Why Your Online Marketing Isn’t Working

By Jon Gelberg
Source: http://www.inc.com/jon-gelberg/online-content-marketing-how-to-stand-out.html

Attention spans have gotten shorter and the competition has only grown stronger. What are you doing to rise above the noise? Online marketing is not for the timid.

Consider: On the one hand, millions of companies online produce mountains of content. On the other, consumers have pitifully short attention spans, little to no patience, and an unwillingness to take the time to really delve deeply into any online content.

How do you even compete in that environment? In general terms, you can’t–unless you’re doing three things:

1. You’re damned sure you’ve got something worth saying.
2. You get your message across quickly, briefly, and clearly.
3. You’re loud!
   Whether you’re using your company website, blog, social media activities, or advertising, you have to shout to your target audience, delivering the message that you have real, valuable expertise

How do you turn up the volume?

At a speaking engagement last month, I spoke about content marketing and how to position yourself as an expert online. I told the crowd that they had to embrace their inner Einstein and be prepared to tell the world just how smart, creative, and innovative they are.

A member of the audience raised his hand and expressed his reservations about presenting himself as an expert or even someone with a particular expertise. A member of the boomer generation, he was uncomfortable with the whole notion of self-promotion.

While sympathetic to what he was saying, I also knew that that attitude would not serve him well in the digital world. In the gentlest possible terms, I suggested to him that he either forget about marketing himself online or that it was time to start tooting his own horn.

Remember, your target audience is demanding and wants only to hear from the best. If you don’t have something to brag about, then you are doomed. If you have something to brag about and don’t do it, you’re doomed.

Your ammunition

Sit down right now and make a list of what differentiates you and your business.

• What are your academic and professional credentials?
• What are your best success stories/case studies?
• What industry/professional awards have you won?
• What great things are your customers saying about you (testimonials)?
• What great things have the press said about you?
• Who are your most impressive clients?
• Just how successful ($$$) is your company?
• Armed with this information broadcast it–loudly–to your target audience.

If you can’t convince yourself why customers or clients should be coming to you instead of your competitors, then how are you going to convince your target audience?

However you feel about it, there is little or no place for humility on the Web. In a world where your potential customers are looking for the very best and all of your competitors are just a click away, you’ve got to make yourself heard.

Jon Gelberg is the Chief Content Officer at Blue Fountain Media, a leading Web design, development, and marketing company based in New York. @JonBFM

How to Manage Your Online Reputation

Over the past few years, several studies have been conducted looking at social media and employer hiring habits.  One of those studies, conducted by Microsoft, showed that 70% of employers in the United States screened out potential employees because of information found online.  The study also showed that the majority of recruiters and HR professionals indicated that they think it’s appropriate to consider personal information found online in screening potential job applicants.

This raised several questions in my mind: What procedures are in place to ensure that the information found online relates to the job candidate (there’s a Donna McNamara who was recently arrested and isn’t me)?  Do they differentiate between information voluntarily posted by an individual versus information someone else posts about them?  Is the information validated for accuracy?  Are there potential legal ramifications of online searching?

In several of my classes, we discussed the importance of having a digital footprint and using various types of media to convey your personal brand.  I’ve been to various speaker engagements that encourage job seekers to create professional websites and use Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. to build a personal brand online.  This way, when employers Google you, they find content you’ve created.  For some recruiters, a lack of digital footprint is viewed as a negative; suggesting the applicant hasn’t written articles, created a website, blog or LinkedIn profile.

For potential employees, online information can be especially troublesome as in the case of personal networking sites like Facebook.  Here, people openly post candid photos of themselves and allow others to tag them in photos.  This often means drunken escapes are captured for general public consumption (think Jackass star Ryan Dunn tweeting a photo of himself drinking hours before reports of a fatal car accident).  A potential employer may decide to

• Falsifying information about qualifications
• Poor communication skills (spelling and grammar count!)
• Discriminatory comments were found on posts
• Posts about excessive drinking or drug usage
• Provocative or inappropriate photographs or information posted
• Bad mouthing of previous employer, co-workers or clients
• Sharing of confidential information from previous employer

Issues with online search don’t just impact potential job candidates.  Recruiters and HR staff doing the searching can open themselves up for trouble by obtaining too much information.  For example, personal networking sites often include information about race, religious beliefs, age, sexual orientation and marital status; factors NOT to be considered in pre-employment screening.  By searching potential candidates’ personal sites, recruiters become exposed to information that does not pertain to the applicant’s ability to perform the job and may inadvertently consider factors such as age, race, etc.

I’ve experienced the use of waivers and releases at the point of application to circumvent such issues so employer concerns may become less problematic.  In addition, some organizations put blocks on social networking sites so that information may not even be available to them.  So what can you do to make sure your online image is what you want it to be?  Bottom line – clean up your social networking sites.

• Don’t have photos you wouldn’t want an employer to see.
• No drunken escapes, no profanity, or slurs.
• Don’t bad mouth former employers, bosses or co-workers.
• Make your social networking sites private.
• Sweat the small stuff. Your email address, spelling, and grammar speak to your maturity and communication skills.

Original Blog Post: http://jobcontax.wordpress.com/2011/07/18/how-to-manage-your-online-reputation/