Guerrilla Marking for Job Hunters 2.0 - Jay Conrad Levinson [114]
Unbeknownst to me—and I should have known, shame on me—Tom is a true guerrilla marketer. He took my Extreme Resume idea and adapted it to his situation. Armed with the new resume, he launched an assault. He targeted CEOs across the United States with an innovative ad campaign, followed by a 1-2 punch with his resume and web site.
Using online magazines like VentureWire, Silicon Alley, TechWire, and PotomacWire to generate inquiries, Tom placed the “Resume” ad reproduced here:
RESUME: NEED TO CLOSE NEW BUSINESS NOW?
VP Business Development—SALES CLOSER!
Tom Weishaar
Tom Weishaar is a Sales Closer and Start-Up Business Development executive who excels at rapid closure of high level, complex deals and new market penetration. Extensive Bus Dev, Direct and OEM Sales experience. Start-Up experience includes Internet, ECommerce, Security, Enterprise Software, and Handheld Mobile Computing with strong international exposure. Rapid engagement strategy, time compression, and closing in new markets without the advantage of brand or franchise are unique strengths. Review comprehensive history with full references at www.weishaars.com.
The ads were a lot less costly than being unemployed. Every ad was hyperlinked to his web site, allowing readers to instantly link to his web site and read his resume. He teased readers just enough to get them to his site and then pummeled them (subtly) with his accomplishments—a great strategy.
When interviewed for this book, Tom had this to say about his campaign:
The results were numerous and across the board. First, it instantly drove eyeballs. Second, it kept me busy and engaged in networking with other executives who thought the idea was cool and wrote me with their thoughts. Some of them, more than a few in fact, followed my lead. Hundreds of phone calls and e-mails, many phone interviews, and several face-to-face interviews were directly attributable to the web site. The web site attracted at least three job offers that I would never have seen otherwise. Most importantly, the web site worked in concert with my CV. Together, they were a significant marketing force. The CV was strongly worded, and the web site allowed for the depth and granularity one can only take in that form. While talking to the recipient of my cold call, I would ask, “By the way, are you in front of a browser?”
. . . If you can walk a prospective employer through your web site, you’re halfway there!
Yes, it worked. So well in fact that Tom has continued to use this mix as his approach. He’s even updated his web site to give it a fresh look. This time instead of spending weeks building it from scratch, he bought a template from Templatemonster.com and modified it. Tom’s new web site is a good example of how to build a web site specifically for job-hunting purposes.
➤ The Key to His Success
Tom used a variety of weapons to get a prospective employer’s attention. In the final analysis, the key to getting the interview and closing on an offer was calling early in the morning to follow up and step the employer through his web site.
■ EXAMPLE 2: ALLAN PLACE
• FME mix: Extreme Resume, personal letter, follow-up call
• Target job: Sales
The economic downturn in the tech sector in 2001 affected most companies. In 2000, if you interviewed in jeans, a blue Mohawk, and a T-shirt while extolling the virtues of anarchy, you very likely would have received a job offer. Not so just 2 years later. It was soon an employers’ market, with viable companies cherry picking from the large and growing base of newly laid off, talented people.
Allan launched his campaign with an aggressive mix of the traditional methods that had always worked for him in the past—cold calling and traditional networking.
Allan started with some basic assumptions:
• Difficult job markets still produce perfect “fits.”
• Finding a job is a job. Spending only 4 hours a day would not produce results.