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Tips on Personal Branding

This is Zoë Goldring here, one of the JobGals over at JobSyntax with the honor of posting on Harry Joiner’s Marketing Headhunter for this week's Recruiting Blog Swap.

The big kerfluffle made by Apple and Google recently to protect their brand names (thanks for the lead Heather), got me thinking again about personal brand and protecting your name – and reputation – in the digital age.  We’ve blogged before about combatting your digital dirt and the idea of personal brand, but have you ever thought about what (or frankly who) might be out their tarnishing your personal brand and how you can protect it?

Here are a few quick thoughts on how you can keep your impeccable reputation untarnished:

1. Go ahead, Google yourself.  Or Yahoo! or MSN Search; whichever search engine satisfies your itch. As most potential employers will probably be doing the same thing, it’s important to find out what information is out there about you, positive or negative.  You’ll have an opportunity to then address these with the recruiter or hiring manager should they ever come up.  Harry has a great example of this in finding Caleb Founds on Jobster.


2. Check your references, recruiters will.  Who’s on your list of references that you hand to future employers?  Will these people provide an honest and critical evaluation of your skills?  Have you spoken with them in advance to determine how they might answer questions about your work history, interpersonal and team skills?  Now, I am not suggesting that you stack your references in a 100% positive light, people will figure that out, but make sure to know who on your list is giving an honest and accurate assement of your skills.


3. Do you have a doppleganger?  Folks with uncommon names, say like a Zoë Goldring or a Gretchen Ledgard, may not have this problem.  However, if you have a terribly common name, think John Smith, try to detemine if there are other individuals out there practicing in your same field with the same name.  You may even try to differentiate yourself by using your middle initial.  I have a friend who has the same name as his father, they live in the same city and practice in the same field.  Long ago he found it imperative to distinguish himself from his father.  Now he goes by J. Norman Wilson.  A slight change in name gave birth to a new identity and helped set him apart.


4. Stick to your brand.  A strong brand will continue to evolve with you over time.  At the same time, and of course career changes aside, you want to have a lazer-like focus on the key attributes you have to offer to an employer.  If you want to be know as the internet brand marketing expert, what activities and goals must you accomplish to reach that status?  Consider writing yourself a brief elevator pitch, as suggested by Libby Sartain over at Yahoo!, and reviewing it on a quarterly basis.  Does this still describe you and your goals?  Should it be changed to reflect any recent accomplishments?  Oh, and if you do change your name you may want to consider sticking to it in the long run :)

Understanding what information is out there about you as well as what others might be saying can go a long way in protecting your personal brand.  Just like G.I. Joe said in those great cartoon PSA’s of yesteryear, knowing is half the battle!

Retaining Your Best People

Here's a story about employee retention:  I received a call this week from a friend-of-a-friend.

My friend is a famous search engine copywriter, and the friend she referred to me is a smart, friendly, business-oriented 29-year old internet marketer with an unblemished 8-year track record of success with the same Fortune 500 direct-to-consumer company.  Four of those years were in web development.  Within the last four years, she has single-handedly built her employer's organic SEO programs with amazing success.  Her resume is a work of art.

Anyway, this young lady (let's call her "Susan") is looking for new opportunities.

Here's why:  Eight years ago, Susan signed on with her company for an annual salary of $60K plus a $2500 discretionary bonus.  Despite several promotions, "company policy" has held Susan to cost of living increases at 6% per annum, while the discretionary bonus has never changed.  Today she makes $95K + a $2500 bonus.  Her performance reviews have been nothing less than exemplary.

So last week Susan gets reviewed, and -- as usual -- her boss raved about her performance.  All of her KPI's are through the roof.  Yet when Susan mentioned to her boss that people with her background are making $150K base + bonus on the agency side of the SEO business and $125K base + bonus on the client side, her boss said ...

"Susan, if you can get that kind of money elsewhere, go for it. Your employee status allows me to pay you $95K + a cost of living increase. Take it or leave it."

Less than an hour later, Susan was on the phone with me.

Note to HR Managers:  Your employees do not operate in a vacuum.  They know what the market is for their skillset.  In particular, SEO programs are very profitable for both agencies and clients.  Simply put, there is a ton of money washing around in the SEO space.  Most top-flight SEO consultants are being billed out at $150/hour -- and everyone knows it.

The best way to keep your recruiting costs low is to not lose good people.

Susan's defection is totally unnecessary.  She's trained.  She has solid intercompany relationships. She's well-respected by her peers outside of the company.  And her desk is very cash-flow positive. Replacing Susan will be a costly hassle if the company does it without my help.  And if the company does it with my help, I'll charge them 20-25% of the replacement's base salary -- which will likely be $125K + bonus.  The total cost to clean up this mess will be $60-70K.

The worst thing a company can do is to motivate their stars to look around.  Trust me, if I get an unsolicited call from one of your A-players, I will remind them that you don't appreciate them.  That's my job:  I'm a management recruiter, and I'm pretty good at it.

And if you want your company to go from Good to Great, for each employee under review ask "Would I hire this person again?"  If the answer is yes, then keep in mind the total cost to replace that person and assign their bonus accordingly.

In the meantime, if you are a corporate recruiter who's looking for a highly-skilled organic SEO program manager (single, home owner, no kids, easy relocation), call me at (678) 795-0900.

Career Advice on Dead-End Job

The August 21 issue of Fortune magazine asks an important question: "Have You Outgrown Your Job?"

According to Fortune publicist, Erin Clinton, "A generation of younger workers can’t get ahead—because the boomers above them won’t budge. Twenty-, thirty-, and even forty-something managers are in trouble.  Fifteen-hour days have become the norm.  Untethering oneself from one’s BlackBerry is, in many fields, considered high treason.  All this might not be so terrible if that big promotion—the one that catapults an up-and-comer out of middle-management hell and into the senior ranks-were around the corner."

"But increasingly," says Ms. Clinton, "younger workers are finding that no matter how many hours they put in or how much their bosses rave about their work, they’re just plain stuck.  An entire generation is bumping against something no amount of youthful vigor can match. Call it the Gray Ceiling."

One 36-year-old finance manger states: "I'm under so much pressure here, but the rewards just aren’t coming. I have to get out."  Click here to read the article.

Great Reference Letters

Few marketing mediums are as powerful as a well-crafted reference letter, which can shorten sales cycles by “proving” your value proposition to your prospects while simultaneously reinforcing the loyalty of your current clients who write them.  Moreover, they’re free for the asking.  Yet according to marketing guru Dan Kennedy, references and testimonials are among the least leveraged marketing mediums out there.  That’s insane!  This resource by reference expert Paul Johnson explains the six elements of a perfect reference letter – which I guarantee will help you win new business.

Action item:  Mail order pioneer Joe Cossman (remember Ant Farms?) used to say “If you can’t change it – promote it.”  As you read Paul’s excellent article, ask yourself “How can I use reference letters to address my prospects’ objections right up front?"

For example, if your architectural design firm has famously long project turnaround times, have your testimonial letters mention that because of the long turnaround times, your work has fewer mistakes, greater attention to detail, and so on.  Again, if you can’t change it – promote it.

Candidates:  How can you apply these concepts to your job search?