The other night, Kelly and I were surfing Facebook and we came across a status update from Jessica Miller-Merrell about Empire Avenue… “Empire What?” we thought…

Little did we know, within a couple of hours, we would be wholly swallowed and entranced by this world of social investment.

When we first joined Empire Avenue, we had a few immediate realizations.  For starters, it looked like a virtual stock market for people who participate in the realm of social media.  Second, we noticed that success appeared to hinge on one’s stock value.  Little by little, we started noticing all the small nuances that go in to making Empire Avenue much more than a simple game of buy and sell.

“Whoa!  What’s this dividend thing all about?”

“Why does it take 5 days to firmly establish our social media links?”

“Hey!  People are buying our stocks!”

The simple truth is, it was all very confusing and a bit of whirlwind at first.  But, for some reason, we found ourselves glued to our monitors… reviewing potential buys, roaming through help menus, joining groups and pondering what all this meant to the social space… trying to figure it all out.

You see, beyond the game play appeal, we started to notice a thriving community of savvy investors buying and selling social stock based on research and thought out approaches.  This realization came when we were invited to an internal community called Team Zen.  Before receiving our invitations from Dr. Ron Capps, the group had been researching Kelly’s potential stock value, checking out her different social media locations and contemplating the potential impact of me joining with her.  We were a bit taken aback when we saw the dialogue.

While it may be in the spirit of fun, we were super interested in the fact that decisions about the buying and selling of our social stock were being contemplated based on our activities and overall presence.  While it didn’t all make sense yet, this was one of those “Aha!” moments.

Back to the help menus we went.

As it turns out, your stock value is decided by a number of factors.  Supply & Demand are two important elements and they are driven by the market.  Do buyers anticipate your value to go up or down?  Even more intriguing is how stock prices are based on the health of your social media activity – your “Network Scores.”  This is where it gets really interesting.

When we researched share price value and network scores, this is what we encountered:

Your Network Scores are a series of numbers that describes the degree of your Activity, Audience and Interaction on different social media channels. It forms a large part of your Empire Avenue Share Price calculation every day, along with the buying and selling of your shares on Empire Avenue.

“Activity” simply means how often you use that channel, posting statuses, tweets, comments, photos or whatever other content you might add.

“Audience” is the size of the network of individuals that receives your content.

Most importantly, “Interaction” considers the reaction of your audience to the content you post: the more they comment, retweet, ‘like’, favorite, or otherwise respond to your content, the greater the Interaction portion of your Network Score will be.

How scores are determined

Each social network and online activity is different. Here are specifics on how we look at each network at this time:

• Twitter: Activity on twitter, the audience of your tweets based on your followers and the quality of your followers (bots, for example, are low-quality followers), the reach and quality of your retweets and mentions.
• Facebook: Activity on Facebook through posted updates and comments on your profile, the quality of your friends and their interaction with your postings and comments.
• Flickr and YouTube: Your activity through posting photos or videos, the connections you make with other Flickr and YouTube users, their interaction with you on Flickr and YouTube through comments and favourites.
• Empire Avenue: Your activity on Empire Avenue, excluding the specific acts of buying and selling; user engagement with you on Empire Avenue including how they react to you, engage with you and the success of your advertising.
• LinkedIn: Your connections, actions and recommendations count for your LinkedIn score.

It was at this moment when Kelly and I started to get really excited.  Was it possible that Empire Avenue had assembled an engaging and fun system for judging social media presence in real time?  Was it?

My curiosity was on full-attack, so I started to dig in further.  I contacted their offices and was promptly greeted by a response explaining some of the system nuances.  Shortly thereafter, they informed me that they are hosted by Rackspace (which made it even cooler).  We arranged a time to speak next Tuesday for more clarification and thoughts around their future.

I greeted the next morning by checking out my portfolio of shares and activity on Empire Avenue.  It was a good prior evening of trading.

On my way to work and throughout the day, I couldn’t help but share Empire with a variety of contacts.  Veronica Ludwig (e)VERONICA received the first text and joined the network.  Shortly after, Alicia Arenas (e)ALIARENAS, Phil White (e)WHITE, and others joined in.  At around 11:00 AM, I was having a discussion with Robert Scoble about an upcoming event at Rackspace and decided to mention Empire Avenue since he is always interested in exploring new technologies.  He joined a few minutes later as (e)SCBL – the resulting flurry of activity was wild!  Later in the day, I had a long conversation with Robert Taylor and perhaps reignited his interest – he is listed as (e)ROBOT.

Social Media Evolution

I can’t say whether Empire Avenue is the next evolution in social media grading or a simple blip on the map of new things… the users and overall adoption will ultimately judge that.  But, what I can say is that I’m intrigued with how robust and thought through the product is – from their help menus to their Facebook App.  I’m also fairly certain that their goals are simultaneously fun and relevant.

For some time now, social media has created a buzz that’s resulted in a wide-array of individuals jumping in and exploring the tools.  Interestingly, adopters seem to have chopped Social Media in half.  Some adopted the “Social” piece and others simply saw it as “Media.”  As the new “Media” adopters’ eyes glazed over with dollar signs, we all saw a massive rise in people who claim expertise in the realm based on their abilities to spam the networks.  I get it, but it sure the hell didn’t do any favors for the experience of the masses.

What I see in Empire Avenue is a noble attempt to truly rate and judge social media success.  Let the market decide how engaging and useful someone’s presence is.  If they are doing it “right,” one can expect a higher share value, increased dividends and happy investors.  The spammers will fall into the realm of irrelevance and it will all be on full display within Empire Avenue.

Further, EA is not limited to individuals – it’s open to businesses who want to jump in and test their presence.  I see a potential future when businesses will ask their consultants about share value on Empire Avenue as a way of determining overall success.  This could be a great move towards the much needed accountability in the realm.  Be gone snake charmers!

Bottom line, I’m impressed.  Empire Avenue is fun and engaging.  While there is a bit of a learning curve, I think you’ll find it worthwhile and interesting.  For someone who knows very little about the stock market, it has also been a great learning experience to see market forces at play within a realm that I’m familiar with.  Influence, approach and strategy all come into play with the end result being a very interesting perspective on what really makes social media work.

So, are you ready to join in?  Here is my link for joining (http://empireavenue.com/?t=03oxyhht) – in using it you’ll start out with some extra Eaves (currency within Empire Avenue) and I’ll receive some as well for investing in your shares.  I’m listed as (e)MICHAEL and you can find Kelly listed as (e)KML <– a great stock for sure!

So, what impacts do you think this could have on the realm?  Is this a fad or a new standard in grading success?

Consider this:

How could a virtual stock market of social media impact the marketing classrooms around the world?

How could it improve the quality of content produced?

How could this increase overall engagement and social media adoption?

Could this do away with “social media experts” and reenforce that we are all just practitioners and explorers?

I’m interested in your feedback!

Additional Resources

Empire Avenue Tutorial

Overview by the creators

Click here to view the embedded video.

I had the distinct pleasure of attending a user conference last week in beautiful Minneapolis, MN.  Jobs2Web, a rapidly expanding recruitment technology firm out of Minneapolis, hosted a user conference for their various clients to exchange ideas, attend thought-provoking sessions and, of course, experience networking at it’s best over great food and drinks.

If you have yet to hear about Jobs2Web, I would recommend you check out their website and/or watch the promotional video.  It’s direct, to the point and will surely leave you thinking, “That makes sense!”

In fact, after having spent the past two years travelling, brainstorming and looking far and wide for the most progressive recruitment technologies, I can say for sure that Jobs2Web has made a fan out of me.  They are the real deal and, simply put, THEY GET IT!

How Jobs2Web Will Change Recruiting

To everyone I’ve spoken with about the product and the many more I will speak with in the future; it’s my firm belief that Jobs2Web will change the way we recruit.  With a very simple shift in the way we have always gathered candidate information, they are enabling their clients to build talent communities and engage through the use of social recruiting tools – something we have all been starving for!

In the past, the approach was as follows:

1. Establish job openings
2. Promote jobs through various channels
3. Have candidates go through the ATS application process
4. Pre-screen and interview candidates
5. Hire the best suitable candidate for the role

What Jobs2Web has done is, in essence, add a valuable step to the process and enable recruitment groups to capture data for both active and non-active members of the overall talent population.

The basic Jobs2Web process looks as follows:

1. Establish job openings
2. Promote jobs through various channels
3. Greet candidates with a short business card that they fill out
4. Have candidates go through the ATS application process
5. Pre-screen and interview candidates
6. Hire the best suitable candidate for the role

I know, I know… it doesn’t seem all that different.  But, it’s what they’ve done with the business card that makes all the difference in the world.

You see, Jobs2Web has created more than a business card that candidates fill out before proceeding with the recruitment process.  They have created an entire system around that information that allows recruiters to interact and measure results of the web traffic that visits their site.

Instead of simply hoping for candidates to make it through the process, the business card allows for recruitment organizations to capture the very basic data necessary to continue dialogue with talent of interest… and, used correctly, develop of a community.

Why Does This Matter?

Well, if you have spent much time reviewing your career site metrics, I’m sure you have already found out that many candidates apply for jobs during peak normal business hours.  In the metrics I review on a normal basis, I can clearly see that the majority of candidates visit the career site between 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM from Monday through Wednesday.

While there is traffic on the other days of the week, it’s pretty obvious that parties of interest are out cruising for jobs during the workday.

So, what happens when they get interrupted?  Do you still have a chance to capture their information and follow up with them?  Probably not.

Jobs2Web, through the very simply insertion of a business card early on, captures the data necessary to continue the dialogue.

From the point of information collection forward, the candidate enters the normal process.

Building a Talent Community

What happens with this valuable information next is what makes Jobs2Web powerful!

While the business card is one way for candidates to enter the talent community, Jobs2Web has made it easy, with a variety of widgets for your career site and social media outlets, to allow talent to join your community and to be kept abreast of opportunities of interest.

Instead of spending money on job postings again and again to attract similar groups of people to your career site, the Jobs2Web technology enables recruiters to interact directly with the people who have been previously interested in opportunities.

The power of this method was affirmed by a number of clients during the conference – clients including Microsoft, Lifetime Fitness and HCR ManorCare, among others.  One client reported that their talent community had grown to 350,000 people over the course of two years.  Their recruitment advertising spend dropped by 50% and their number of applicants had increased by tens of thousands… per month!  Pretty powerful testimonial!

Analytics That Transform

Beyond being a smart way of going to market with your recruitment spend, Jobs2Web offers insight into how your advertising dollars are being spent.  Imagine being able to put a dollar figure behind every candidate recruited.  Do you know how much you spend on recruiting candidates?  Do you know what your exact ROI is from every source?  Wouldn’t you like to?

A number of clients reported a change in their abilities to negotiate rates with job boards, job fairs and other recruitment sourcing avenues.  Yes, you may be receiving clicks from job boards, but do you know how many of those candidates are converting to hires?  Shouldn’t you?

The analytics dashboard that Jobs2Web offers is pretty amazing.  From how many of your job related pages are ranking on Google to exactly where ALL of your traffic is coming from.  A Recruiting Manager, armed with a tool like this, will be able to measure, respond and spend with powerful data to back them up.  Gone are the days of “Post and Pray.”  Welcome the era of intelligent social recruiting!

In Conclusion

While this may have seemed like a long affiliate post for Jobs2Web, I assure you, it’s not.  I’m simply impressed.  For the first time in a while, I find myself sitting back saying “Wow! – This makes total sense!”  “Why didn’t something like this come out years ago?!?”

There are some great technologies out there for recruiting.  I’m sure many of them provide value to the recruiting process in some way.  However, Jobs2Web is, by far, the most progressive, intelligent and exciting technology I have seen for recruiting in a long time!  It very well could change the way we approach social recruiting, community building and recruitment advertising spend – that’s a lot of impact.

I’ve just barely scraped the surface of what Jobs2Web is capable of.  Seriously, check out their website and see what they have to offer.  Or don’t… this would be a great secret to keep!

Special thanks to Jobs2Web for the invitation to their conference!  You guys and gals are doing amazing work!  Keep it up!

In the coming weeks, I will cover some of the interesting presentations and topics that were covered at the conference.  Beyond the innovation that Jobs2Web has to offer, there was an amazing amount of brainstorming going on – all good stuff!

I feel blessed.

Her name is Sophie and she will arrive towards the end of September.  As I feel for her movements on the surface of Kelly’s stomach, I’m reminded of how many changes I’ve experienced over the past seven months… and how many more I will go through in the coming years.

Kelly and I met last year during a social media Recruiting conference in Canada.

Prior to the event, I only knew her casually on Twitter.  I think our first interaction had something to do with stealing a lonely cookie from a co-worker’s desk.  Ben Eubanks and I were encouraging her to go for it – #randomness.

As I walked through the doors of the conference that day, I remember spotting Kelly and having the strangest feeling come over me.  Here was this spunky, fun-loving, highly spirited girl from Buffalo, NY whom I’d never met before.  Yet, I ignored the entire 100+ person group, walked straight to her and gave her a hug.  I don’t know why, I just did.

I felt then as I feel now… I had met my soul mate.

The best way I can describe it is to have you imagine reuniting with someone that you love dearly, you’ve missed endlessly and that you’ve felt incomplete without.  It’s something I can’t fully put into words, but it hit me over the head (and heart) like a ton of bricks.  It was magic!

Timing, Timing, Timing

Unfortunately, that magic moment came with a certain amount of complexity.  My life was in a state of flux.

For many years leading up to that day, I had been struggling in my marriage.  Like so many relationships, my partner and I had experienced our highs and lows.  A few months prior to the conference, I had reached my tipping point and knew it was finally time to move on.

We had split up before on a couple of occasions – once even before getting married in 2000 and again in 2006 after the “lows” reached an all time high.

After the 2006 break-up, and within months of us agreeing to give it another shot, we moved to Texas so that she could pursue a promotion.  Unfortunately, geography and time weren’t the cure and problems started to creep back in.

That said, we had been together since the age of 17.  We had built a history together and enjoyed some pretty significant moments.  Living abroad in Argentina, going through college, buying our first house, starting our careers – the list goes on and on.

Comfort is a powerful force in relationships.  I’ve seen it in others and I witnessed it myself.  Perhaps it’s the comfort of knowing what to expect… the unknown can be a scary place.  I attribute the length of my past relationship, in large part, to this factor.  We had spent nearly half of our lives together – this was someone I had grown up with.

Unfortunately, comfort doesn’t cure dysfunction and at the age of 30, I knew I had to make some hard decisions.  So, I created a list.

• Family – I had wanted children for 8 years and she still wasn’t ready.  I wasn’t confident that she ever would be.
• Priorities – Often times, it felt like the pursuit of material possessions took precedence over being grateful for what we had – nothing ever seemed good enough and that really conflicted with my values.
• Personalities – She was always very stable while I enjoyed taking risks.  I tend to live in the now and she was very calculated.  This caused major friction.
• Dispositions – She is very intellectual and I’m very creative.  I’m very social and she enjoyed time to herself.  It ended up as a tug-o-war.

Thinking back, for the longest time, I really bought into the idea that opposites attract.  I was under the impression that opposing qualities were what led to a stronger pairing… differences were to be seen as compliments.  In reality, the differences created friction, which led to misunderstandings, which led to a communication breakdown and, ultimately, a breakdown in the relationship.

She had everything society conditioned me to look for: beauty, ambition, intelligence and success.  In the end, it was a matter of value alignment and ours were too far apart for a successful marriage to thrive.

Turbulent Transition

Change is hard.

When it comes to matters of the heart, everything is infinitely more complex.  Of course, if I didn’t care, it may have been easy.  But, I did.

As I did my part to prepare for the split (financial preparation, taking counsel with people I trust, etc…), I started to find a new level of self-acceptance from making a decision.  This led to accepting my spouse in a different way.  I finally realized that it wasn’t just about me being happy – we both needed to find our own way.

For however much our values were misaligned, I knew that someone out there would be a perfect match for both of us.  It may seem minor, but this conclusion was very alleviating.  I knew it was best for us both – even if she wouldn’t see it that way in the beginning.

She deserved to be with someone that valued her for all of the fantastic attributes she brings to the table.  I too wanted to find someone who valued me for me.

A couple of weeks before I was ready to deliver the news, I took the trip to Canada.  I already explained what happened when I entered the conference.  However, despite the feelings, I knew it would be complicated.  A plethora of thoughts went through my head:

• People don’t know I’m about to file for divorce… this is going to be hard to explain.
• I don’t want people to think that Kelly is trying to steal away a married man – that’s not how this happened nor how she deserves to be perceived.
• Wow, this is going to be complicated!
• I really don’t want my spouse to be confused as to why I’m filing for divorce.
• Is this a sign?
• This has to be a sign.
• I’m in charge of my own happiness.
• The people who know and care will understand.

As soon as I arrived back to San Antonio, I started the final processes.  Two weeks later, I delivered the news and moved out of the house.

I hate hurting people’s feelings.  While I knew it was the right thing to do, I felt like a major failure.

About a week later, she brought Kelly up in a conversation.  I again explained what my reasons were for leaving, but I fear that they have since been overshadowed.  It’s really unfortunate.

Since filing in October, my life has been a roller coaster.  What was originally expected to conclude by December has stretched on.  Seven months, multiple court appearances, four lawyers, hundreds of emails and thousands of pages of discovery documents… not fun.  The emotional highs and lows have been tremendous.

Why Am I Sharing Now?

My writing and creativity have been seriously impacted.  I wasn’t sure what to write or how to convey the emotions I was experiencing.  Discussing recruitment topics seemed secondary to what was really on my mind.  I’ve found that I enjoy writing about lessons I’m living – this wasn’t one that was easy to convey.

I’ve definitely come up with plenty of blog posts – perhaps for sharing down the road.

• Twitter In The Courtroom
• Divorce in the Age of Social Media
• Why Facebook Created “It’s Complicated”
• I Love Hate Love Hate Love Lawyers
• 10 Ways To Lose Your Ass In A Divorce
• Lessons I’ve Learned From Failing At Marriage

In all seriousness, since originally disclosing this situation back in October, many things have occurred.  At the time, I said:

“I am personally challenged with owning an authentic voice comprised of only partial reality and experience.”

That feeling still exists.

In addition, lawyers and friends suggested that I keep the topic off of Twitter, Facebook, my blog and other outlets until a conclusion had been reached.  While this hasn’t completely been the case, I’ve pretty much gone dormant with the issue.  That stance, however, no longer seems like the right thing to do.

Kelly and I are having a baby and it’s a very exciting time in our lives.  I realized the other day when she said, “It’s too bad I can’t announce my baby shower on Facebook.” that this situation has all but eliminated both of our abilities to openly enjoy this experience.

For however challenging my situation ends up being, it doesn’t seem fair to Kelly, her family, my family or our friends across the country to not share in this time with us.  And, let’s face it; the baby is coming whether the attorneys can sort this out or not.

Life hasn’t always gone as planned, but I still want to enjoy and celebrate the good things.  Regardless of the challenges this presents, I still feel blessed…

I feel blessed for having Kelly in my life. Even though she didn’t cause my marriage to fail, she has been put under an intense amount of legal scrutiny.  All the while, she has been a rock for me – even when going through a very difficult first trimester with Sophie.  You are my soul mate Kelly and I love you!

I feel blessed for my future daughter. I’ve looked forward to Sophie for years and I’m so very grateful to be having her enter our lives.  You are a gift Sophie and I promise to have some red shoes waiting for you

I feel blessed for having an amazing family. They’ve listened to the ups and downs for months and I know it’s been hard.  They’ve accepted Kelly into the family and I can’t wait for what the future holds.

I feel blessed for having fantastic friends. Y’all know who you are.  Thank you for lending your shoulders and giving me the support I needed.  It means the world to me.

I feel blessed for my experiences. This hasn’t been easy and I’m sure I have some rough patches ahead.  Nonetheless, I’m learning and I intend to grow as a result of this time period in my life.

Time marches forward.  I learn, I grow, I fall, I get back up.  I’m on a journey and I feel blessed.

Sarah White - @imsosarah at SxSW

It’s a conference like few others – big, bold and full of talented individuals all interested in similar topics.

Today was my first day at SxSW Interactive here in Austin, TX.

Last year at this time, I was attending Chris Brogan‘s training called Inbound Marketing Boot Camp with Alicia Arenas.

It marked an important point in my learning curve around the use of social media as a tool for community building.  Chris, as always, shared some golden nuggets that stuck with me as I developed my own approach to getting involved in the online social recruiting niche.

It’s amazing how much can change in a year!  In fact, between personal and professional changes, I would be hard pressed to even list them all out.

So, fast forward and here I am at SxSW.

This year, I am attending as a Racker and we have taken a different approach with the conference.  We have enlisted a number of members from the Recruiting Team to be a part of the events and chat with talented folks attending the conference.  I wrote a post about it on the Racker Talent site, but here is the list of Recruiters in attendance should anyone want to say hello to them on Twitter or while you are at SxSW.

Roxanne Molina – Recruiter

Twitter Name: @roxymolina

Oren David – Technical Recruiter

Twitter Name: @odavid1

Scott McCamish – Recruiter

Twitter Name: @scottmccam

Taryn Little – Recruiter

Twitter Name: @tarynLIL

Paul Norman – Director of Recruiting

Twitter Name: @pmnorman

Michael Long – Global Talent Scout

Twitter Name: @theredrecruiter

If you like to meet passionate people, I recommend finding one of the team members!

Tomorrow I will be headed to a few sessions in the morning before going back to the Rackspace booth.  It’s really crazy to see all of these high-tech and social media related companies all in one spot – it’s like virtual world come to life… even though I know that to be true already, it’s just different in person.

On Monday night, we are having a great big Rackspace party at Maggie Mae’s starting at 8:00 PM.  Word is that we will be raffling off two Gibson guitars among other exciting party features.  Be sure to stop by if you get a chance!

So… for those of you who couldn’t make it this year – is there anything that you want me to learn about, blog about or bring back from SxSW?  If so, drop a comment and I’ll do my best to find you the answer!

Back to non-virtual Twitter land!

It’s time for TruLondon!

I’ve never been to London, or Europe for that matter, and I’m really excited!

The very amiable Bill Boorman is hosting the second TruLondon conference this coming week and it’s sure to be an exciting and informative event.

With speakers from all over the U.S. and Europe, the topics span from best practices in HR to the cutting edge of social media recruiting – topics I’m mildly interested in!

If that weren’t enough, on the 18th there is a Tweet Up planned that is rumored to have a red shoe spin to it.  The #truCurrytweetup is taking place the first night of the event and will surely be a great way to meet the various track leaders and help a worthy cause in the process.

Even if you aren’t attending TruLondon, I would encourage you to stop by to be a part of the festivities!  As a small piece of advice, I’d recommend establishing a Twitter account before arriving.

Beyond TruLondon, this week will also have me visiting the Rackspace facility in the UK.  Having spent the past five months working at Rackspace on a variety of initiatives, I’m very excited to meet the UK team in person!  A number of the UK-based Rackers will be joining me for the conference and engaging in the topics presented.

I don’t know what to expect from this upcoming week, but I’m sure it will provide more than a few experiences worthy of blogging about.

As always, thanks for stopping by!  If you have anything that you would like me to check in to while in London, be sure to leave a note below.  I’ll be (hopefully) throwing up a photo stream soon for everyone to follow along with.  The pictures will probably vary from the conference to various shots around London… I’m feeling adventurous!

Anything you recommend for me to see while in London?

Photo Credit, Dimitry B

I recently received an email from a recruiter who is just getting started out with the joys of social media.

One piece of the email went like this:

“… I feel and know I am lacking in the knowledge of social network recruiting.  I have been getting up to speed with a number of blogs, but am intrigued about what some people are writing about Twitter.  I have not explored this option yet.”

Further:

“Honestly, I would love to get some training, but I am just starting back into this and am concerned about start up costs, which is why I have been scouring the internet looking for information.”

Jumping Into Social Media As A Recruiter

There is no way, shape or form that I could provide a comprehensive list of what to study/research if you are just getting started in this realm.  But, I think that there are a few good things to review if you are considering this route.

Here is my response to the recruiter:

“Sounds like you have a vision for what you’d like to do next!  That’s great!

Over the past year, I’ve been engaged in speaking and training around the topic of social media in recruiting, HR and employment branding.  My sources for learning have ranged from studying like a mad-man to making mistakes along the way.

One source you may find useful is Mashable.  Check out this resource section on Twitter specifically:

http://mashable.com/guidebook/twitter/

As social media applies to our specific business, it’s still a work in progress.  In fact, ROI conversations are now becoming central to the topic.

The other activity I would recommend for your learning process is to attend a conference by Chris Brogan – he knows his stuff!  Here is a link to the conferences that he puts on… It will be a ton of information, but well worth it!

http://inboundmarketingsummit.com/

You may want to consider following his blog too!

http://chrisbrogan.com

In terms of an approach, I would start by creating a blog where you want to share information about your skill set focus – become a thought leader on the topic and produce helpful posts for your potential candidates.  To experiment with blogging, you can always get a free site at http://wordpress.com – just to get familiar with how things work.  Eventually, and especially for your business, you will want to develop a self-hosted site.

From there, you build a presence online (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and YouTube) that compliments your material… All the while making sure that you maintain your authentic voice.  Be yourself and have fun!

Feel free to let me know if you have any questions!

Looking forward,
Michael Long
The Red Recruiter”

We Should Make A List!

This question and the answer I provided makes me feel like we should create a list for recruiters who are just getting started.  And NOT a paid list… just a general reference section designed for recruiters who need a hand.

With the thousands of resources available, it must be incredibly confusing for someone just getting started.

Sounds like a project to add to the list!

What other sources would you recommend for recruiters who are just getting started?

What’s your favorite tool thus far?

Photo Credit, Erik Charlton

Magnet, Nebraska - 1915 - Great Grandmother Catherina Magdalene (Kahl) Arp, Grandmother Leona Louise (Arp) Long and Great Uncle Carl Detlof Arp

Back in the mid-90’s, my Dad dedicated a substantial amount of time researching our family tree and history.

I remember this time period very vividly as he would always show up with some new evidence of our past – perhaps a tracing of a headstone from some remote cemetery on the East Coast or a picture that he found in a distant relative’s home… He even went so far as hiring researchers in Europe to explore very specific records that he could not access via the Internet.

Needless to say, he was VERY committed to the project!

While the tangible return of this time investment became a true family tree, the more important return became a lesson that my Dad learned.

He learned that while a person can usually be traced back through time and hung on a family tree, it’s often difficult to gain a true understanding around who they are or how they thought.  I have a feeling that my Dad pondered this for quite some time.

As a result, he committed to something that has become very special to my family.  He has written us kids a letter, almost weekly, since 2001.

In his own words:

“The tradition of writing a letter to my children started in the fall of 2001 when they were grown enough to be scattered around the country.  Having dabbled in family genealogy for some years prior, it occurred to me that generations to come are usually left with knowing very little about their ancestors.  So to leave something behind other than just a dash between my birth date and death date was one motivator, the other was to share relevant thoughts for the times.”

Dad Meets Social Media

Back in August, I decided to build a simple blog site for my Dad.  I wasn’t sure if he would be willing to share his letters openly, but I thought it would be really cool if he did.

For starters, he shares an interesting perspective – one that has been shaped and molded by influences that stem from before my time.  I may not be able to experience history, but I can definitely learn about it from someone who has.

Further, my Dad is a Dad.  I feel fortunate to still have my Dad in my life, but many people do not.  It’s always nice to have the perspective of a contemplative father-figure.  Over the years, a number of individuals have requested to be added to the list of people who receive the weekly letter… why not add more?

Finally, as it aligns with social media, my Dad shares thoughts and contemplates ideas that are, often times, relevant to our world.  While his perspective could stay contained to a short list of email recipients, I think that it’s worthy of being voiced.  Right or wrong… he still has a perspective that others can learn from.

A recent post, and the heated comments that followed, reinforced the relevance of “perspective”.  The potential for different generations to learn from one another is of great value and should be a positive experience.  While not everyone agrees with this… I continue to see the value and it’s evident that others do as well.

So, long story condensed, Dad started posting his weekly letters to his new blog site – http://weekendletter.com.  Here is the link:

For those of you who already have children, consider writing them a letter filled with your perspectives on life.  While I can’t be 100% certain about the impact it will have on your children, I can absolutely attest to how special the letters from Dad have been to me.  Thank you Dad!

What traditions do you keep with your children?

When your great-grandchildren ask about you, will your grandchildren be able to respond?

At the age of 9, I realized that if I purchased a large bag of gum (100 pieces) for $5.00, I could sell the entire bag at school at a rate of $.25 per piece OR $25.00 per bag.  Kids would find me and purchase the gum right before my classes – perhaps an hour of work a week.  I liked my little gum business until the principal shut me down.

Last week, I moderated an online Twitter conversation (made possible through the use of a hashtag) called Talent Net (#TNL for those of you on Twitter!) thanks to an invite from Craig Fisher.

The conversation was geared towards 2010 being the year to start tracking your social media ROI.  Specifically, to explore what measurements, tools, techniques and methods recruiters (both corporate and agency) are using to figure out whether their social media time and resources are garnishing any financial benefits.

It’s important to know that I did not intend to provide the answers to these larger questions… the intent was to simply moderate a conversation.

Within a few minutes of starting, it became obvious that the group was waiting for all of the answers and that no one had the complete picture.

To make matters more complex, it seemed as if there was a true lack of consensus around what we (as recruiters) should aim to achieve… engagement, applicants, hires, clients – What matters most?

Measuring Social Media Effectiveness

To measure the results of our activity, we must start with what we are attempting to accomplish.  For every department, firm or independent, this metric/goal may vary.

Here are some potential goals for recruiters:

• Increase # of Applicants
• Increase # of Hires
• Improve Employment Brand
• Improve Candidate Experience
• Increase # of Clients
• Identify Hard To Find Candidates

What else would you add?

For every desired goal, we must establish a measure that will fairly represent success or failure in accomplishing said goal.  We must also account for the time spent or monetary investment towards the goal.

Let’s look at a couple of examples:

Goal:  Increase # of Applicants

Method:  Twitter

Investment:  5 hours per week

Tracking Tool:  Referral Source Field in Application

Desired Result:  More than one qualified applicant per week

If the dedicated recruiter earns $30 per hour, you have a weekly investment of $150.  Therefore, any result with less than $150 in return would prove less than desirable.

However, if your average cost per applicant acquisition is greater than $150 per person and your recruiter manages to engage more than one person per week, you are making a smart investment – well, at least until the next great thing comes along!

Any opportunity cost should also be taken into account… if you want to get really specific – if you know it, add it to the equation.

Another example…

Goal:  Identify Hard To Find Candidates

Method:  Facebook

Investment:  $50 Weekly Facebook Social Ad Campaign & 2 Recruiter Hours a Week ($5,720 per year)

Tracking Tool:  Referral Source Field in Application

Desired Result:  Reduce Recruitment Outsourcing by 3 Hires a Year (i.e. $45,000 in fees)

If over the course of the year, you can accomplish identifying three targeted hires by only investing $2,600 on a recruiting focused Facebook Social Ad and $3,120 of the Recruiter’s time… you are doing well!

Of course, if the recruiter can accomplish this faster and cheaper using another method, that would also have to be considered – hopefully you’re tracking it.

The possibilities for measurement here are endless… again, it all depends on what you want to accomplish and what tools/resources you are going to dedicate to the project.

Benchmarks have to be established before any comprehensive understanding can be reached.

Resources On Measuring ROI In Social Media

My opinion on this topic is just one of many… so, I’ve decided to gather a few of the posts that I encountered.  Opinions range quite a bit!

The Maturation of Social Media ROI – Brian Solis

Social Media Recruiting Paying Off at Crowe Horwath – John Zappe

4 Ways to Measure ROI + Metrics of Social Media Recruiting… – by Jessica Lee

Trying to measure the ROI of social media is stupid – Stephanie Lloyd

Measuring Social Media Marketing – by Chris Brogan

Measuring the ROI of Social Networking as a Recruitment Tool – by Sean Hennessy

How to Measure Social Media ROI for Business – Aaron Uhrmacher

The goal of understanding and/or exploring this topic has everything to do with creating a relevant dialogue around the topic.

We, as a group, have plenty to learn – consider how fast Social Media changes… I doubt we even have the ability to stay up to speed with these changes without our collective and collaborative understanding.

It seems as though our key metrics in recruiting have remained fairly consistent, but our tools have and will continue to change quickly.  We have to adjust and adapt.

What do you think we should be measuring?

Do you think the measurements have changed or just the tools?

How do you measure success in recruiting with social media?

Photo Credit, AMagill

It wasn’t long ago when the playing field for finding a job was relatively simple.  For the most part (and I’m sure you can add a few), it consisted of the following:

• Resume – Make sure you check the spelling, the formatting is clean and the content is easy to follow.
• Interviewing Skills – You had to make sure that you could answer questions and keep your nerves under control.
• Professional Attire/Appearance – Clean suit, clean nails, no “I drank a keg of beer last night” eyes… you get the idea.
• Networking – Asking around and going to networking meetings to find potential contacts.
• Job Search – This had a lot to do with job boards and newspapers… posting resumes and searching for potential roles.

Nowadays, it’s a bit more complex to find a job.  Most of the “necessities” listed above continue to be true.  However, for someone who is really hungry to find a position, they are going to have to reinvent the way they handle both the Networking and Job Search approaches for finding their next role.  The great news is that keeping pace with the job search world also builds your resume…

Let’s consider some of these new areas and what a job seeker can do about it.

Social Media In Job Search

Facebook

• Spend some time completing your personal profile.  What you do, what you like… give your connections something to get interested in.
• Join some of the thousands (perhaps more) groups you will have to pick from on Facebook that relate to your career field.
• If you can identify causes, non-profits or fun initiatives that are of interest… do that too!  You never know who you’ll meet!
• If you really feel adventurous, consider a Social Ad campaign targeted at your ideal hiring managers.

Twitter

• If you still give a blank stare when someone mentions Twitter… go review the tutorial I put together for SHRM.
• Learn the concepts of Hashtags, @replies, Lists and ReTweets (RTs).
• Play around with tools like Twubs and TweetDeck… they will make your “Twitter Life” easier – I promise!
• Start attending TweetUps in your local area… or put one together!  They are the Nouveau Networking and a lot of fun!

LinkedIn

• Put the time, energy and effort into making this profile as professional and interesting as possible.
• For some companies, this has become the main (in some cases the only) way that they are finding candidates.
• Connect and join professional groups and get involved in the conversation.
• Answer polls and questions thrown out by strangers.
• Use the tool to study companies of interest.
• Look for past colleagues and start to rebuild your network… forget the Rolodex – LinkedIn will help you there!

Blogging

• I know it seems out there… but, it sure makes it easier to show what you know if you can blog about it somewhere.
• Great way to start or engage in conversations… share a link to a blog post that you wrote.
• Employers find people in a variety of ways – if they find you because you know what you’re talking about, that can only be to your benefit.
• It’s fun… that’s right, FUN!  Job search can be a drag sometimes, so mix it up and share a bit.  Who knows who you can help with what you already know.

YouTube

• It never hurts to introduce yourself first… so, why not make a video doing just that.  If you already started your blog, it could actually be a post with an embedded video!
• Explain your career field of choice, your ideal role, what inspires you… be yourself.
• YouTube is a massive search engine at this point… your video may show up the next time someone Googles your skill set.
• If you are tired of being judged simply based off of your resume… think about including your YouTube video link on your resume.

What exactly are we going to do about it?

I hate to see good people in the job market who don’t know what to do next.  There are some fantastic candidates who are absolutely lost with their efforts at this point.  This situation, in and of itself, creates a pretty substantial divide between those who are “in the know” and those who are not.  So, I just hope that we can help and as a result allow the best candidate to secure the job!

The list above is not meant to solve all of your job search problems, but hopefully it will get you started.  By the nature of technology, the person who this post was written for will probably come across it via email or through searching on Google.  If you found this due to Twitter or Facebook, you are probably already on board – consider helping a friend that has yet to take the leap and forward this posting to them.

What other techniques, methods or technologies would you recommend for someone who has yet to jump into social media job search world?  Your advice matters

Photo Credit, striatic

I came to blogging fairly late, in keeping with my tendency to listen, analyze, and discover the meaning of something before acting. Paradoxically, I was also an early adopter of social media, observing and consulting behind the scenes on the uses of new media with my clients. As I worked with clients, I came to the understanding that blogs are just a different way to tell a story.

I warmed up to storytelling as a guest blogger here on my friend Michael’s The Red Recruiter and other great forums – Career Rocketeer , Careerealism and  Brainzooming to name a few and other individual blogs that I will acknowledge soon – provided by my talented friends in the industry. As I worked into this new way of telling a story, it became apparent that what I was doing was preparing to launch my own blog community, a place where I can share my experiences and educate people interested in innovation, entrepreneurship, branding, career development and culture fit – a few of my longtime passions (I admit, the list is much longer and yes, a blog is necessary).

You readers have helped me learn how to tell a story effectively. I have discovered how to read the audience, choose topics that resonate, experiment with points of view, and share experiences and personal anecdotes. All of this has been done with the goal of giving you, the reader, the best and most current thinking on personal branding, career strategy, self-awareness and the tools of self-assessment necessary to plot a sustainable career path.

Along the way I have discovered what is important in social media: the ability to interact and observe, participate and share. Now I’m hooked, and ready to branch out and launch my own blog at TalentCulture.com, while still standing in occasionally as a guest blogger here and in a few other forums. I will use these conversations with you to continue to develop my thinking on the importance of culture fit, branding, and how to communicate the value each of us brings to our employers. (OK, many other topics too).

Guest blogging has been a great experience, one I wouldn’t trade in. It has opened up opportunities to share articles as a guest expert for several ebooks and a book, blog on a few great sites, and has helped broaden my sense of what is important to career seekers and the collective “people” experiencing this concept we know as new media.

Please take a moment to visit TalentCulture.com in a number of weeks (it will be rebranded), and be on the lookout for our new blog. You will meet the rest of my amazing team and contributors. We will certainly cover the topics of resumes and career tips and will look beyond to provide meaningful discussions on a wide array of topics: the impact of culture – employee, employer, brand, popular; work/life balance, and innovative thinking about emerging technologies and the green/sustainable market and what they mean for careerists and the larger context of business. We’ll take on generational issues. We’ll look at how new media can build your brand, and use new media to tell you how. We may even get philosophical…

Your support has helped me take a great step forward in my personal development as an entrepreneur, and brought clarity to how I can best help those who want to control their careers, rather than be victims of timing and circumstance. It’s a journey, and this is the first step. Thanks for taking it with me.

Photo Credit, Mike Licht, NotionsCapital.com