10 Ways to Leverage Your Blog for Stronger Relationships

10 Ways to Leverage Your Blog for Stronger Relationships

I love when people post great information that will help us all do better!

Marketing Manager Littleton, CO- My personal recap of webinar "Keys to a successful job search" by Get Hired Boot Camp

Greig Wells and Get Hired Boot Camp lead a webinar this morning giving 10 phases in the job search process.

If you have read any of my previous articles or know the purpose of this blog, it is to market myself to get my next position as a marketing manager here in the Denver Metro area. I spend hours upon hours reading articles, participating in social media, and attending webinars so I can have all the best tips and tricks.

I have to say that this webinar was the most focused and complete tool I have found to date. While I have implemented almost all of the 10 phases already in my search, I did learn some tips on how I can refine my approach and techniques.

Greig does offer a special boot camp on all the 10 phases and if I could, I would take part in it. He did give us the names of the experts he uses to teach the classes and I will be looking them up, getting in touch with them and learning as much as I can reading the blogs.

My two biggest takeaways were;
#1 Target companies I want to work for. Choose 50 companies I want to work for, or as many as there are, and connect with at least one person. Connect by offering to help them and not that you need something from them. The reality is, out of the 50 companies not all will have job openings. The goal is to make a real connection and when possible connect off-line. Build real relationships!

#2 Market my potential and not just my past. Emphasizing my credibility and showing what is in it for them to hire me is a direct approach to find the best fit. Making sure to only express interest in positions I truly qualify for and demonstrating what I will do for them specifically will be key to getting interviews.

Greig also talks about search focus. I did learn from him in another webinar that the personal brand is key and since I have made sure that I am branding myself as marketing manager in Littleton, CO. I'm not a generic job seeker! One thing he mentioned today was to include an industry in that branding. Because my skills and experience were all developed while working in residential real estate marketing I try to avoid mentioning that. So, this tip I will have to consider carefully and maybe ask more questions on how best to approach it.

Another thing I am going to focus on is rethinking my specialty. Once again I am coming back to my title and the challenge of the term marketing generalist. I quit calling myself a generalist but found that I still use the term in interviews. MISTAKE! My conundrum, I specialize in the general. This will take some work.

I do recommend participating in this webinar. The information is clear and can help everyone focus their search. I have some serious work to do.

10 Things the HR Department Won’t Tell You by Woman's Day

This type of articles show up almost everyday, and I try to read them all. I look for little nuggets of information that will help me get my next Marketing Manager position. Kimberly Fusaro who wrote the article for Woman's Day talks not only about getting a job, but what we should and shouldn't do after.

The first point she talks about is the Google search on a candidates name. I have worked hard on getting my name on the first three pages of Google. I am careful not to have personal information show up and keep it on a professional level. I protect my privacy on Facebook knowing it is a personal use of social media. Yes, some people use it as part of their marketing tools but I choose not to.

Tip: When you comment on another person's Facebook page and they do not use the same privacy settings as you do, it will still show up in Google. So watch what you say on your friends page!

Number 10 was interesting because you hope that when you do well your supervisor remembers it forever. According to this article, you only get three to six months to utilize the good work. But, when you make a mistake they say it can last for years. This is a point where every time you get a positive email from your supervisor, print it, put it in a file and use it when you are looking for that promotion. Remind them how great you really are.

I encourage you to click on the link to the article and see if there are any points maybe you already know, but need reminding of.

Overcoming Discouragement and Getting Back to Work

I read this article post earlier today on LinkedIn and asked Linda if I could share it. I was working on an article about my own frustration with the job search and found this to be helpful because she has validated my feelings. yes, sometimes we all need a little validation.

Overcoming Discouragement and Getting Back to Work

Managing discouragement, and the other emotions that accompany a job search can be challenging when you are diligently getting your resume out to the world without the results you desire.What can you do to transform discouragement into hope that you will land another job? Engage in activities that will help you move through difficult emotions. Fear and faith make poor roommates because one dispels the other.You must fight discouragement.

Avoid beginning and ending your day with negative television and radio news reports about the economy and start your day early with activities that inspire and comfort you such as devotional readings, meditation, artwork, or exercise. The best form of workout for you is the one you are most likely to participate in. Begin your day early by first making a deposit into your emotional bank account–that is, your self-care plan.

If you are starting to give in to discouragement, it is time to tune in for self-care. Prepare a list of 10 self-care items that will help renew your mind, body, and spirit. You may find it difficult to do so, but it is completely worth your time. The items on your list do not even have to cost money. Participate in 2-3 of these self-care activities every day. Give yourself permission to take an overdue restorative time-out.

Many people work very hard while also attending to the needs of their family, but find it nearly impossible to be especially kind and tender to their selves. In an emergency, you have to put on your own oxygen mask first, and being out of work in an economic downturn qualifies as just such an emergency. You may need to go fishing or engage in other enjoyable and renewing sport activities—whatever it takes to think about something besides the ongoing job hunt for a little while. It’s not a luxury; it’s a necessity!

Address discouragement and other emotions by taking the time you need – not by doing what others think you should do. Talk to someone you trust who will help you to get rid of negative feelings and evaluate the emotional ramifications of what you’re going through. Get help from a friend in managing your emotions and when you are ready, launch into the tangible, practical components of job search.

After you’ve taken a step back, take stock of your expectations. Unmet expectations can lead to disappointment and discouragement. You may be very good at the work you have done in the past but your future does not live in your past. Industry changes create opportunities for new job growth. Do you need to take what I refer to as the ’transitional bridge job’ or two part time jobs to pay the bills while you think about seriously re-inventing yourself ?

Are you at a fork in the road? Do you want to return to a former, similar, or new job title? Research professional association websites in the industry you want to explore. Perform information interviews to help expand or narrow options and consider participating in other activities outlined in the Getting Back to Work book. Don’t let lack of information stall you indefinitely. New job growth is there. You will bring greater enthusiasm and success to your job hunting when you identify what you want to do. What does your heart desire for employment?

When you are ready, set a structured job search schedule that allows for concentrated job hunting activities, say between 10:00 am and 3:00 pm daily, or whatever time frame works for you. No matter what, though, it’s important to keep your work/life balance and self care in the daily mix. Your future work is ahead of you and you must move forward to reach your goals. Giving in to feelings of discouragement can only hold you back.


After being out of work for over a year and employing as many of the techniques to market yourself as possible, and really doing everything possible, what do you do when you still don’t have a job offer?

This is my question and my struggle. I’ve been keeping my blog focused on what I am doing, what my capabilities are and how I can benefit any company that hires me. But, there comes a point for all of us unemployed job hunters where we feel defeated, frustrated and ready to give up.

As we go through the challenge of unemployment we realize that not only do we struggle financially but emotionally as well. Some of us, me in particular, find it difficult to not work. And as much as we throw ourselves into the job search, which really is a full time job on its own, and try to get more involved with family and doing volunteer work, nothing can take the place of the joy and satisfaction of going to work everyday and earning a paycheck.

One of the interesting things I read was someone posted a comment on desperation. They have been out of work for a long time saying that the financial issues they were facing were making life so stressful that when they went in for an interview, they were later told that the desperation was a turn off to the hiring manager.
Now this had me worried. Those of us that have been out of work for so long and honestly attach some of our personal self worth on the work we do and are faced with financial troubles are desperate. We thrive on making a difference everyday in the work we do for our clients and the companies we work for. They don’t call us workaholics for nothing. We get a personal satisfaction from doing our jobs not just well, but excelling and exceeding expectations everyday.

So what do we do? We plunge ourselves into the job hunt by networking, writing blogs that may help others and trying to make an impact in other ways. Recently I was given an opportunity to work with an old classmate from Jr High to raise money for after school programs in Fullerton, CA where I grew up.

This was great for me as I was able to use some of my marketing skills for a great cause. The idea was to donate money to the City of Fullerton so that they could provide money to the after school programs for sports equipment, educational outings and special events. We first wanted to donate $600 and that number was increased to $1000 once we realized how much support we were getting from our fellow alum. We surpassed our goal and raised almost $1200 for the program.

I have been helping a friend with his SEO/SEM and building his website so that we can include case studies and update his before and after images more often. He used Dex Online and while he says he is happy with the results my analysis of the ROI is terrible.

Anyway, as Linda has recommended in her article, sometimes we need to take a step back, reevaluate goals and reexamine expectations.

Marketing Manager Littleton, CO

I have written articles to emphasize what tasks and skills I have used in various positions throughout my career. My goal is to show prospective employers what I can do for them beyond the timeline resume. After reading another article on LinkedIn about adding keywords on a resume and in your blog I thought that I should have an article with information directly from my cover letter and resume.
the experiment is to see if using part of my cover and resume will increase my readers and/or rankings.

This is the bulk of my cover letter.

During the past few years the marketing and advertising industry has taken a major punch. As of May 2009 it was being reported that more than 30,800 marketing professionals had lost their jobs. This situation has created a pool of professional marketers unprecedented in the past. Companies like yours, now has the opportunity to really find the right candidate for your business goals.

The decision may be difficult for you as you are bombarded with hundreds of resumes from candidates that all seem to be qualified. As a marketer and a prospective candidate I want to help you see why I am the best fit for this position and for your organization.

Using social media, I am working to establish my personal brand and increase my Internet ranking, as well as show prospective employers like yourself my capabilities. You can find my professional profile on LinkedIn and I have started a blog where I discuss my previous positions and what I accomplished. The goal is to give you an opportunity to get to know me and my work style.

My resume vital statistics list out my specific skills and qualifications. What you won’t see on my resume is my ability to work with teams, vendors and all levels of management to meet the specific goals of the business.

I can tell you all day long about my skills and personality, but that doesn’t mean as much as a testimonial by colleagues and past supervisors.

“Lucinda came to KPA and hit the ground running with enthusiasm and experience. Her self-starter attitude enabled me to continue working with clients while she managed the day-to-day account needs. She understands the need for and importance of maintaining budgets and how they impact the bottom line. She is a well-rounded professional with the knowledge and skill to be an asset to any marketing team.” June 18, 2009 Jeff Turcotte, VP General Manager, KPA Healthcare Advertising

“I have worked with Lucinda on a number of different projects and have watched her stand by her personal commitment to ethics. She keeps her clients interests at the top of everything she does. Lucinda has years of marketing experience and has developed a unique tracking and accountability system for her clients that most other marketing professionals would be frightened to show their own clients.” March 4, 2008 Hugh Roper , Freelance Graphic Design , Hugh Roper Design

I have worked diligently on my resume to make sure it is keyword heavy and uses bullets to clearly demonstrate successes. I am including here my keywords/vital statistics and my professional summary. Both these portions of my resume give an overview of what a prospective employer can expect when hiring me.

Vital Statistics


9+ years in marketing
New product and neighborhood launches
Brand development and messaging
Marketing plan development, implementation
Lead generation
Internet marketing (SEO/SEM)
Social media; Twitter, LinkedIn and Blogging
Consumer profiling
Competition analysis
Budget development, reconciliation and cost per lead/ROI analysis
Photography for client collateral and video
Copywriting of collateral, web copy, advertorials, broadcast scripts
Production management including press checks
Directing TV and radio production and editing
Event planning, implementation, onsite coordination and measurement
Team and vendor management
Media planning, buying and negotiating (Print, Outdoor, Radio, TV)

Summary of Experience

Marketing professional with expertise in short and long-term strategic counsel and tactical execution. Proven track record of maximizing resources, streamlining processes while increasing revenues. Combines expert orchestration of campaign management and building team morale with a history of successfully maintaining budgets. Reputation for being a results-driven team leader with a strong work ethic, approachability, customer focused attitude and bottom line outlook that exceeds objectives in dynamic, fast-paced environments.


The goal of all this is to get that perfect job where I can use all my talents to help a company reach their goals and make a positive impact. I have a passion for advertising and marketing and look forward to my next opportunity.

501 Mission Place Launches for Non Profits and Charities

I love the idea of helping non-profits with social media tools! I recently was on a committee to raise money for an after school program in California. They could use this type of information.

501 Mission Place Launches for Non Profits and Charities