Are You Remarkable?

More again from the wise Seth Godin: Check out this video from a talk Godin presented at TED, entitled “Sliced Bread and Other Marketing Delights.”

In this video, Godin notes how marketing has changed: Interrupting people to get their attention doesn’t work any longer, because we just don’t care. We have too many choices, too little time. What worked for the “TV Industrial Complex” – mass marketing that brought average products to average people – is no longer viable. The key is to reach people who care with things that are remarkable.

These ideas apply to one’s job search as well. Broadcasting (mass mailing) our resumes to potential employers has proven to be ineffective. Employers don’t care, and they have too many choices, not enough time.

We need to be remarkable to those that care.

We need to figure out what people (employers) want and give it to them. And we need to be remarkable, because being very good is average.

So are you remarkable? Can you identify your value and articulate it in such as way as to be remarkable for a potential employer who cares?

When I have clients that get frustrated with their search, one of the first things they want to do is develop a resume like the one they had before; one that looks like everyone else’s; one that is average. The second thing they do is quit networking – quit looking for people who care – and apply to posted positions on Monster, Career Builder and other job boards. This is not being remarkable. It’s being average. Employers don’t care about average; they don’t have time for average.

Remarkable is getting in front of the people who make decisions in the companies you’re interested in working for. Remarkable is listening to what their problems are and developing solutions for them. Remarkable is that you are the solution.

Is being remarkable easy? Of course not, if it was it wouldn’t be remarkable; it would be average. So this is hard work. It requires focus: How am I remarkable? Why am I remarkable? (Hint: See “Start with Why”.) It requires diligence: Who cares that I’m remarkable? How do I reach them?

So be remarkable. Figure out who cares. Figure out what they want and give it to them.

What do you think? Can you be remarkable? Do you know how you’re remarkable? Can you tell how to those people who care?

Are You Indispensable?

It seems I’ve been reading about artists and artisans lately, in the most peculiar places.

Tom Friedman recently wrote a column in the New York Times about what the recent mid-term election should have been about. In usual Friedman fashion, he laid out a cogent argument. But one issue in particular stood out. Friedman cited economist Lawrence Katz, who notes that everyone today “needs to think of himself as an ‘artisan’.’’ Artisans were people who made things or provided services with a distinctive touch in which they took personal pride, prior to mass manufacturing. Today everyone has to be an artisan and bring something extra to their jobs; doing one’s job in an average way – in an integrated and automated global economy won’t cut it. “The age of average is over. We’re in the age of ‘extra,’ and everyone has to figure out what extra they can add to their work.”

This week, I’ve been reading Seth Godin’s Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? Godin’s premise is that in this “hypercompetitive world” workers must make indispensable contributions and be the linchpins – leaders and connectors – who make a difference; people who can walk into chaos and create order; someone who can make things happen. Godin says that linchpins are artists, who bring their humanity to work; who are brave enough to make a difference.

Godin talks a lot about how a number of artists can’t draw, but he says, “all artists can see.” They see what’s right and what’s wrong. They see opportunities and “can see around corners.” Art is creative, passionate and personal; it’s about intent and communication. “An artist is someone who uses bravery, insight, creativity, and boldness to challenge the status quo. And an artist takes it personally…The combination of passion and art is what makes someone a linchpin.”

As an artist, Godin notes, the job is not your work. Your work is what you do with your heart and soul.

And, says, Godin, art must have purpose. “Artists,” he says, “don’t think outside the box, because outside the box there’s a vacuum. Outside the box there are no rules, there is no reality…Artists think along the edges of the box, because that’s where things get done…that’s where you can make an impact.”

So, are you an artist in your work? Do you make a difference? Are you indispensable, or are you average and expendable?

What are your thoughts?

Back to the Future: My First Blog Post

I wrote my first blog post back in November 2008; problem was I didn’t have a blog to post it to at the time. The post was based on one that Seth Godin, the author and entrepreneur, posted on his blog, Marketing lessons from the US election, where he commented on the successful elements of the Obama’s campaign for the presidency. His comments really resonated with me as they relate to people in their job searches. With a few adaptations, below is what I drafted at the time. Read Godin’s post first; then read mine below. Regardless of your political persuasion, can you see the lessons for marketing yourself in your job search?

Stories really matter. People need to talk about their accomplishments rather than their responsibilities. Stories about what you’ve accomplished throughout your career add value to prospective employers. However, the stories need to be relevant and concise, to the point. If the audience can’t relate to the story it’s no good. If the story teller rambles on, they’re losing the audience and the story is no good.

TV is over. What Godin is talking about here is broadcasting. Tactics like direct mail are not effective. Hiring and HR managers are busy people and are selective about what they want to read. Saturating the airwaves / mail doesn’t do any good. While you need to employ technology more in your search, it needs to be strategic technology.

Permission matters. This is where social networks, like LinkedIn.com, come in. By reaching out to select folks on LinkedIn, FaceBook and Twitter, asking permission to connect with them and taking care of the list of connections, you build a network that can help in finding the next position. Frankly, this is where you ought to be focusing your job search efforts.

Marketing is tribal. By building the list of decision makers from sites like LinkedIn and nurturing the list, you identify your tribe. For example, PMPs (Project Management Professionals) know intuitively that their tribe members are other project managers with PMP certification. They know how other PMPs will behave, what processes they employ to do their work. Engineers are another tribe; as are IT folks (although with many “sub cultures” within them – developers, DBAs, network administrators, etc.). What about people looking to join a new tribe, those unsure about what they want to do next or knowing they want to do something else? Again, they can use social networks to identify tribes which they might want to join. Not create a new tribe, but find a new tribe. Identifying one’s tribe is critical to success.

Motivating the committed…By creating lists of decision makers who are asked permission to be on the list; by nurturing them and becoming a member of their tribe; by seeking their advice and keeping them apprised of the unfolding situation, you build a network of motivated tribal members who will act on your behalf.

So how is your search campaign unfolding? Are you using marketing techniques that are effective or are you doing the same old, same old? And how’s that working for you?

It’s a Process, Not an Event

Two people whose blogs I follow religiously – you know about being religious; you may not check in regularly, but you are faithful – are Tom Peters and Seth Godin. These are thought leaders in their fields and often have posts that change the way I think. Two recent posts really hit home.

I often work with clients to create profiles on LinkedIn.com. It’s become a reality that social networks, like LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, are critical to building and maintaining one’s brand – differentiating oneself from the rest of the pack. Many of my clients – especially those of a certain age – don’t quite get this yet. They may reluctantly post a profile on LinkedIn and then ignore it. Social networks are online communities. Like most communities, they require participation to be effective. You can’t just show up; you’ve got to contribute. Most folks just want to show up; have a presence on LinkedIn, and expect the world to beat a path to their door. They get discouraged when it doesn’t happen. They’ve posted their profile, but no one seems to care.

Another group may be more active. They troll LinkedIn, extending invitations to connect. They get pretty excited when their invitations are accepted and their connections build. “Oh yeah,” they’ll say, “I’m on LinkedIn. I’ve got over 100 connections.” The problem is they’re still not contributing; they’re just collecting.

Godin recently posted about the reason social media is so difficult for most organizations. He noted that it’s because social media is a process, not an event. Events are easy to manage; processes build results for the long haul. The same holds true for individuals and their participation in social media. Posting a profile is the event, but effectiveness comes from the process of contributing. LinkedIn has groups to join and Q&A sections to participate in. Contributing to both raises one’s profile in LinkedIn and sets one apart from the millions of other, more passive, profiles on the network.

So, having encouraged you to contribute to the social media community and be involved, virtual participation isn’t enough. Peters hosted guest blogger, Karyn Polewaczyk, who in her post Meeting Up: The New Black, reminds us that we shouldn’t confuse the importance of virtual contacts with the value of face-to-face interactions. There is no substitute she admonishes us, for presenting our “best, polished self in realtime. Social media is the fancy awning that hangs from a building; human interaction is the bricks and mortar.”

Part of the process of networking is getting in front of people; actually connecting and building relationships. My friend Peter Larson notes that it’s all about relationships. The people with whom you take time to build relationships will most likely be the folks that help you find your next position. They will have an investment in your well being and will want to see you succeed.

So the process of building relationships occurs both in social networks and face-to-face. It’s not an “either or”, but a “both and.” Be active in and contribute to your social network community. Meet face-to-face with those to whom you’re connected. Build relationships.