The Recruiting Animal

In Defence of Salesmen

(Audio version here)

Are recruiters salesmen? There are two schools of thought here. One says yes but there's a whole bunch of other guys who go around bragging that they're not into sales. I came across one of them last week on Fistful of Talent.com. His name is Jason Pankow and I want to take a look at how this little punk, I mean this corporate recruiter, builds his case against sales.

First he sets up a straw man. Right off the bat he tells you that a salesman is a hustler someone who doesn't give a hoot about anybody but himself. All he thinks about is how he can trick you into buying a lousy product for a lot of money.

And just in case we don't get the message -- because it's so original -- right beside his posting he put a picture of a greasy guy in a loud suit standing in a used car lot.

But you know I think that must be a picture of Jason himself because, really, what difference is there between a classic used car salesman and a guy who tries to sell you the kind of shoddy argument Jason Pankow is shopping around. The answer is: not very much.

Before we go any further I'm going to tell you what a salesman really is. Because it's not at all like Mr Pankow says. A salesman is a gutsy guy who isn't afraid to go up to complete strangers and ask them to do what he wants.

And when they say no he doesn't slink away like a wounded animal. He doesn't run and hide under a rock. No, he tries to show them where they're making an mistake.

Now a person like this has a lot more courage than the average guy. In the war for business, he's not peeling potatoes somewhere behind the lines. No, he's right up there at the front in hand to hand combat bringing in the orders that make the company run.

So everyone is jealous because beside him they look like nobodys. So what do they do? Instead of simply admitting that they are chickens and he's a hero they complain that sales people are pushy and salesmen are liars and then they pat themselves on the back for being such nice guys.

Did you see Beverly Hills Cop? The hero, Eddie Murphy, he's a salesman. The other guys, they're Jason Pankows. But here's something funny. When you first read Jason's postings you might think that he's as far from being a salesman as anybody could be.

I mean, he's got an article that tells recruiters they have to eat, sleep and breathe the corporate culture. And after you see that you say to yourself: a salesman is an individual, a hunter, a real American -- and this guy doesn't have an independent bone in his body.

But don't kid yourself. Panky is a salesman too. He might have merged his identity with Big Brother's but what do cult members normally do? They try to convert people. And this guy is watching like a hawk for any opportunity to show the candidate that he's just like him.

"You played frisbee at college? Me too. You like softball? We've got a league." Just like any salesman Jason is trying to reel the guy in. It might be soft sales -- for cream puffs -- but sales it is no matter how much he denies it.

And again, how different is it, really from what the used car salesman does. My friend, The Funny Banker, he says that all sales is lying. That sounds outrageous, I know, but in a way, it's true. If you put your best foot forward you're hiding your worst foot, aren't you? And, I'll bet you dollars for donuts that anyone who sees himself as a missionary for of the corporate culture isn't focusing on the downside of the job.

Recruiting Animal Blog
Recruiting Animal Show

Pose as a career consultant to sell candidates on jobs

Margaret Graziano says:
If you act like a career consultant, candidates will trust you.

So, forget about the job you are trying to fill for 45 minutes and get to know the candidate well. Just like a career consultant would. Then have a great sell.

Animal Show Wed July 23 NOON EDT

GUEST: Richard Becker (Mr Moustache)
Blog, Twitter, LinkedIn

TOPIC: Marketing for Recruiters

Call in and Listen Info Here

Internet Makes Recruiters Wimps

The HR Capitalist claims that the internet has made recruiters into sissies.

Between 2004 and 2006 everyone had an email account and checked it regularly. All that you, as a recruiter, had to do was email a job description to potential candidates and you would hear back from them toot sweet.

Since 2007 everyone has more than one email address. And the email addresses on their old resumes are rarely checked so you have to track old candidates down by phone.

But after the internet has protected you from direct contact with the public for a few years, you find that you've been transformed into a shy and delicate little wimp. What should you do? Man up and get on the phone. Once you get a few cold calls under your belt, you won't feel so frightened.

Jay-Dee on Rbc

Back in September 2007, before Dave Mendoza brought in thousands of new people, JD Jason Davis sat down for a long and witty conversation about Recruitingblogs.com.

Here it is condensed to 8 minutes in length.

Canadians Are Nice People

Triple Murder in Toronto after week of violence

3 men found dead in car.
number of murders this week: 6

Earlier This Week:
William Magill: stabbed
Michael Watson: shot
17-year-old "youth": shot

Also: 3 non-fatal shootings wounded 4 people.
Good News: Toronto homicides down: 35 vs 41 at the same time last year.

Tony Snow Teaches Recruiters

Kris Dunn learned this from the president's press secretary:

Critics should prove they can do better
Tony criticized the president's communication policy and was willing to step in to to fix someone else's mess when asked. (Don't criticize unless you can do better?)

If you're nice, your enemies will be nice, too.
Tony took the "high road" when he could have been "chippy", so people took it easy on him when they could have attacked.

Don't feel threatened when your work is criticized
No need for a harsh counter-attack to defend yourself. Your life isn't in danger.

Be honest about what you don't know
People will trust you. Just don't be so ignorant that you're of no value.

See also: Recruiting Lessons From Tim Russert

Recruiters Must Reflect Company Culture

Jason Pankow is a Company Man.

Independent-minded Jason Pankow believes that recruiters must make themselves walking talking advertisements for their company culture.

According to Panky, a recruiter has to live the culture to convey it to others. And it has to define her in more than merely the technical aspects of her job.

For instance, in her clothing: "I wear laid back clothes". (Blue jeans and a t-shirt that says La Buena Vida).

In her office decor: My office is more than business paraphernalia. I've got bobbleheads, Seattle Mariners gear, and we make games so I've got posters of games (made by my company and others) and an Xbox and TV.

And in her feelings and her chit chat conversations:
"You played Ultimate Frisbee in college? Me, too!"
"Did I tell you about the company league that plays weekly on campus?
My team got creamed."

I wonder how many times he's had that Frisbee conversation? And this from a guy who brags that he isn't a salesman. Okay, he's a company man. But, tell me, which is worse?

Kids Don't Make You Happy

Sociologists are discovering that children may not make parents happier and that childless adults, contrary to popular stereotypes, may often be more contented than people with kids.

Studies have also shown, says Simon, that parental depression increases along with the number of children parents have.
-- NPR

Norm Geras comments: "How many of the parents surveyed, do you think, would say that they wished they hadn't had their children after all?"

This isn't a fair question. Imagine your teenage son starts manifesting signs of schizophrenia. Would you say that you wished you never had him? No, because you love him. Would you be happier if you didn't have to live with this problem? Probably.

No Recruiting Animal Show Today

However, if five people contact me and want to be members of The Animal Panel,
I will recant and move forward.

Otherwise, on JULY 23, it's Mr Moustache, Richard D Becker, the unofficial PR and Communication expert for the online recruiting community.

Followed by, on July 30, The Indiana Headhunter, Jerry Albright and his new fantastic wiretap machine.

Two Mighty Networks Fighting Already?

Recruiting Animal: Slouch how come you weren't a featured member? You used to run the Fordyce Letter site.

Slouch: Animal, you are not funny on your site and you are not funny here. While it is true I set this particular Ning site up I have done no work to make it like it is.

Recruiting Animal: You were snubbed JD, face it.

Elaine Rigoli: Saw your "done no work to make it like it is" comment - ouch! Hope we can share the road peacefully? I hope? Looking forward to learning, sharing, and networking in the future for all the best reasons.

Dave Manaster: I am not on the featured member list either.

Recruiting Animal: Yeah, but how come I wasn’t on the featured members list? Can someone explain that to ME!

Jim Shaki Disses Established Experts

Jimmy Shack Says:

We at Recruiter Life are privy to some of the most forward-thinking executive recruiters. These are not the obligatory “Knights of the Round Table” type that continuously write the same bland material... while they stroke each others’ egos....

No, these [recruiters in my video] are key players who are making lasting differences...

Super Recruiter, Dave Staats smacks him back:

It just ‘feels’ like the introduction was written by someone who has not done any recruiting.... I know at least 74 other recruiters.... who could have made the same video....

I have no idea who Jim might be referring to in his “Knights” comment.

Losing Weight With Leptin

THIS IS SCIENCE, BABY.

Leptin is a hormone tied to your body's use of fat.

When you lose 10% of your weight, leptin falls fast. So, your stupid body thinks you're facing starvation and it tries to protect you by burning 20% less calories -- and even if you're on a diet that can make you fat.

Also, once you start losing weight the parts of your brain running your love of food have more blood in them while the part that limits eating has less.

Luckily, injections of leptin can stop the you from reacting in this way.

Reference: Jon Kay, National Post

Multi-Tasking Making Gen Y Shallow

I used to think that Steve Rubel was a pretty smart guy but now it seems he's just another dude taking an easy ride on the Gen Y bandwagon.

Steve says "the Attention Crash is entirely generational".

The Gen Yer's, it seems, do a far better job of coping with massive amounts of information. It's not uncommon for a lot of folks to be running Meebo with a dozen IM windows going at once, Facebooking, emailing and talking on the phone. And they're productive! Those of you who have kids I am sure see the same in your home.

Yeah right, Steve. But some people think otherwise. And, unlike you, they aren't basing their judgements on haphazard impressions.

In 2005, Glenn Wilson of the University of London did a study on multi-tasking for HP and found that people "distracted by incoming email and phone calls saw a 10-point fall in their IQ - more than twice that found in studies of the impact of smoking marijuana."

"René Marois of Vanderbilt University, used scans to track what happens when the brain is forced to respond to several stimuli at once. Marois found that task-switching leads to time lost as the brain determines which task to perform."

And, Russel Poldrack, of the University of California, Los Angeles, claims that when you are distracted, you use a different area of the brain for learning and storing new information.

"Brain scans of people who are distracted or multitasking show activity in the striatum, a region of the brain involved in learning new skills; brain scans of people who are not distracted show activity in the hippocampus, a region involved in storing and recalling information. "

"We're really built to focus," Poldrack says, "And when we sort of force ourselves to multitask, we're driving ourselves to perhaps be less efficient in the long run even though it sometimes feels like we're being more efficient."

Jane Healy, an educational psychologist worries that young people today are getting used to "very quick but very shallow thinking."

Source: Toronto Star

Culture Starts At The Top

Does messianism start with the messiah?

"I face this challenge with profound humility and knowledge of my own limitations. But I also face it with limitless faith in the capacity of the American people … .

I am absolutely certain that generations from now, we will be able to look back and tell our children that this was the moment when we began to provide care for the sick and good jobs to the jobless; this was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal … .

This was the moment – this was the time – when we came together to remake this great nation."

-- Obama Victory Speech (June 3, 2008)

Mark Steyn: It's a good thing he's facing it with "profound humility," isn't it? Because otherwise who knows what he'd be saying.

Comment: If so much depends upon Barack, I guess the world would have been in bad shape indeed if Hillary had won.

Come on, dear, you know this isn't true

I silently pity the blog trolls. Not just mine, but blog trolls everywhere. First of all, I have a thick skin.

The Professional Bar of Recruiting

(Audio version here)

You know why I don't play that cool jazz for an introduction on The Recruiting Animal Show that a lot of shows use? It's because we aren't cool, we're hot. This is a hot show. A fun show. But, you know, a lot of people they don't get that. All they want to do is make themselves look good. You know what I'm saying? So let me tell you a little story about what happened to me recently.

There was a novice recruiter who was very ambitious and she wanted to punch above her weight and play in the deep end as quickly as possible. So, she asked me if she could come on this show and I said "Of course, you can dear". And she was very excited at the thought of playing with the big boys. But her so-called pals didn't think she could handle it and they immediately started bugging me to lower the diving board.

"Animal, I love your show," one guy told me, "But you're scaring people away. Everyone thinks you're the enemy and pretty soon you won't be able to get any guests."

"Oh no!" I said, "What should I do?".

"Well," he said, "You should lob your guests some easy questions and then just let them talk."

"You mean I should let them ramble on and say whatever they want? And if your little friend wants to deliver a canned speech about recruiting kindergarten, I should just let that happen. Is that what you're saying?"

"Yes, yes," he said, "Exactly. It's going to be really interesting."

Well she came on and even though these losers, who have no respect for my audience, tried to lob her cues for canned answers it still turned out to be a pretty good show. I liked it and I'm a tough judge. You ask Dave Manaster. He had to talk me down from the ledge many times in the early days (over Instant Messenger).

So then, this girl gets on her video diary and delivers an academy awards acceptance speech for her performance on the show. And who does she thank? The Recruiting Animal for making her interesting? No! She thanks all those other guys who tried to bring the show down!

And what does she say about me? "Well," she said, "I think I proved that I know my stuff. Even though The Recruiting Animal Show is not a professional bar."

Not a professional bar? What does that mean? Let's look at the panel on that show. First of all, there was me. And what am I, borscht? And Maureen Sharib and David Manaster. What are they, chopped liver? And Clifford Mintz. He's got a PhD for Pete's sake.

Of course, Dennis and Paul were there too and they're pretty smart guys but they blew their brains out before they arrived. I don't know what happened but they turned into a couple of lapdogs. Actually, I do know what happened (and so do you) but I don't want to say it in public and embarrass them.

You know, a few days ago, I was talking to Jessica Lee on Twitter and she told me she doesn't like my show. She likes the hard stuff, she said. And I said, "Honey, I've got news for you. I am the hard stuff." So listen, you guys out there in Recruiterland, if you cant take it, stick with the gingerale! 'Cause this is the Recruiting Animal Show not Tiny Talent Time.

And as far as I know, the only professional bar in recruiting is the kind that serves chicken wings. But if superstars go there, you're going to find today's guest leaning against it. His name is Craig Silverman and we all know him as the Executive Vice President of Hireability but now he's got a new job and he's going to tell us what he had to do to get it.

So all you kiddies, it's time to change the channel or put on your diapers because I want you to join me and Craig Silverman on the Recruiting Animal Show!

My Favourite Lesbian Blog

Call me sexist but I love Dorothy Surrenders. She's funny, she's got
My Weekend Crush and Tank Top Tuesdays and she loves Amy, just like me.

Animal Show Wed July 09 NOON EDT

GUEST: Craig Silverman
COO Unlimited Medsearch. LinkedIn

TOPIC: MY JOB SEARCH.
The job hunting journey of a top recruiting exec.

ALL CALL AND LISTEN INFO HERE

AT 1PM: The Telephone Sourcing Show
with Maureen Sharib.

Gen Y Idol Worship. Say it isn't so!

1. Do you remember a Gen Y expert bragging that Obama was the candidate of Gen Y?
2. Do you remember a Gen Y expert bragging that Baby Boomers are authoritarian but Gen Y isn't?
3. Have you noticed the complaints about messianism in Obama's campaign?
4. Tell me, what does that mean about Gen Y?

Baracktose intolerant: An increasingly common medical condition in which the affected person becomes violently sick in the stomach when exposed to adulation and deification of Barack Obama. -- Slate (June 27, 2008)

---

"My father offered an interesting perspective.... he said that Baby Boomers look for super-human leaders. They believe one person has all the answers and he can lead single-handedly.

"We certainly don’t believe our leaders are more than human. Just look at our childhoods. We watched high profile leaders cheat on their wives, embezzle money and refuse to take responsibility for terrible decisions."
-- Gen Y Expert

---

Question: Are Baby Boomers authoritarian? Yes or No?
Born 1979: Yes.
Question: Do you believe that Baby Boomers look to one super leader who has all of the answers? Kind of like Nazis.
Born 1979: Uh, Yes. It's a stereotype but Yes.
-- Gen Y Quiz (July 02, 2008)

---

'It was basically all the students caucusing for Obama and the adults dispersing among the other candidates.' In the end, in his Iowa City precinct, the students sat victorious at the Obama camp with 70% of the votes.... This is a metaphor for the workplace.... Baby boomers are being forced out, in a non-disruptive way."
-- Gen Y Expert

---

"Obama's high-flown, inspirational rhetoric often feeds into the impression of a political campaign veering into the realms of religion - never more so than when he declared in a victory speech that "we are the ones we've been waiting for."

"The line is the title of a 2006 Alice Walker book, but some saw it as another sign of the emerging Cult of Obama.

"Obamaphilia has gotten creepy," wrote a pro-Obama Los Angeles Times columnist, Joel Stein. "The best we Obamaphiles can do is to refrain from embarrassing ourselves."
-- Daily News

---

"Something just a wee bit creepy about the mass messianism"
-- Joe Klein, Time Magazine

---

"At no fewer than six of Mr Obama's recent rallies, young enthusiasts have been so overcome with excitement that they have fainted in front of the stage.

"Indeed, fainting has become so common that a team of medical volunteers is ordered to be on hand to treat the victims, and Mr Obama has interrupted his own speeches to give his followers a blow by blow commentary of their recovery."

"Dr Sean Wilentz, a Princeton historian and stern critic of the current administration of George W.Bush, said: "What's troubling about the campaign is that it's gone beyond hope and change to redemption."

"At the campaign's "Camp Obama" - a training programme run ahead of primaries in key states - volunteers are schooled to avoid talking to voters about policy, and instead tell of how they "came" to Obama, just as born-again Christians talk about "coming to Jesus."

New York Times columnist David Brooks wrote: "Obama's people are so taken with their messiah that soon they'll be selling flowers at airports and arranging mass weddings."
-- The Telegraph

---

Final Question:
Did the Baby Boomers have a messianic candidate? If so, was it Richard Nixon who won 49 states in '72? Or was it Bobby Kennedy in '68? Or was it nobody?

Who Owns Recruitingblogs.com

The telephone rings.

JD: Animal, hey, how are you?
Animal: Fine, JD.
JD: I hear you wrote something funny.
Animal: What was that, JD?
JD: Don't bluff me, Animal. I know all about it.
Animal: About what, JD?
JD: I gave Bull Doza some shares in Rbc and you wrote something, didn't you?
Animal: I did, JD.
JD: I want to see it.
Animal: No, I'm not going to publish. I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings.
JD: Since when?
Animal: I'm not going to show you, JD.
JD: Well, what's it about?
Animal: A rumour.
JD: What rumour?
Animal: That Bull Doza owns Rbc.
JD: Are you kidding? That's crazy!
Animal: He brought in thousands of people. There must have been a reason.
JD: He's just a nice guy.
Animal: Yeah, right. He's a recruiter JD. I wouldn't have done it if there wasn't something big in it for me.
JD: Well, you're self-centred. I run Rbc!
Animal: I heard you're the front man. You know, like the greeter at a GAP store.
JD: I'm no greeter! I'm the brains!
Animal: JD, please. I'm no dummy.
JD: Who fed you this nonsense?
Animal: A little birdie.
JD: With an English accent?
Animal: Maybe.... JD. JD. Are you there, JD? (hangs up then dials the phone) Don JGo? Animal. Mission accomplished. Where's my money?
JGo: Listen, would you take shares in Baconsalt? They're going to be worth a fortune.
Animal: Like the shares in Jobster? Cashola, baby.

See also: JD-JGo Quarrel, Recruiting.com is sold, Recruitingbloggers, Bye Bye, Canadian Guy, The Contract, The Secret History.

Experience Changes People

Ex-hostage no longer wants to negotiate with armed opposition.

"I was in chains all the time, 24 hours a day, for three years," she said. "I tried to wear those chains with dignity, even if I felt that it was unbearable."

Asked if she had been tortured, she said, "Yes, yes," and said her captors had fallen into "diabolical behaviour," adding: "It was so monstrous I think they themselves were disgusted."

Some Colombians who recalled the centre-left politician's openness to negotiating with those same rebels during her campaign against Uribe were stunned to hear her praise his 2006 re-election as "very good for Colombia."
-- Associated Press, Toronto Star

Animal Show Wed July 02 NOON EDT

GUEST: MAREN HOGAN, TWITTER QUEEN
LinkedIn. Blog. Twitter.

TOPIC: Marketing and Sourcing through Networking

LISTEN HERE

lisarokusek @heathergardner: animal is a TOUGH Interviewer, but it was fun.

marenhogan @heathergardner @lisarokusek
                             @cincyrecruiter: YIKES. Please pray for me

CLIPS: Introduction, Gen Y Quiz, Snippets from the Show (12 min)

Maren video taped her own debriefing

---

HR Wench: @Animal I love the show - just not the yelling (Twitter, July 02, 2008)

Jessica Lee: decided to listen to recruiting animal show to hear @marenhogan - but not sure if i can listen to the animal for very long. is it just me? (Twitter, July 02, 2008)

Recruiting Animal: @jessica_lee Listen, Honey. Just like fine wine, the Recruiting Animal is not for everybody.

jessica_lee: @Animal - go figure. i don't like wine! eh. i go straight for the hard stuff. ha!

Recruiting Animal: @jessica_lee Yeah, I don't like wine either. And I am the hard stuff. But you don't like me.

Recruiters Should Be Like Tim Russert

Says out of the box recruiter, Vin Dieselevey

Don't interrupt. Make sure you understand the job before you claim to have the perfect person.

Start a conversation with light banter. Don't get straight down to business. Don't forget the social amenities.

Don't be so results-oriented. Be a mensch. Do your job in a nice, friendly way and make the world a better place.

See also: Tim Russert, Thin-Skinned and
We Have To Stick Together said Tim

A Showman's Cold Call

Harry Joiner, the Marketing Headhunter, used to be in a rock band and he's still a showman. He starts every cold call like this:

HARRY: Hi Mary. Do you know who I am?

MARY: No

HARRY: So, you have NO idea who I am?

MARY: No

HARRY: Huh. You know nothing about me …

MARY: No [but now she's racking her brain to figure out who he is because it sounds like she should know].

HARRY: Okay. It happens. I’m Harry Joiner, and I’m a marketing headhunter specializing in ecommerce and new media. In fact, … are you online right now? … Okay, Google “marketing headhunter” … Last year I closed VP-level deals for some of America’s best loved brands, like X, Y, and Z …”

Comment: Harry claims that his boast makes people feel like they are doing their friends a favor by introducing them to him. And I'm sure that this works -- for Harry. But, again, he's a showman with a special talent for communicating . Most people could not pull this off.

An Ace in the Hole

I had begun to stop worrying about spies and terrorists, but in the shadows of the courtyard the merchant drew me close and told me something else about his life: "We have Canadian passports. If it gets bad with Iraq, Iran, I can make a living anywhere."
-- Herbert Hadad

Full of garbage words and phrases

XYZ Consulting delivers training initiatives that empower both individuals and organizations to effectively eliminate the problems of frustration, conflict, low morale, low productivity and high turnover in today's workplace.

ALT VERSION: XYZ Consulting teaches people how to avoid the frustrations and conflicts that lead to low morale, low productivity and a high rate of turnover in the workplace.

Every program XYZ Consulting offers is designed to produce results...
[What else could it be designed do?]

Praise For Sarkozy

If anyone had suggested two years ago that France would elect a pro-Israel, Pro-American president, he would have been passed off as wildly out of touch with French sentiment.
-- The Augean Stables

I guess we were wrong about what lots of French people were thinking.
We were wrong. Get it?

Minnie Driver Sings

Who knew? Invisible Girl. Hat Tip: Ghost of a Flea On Ellen. (She seems to get better looking as she gets older. BS cover (listenable but not great)

How To Be A Successful Blogger

Read it below or listen here.

I got a letter this week from a fairly junior blogger. And he said.

"Dear Recruiting Animal, I listen to your show because you're the Mighty Quinn and I'm hoping I can learn some secrets from you. I've been blogging for six months now and I cover the same territory as everyone else but I just don't seem able to get the hits. Nobody's visiting me. What can I do?"

Well, little buddy. I checked out your blog and the problem is very simple. It's as plain as day to me. You don't know how to be an expert. That's your problem. So I'm going to give you some clues.

Here's Number one. Don't think too much. If you see a study that says short men get better jobs don't ask if it's really true. You're not a scientist! You grab that topic and talk about it as much as you can. Think of all the short guys that's going to please.

People who know better are going to grumble but who cares? Most people don't know anything. That's why they come to you. They want simple ideas and absolute certainty. So they can sleep at night. So you want to make them feel good but you also want them to have fun.

Here's something to think about. How many magazines put out lists? The best movies of 2007. The best hundred rock songs of all time.

How do they know what they're saying is true? Of course they don't! But that doesn't mean the list isn't fun. Or that it doesn't make you think. Or that it doesn't give you something to talk about with your friends. And your blog should be written the exact same way

And it doesn't hurt to be a bit sexy sometimes and break the rules a little. Let's say someone writes to you and says: "Should I sleep with my recruiter? I think she likes me." Well that's a no brainer. The answer is: Of course you should! That will give her a reason to help you.

Of course, there's a lot more that I could say but let me wrap it up with this:You can always jazz things up a bit. Tell some stories from your personal life that never really happened. Who's going to know that you weren't a jockey. Who's going to know that you didn't go skydiving? Or that you didn't tell your boss where he can get off?

You don't have to feel guilty about fibbing. What are you doing? You're just helping people. And as long as the basic idea is true who cares what examples you use?

Are you starting to get the picture? Good. I hope I've helped. Good luck and regards.

It doesn't take a village to raise a child

It takes one or two responsible adults -- Rosie DeManno

Here's a radical concept: Maybe parents should check their kids' knapsacks for guns, knives, baseball bats and brass knuckles before the little darlings leave for school in the morning.

Lisa Rokusek on The Recruiting Animal Show

DATE: Wed June 25, 2008. NOON New York Time
TOPIC: "I am not your average recruiter"

GUEST: Lisa Rokusek's profile. Lisa's blog. Lisa on Twitter

LISTEN HERE

Also on board: Art Pitcher, Rayanne Trumbo, Maureen Sharib, JD Jason Davis, Dave Manaster and The Minnesota Headhunter.

Marketing on Social Media

1. The Personal is Professional
You create an online presence in microblogging (eg Twitter) by sharing mundane personal information with your "followers". Inotherwords, you promote yourself in the guise of chatting with "friends".

2. Overshare
Tell your audience what you are doing all day long. This means endless messages about where you are, what you're eating, who you're meeting, plus photos and videos (if you have them).

3. Enhance Your Image
It's easy to make yourself seem like someone special by publishing bits and pieces of made up life. The aura of success you create can be used to attract business.

Take a look at these Twitter postings:

Animal: Had dinner with the Assistant Deputy Minister last week. He said some very interesting things

Animal: Invited to my friend's island this weekend. Couldn't be bothered.

Both of them are true. I know a guy who's been with the government a long time and is now a senior manager. Once a month, I eat at a Chinese buffet with the same bunch of guys and he's part of the dinner crew.

Another friend comes from a wealthy family. They own a small island with a fancy cottage. He wanted me to drive some of his daughter's friends up to the lake because he's busy racing his car.

You might think that this kind of crap isn't worth posting but if you want to be a somebody online, think again.