opportunities may present themselves. The recruiting industry changes pretty quickly creating the need for content to be update frequently. Especially “Tip” type articles. The first article title might have been “5 strategies for finding the best talent on the web” Your new title could be “5 NEW tips for finding the best talent” etc.

Leverage Your PowerPoint Decks – Try turning your PowerPoint decks into articles and blog posts. If you’ve spoken at recruitment industry conferences you could always build out supporting visibility on that topic. Do you routinely do public webinars? That’s another re-purposing opportunity.

Do you have content re-purposing ideas you’d like to share, feel free to leave a comment.

Recruitment SEO Content Strategies the Competition May be Ignoring

2009-09-18T13:56:00.007-06:00

It’s no big secret that a having a recruitment SEO strategy in place can help an organization tap into the candidate pool that starts their job search within search engines.

A good portion of the success of your SEO campaign revolves around the content of your career site. In the eyes of the search engines, quality content is king. The more you have of it, the better.

If you’ve ever wondered why your competitor has better search engine visibility than you do, check out how many pages of content they have. Career Builder for instance has over 1.2 million pages indexed in Google.

This does not necessarily mean you’ll need as many pages to be on the same playing field, others factors come into play such as incoming links.

Tell me more about Linkbuilding

There are many techniques that can be used to garner inbound links to your career site however; the most favored by search engines is building links naturally by having unique content on your website. The kind of content that makes people naturally want to link to.

In addition to having content on a company’s culture, benefits, first interview advice there are some content strategies your competition may be ignoring.

3 Content Strategies your competitors may not know

Contests – the trick with contests is to find ways for the contestants to promote the content online themselves. This technique naturally results in lots of incoming links. Combine this with user generated content, where people are encouraged to promote their own contest submission it’s a magic win-win formula. Some great examples of leveraging this are:

- The Talent Buzz – blog contest
- Best Buy – Help us write the job description

Unique Research – Finding and publishing research is probably the most difficult to master. It requires thinking about all the industry information you have available and determining what insights you may be able to garner from it. This type of project may require looking to a market research firm to help. A good example of a company undertaking this type of strategy is Arbita with their recruitment genome project. The report is a multi-year research project but the first installment is ready to download now.

Awards with Badges – Posting awards has been one of the best ways for a business to establish themselves as credible in the online world. Awards that are represented with badges usually contain a link back to the site offering the award.

A great example of this type of strategy would be the recruiting blogs blog contest in 2007. All recruitment industry bloggers we're talking about this contest and in turn linked back to the Recruiting Blogs website.

The above content strategies alone will not guarantee that you will outperform your online competitors but when done properly, can accomplish a lot for your career site.

If you have examples you’d like to share feel free to post comments.

Back to School Time - SEO Style

2009-08-14T12:36:00.005-06:00

Although SEO seems to be the new buzz in recruiting web 2.0 strategies, it has actually been used for years as a tactic to increase sales for online businesses.

SEO and how it fits into the recruiting industry is greatly misunderstood. I completely agree with Marvin in that SEO is not enough , but it makes me wonder who said that it was the golden ticket to begin with.

SEO Is just a tool

At the end of the day, SEO is not the end all be all. It is one tool that can be very effective to have in your tool box. No doubt, if done correctly, search engine optimization can work wonders for getting your jobs seen by people using search engines but it goes beyond just a platform or technique that helps to get your jobs visible in Google. In fact, it’s really about optimizing your entire employment brand on the Internet.

SEO may not be for everyone

There's more than just keywords and a few meta tags that go into a successful SEO strategy, if you’re not willing to look at SEO as a long term investment, it might not be the best fit for you. Maybe something more instant like SEM (PPC) might be more what you’re after.
Go where your candidates are – If the jobs you have available are not what people are searching for within the search engines then maybe you don’t need to do a whole comprehensive strategy. Maybe you just run a basic SEO strategy that strengthens your employment brand.

Note: Keep in mind that 70% of search engine queries are unique, just because a keyword research tool like the Google Adwords tool says that a phrase was not searched does not necessarily mean that it won’t be in the future.

SEO Misconceptions

Can a service provider guarantee a first page ranking? No one can guarantee a #1 ranking on Google - Beware of SEOs that claim to guarantee rankings, allege a "special relationship" with Google, or advertise a "priority submit" to Google. See Google webmaster tools.

Using the .jobs domain extension will ensure search engine visibility. The .jobs domain in itself will not automatically help with your search engine visibility. Those who believe otherwise don’t fully understand the way a search engine treats newly-registered domains. Search engine trust is a very important factor in the visibility of your career site. A newly established domain -- .jobs or otherwise -- has not had time to build search engine trust.

Search engine trust includes a variety of factors including but not limited to: when was the domain registered, is there quality content on the domain, is content updated frequently, are there quality links pointing to the domain, etc. In reality, the .jobs domain has more of an employment brand benefit than SEO.

Search engines cannot access my content if using an ATS - It is true that most Applicant tracking systems put up technical barriers that prevent the search engines from being able to access their job content. But there is a work around: If you can get an RSS/XML feed of your jobs and upload the feed to search engines as well as place the feed on a page that search engines can access, your job content will be indexed. This is not an SEO solution but it will allow content that was once hidden to be found.

At the end of the day candidates use a variety of sources to look for jobs. Find out where your candidates are and advertise/be visible in those places, simple as that.

Microsoft /Yahoo Deal - Are Your SEO Vendors Prepared?

2009-08-03T10:00:00.001-06:00

The July 29th announcement of a search deal between Yahoo and Microsoft means that the search landscape is changing significantly.

It's said that the combined share of the market that Microsoft's Bing search engine will have is nearly 30%. Time will tell if that percentage holds true.

Key Takeaways of the Mergers

The term of the agreement is 10 years.

Microsoft’s Bing will be driving search engine results on Yahoo properties

Yahoo will provide the sales force for both companies’ premium search advertisers.

Each company will maintain its own separate display advertising business.

Self-serve advertising for both companies will go through Microsoft’s Pay-Per-Click platform (AdCenter)

What Does This Mean for SEO?

Being Bing’s results will power search results for both the Bing and Yahoo search engine. Organizations can’t afford NOT to optimize their career sites to perform within the Bing search engine.

How to Optimize for the Bing Decision Engine

Since Bing is MSN with new name and slightly upgraded algorithm the SEO techniques for Bing will remain somewhat the same as for MSN. Here are few SEO tips for Bing

Content is king - This holds true for all search engines but keyword rich content seems even more important on Bing, given the way that it organizes and presents information in the search engine results pages (SERPS). Preliminary research indicates that Bing favors pages with at least 300 words of text.

Domain Age is Key - Bing appears to put a lot of stock into how long a domain has been registered. Since there’s no way to artificially build up a domains age, if you have a newer domain concentrate on all the other factors.

Keyword rich domains do well - Domains that include keywords seem enjoy good visibility in Bing.

Sitemap Submission is important - Be sure to submit your sitemap to Bing webmaster tools

Keyword placement matters - Ensuring you have your keywords in all the right places is imperative with Bing, especially within page titles, header tags, and link text.

Authoritative inbound links are important - Although this is agreed to be essential for any search engine, Bing appears to act even more favorably toward inbound links, particularly those that are from sites that also have a high number of quality links.

Linking Out - In the past SEO's have been very careful abut linking out to external websites as yo not to decrease their page rank of the site being optimized. However, it appears that Bing likes external links and increases the page ranking of those pages that have more of them.

Title Tags of Other Pages - When you link to an external site, ensure that the title tags of the pages you have linked out to have the keyword that is most relevant to your page.

As SEO's become more familiar with Bing and its algorithm I expect that this list will change. If you have additional tips on optimizing for the Bing decision engine, feel free to post them here.

Social Media Profile Optimization

2009-07-04T18:53:00.020-06:00

I often get asked how social media and search engine rankings can be used together. For the most part I can tell you that most SEO professionals use social media mainly as a channel to help people discover content and link to it as well as for brand management and online reputation management initiatives.

But what about just getting your profiles listed in Google?

In a recent interview, Dana Todd of Newsforce and also a SEMPO board member talked about how social media frequently accounts for up to half of the top ten search results on Google for any given query

That said, ensuring your social media profiles are optimized will increase the likeliness that they will appear within the search engines results pages. Optimizing your social media profiles is no different than optimizing a website. At the end of the day SEO is really all about keywords, quality content, and links.

Tips for Optimizing Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter Profiles

Facebook SEO Tips

Use a vanity URL if possible – read FAQ’s Here

Fill out all your information as complete as possible (basic info, personal info, contact info)

Join groups and participate in their discussions
Become a fan of pages – Become a fan or Arbita

Ensure your profile Picture is up to date

Use the Facebook notes section for posting blog posts
Use the shout box for sharing links and tips
Use the links box to share important links to your website other profiles

Under Privacy > Search settings select “create a public listing for search engines”

Twitter SEO Tips

In your Twitter Settings update your name to read “First Name, Last Name” IE: Nicole Bodem - No one searches for “Nicole_Bodem” or “NicoleBodem”

Optimize your twitter bio line – it appears in the search results. Use keywords that you want to be found for. If you are comfortable talking about yourself in the third person, your name will be bolded within the search results. IE: Nicole Bodem is a Global Search Marketing Strategist

Build followers – Twitter will internally link your followers to your profile. This means that search engines will see your followers as “links” to your profile. Links of course help with search engine visibility. Additionally, if you tweet high quality content you’ll naturally pick up additional outside links.
Link to your twitter profile using your name as anchor text, IE: "follow Nicole Bodem on Twitter"

LinkedIn SEO Tips

When completing your LinkedIn profile remember to use words and phrases that you hope will be picked up by those searching for people in your field. Your goal is to have a profile 100% complete.

Get a vanity URL – your name if possible & make sure your profile is “public”
Your past work history should go back 10 years . Explain what you did at each company.
Fill out the summary section, add substance consider it your “elevator pitch”.
Write/Get Recommendations & Ask/Answer questions
Continually build on your connections
Comment on the LinkedIn blog and link back to your LinkedIn profile
Don’t forget the additional information section – When adding websites, click on the “other” section. You can name your website and that will act as anchor text for the link. (See Images for After Effect)

If you have any tips to share on optimizing social media profiles, feel free to leave a comment

Does SEO Open the Flood Gates to Receiving Unqualified Resumes?

2009-05-29T09:11:00.006-06:00

This past Thursday I gave my first-ever webinar through Kennedy Information. I have to say, it was a blast and I can only hope it was valuable to those attending. There were some really great questions asked duing the interactive Q&A session, one in particuliar that peaked my interest.

I thought it might be beneficial to share the question along with my answer (an expanded version of it anyway) here.

The Question

An ATS provider had told them not to engage in SEO as it would open the flood gates to tons of unqualified resumes. The question asked was basically whether or not this was a truthful statement.

Before I share my thoughts on this, I have to tell you first that SEO is my absolute passion in life (A bigger dork, I could not be) I have dedicated the last 7 years to studying and working full-time in the industry. That said, it erks (is that a word?) me when people who may not entirely understand the field give out inaccurate information.

My first reaction was that they are more than likely unable to provide SEO therefore wanted to devalue the importance of it using the scare tactic of “tons of unqualified resumes” Nice - keep thinking about yourself and not what's in the best interest of the industry as a whole.

The Truth - As I see It (other opinions welcome)

You will never be able to completely eliminate unqualified candidates from applying to your jobs, it doesn’t matter what channel you're using to attract them.

SEO is about leveraging a new candidate traffic opportunity. There are millions of searches being conducted by candidate’s everyday on search engines, applying SEO best practices to your career site and job content will help you get the attention of these people. Will you receive some unqualified applicants? Of course, at the end of the day SEO is just a form of marketing not magic.

With SEO you choose what words and phrases you want to be found most relevant for. If you're hiring specifically for an experienced .net developer that must be a US citizen that’s what you optimize the job description for. Will non US citizens that are only entry level still apply? You bet.

Keyword Research & Job Description Copy is KEY

If you’re receiving more unqualified applicants than normal, the first thing I would do is evaluate whether or not your job descriptions are written in a way that attracts the RIGHT candidate as well as look at what words and phrases you’re targeting in your optimization efforts.

The more specific you can be with your optimization efforts, the better qualified candidate you are bound to attract.

Thoughts?

Your Employment Brand Matters

2009-04-23T08:55:00.019-06:00

This morning I found a blog post entitled "employment branding fact or fiction" that was written by Jobs2web's Ken Horst aka The Jobs Guy. If you haven't done so already go check it out, it's sure to fire some great discussions. There were some great comments on his recruitingblogs page but unfortunately it looks like the post was taken down.

The post basically insinuates that employer branding is just a way for recruitment marketing agencies to "schnooker money" from talent managers. (Nice phrasing mark)

It also goes on to state...

"If your talent acquisition leaders are getting caught up in employment
branding conversations with their agency, tell them to get their head
examined. There is no greater undelivered promise than “we can
build your employment
brand!”

There are many undelivered promises in our industry (and others) such as guaranteed search engine rankings for your jobs but that's another blog post topic altogether.

My Thoughts

Granted I am FAR from an employment brand expert but isn't employment branding a key component in effectively hiring and retaining quality employees? Don't all companies want to be known as a "great place to work" in the minds of potential candidates? In my opinion a strong employment brand definitely effects a candidates decisions to accept a job offer.

I know from personal experience it has effected my decisions in the past. I get asked all the time about my past employment experiences.

What's Your Opinion?

I'd love to hear from some of the employment branding experts out there like Lizz Pellet or Ryan Estis.

Hopefully their Google alerts will pick this up and they'll stop by the chime in.

The Importance of Hiring a PPC expert

2009-04-20T13:18:00.010-06:00

Search engines like Google and Yahoo make it very easy for anyone to set up a Pay-Per-Click campaign. In fact setting up an account takes under 20 minutes. You simply register, input keywords, type in ad copy, throw in your URL and your off and running. But have you ever asked why search engines make this such as easy process?

Search Engines Want Your Money!

Search engines make it easy because they want your money. Granted, most search engines offer a Pay-Per-Click learning center, like Google's but they know that most people don't have the time to learn how they can make their campaigns more effective. It's like offering a mail in rebate, what percentage of folks actually mail in their rebate forms?

Just Because They Make It Easy Doesn't mean You Shouldn't Hire an Expert

By expert I mean someone that's been doing Pay-Per-Click for a while not someone that has read a few articles on the web and has deemed themselves experts. Or even worse, A company that has simply added it to their services because it's the new buzz.

Do More With Less

With the economy the way it is people need to figure out how they can do more with less, less money that is. One way to do that is by re-evaluating who is doing your PPC. Are you really getting everything out of your PPC campaign, could your campaign be better optimized?

There is more to PPC than Meets the Eye

To avoid wasting $$ on PPC you have to understand how the system works, ensure that your ads are not displaying for irrelevant searches like this:

Get a Closer Look

I love you Monster, but if you can't do PPC for yourself, I am not sure that it should be a service you provide to others

Why SEO is a Good investment in a Down Economy

2009-04-13T11:51:00.001-06:00

Those of us fortunate enough to be employed during the economic downturn are probably finding a greater daily workload and having to figure out how they can do more with less, less people that is.

Now some may think doing more with less implies doing a lower quality work with fewer resources, I would simply argue it means finding a way to work smarter, improve efficiencies and make your current investments work harder for you.

What does this have to do with SEO you may ask? SEO is lauded as bring one of the most cost effective forms of online marketing. Most, if not all companies have some form of career website that they’ve invested thousands of dollars in. If people not able to find your website, this investment is not living up to its full potential.

3 Reasons Why Companies Should Turn to SEO

Marketing Budgets Go First – In a not so hot economy, the advertising and marketing budgets or organization are generally the first to get cut. Knowing that your competition is reducing their marketing spend is the exact reason why increasing your marketing efforts will give you a great advantage. Research by American Business Press shows that companies that continue to market themselves during a down economy grow faster than companies that do not.
No Travel Budget for tradeshows - People that might generally attend out of town tradeshows to scope out new products and services find that their travel budgets have disappeared and are now having to turn to the internet to do their research. Companies out there that are still in a position to buy, but you need shows up in their search results in order to be given consideration. The way to ensure this is by optimizing your website via SEO.
Maximize Your Current Website Investment - “Buy” Instead of “Rent” – With limited budgets it’s important that you laser focus any current and new initiatives, targeting only those tactics that will give you the very best return on investment. One of those most impactful tools available is SEO. By optimizing your career website, you are no longer renting your job traffic from the job boards; you are investing in a long term solution that will allow you to take ownership of the search engine job seeker traffic that was rightfully yours in the first place.

Companies that adapt to the changing conditions will survive and grow. Your business won’t grow by staying stagnant. Investing in SEO now will give you the best chance at pulling ahead of your competition in the future.

The Waiting Game of SEO

2009-03-13T07:58:00.011-06:00

SEO is like any other form of marketing; it is a long term strategy that should be a permanent part of how you operate your business online. SEO is not a “quick fix”, if you’re success depends on immediate search engine visibility; you should be looking at Pay-Per-Click (PPC) strategies and not SEO.

SEO Requires Patience

When undertaking an SEO project, one thing to remember is that you will not see results overnight; SEO takes time to ramp up. How much time is dependent on many factors including:

How Old is your Career Site URL?
The older your website domain (URL) is the more trustworthy it is considered in the eyes of the search engines. If your career site has been around a while and has quality content that is useful to search engine users it will take less time to ramp up then a newly established domain.
How Search Engine Friendly was your site before?
If your career website had technical barriers that we’re previously stopping the search engine spiders from accessing your content, often you are able to see results fairly quickly. Keep in mind visibility increases over time and continued optimization efforts.
Does your career site have Inbound Links ?
Links from other topical related sites pointing to your career site count as votes of confidence in the eyes of search engines. The more you have, the more trust your website has. Search engine trust is a big factor in visibility.
How competitive are the phrases you’re targeting?
The more competitive a target phrase is, the longer you will likely have to wait to see results. It also means the more inbound links and content you will probably need. Your goal is to start with phrases that candidates use to search but have modest competition. If you’re hoping to achieve visibility for something as broad as “Jobs” it is unlikely to happen through SEO.

Who are Your Competitors and What Are They Doing?
You want to put yourself in a position where your SEO efforts are comparable to that of your competitors with an end goal of going above and beyond what they’re doing. For example; if your competitors are optimizing for the phrase “Minnesota Registered Nurse Job” and their website has 1,000 inbound links and 40 pages of content, we’ll need to work toward that goal in order to be able to compete for visibility.

Before starting any SEO or SEM strategy be sure to research your service provider. There is no barrier to entry for search marketing professionals which makes it very easy for someone to say they are an "expert" when that may not be the case.

In our industry we are used to using search engines to our advantage to research potential candidates it only makes sense that we would do the same for our potential service providers.

Generating More Candidates for Less - Indeed vs. Google PPC

2009-03-09T19:02:00.004-06:00

Given the current economy, everyone needs to generate more applicants at less cost. As companies and recruiters scale back on job boards and newspaper advertising, they look to search marketing initiatives to deliver results.

This week's Wall Street Journal article on recruitment SEM specifically shows how mainstream it's becoming, comparing the cost per applicant in actual dollars vs. print and job boards.

The question that staffing heads often ask me is where they should invest their recruitment Pay-Per-Click (PPC) dollars. Mainstream search engines like Google or Yahoo, or vertical engines like Indeed? My response 99% of the time is “it depends”: as with any search marketing channel, the answer comes through testing. Each client is unique and so are their results.

Read my full Post on the JobMachine Blog - Here

FREE Job Search Webinar Blog Coverage: I have a killer resume now what? Tips on being your Headhunter

2009-02-19T10:53:00.007-06:00

Webinar Presenter - Paul DeBettignies, managing partner, Nerd Search and blogger at MNHeadHunter.com

The presentation itself is very laid back as that's Pauls style. He warns that he uses the words “dude” and “sucks” a lot. I'll try to keep a tally going here.

Tally Results are surprising:

"Dude" = 1
"Suxs" = 5

_____________________________________

Remember: Unemployment and the job market are local things. So keep a bit of a perspective on it.

Do's and Dont's

Do - keep a routine
Do - assume every company is hiring, until you know otherwise
Do - assume advertising one position may be a sign of other open jobs
Don't - assume Company career pages are always current
Don't - get caught in "analysis Paralysis" - don't just be "planning your job search.

If you Don't remember anything else, remember this:

- Doing a job Search sucks
- Finding a job is a job, not a hobby

Who Are You? Tell people why people they should hire you.

10-second pitch
30-second elevator pitch
Make business cards (important for networking events)
Fill out your LinkedIn profile (networking is give and take)
Professional email address (ruupforit@yahoo.com - is bad!)

Keep in Mind - Your job search is all about marketing YOU! Saying who you are and what you can bring to the table. How are you different than the other 150 people that are applying? Sometimes you may have to do things that are uncomfortable for you. Be aware of the image your putting out

People hire People

Who ask questions - seek advice not help
Who reach out - who do you know?
Who appear resourceful - Start at the top

Paul says "recruiters are their to weed people out, there not always to help people get into a position"

Online network groups are a great resource for reconnecting and finding jobs. Start slow and build you relationship.

LinkedIn has 30M users
Facebook has 150M users (average age is 25, it's not for the kids)
Twitter - 124 characters only, Find out what conversations are taking place
Ning Groups

Where Should I look for a Job?

Big Job Boards (Monster, Career Builder)
Niche and local job boards (Craigslist)
Newspapers (Try going where everyone else isn't)
Trade & professional Association web sites
Aggregators (indeed, Simply Hired, LinkUp)

What do I know About them?

Research your potential employers using....

Google, Yahoo, Hoovers
Local newspapers
Press Releases
Business magazines

Your mission is to find information you can use in emails and phone calls, show them that you have invested time and interest in their organization.

Zero in on Your target

Find a contact name
Target hiring managers, senior management and recruiters
call during breakfast, lunch, dinner as gatekeepers are not around
Google names, industry terms and titles
Have a name but not an email address? Check their press release page and find out their email address format (firstname.lastname@company.com

When Making an Email Contact

Focus needs to be on what you can do for the company
Send resume as a word attachment
Name your resume attachment as Smith.doc rather resume.com
Check your email twice a day, You don't want to miss an opportunity
Grammar, spell-check every email.
Include your name, phone number, email address and LinkedIn URL in the footer

Don't be Afraid of the Phone

Rehearse your call, create a script if you need one but don't read it
Have a primary and secondary objective
Use industry buzzwords
Never use the word "Entry Level" - makes it sound as if you're "inexperienced" or "cheap"

Maintain Contact & Follow-up

Be polite and persistent, not pushy (follow-up in 3-5 days)
Keep the call/email brief and to the point
Is more information needed
Thank you card, letter, email or phone message
Keep a copy of the resume you sent near the phone so you can reference it. Tape it on the wall next to the phone so you can answer questions asked about your resume.

Dead End & Getting Desperate

Offer to do an internship (allows both you and the employer the ability to test each other out)
Volunteer with a non-profit or other community organization
Shadow for a day
Are you addressing the need of the employers? Don't send an email asking what you're looking for. Right now "your needs" are considered deal breakers.
Take a part time or consulting gig
If not now, when can you contact again?

Thanks to JobDig for providing Paul their office space to do this webinar.

That's all Folks!

Upcoming JobMachine Webinars - Don't Miss Them!

2009-02-10T08:13:00.011-06:00

Recruiting Metrics 101: Results For The Metrically Challenged
Thursday, February 12th 1:00 - 2:30 PM Eastern

Do you consider yourself metrically challenged? Are your metrics not making an impact? Do you ever ask yourself "why bother with metrics"? If you answered YES to any of these questions, this webinar is for you!

Key Takeaways:

Learn the value of metrics in measuring business services like Recruiting and Sourcing.
Get a gentle introduction to using a variety of simple, easy-to-implement metrics, and presenting a highly-absorbable dashboard format to senior management.
Draw from Dan's history of metrics success to apply to your issues during Q&A session (voice or text chat allows you ask questions anonymously)
This primer is best for those new to HR and Recruiting management (or aspiring to such roles), or have been hesitant to delve into what only seems like a complicated subject

Webinar Cost - $99.97

--------------------

Branding Your HR Department Inside Your Organization
Wednesday, February 18th 1:00-2:30 PM Eastern

Come Join Shally Steckerl and Bret Starr for an informative and FREE Webinar...

How well perceived is recruiting and HR elsewhere in your organization? Do you feel like your department has the respect of senior management, or are you just another cost center without strategic value that would be among the first to suffer cuts when times get tough?

Especially in a down economy, it's important for executives to know recruiting still has value. Geared to leaders of the talent function, VPs of HR and staffing directors, this session will show you how to market yourselves internally.

Key Takeaways:

Learn how to market yourself internally as well as build a brand for your department across your organization
We'll teach how to use LinkedIn, Facebook, blogs, and RSS to manage your brand internally and externally in a way that will be noticed internally
You'll learn how to create and send an effective e-newsletter, beef up your profiles, join the right social networking groups, and use feeds to find relevant news in order to send a competitive report on a weekly basis to internal constituents.

Website Usability 101

2009-01-30T12:33:00.018-06:00

Does your career site work with or without www

After much web surfing, I was unable to find statistics on www vs. non www usage but I would be willing to bet the number is quite high. I took a very informal poll of 15 of my techie friends consisting of web developers, designers and marketing pro’s all but one said they almost always don’t use the www, when typing in a web address. If your career site is not configured to display without the “www” a user will get an error message and in my opinion, that’s not a good first impression.

Best Practice for Search Engine Visibility

When talking about website usability and candidate experience, it is best practice to ensure your career website is configured to display with or without the www.

I'm not claiming to be a DNS expert by any means as I'm sure there are technical reasons I am unaware of that makes it difficult to configure all web servers to work with or without the “www”. But, generally speaking if your site does not work without the “www” it means that your hosting provider forgot to configure it or didn’t see the need.

Remember to 301 Redirect

Once you configure your career site correctly, make sure that you’ve set up a 301 redirect for the non www version of your career site to avoid confusing the search engines.

In other words, when someone types in http://careerwebsite.com your site would actually go to http://www.careerwebsite.com/ (See below)

Google Webmasters – Set Preferred Domain

If you’re like me, running a blog on the blogger platform aka blogspot, I don’t think there’s a way to set up a 301 redirect. In that case you’ll want to tell Google what your preferred domain is within their webmaster section screen shot Doing this will help Google improve how they crawl and index your site.

Do both, if you can

As a 7 year experienced search marketing strategist, I always way on the side of being safe rather sorry so when it comes to working on client sites and ensuring they have optimal SEO visibility, I always recommend doing both - Setting up proper redirects as well as telling Google what your your preferred domain is.

What's SimplyHireds Strategy?

2009-01-19T10:10:00.011-06:00

While trying to find some examples to use to explain the importance of using the negative keyword option when doing a Recruitment PPC campaign I came across this nugget in the organic results.

The Question I ask: What is this doing to their brand?

If there is a "bigger picture" strategy behind this, I'd love for someone to share it with me because I just don't get it. The traffic they could be gaining from this phrase is not qualified in the least. Would you want your brand associated with phrases like this?

I am guessing that SimplyHired is using some sort of dynamic keyword insertion, adding "types" in front of "Nurse Salaries" depending on what was searched for.

My advice would be to exclude terms that may not be appropriate such as: naughty, sexy and others that I don't feel comfortable saying.

Thoughts??

Guaranteed Rankings? - There's No Such Thing

2008-12-29T14:54:00.011-06:00

I would say that guaranteeing rankings is so 1980, but SEO hasn't been around that long. in fact; the earliest known use of the phrase "search engine optimization" was in 1997 posted on Usenet.

Now don't get me wrong SEO in general is very subjective, there are often a number of different ways to go about doing something. But, when it comes to search engine rankings, you cannot guarantee any position period. Google themselves tell you this in their webmaster section.

Too many people out their are getting screwed on a "guaranteed" sales pitch because they don't know any better. It makes those of us who really care about SEO and helping people perform better within search engines look bad.

So my question is for Joel Cheeseman who took the below video at ERE. Joel, as a fellow SEO strategist in the recruiting field how come you didn't ask him more about this? I'd be curious to know how SEO4Jobs is able to guarantee something that is completely out of our control.

To be fair, If you're talking about "performance based guarantees" thats not new either. In my opinion, probably not a very good strategy being rankings are so unstable these days with personalized search and geo-targeting. I prefer to concentrate on a company's key performance indicators? (KPI's) such as number of quality hires, aren't those the true measures of ROI anyway?

Kodos for incorporating linkbuilding, I agree, it's a very important aspect to SEO. Remember, its not just the link that matters, its the quality of the link. 100's of links from the same domain are not going to do you a whole lot of good. Linkbuilding in itself should be a well thought out, on-going strategy.

A Must See - "You Oughta Know Inbound Marketing"

2008-12-11T10:43:00.001-06:00

Paul Debettingnies aka MN Headhunter introduced me to this amazing video today. It's the coolest and most creative thing I have seen in some time. Hat tip to HubSpot's Rebecca Corliss

It's one of those things that you come across and say "Brillant, why didn't I think of that"

Here's Viral Marketing hard at Work...Enjoy

"Oughta Know Inbound Marketing"

If I make one more call
I might go punch a wall.
No one understands
That this doesn't work.

They hang up cause I'm a creep.
The mail I send they don't read.
They always find a way to
Ignore me.
I'm interrupting their lives
So they threaten me with knives.
I didn't think that marketing was like torture.

Cause the calls, direct mail
TV ads, they all fail.
And they aren't getting me anywhere. They don't work.
No!
And every time I try to sell
'Didja know that I'm told I should go to hell?
Then I cry. Then I cry.
And you wonder why.

I want leads
To come to me.
Fix our SEO
Get some inbound links.
RSS
Let's get blogging.
Why don't we just use inbound marketing?
You. You. You. Oughta know.

Get my page rank up.
Tag my content.
Fix my landing page.
Let them come to me.

Now I can blog I can tweet
Publish things you will read.
Won't have to bug you in the middle of dinner.
Google me organically
Search results one two and three.
You need my products? Uh huh. Yeah you'll find me.

Cause the calls, direct mail
TV ads, they all failed.
And they weren't getting me anywhere. They don't work.
No!
And every time I tried to sell
'Didja know I was told I should go to hell.
Then I cried. Then I cried.
And you wondered why.

Now my leads
They come to me
Fixed our SEO
Got some inbound links
RSS
Now we're blogging
Thank god now we use inbound marketing.
You. You. You. Oughta know.

November Minnesota Recrutiers (un)Conference Wrap Up

2008-11-25T10:57:00.005-06:00

Our Fall/Winter Minnesota Recruiters (un)Conference was held last Friday (November 21st) at Best Buy. We had our best turn out yet, a whopping 240 attendees. I was surprised to learn that a good 80% of those in attendance were first-timers.

Thanks to the generous Minnesota recruiting community, we were able to collect 300 lbs of food for our community outreach partner Second Harvest Heartland. Sadly, each day thousands of Minnesotans go hungry and the numbers are growing. Hunger affects the young, the old, women and men from all ethnic backgrounds. The faces of hunger do not look that different from our own families. Together we can make a difference, consider making a cash donation today.

Event Presentations:

First up – A social media panel of experts that included Josh Kahn of Best Buy, Erica Steffenson of Ecolab, Katie Carty Tierney of nGenera Corporation and Tavis Hudson of technical Resources Inc.

The panel talked about how they source and recruit candidates using social media platforms like Twitter - follow me here. They touched on how you would go about establishing a recruiter and employer brand, what their companies think of social media and pitfalls to watch out for.

In response to a question about how much time is spent on Social Media, Katie replied with “constant partial attention.” AWESOME! (Thanks for the quote Paul)

Confused About Twitter? No Worries

I know from having a few conversations about Twitter during the networking session that there were some people that were still a bit confused with Twitter and really wanted more information on how they could get started. Don’t worry, you’re not alone. Bryan Starbuck, CEO of Talent Spring created a presentation that is sure to answer a lot of questions. Check it out….

Twitter for Recruiting (Hiring) from Bryan Starbuck on Vimeo.

Second up - Was a very interactive session called "Deep Structure Recruiting" by Allan Larson of Ovation, LLC

This session focused on two concepts that would take your candidate and hiring manager consulting skills to the next level. Attendees learned how to better work within the unique styles of their managers and candidates as well as how to manage their own unique strengths and blind spots.

Sadly, I missed most of Allan's presentation because I was pacing outside the door doing the breathing and hand clenching exercises I was taught to do before presentations. I am new to presenting and am up next. 240 people is pretty intimidating.

Third up - Was my presentation on the basics of SEO and SEM and how it is applied to recruiting. My goal was to educate people on how they could take advantage of search as a talent opportunity without hiring an experts.

You can view my presentation below.

Uploaded on authorSTREAM by NicoleBodem

All in all I think it was our most successfully event to date. I am honored to be a part of such a great community of people.

Jobs Feeds - The Secret to Search Engine Visibility

2008-11-09T14:19:00.009-06:00

Did you know that the job boards get a good portion of their traffic from search engines like Google? In fact, look at the statistics The Chad found below:

Whats preventing your career site from taking advantage of some of this traffic? Simply put, it's the drop down menu.

Search engines cannot select from drop down menus, therefore all of the job content behind drop down menus is invisible to search engines and therefore invisible to potential job seekers.

Learn The Secret to Visibility

The secret is search engine visibility is a job feed. Ask your ATS provider for a feed of your jobs. Put those feeds on a page of your career site that is already indexed by the search engines, just like Target did (below)

Search engines will come by and follow your job feed links, reading all of the job content within it.

Once search engines read or index your job content, they will make it available in their index for potential job seekers to find.

Granted, job candidates are not searching for "Executive Team Leader Assets Protection jobs San Jose" but this is where optimizing for the right job titles comes into play. It really just shows you how powerful something as simple as a job feed can be.

What is Personal Search & How Does it Affect Your SEO

2008-10-28T07:56:00.006-06:00

What the heck is personal search anyway?

Google introduced the concept of personal search a few years back but it’s not been until recently that it’s received a lot of buzz in the recruiting industry. Yahoo and MSN (Windows Live) have followed suit and also have personal search capabilities.

Once you're logged into a search engine account, like Google Gmail, your search engine results are modified based on your past history of searching, your bookmarks and what’s on your personal homepage. This is another reason why rankings are an old school metric for evaluating success.

Example: 3 People Search for “Beatles”

Searcher 1 – receives results geared towards “the band”

Searcher 2 – receives results geared towards “the bug”

Searcher 3 – received results geared towards “the car”

Personal Search is the search engines way of trying to deliver the most relevant results to you. You can tell whether or not you are receiving personalized search results because it will tell you in the upper right hand corner. Personalized search results only effective first page listings.

How will this affect your SEO Strategy?

For those that already concentrate on relevancy, creating search-engine-friendly sites and user-centered content, this won’t have much of an impact at all. For those that are not, you’ll really need to re-evaluate your SEO strategy. Understanding your target audience and user engagement are critical to attracting the attention of those that use personal search.

Ways to Optimize Your Site for Personal Search

The key is to ensure your site is “sticky” you want users to find your website relevant and stick around for a while. The longer a user is on your site the better. In addition to quality content (I can’t stress that enough) be sure to have features that engage your target audience.

Blog
RSS Buttons
Bookmark or Favorite Button
Video
Social Network Components

At the end of the day as long as you keep “users” at the forefront of your SEO strategy, you can’t fail.

Common Mistakes Made with Social Media Marketing

2008-10-03T18:15:00.001-06:00

Social media marketing (SMM) is no longer the “new kid on the block”. This internet marketing channel has really become an integral part of many organizations online marketing campaigns.

Social media marketing can be described as a “word of mouth” form of marketing. What some often forget though is that the true goal of social media marketing is to provide useful and relevant information to people. If leverage correctly, buzz and search engine visibility will happen naturally.

The problem is that some don’t take this goal to heart and are making many mistakes along the way. On the web perception outweighs intent. How people perceive your social media marketing efforts will affect your organizations reputation, as well as the ability to connect with customers.

Top ThreeSocial Media Mistakes

Participating in to many tools – Signing up and building a profile on every new tool is not the best strategy to take. (I have been guilty of this myself) When you try and manage more then a handful of profiles you usually end up with what they call “naked profiles”. A naked profile contains little to no information. In order to get anything out of social media platforms you have to be willing to invest time into building up quality content rich profiles.
Self Promotion Overload – Social media users generally frown upon self-promotion.
However from my experience I’ve found that the 80/20 rules works just fine. Promoting yourself and your services in moderation is ok as long as you are an active member of the community. When you use the service solely as a promotional platform and don’t provide anything of the value to the community that’s when they start to label you as a “spammer”
Setting up & Ignoring - Social media is similar to SEO in that it's a process. It’s a time investment and one that you need to take seriously in order to be successful. After you've set up your profile, go into the community, listen and participate.