Connie Bensen

Having grown up on a farm in Minnesota, we always took care of our neighbors & helped them when we could. When I saw this effort from the LinkedMN group I was so impressed with the concept. The recession is going to hit many families. I’m sharing this for two reasons:

1. To help the LinkedMinnesota group spread the word of their efforts
2. To inspire others to create similar types of programs – what can you do with your social media skills to help others?

I’m proud of their efforts and am thinking that it’s worthy of an award.

Project: Link It Forward 

A project to help the unemployed find new leads and opportunities
Please read this email and forward to your friends, family and contacts
Minnesota unemployment rates skyrocketed in November. 7500 people have been laid off in the month of November!
As an active member of LinkedIn, in the past few weeks I’ve received many calls and emails from people asking for my assistance in regards to their job search. I want to help everyone…fortunately I have a business to run and there are only 24 hours in a day. I have been successful with networking and I want to share that knowledge with those that are faced with tough times in today’s economy and especially around the holiday season. 
That is how Project: Link It Forward came to life. My name is Lisa Hendrickson, owner of Call That Girl! and I want to help. 
http://www.callthatgirl.biz/projectlinkitforward.html

What will the project do?
Myself and other LinkedIn volunteers will conduct free workshops on how to use the tools that can lead you to more contacts and connections to help with your job search. LinkedIn is the number one professional networking directory and it’s free to use. We will also teach you many other tips and tricks to help you find leads on the jobs you’re looking for. 
The old days of scouring Monster and CareerBuilder are over. These days, the best way to get your next job is to know people. People can and will help if you ask for it. Asking is free, helping is free. Most people are willing to help you if you ask.

Project: Link It Forward 
…Is a one-hour overview of how to use LinkedIn to help you with your search for your next position or obtain good leads. This is not a training session on how to use LinkedIn. 
You must have a completed profile to qualify. Your LinkedIn profile will be reviewed after you sign up. If you do not pass the qualifiers, you may be asked to complete your profile and then sign up again. The reason for this is that HR and hiring managers are "Googling" you as much as you are Googling them… and your LinkedIn profile does show up in Google, so it’s best to have a completed profile before using the project to assist you. 

Qualifiers:

• Anyone who is currently out of work, laid off or has been looking for a job
• Your profile must show you are not currently employed
• Your profile should not show that you are a consultant or consulting
• Your profile should look like you are a seriously looking for work
• TIP: the more contacts you have, the better your results will be

If you feel you need more information on how to use Linkedin, as part of our regular services we offer workshops. Please see http://www.callthatgirl.biz/linkedinworkshops.html

How do I sign up?

Please visit the website for sign up information, location, and course times. 
http://www.callthatgirl.biz/projectlinkitforward.html
Questions? Email us at projectlinkitforward@gmail.com

How can you help?
Please forward this email your friends, family and colleagues to insure unemployed folks are aware of "Project: Link it forward". 
Feel free to forward the website: 
http://www.callthatgirl.biz/projectlinkitforward.html

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So what do you think? What skills do you have that you could share with job seekers? Could you volunteer at a local workforce center? Offer a community ed course on social networking at a local library or school?

Since August or so I’ve had people reaching out asking how to start building their brand. For whatever reason they are realizing that they need to establish a presence online.

• Some have been laid off & are considering new options.
• Some would like to work in social media & community building.
• Some realize that they need to create an online presence

Last spring I was in the same position. Because I work remotely my options were really limited. It took me awhile to rethink the whole concept and I’ll admit that I had help from friends. For awhile I was applying for 2-3 jobs a day with no response. I must admit that a major web 2.0 company asked if I’d move to San Francisco, but that wasn’t an option. It was disheartening. (And to my friend who recently emailed me with your news of not getting your position, this post is for you).

For me, it took a lot of talking out loud to rethink things. It’s so important to invest in yourself. And if you’re looking for a position then TELL potential employers that. Now is a better time than ever to be thinking outside the box. This is going to sound really odd, but I have experienced tipping points in a number of areas:

• my social networking has gone through phases & now is building on it’s own – I no longer wonder where all my new Twitter & FB followers come from – I am just thankful
• my personal branding is something I do automatically without thought
• work opportunities now come to me (but I believe that I have planted seeds)

So what are the secrets?

1. a personal advisory board that you trust – only when you share your fears can others help you – choose people that you can give back things to – time is a commodity

2. social networking – hang out with like minded people – is it LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, etc? But you HAVE to get involved! that’s imperative

3. blogging – you need to establish a presence – what makes you unique & what value will you provide? This is about YOUR brand & what you bring to the company

4. lifelong learning – always keep learning – that makes you flexible & more employable.

5. when you network with people tell them what type of work you’d like Find reasons to network with potential employers.

• Interview them about what their business is about.
• Do volunteer work for them. Help them get to know YOU
• Be interested in their business. Become knowledgeable about the industry
• Evangelize in what you believe in – people will notice you
• Work hard & show that you’re not afraid of digging in

In the last month people have been asking me how many hours a day I work. The truth is that I’m online from 7:30 am to 10-11 pm with 1-2 hrs break during the day. In the morning personal work takes about an hour and in the evening I sometimes work or do personal/professional work. Remember that my daughter is in college, so I have an empty nest.

In regard to my time, there have been a few occasions when I’ve gotten of the phone and my husband would say, were you getting paid for that or not? Most of the time I wasn’t. But in the long run, my advising has now ended up causing a new problem of needing to learn to say ‘no’ (which is another blog post).

My friend & one of my mentors in the branding area wrote a great article on this topic:

The Real Way to Get a Job using Social Media by Dan Schawbel

If you’ve recently found a job leave a comment with your story.

What kind of social media monitoring are you doing? ah, so you’re using some free tools, that’s great!

• How are you analyzing the data?
• What are you doing with it?

And if you’re not, what if your competitors are?

• What kind of advantage does that give them?
• Are they monitoring your brand?

If you’ve been wondering where to begin then you should attend the webinar on Social Media Marketing wtih Techrigy SM2 next Tues, Dec 16th. Try out the Freemium version in the meantime.

As of last week, I’m now working with the Techrigy guys on a full time basis.   I’ve been working with them part-time for the past three months.There are a couple of things that make the position unique:

• it’s community building in a B2B setting – most of our customers have clients
• I’ve never met my co-workers in person. (That hasn’t seemed to make a difference though.)

What I love about my job:

• working with the customers (ranging from individuals to large agencies)
• product development & QA (Christmas arrived last weekend when my requested feature was implemented!)
• connecting with the home office – working remotely isn’t totally a walk in the park
• the challenge to learn more about our app & the industry
• demo’s are connecting me to friends & amazing people on a new level

I’ve been brand monitoring since 2006 & times have sure changed since then! (:) couldn’t resist saying that!). There are new tools & new methodologies. TechrigySM2 offers a great way to gather, organize, analyze & act on your social media initiatives. So definitely join the webinar! or ask me for a demo. I do group demo’s too – they’re fun!

Because it is your life, right?  I’ve always believed that life is about choices. It’s up to you to decide what you’re going to do with them. Invest in yourself & add the determination.

Not long ago Derrick Kwa from Singapore asked my opinion. Derrick was in the US not long ago working with Seth Godin on his Triibes project. Also, Derrick is an avid marketing junkie & started a social media breakfast in Singapore.

Derrick’s question to me was whether he should accept a job offer.

Here are things that I think everyone should consider as they search for jobs. And they are especially true if you’re going to work in social media.

• What is the product?
• Do you believe in it?
• Can you sell it?
• Do you trust the company? the management?
• What is the state of the brand?
• Is the public sentiment justified?
• Do you believe that you can contribute to the brand?
• Does your personal brand resonate with the position?
• Does it contribute to the company’s mission?
• Will the position affect your personal brand positively or negatively?

Even if the position pays well, is that enough? Only you can decide that. Derrick blogged about his decision. He said,

So why did I reject the offer? Because I don’t believe in the product. I’m not passionate about what they are selling. And that’s the most important thing for me.

Yes, I was tempted by the money, I’m not going to deny that. I was definitely very tempted. But after talking to Connie Bensen about it (thanks for the advice, Connie), she helped me realize that it wouldn’t be worth doing if I wasn’t passionate about it.

Do you agree that my questions have any relevance for job satisfaction in the social media world? I look forward to hearing your ideas.