Changing Fast

I was a guest feature writer in the Detroit Free Press 7/19/2010

How to Harness Social Networks and Branding Yourself Online Video

This video is from my speaking engagement at the LA2M event in Ann Arbor July 7 2010

This video is from my speaking engagement at the LA2M event in Ann Arbor July 7 2010

Transitioning from traditional to digital 360 talent

 I am amazed when I talk to some traditional talent they tell me, “I don’t know flash so I am not sure I can make the jump into digital."  Huh?  Of course you do not need to learn programming skills to get on the digital side of advertising unless you are a programmer.  What you need to do is take a proactive role in learning about the digital side of things. “It’s not rocket science folks," all the information is out there. Trust me.  Wikipedia is a great start to understanding…

 I am amazed when I talk to some traditional talent they tell me, “I don’t know flash so I am not sure I can make the jump into digital."  Huh?  Of course you do not need to learn programming skills to get on the digital side of advertising unless you are a programmer.  What you need to do is take a proactive role in learning about the digital side of things. “It’s not rocket science folks," all the information is out there. Trust me.  Wikipedia is a great start to understanding different terms you might not understand, for example the meaning of Digital Strategy.

 Video: Blogs in Plain English

Commoncraft.com is a great site with tutorials in plain English!  When you click on the link there will be a search window, put in the word “internet” and many tutorials will come up. Another example to try is: web-search-strategies.

 Learning more about search commands is going to help you on your quest to become a 360-integrated talent. For example, to show you how effective Google search commands are, put in slideshare: "social media."   As you can see above, I typed in the website name slideshare, after that I put in a colon, and from there I put in quotes, "social media."  This is key to getting a search return with information only about social media.  I cannot tell you how valuable slideshare.com is for any type of research you are doing, it is a great place to learn just about anything. Searching just within a specific website can be a real time saver!

Note: Start taking an interest in learning the basic search commands on Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft Live.

I found a great blog called Googletutor.com http://www.googletutor.com/google-manual/ they explain it in a user friendly way.

Google commands open up a new world on how to get information about advertising and marketing knowledge.  Want to know about top advertising blogs? Just go to Google and type in exactly that. Google will give you the results you are looking for by asking it in a question format.  I do recommend you get the basic search commands down from Google, it will give you more exact information.

Ad Age’s Digital section is a great read every week. You can also find many bloggers in the digital space by using Google’s blog search engine for any interest you have.

There are too many brilliant traditional people out there that have so much to give to an agency, but are being let go because they are lacking digital background. I have seen many people make the transition to a 360-integrated talent.

Let’s not forget, "a great idea is a great idea."  What is most important is understanding the audience you are speaking to.

Important: There is no excuse if you are on the traditional side to not have an online portfolio - I don’t just mean creatives - anyone. Go to wordpress.com, find a theme you like, then create a blog. It is just like a website only you can control what’s added and change the content, and you no longer will be dependent on a programmer to help you. There is a user-friendly dashboard where you control your blog and the icing on the cake is, wordpress provides wordpress visual tutorials on how to build your blog from top to bottom.  All of my sites are on wordpress.

*Creating a blog shows any potential employer that you are with the program and gives you the oppurtunity to showcase your background.

 If you want to be a player in this business you need to be constantly changing fast. I sincerely mean this. You can see all around you everyday the advertising world is moving at breakneck speed. People and agencies in our business are being displaced like vinyl records.

Remember my clients are not usually just looking for digital experience; they are looking for talent that understands traditional also.  It is critical to understand all the ways of distributing information and content (360), we would be doing the client’s brand a disservice if we didn’t. I am hoping the day comes when I don’t have a need to say traditional or digital to define the talent. 

Look at it this way, “you are halfway there!”

I welcome your comments.

How to avoid Crisis Reactive Mode

  Crisis Reactive mode: When you have made no prior planning to an event that could possibly play out, and now it has. Ok, if I get hit by lighting today this would be one of the most important posts I will ever write! As a headhunter this has been a consistent problem with talent. This situation can be avoided if the right steps are in place. Let me show you in dialog format an all too familiar scenario.

Crisis Reactive mode:

When you have made no prior planning to an event that could possibly play out, and now it has. 

 Ok, if I get hit by lightning today this would be one of the most important posts I will ever write! As a headhunter this has been a consistent problem with talent. This situation can be avoided if the right steps are in place. Let me show you in dialogue format an all too familiar scenario.

 

Me: ring ring “Hello?” 

Candidate:  "Collin, I am in the main conference room along with 40 other people, we were just laid off and they will not let us go back to our desks and our work computers have been confiscated. I am freaking out!!"

Me: "First of all, I am sorry about what has happened but you are well prepared to deal with this situation."

Candidate: "What do you mean I’m prepared?"

Me: "Well, we discussed over 2 years ago, and several times since, a proactive strategy to keep yourself optimized in the marketplace. I sent you a list and examples on how to accomplish this."

Candidate: "Uhhhh"

Me: "You agreed with me when we first discussed this that this is a great action plan to follow throughout your career."

Candidate: "Yes, this is true, but…"

Me: "So, lets calmly go down the list.  Have you made time to go to industry meetings and did you subscribe to those blogs I suggested to keep up with what’s happening?"

Candidate: "No."

Me: "Why don’t you send me your updated resume."

Candidate: "I will need a couple of days to work on that, I did not update my resume on a regular basis as you suggested."

Me: "Did you sign up on LinkedIn and the other social networking sites I suggested to keep yourself fresh within your network of influence?"

Candidate: "No."

Me: "Did you back up your work on a daily basis so you can keep an ongoing catalogue of what you have accomplished at your company, so you can show your next employer that you are effective and results driven in your role?"

Candidate: "No."

 

You get the point I am trying to make with this dialogue. It is soooo key to make sure you are working on your brand at the same time you are working at your place of employment. Putting a strategy together so you never end up in this candidate’s situation is critical! Going into crisis reactive mode plays out when you are not prepared, and not just in your career.

Sadly, when people get in this mode they end up making more poor choices on top of the event that has just occurred, myself included, “been there done that."  I know we all have time constraints; we can come up with endless excuses for why we don’t do the things we need to do - count me in again. 

Below is a list of things you should be doing on a regular basis:

• Set up a catalogue system to keep track of all data and assets you find beneficial - it is key for all your data to be useful and searchable!
• Get your work online - everyone should have a portfolio, not just creatives.

• Always back up your work so you can analyze it on a regular basis, or "benchmarking.”
• Make an effort to do some schmoozing at industry events.

• Make sure you sign up on social sites like LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.
• Join online user groups and blogs pertaining to your area of expertise.

• Update your resume regularly, adding in your newest quantifiable results.
• Set up alerts with keywords that pertain to your career on Google, Twilert.com, and Indeed.com. 
• Leverage a great headhunter to help with strategy and opportunities! “Shameless plug”
• Know your competitors in the area and across the country.

*I am referring to all companies, not just the ones that are popular because of their hot talent.  Remember this is why we know about them - because they are doing these steps on a regular basis.

You will expand on some of the suggestions I have just made if you take a proactive interest in your career strategy and your ongoing brand development. In most situations, people had some idea that this day was coming, along with a little voice inside saying, "I have to update my resume and portfolio, I need to start networking…."

Lesson: Avoid crisis reactive mode by taking a proactive stance and strive toward a better future by anticipating and preparing for future clouds on the horizon.

I welcome your comments on this post.

Indeed.com is a powerful trend tool, not just a job search engine

“social network” Job Trends “social network” Jobs Indeed.com is one of the most useful tools out there to understand the trends concerning what is hot, or not, in your industry of work! Indeed.com, if you are not aware of it, is what I call the Google of job search.  It indexes most of the job sites out there so you don’t need to go to each and every one.  Excellent time management tool - great idea! I direct many of my candidates to Indeed as an exercise for them to see what is going on in their specific…

“social network” Job Trends

“social network” Jobs

Indeed.com is one of the most useful tools out there to understand the trends concerning what is hot, or not, in your industry of work!

Indeed.com, if you are not aware of it, is what I call the Google of job search.  It indexes most of the job sites out there so you don’t need to go to each and every one.  Excellent time management tool - great idea!

I direct many of my candidates to Indeed as an exercise for them to see what is going on in their specific discipline of work.  Lets preface something; I think it is critical before I go further with this post:

Make sure you know your skills and title are in line with what the market is looking for, it is important for longevity and growth in your area.  Too many of us ignore where the trends are going.  Things are always changing fast!

That is why this tool is so powerful; it is a part of your competitive intelligence arsenal.  Instead of chasing yourself, chase what the companies consider hot and in demand!  Why would you keep peddling skill sets that are not in demand?  You need to write your resume to what the market wants.  If you don’t have the skills, then you need to attain them.

 If you were in the Digital Marketing arena (shown below) you would put in the What field “Digital Marketing,” in the Location field put in “New York.”  The day I did this post 176 new jobs came up. 

What is awesome is, to the left of the pane the links are broken down into categories, so you don’t need to sift through all the pages.  As you can see below, it is broken down by Salary, Title, Companies, Location, Job Type, Employer, Recruiter, Temp, and most recent searches.  This way you can go directly to what you want to look at.  This is the first step; from there you start reading the job descriptions.  Important: Create a system where you can copy information of interest.

Why I’m here

“Hello world!”  I felt a need to say that.  What is so cool about what I am embarking on in doing this blog is, the power of how many people I can reach.  I realized being in the advertising / marketing world as a headhunter, consultant, speaker, career coach, and subject matter expert in this space for many years is, I have a lot to offer and what better place to channel my years of experience than a blog. My mother and mentor, Jola, was the one who first got me…

“Hello world!”  I felt a need to say that.  What is so cool about what I am embarking on in doing this blog is, the power of how many people I can reach.  I realized being in the advertising / marketing world as a headhunter, consultant, speaker, career coach, and subject matter expert in this space for many years is, I have a lot to offer and what better place to channel my years of experience than a blog.

My mother and mentor, Jola, was the one who first got me interested in this business.  Making her mark at Campbell-Ewald as a Creative Recruiter, she became widely known and respected and has been writen up in Ad Age and many other trade papers.  From there she went on to start her own search firm, Jola Recruitment, now called Talent Driven Executive Search.  Jola has handed the company off to me and now I’m taking it to a new level.  I have been actively working in the business since 1994, right when the dawn of the digital era began.  I work with many of the top ad agencies and interactive boutiques across the country and in Europe.  It is safe to say that advertising and marketing is in my DNA, I grew-up around it.

I place talent in the full production process of advertising and marketing from management level teams, account, senior social media strategist, executive creative director, writers, director of project management, analysts, etc… I am more digital-based with my searches and I believe that in the end, all talent should have a 360-integrated background.  You get the idea…

It is imperative that we all keep changing fast to stay relevant.  The days of having the same job for 20 years are over.  It is so critical to leverage the web and people like myself to stay ahead.  My style of communicating can be strong at times, so please don’t be offended.  I am direct only because I want to get through to you.  I might create some discomfort for you in a positive way.  I like to write in a cliff notes, cheat sheet format.  I want my information to be useful and productive for you, so you can take action with it right away!

As a headhunter or recruiter, either way is fine with me, my readers have an opportunity to learn more about the ins and outs of our industry to optimize themselves in the marketplace.  Finding out what companies are doing right, to companies that are not.  I think it is critical to Building your brand.   It is Ironic to me that we are in a business where we spend countless hours building the clients brand, but we do not put the same into our own.

I know headhunters have a reputation that is not, let’s say, in the best light, but I will tell you the ones that last are ethical and straight shooters.  When you choose a headhunter, you need to look at their references and talk to others that have worked with them in the past.  For example, I have over 70 recommendations from clients and candidates on linkedin that you can view.  I want my readers to use me as a guide or a benchmark to work from.  My dialogue will be structured in a 360 format, meaning I will try and address all areas of our industry from branding yourself, to how to write your resume, to where the trends are going in our industry.  I will be interviewing cutting-edge talent, podcasting, displaying video tutorials, and a whole lot more.  I could not possibly tell you everything I have planned in this intro to my blog.   I have said for many years that headhunters probably know more about where things are going than most.  I am like a trends’ marketing company.  We are always seeking out top talent, talking to clients and agency people, and downloading a lot of information across the country and around the world.

 What I am trying to say is, “I have a lot of information to share with you!”  Information you would never get from anyone else.  I read articles in Ad Age and other trades that I knew about way before it was published.  We tend to have a grasp to where everything is going and what is happening next.  This is part of my value.   I cannot tell you how excited I am about our industry; we are reinventing the advertising model!  I am truly passionate about it, just as much as David Berkowitz, who is a great blogger.  As I say, “we are at the bottom floor to where it’s going.”

Advertising was pretty much the same way for many years until the web came along.  This was a game changer paradigm shift, as we know.  Basically, the advice I give can be used for anyone in any industry.  Fundamentally, there is a formula all people should use when it comes to building their career, I just happened to slant it toward advertising and marketing.

The reason I choose changingfast as the name of my blog is, that is exactly what is happening in our industry.  I got the idea for the name from Seth Godin.  He made a statement in one of his books a few years back: “The world is changing. Changing fast.” I said to myself when I read it, “that this is a perfect name for something.”  The irony is, it is so appropriate to what is happening right now in the economy and our industry, or for that matter our world!

My tagline, “Be prepared,” is critical to taking advantage of an opportunity when it presents itself.  All to often I have seen candidates have a great opportunity come their way, then fail to seize it because of not being prepared!   This important principle is not in their playbook, yet it is a pinnacle to success!  “Be prepared” is the motto of the Boy Scouts of America and our United States Military.  There must be something to it if these two great organizations have adopted it.  .

I want everyone to know a secret: Collin LaLonde gets stressed out and overwhelmed at times.  We are all in this together.  I need a cheerleader / adviser too, and I call on them!  I would be lying to you if I told you I follow all of my advice everyday.  So this blog is therapeutic for me, I need to hear it just as much as you, ha.  I have not even scratched the surface to of all the topics I will be talking about in this blog, but I wanted you to get a sense of what I am all about.  I am a giver by nature, almost to a fault, but I would rather have that problem than be a taker.  I like to workout and I am a sucker for tech toys - go scobleizer!

As far as my personal life I am happily married to my wonderful wife, Kim, of 18 years, and we have 4 beautiful children together: Max 17, Christian 14, Bella 12, and our little blessing from God, Luke, 4.  Having the last one a little later than the rest keeps me young.  You might say I have built my own focus group at home to keep me up on things. 

I welcome your comments, and look forward to listening to what you have to say to guide me in the direction we all need to go in.