Keith Goodrum

When the economy is booming, and companies are on a hiring frenzy just tossing your resume around is enough to get attention. There are typically more jobs than people, and that creates competition for good candidates.

In times of economic uncertainty even getting a job interview can be tough. There are less jobs for people to apply for because companies are tightening their belts. Some are even laying off to cut costs. That means more people are competing for less openings.

However with the right marketing approach you can secure those tough to get interviews.

What does this have to do with online marketing, or blogging?

Plenty!

The copywriting & marketing skills you pick up online can be transferred to other areas of your life. These skills work because they are being targeted towards people. The same people who are online are the same people making hiring decisions. Plus, today most resumes & cover letters are read online.

Copywriter Rebecca Dean proves this in her latest blog post titled “How I Sold Myself In 23 Minutes” She used her copywriting skills to land a job interview in 23 minutes.

Here is how she did it…

Now that I’ve been a successful copywriter for some time now, I decided to put my skills to work on my cover letter. The result? I got a call for an interview merely 23 minutes after I emailed my cover letter and resume. The hiring manager really liked the unique approach I took to my cover letter called me right away.

Want to see it?

I thought you would… here it is:

THREE reasons why I believe I may be
the candidate you are searching for
regarding the telerecruiter position.

Rebecca goes on to give 3 compelling reasons why she is the right candidate for the job. An excellent example of direct response copywriting.

It reminded me of a headline I used to land a job interview within 2 hours. (Hey, it was before this newfangled internet thing) I faxed a cover letter & resume for an advertising sales job. The headline read…

Strong marketing works online, offline, in good times & in bad. Don’t think what you do in one area doesn’t transfer to another part of your life.

The past week I’ve been trying out a couple new widgets in my sidebar.

A Twitter Widget

I found a new Twitter widget to put in the sidebar. You can see it at Widgetbox. Check it out below…

There are several things I like about this new widget:

1. I like the design of this widget. It looks clean, and easier to read.

2. It’s a little wider than the old one I was using. (or at least it seems like it).

3. There is an easy to find link at the bottom called “my twitter page”. When someone clicks the link, it opens your twitter page in another window/tab. It’s a nice feature because it doesn’t take readers away from your blog.

4. In the bottom right hand corner there is a scroll button. This is cool as it lets people click the arrows, and view your previous tweets.

Ezine Articles Widget

I found this widget while looking around inside the author’s area. Check out what it looks like…

I like this widget because it’s another way to show readers what your up to. It’s also a good way to help drive traffic to your articles.

This widget give you multiple display options.

It will be interesting to see if this helps getting more article views, and if there is any backlink power from this widget.

Read something very interesting at PageTraffic Blog the other day. It looks like Google has remove the recommendation to add your site to Yahoo directory…

Brian Ussery reported that Google has dropped two of the most relevant and vital bullet points from the Google Webmaster Guidelines. Those bullet points include:

* “Have other relevant sites link to yours.”
* “Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.”

Over at Google Groups they showed what the page looked like before & after the changes…

Google Webmaster Guidelines

Used to say:

Have other relevant sites link to yours.
Submit it to Google at http://www.google.co.uk/addurl.html.
Submit a Sitemap as part of our Google Webmaster Tools. Google uses your Sitemap to learn about the structure of your site and to increase our coverage of your web pages.
Make sure that all the sites that should know about your pages are aware that your site is online.
Submit your site to relevant directories such as the Open Directory Project and Yahoo!, as well as to other industry-specific expert sites.

Now says:
When your site is ready:

Submit it to Google at http://www.google.com/addurl.html.
Submit a Sitemap using Google Webmaster Tools. Google uses your Sitemap to learn about the structure of your site and to increase our coverage of your webpages.
Make sure all the sites that should know about your pages are aware your site is online.

Yup, I saved screen shots, as I do because they change these things
without notice, ignorance of the law is not a defense in Googleland.

Could one of the reasons be that the old version was in conflict with them cracking down on blogs selling text links. After all to get your links on Yahoo you have to pay $299… A paid link.

Tough to tell others they are being slapped for selling text links, and turn around and recommend the Yahoo directory on their webmasters guide.

Hmm… food for thought!