The CFO Coach

WHAT’S YOUR TARGET MARKET?

I’ve had several things come through my email box this week regarding the importance of being clear about what you want and the target market you want to serve. Sounds like branding to me. And of course, these emails were targeted at business owners (like me), but read some of these comments and see if they resonate with you as a job seeker …

Pulled from Lisa Wilder’s blog:

--“Just because your services could benefit anyone and everyone doesn’t mean you don’t need to identify a much more specific target market. One of the goals in identifying a specific target market is to make your marketing efforts as effective as they can possibly be.

--Because [when] you’re speaking to anyone and everyone you have to speak about what you do and how you can help in very generic terms so as to appeal to as many people as possible (or so you think). In this situation, precisely because you’re speaking generically, your message may resonate with only 30% of your audience.

--On the flip side, [when] you’ve clearly identified your market, and you’re speaking only to them, you’re now able to speak much more specifically and relevantly to their particular tax concerns and needs. In this situation, your message is highly likely to resonate with closer to 80% (or more) of your audience.

Having a clearly identified target market makes it possible for you to clearly identify your target market's most urgent needs and compelling desires, the solutions you offer to meet those needs and desires, and the deeper benefits of them. Without that clarity, it's very difficult to talk about what you do in a way that is compelling to potential clients.” [emphasis added]

From the most recent Get Slightly Famous blog:

“The benefit she delivered was helping her clients move from “owner dependant” firms to building profitable, stand-alone businesses. Her challenge, however, was that she lacked a clear, focused target market to guide her marketing efforts.” [emphasis added]

When you know what you want, your value proposition, and your target market, your marketing strategy is more focused and more effective. What would happen if you became laser–focused in your job search? What if you put all your efforts into targeting only those employers that were places you wanted to work? What would be different about your search?

NETSHARE, ECADEMY, & NETWORKING

Last Monday I spent an hour on the phone with Netshare members answering their burning career questions. If you want to get in on these weekly calls, get registered with Netshare today!

Following last week’s blog update, one of my readers emailed me to ask about my decision to create a profile on Ecademy. His experience has been that it has been a waste of time and that there has been “no forthcoming effort to help anybody get a job.” I suspect this is a common feeling among discouraged job seekers. Let me address what I have taken away from reading between the lines.

The job search process is frustrating. It is filled with rejection. And it can be grueling. Success requires hard work. If finding that next great opportunity was as easy as posting a profile on Ecademy and sitting back and waiting for the job offers to come in, I guess everyone would already be employed (and I would be a millionaire!). Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way.

Effectiveness in social networking requires a great first impression (your profile), an aggressive campaign to grow your network, and a mindset that you are willing to give first (help others) in order to get (help) in the future.

Building a profile on Ecademy builds visibility. Visibility is a great career management tool and one that will become increasingly more important to the savvy candidate. Here are some suggestions straight from the Ecademy website:

––Raise your Profile online - If you become a Standard or Power Networker, post as much useful advice and information as you can and comment on what you read. This helps to get you noticed, people will contact you about your content. Read the weblogs and articles, post comments, and let people know what you stand for and what you believe in. Get to know people there - who are the passionate ones, who are the interesting ones, who are those who invite controversy and engage them. If your posts are interesting, people will contact you to get to know you more.

––Become active in clubs - Join the clubs, read the content, post responses and interact with people around topics and ideas that most interest you. That way, you get to mix with like-minded people and build relationships.

––Become the hub - Create your own club if you cannot find one that fits your interest. Have online discussions and organise offline events where people can come and get together. Networking is all about being in a position of influence and putting yourself out there. It's when you give that people notice you and recommend you.

––Finally - You get as much as you give - Ecademy is not about sitting back and enjoying the ride. Be active in the community, share your knowledge, wisdom and contacts. Ecademy's ethos is "Winning by Sharing" - It's about sharing, and contributing. Because that's the essence of building strong relationships. Once that's done, the business will come.

What will also come are the opportunities that people – with whom you have built trust –are more than happy to pass your way. As my good friend at Netshare, Kathy Simmons, says, “networking is a noun and a verb!”

AND THE DIRT GOES ON ....

As I was creating my profile for Ecademy (do you have a visible presence there yet?), I kept thinking about this article.

http://www.careerjournal.com/jobhunting/usingnet/20060714-athavaley.html?cjpos=home_whatsnew_major

In particular were these statements:

<< The blurring of the lines between searching for jobs and making friends online raises the question of who is reading what you post.>>

and

<< People posting information online should know that anyone could be looking at it.>>

As I’ve said in earlier posts, remember that whatever you say on the Internet is like posting it on the front page of a national publication. If you feel passionate about a cause, stop and take a deep breath and think before you post. Before you leave that cutting barb in response to an offensive comment, remember it is “out there” forever. And is that personal comment you are about to post on brand or off brand?

INDELIBLE DIGITAL DIRT

<<In addition to all the other stresses of a job search, do you really have to assume you'll get Googled any time you apply for a job? Employment experts say yes.>>

Read the entire article at http://www.nydailynews.com/business/story/400977p-339405c.html.

While you can "mitigate" digital dirt, completely eliminating it may not be possible. Sites like waybackmachine.com keep archives of deleted information. Researching Internet archives for candidate information might not be as common as Googling candidates, however, these kinds of sites are available to employers (and others) to find old Internet information.

Whenever you are posting anywhere on the Internet, consider whether you would want that post to appear on the front page of a national publication. If not, think carefully before you post complaints and opinions that could turn into indelible digital dirt.