How to get hired or not...

So business is crazy busy as we grow our web based collaboration tool, WizeHive and I know I need help. Administrative help, marketing help, sales help, SEO help, etc. I also know that since I oversee most of the administration and logistics for DreamIt Ventures I'm going to need some help there too as the fall roles around to deal with accounting issues and the like.

So Sunday morning I decided to run an ad on craigslist focused on finding some help. The focus on the ad was my need for administrative help but I left the door open for folks with all sorts of different talents to apply since I could use help for WizeHive, DreamIt and a few other things I'm involved in.

The ad worked well, I've gotten about 300 emails so far and a great mix of talent. The range of responses is so great I thought I could share so do's and don'ts if you are applying for a job or know someone who is. These are all from the responses I got the last few days.

First, with hundreds of other emails and a 3 page to do list I can't spend a ton of time going through a first pass on the 300+ applications so my first goal is to quickly sift them into categories. Categories I've made up are essentially good, maybe, probably not and no. So my first goal is within a very short amount of time, probably about 30 seconds, to categorize each response into one of these categories. Then I will go through and rank those in the good and contact them first, then go through the maybe's and contact them second...and if I haven't found who I'm looking for I may go further.

So what puts things into these categories. There are some gray areas but here are some real answers based on what i received.

Lets start with what gets moved to the no pile really fast:

Call me: It is hard for me to believe but I probably have 10 to 20 emails that do not include a resume, include very little info but instead say "I reviewed your job posting and I can really help you. My number is xxx-xxx-xxxx. Please call." Sure, buddy, I've got hours to spend talking on the phone to people I know little or nothing about. Next.

Attach a resume only: I probably have another 5% to 10% that attach a resume and send it to me. No cover note or anything to give me the impression that they even read the job description and feel they are qualified. So my inclination before I even look at the resume is that they are going into the no pile and I don't think I've looked at a resume that convinced me to change my mind.

Spouse's email: OK..maybe there is a legit reason for this but why do I get an email from Joe Smith from Mary Smith's email address. I'm in a tech business and I want tech savvy people. What does it say about them if it comes from their spouse's email address? Actually I had a funny exchange today because I sent a quick "Thanks I"m looking at the resumes and I'll get back to you" blast to all the people I received resumes from and I got copied in on an email between the spouses accidentally forwarding the emails around. I knew it wasn't for me when there was a big "I LOVE YOU XXX" at the bottom of the note (or is that how some people try to get jobs?)

AOL email address: OK...this isn't an absolute no but come on. I've probably gone from AOL to something to comcast to Gmail over the last 10 years. How tech savvy do I feel about someone still using an AOL email address. Not a definite "no" but a bad first impression. Sorry AOL.

So...what gets me excited? Who has done a good job and is in my top category?

When I posted the jobs I did not use my name and I also used an anonymous (craigslist) email address, but I did mention WizeHive and DreamIt. There were 2 out of 300 that spent enough time to check the sites to see who was posting and then wrote a personalized email to me by name. Do they get the job? Don't know...but they are in my top category almost out of the shoot. All other skill sets being equal I am looking for someone who shows creativity and initiative and it doesn't get much better then that.

There are another batch, maybe 20 or 25, where the people did almost as well. They checked into DreamIt and WizeHive sites, took the time to learn a little about the businesses, and shared with me in one way or the other that they took the time to check things out. This does not automatically get them the prize, but it sure puts them ahead of generic responses.

So in general, if you really want that job take your time to sell yourself. Do your homework and tell them how you are going to help THEM, not what you are looking for... It certainly would have a much higher chance of success then the other way around.

Well, enough blogging time, back to the resumes...

Catch the Buzz with Mark Hughes

Visiting DreamIt Ventures on July 21st was Mark Hughes and he certainly kept our audience of 60+ people on their toes. One of our lucky entrepreneurs even scored $50!

Mark is the author of BuzzMarketing and is well know for his successes at Half.com, which included renaming at town "Half.com" and changing the insides of fortune cookies. Mark was an entertaining and vibrant speaker and crammed in a ton of information in 2 hours - plus graciously stayed later to continue chatting with the companies.

So what is Buzz Marketing? According to Mark it is “capturing the attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand or company becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy.” There were a few more points in there like "sexy" and "celebrities", but the key points were the top three. If you could guarantee the top three you could predict that you would create a "buzz".

What else was key? Content! He couldn't have yelled it louder. According to research from Ogilvy & Mather consumers pay attention to content 6X more than ads - so build up your content! Discussions breed content, your opinion doesn't matter - the opinion of your audience does - build a talking audience and you'll generate conversation about your site, your product etc.

Police your product. If you have a problem, don't ignore it! Fix it fast. One unhappy person tells 10 - multiply that a few times and you can go broke.

Finally, look for opportunities. Are you involved in a "David vs. Goliath" situation, is there another story that you can "piggyback" on, is there something you are working on that is already "hot" - if so, you have a potential winner - go for it!

The evening ended with a story about climbing "Buzz Everest" and using creativity to stretch your marketing budget.

There were a lot of takeaways - this was a great presentation for all DreamIt companies and the Philadelphia Entrepreneurial community. It was an incredibly fun evening and we thank Mark for taking so much time with us!

SEO with Duck-Duck-Go Founder, Gabriel Weinberg

When it came time to talk SEO with the 2009 DreamIt Ventures Companies we knew we had to talk to Gabriel Weinberg, a Dreamit mentor and serial Internet entrepreneur based out of Valley Forge, PA. Gabriel successfully sold his company Names Database, a social networking service to Classmates.com in 2006. He is also the Founder and CEO of Duck Duck Go, a new search engine, and although his SEO information doesn't apply to his own search engine - it is applicable for Google, Yahoo, Live and more.

So what tricks were gleaned from this serial entrepreneur?

Gabriel's presentation revolved around the topic "If you build it... how will they come?" Critical message to the companies and not answered simply, but there are three main components to remember, viral marketing, ads and SEO. It's important to remember that they all intertwine and when used together can make your site's position better.

First, think globally, at the time of its sale, Names Database has registered over 20 million global members - and that was part of the key. While much of the country was focused inward, Gabriel realized that by focusing on other parts of the English speaking world he could very quickly and exponentially grow his business. Another key was to use SEO to his advantage and to do this required creative thinking, building lots of pages that search engines could find and changing the minute the search engines did - the message - constantly adapt to the changing environment.

For the companies out there that want to increase rankings, there were some key takeaways.

1. Don't underestimate the value of external links: Make sure that there is a relationship between the information on each link.
2. Be aware of where you are on the web: Make sure you get link backs from pages / sites that have good rankings themselves. That will help you in the long run.
3. Search Terms: Don't guess. Google will help you take the guesswork right out of it - just use their keywords tool.