Focusing on customers

Many people have been congratulating me and asking how I did it; how I got a job through Twitter. I decided to write a blog post about it (and create a blog for that matter since so many questions come my way and I want to continue helping as much as I can, of course). The focus of this post is to basically tell you my social networking adventure the past seven months and what it has lead to in the end. A completely measurable end result – a job – in five tweets (of course there’s a lot work behind them). There are also five points or steps I took to get me there, and I want to share them with you.

Once upon a time…
These two things I know:  1. How to interact with people, and I really like it; and 2. Over 15 years of integrated marketing communications experience in B2B (diverse – from traditional to online). I have a genuine interest in people and what they’re about as well as a fascination with marketing and how it has evolved over years and is more prolific than ever today with the addition of social media.

I was let go from my position in January 2009 from a CRM/messaging services company where I was a Director of Marketing & Business Development for almost five years. It was a great job and where I really learned to be a marketing geek. The company used CRM databases integrated with email and voice broadcasting services that enabled businesses to communicate with their customers. When these interactions happened, a whole lot of data (analytics) were collected which then allowed us to refine campaigns and help customers obtain better return on their marketing investments. This fascination with data, integrated marketing tools, and helping customers succeed is what lead me to where I am today.

As some of you may know, losing a job is a huge milestone in one’s life, and it forces you to soul search (Oh sh_ _! What do I do now?) At the time, social media (especially Twitter) was in the mainstream.  Here are five things I did (the number five happens to be my favorite number as well) that I believe lead me to where I am today. It’s important that I let you know this post is not about ME but about helping YOU. I hope that these five tips help you where ever you are with your career or business and spark some thoughts you may not have had before. That’s the goal. So here are are five things I did that landed me an amazing job and a wealth of knowledge about the world of social media.

1.  So…You’re Not Working.  Act Like You Are!

The day after I lost my job, I did three things: 1. I called unemployment and got that under way. 2. I immediately updated my profiles on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and 3. I contacted my “network” of former colleagues and friends and told them that I was out of work and am now a “free agent.” Doing these things take a significant amount of time and labor (lunches, meetings, phone calls, etc.). It’s important that you don’t let unemployment get you down. You have to stay positive and keep on keeping on. Although it was very sad for me to be let go, I needed to move on. My family means the world to me, and I contribute to 50% of the household income. I needed to keep that goal alive.  Keep in mind it was peak “tank time” for our economy and Rhode Island’s unemployment rate was 10%!

2.  Network, Network, Network. Oh Yeah, and Network.

As I became more active on Twitter, I began to meet a lot of wonderful people and learned about a lot of networking events (some I haven’t gotten to yet but will for sure).  I have to let everyone know that I am refraining from mentioning specific people because they know who they are, and I know I might leave someone out. So my network knows who they are, and that I am so grateful for having met everyone, will be eternal friends with them, and will keep the conversations going. I also have to give a lot of credit to the social media “giants” (we all know who they are), and although I may not know all of them on a personal level, I have learned so much and continue to do so every single day.  Anyway, I started going to local and not so local networking events. I also helped some former employers and contacts with projects and got to go to great places like Chicago and Philadelphia building relationships with new contacts who learned I was actively looking for work. I believe by now you know where I’m going with this – the whole physics thing: for every action you will get a reaction. That started happening for me.  Soon more and more people were contacting me asking what I was up to and what I was looking for.

3. Use your knowledge/expertise to help others. Don’t worry about whether or not there is money involved (Yes, really! Some will disagree I’m sure).

I became obssessed with learning about others and helping them any way I knew how.  Many questions, phone calls, and emails came my way and I, of course being out of work, had all the time in the world to address them and engage with people. I learned so much not just about my own line of work and what others were doing but about the whole point behind social media – engaging with people. Business or personal, social media is engagement between human beings. Use that any way you wish whether in a company or individually.

4. “If You Build it, They Will Come.”

I had to reference “Field of Dreams” for this one, but as you begin building a network of people, you learn from each other, and they will get to know who you are and what you do. You take up mindshare. The next time something comes up that may be relevant to you, you will most likely get an email or call. And then it happened.  Someone on Twitter noticed my tweets about direct marketing and contacted me.

Allan saw my tweets and contacted me to let me know he was working with a company that was moving in a similar direction as my expertise. That would be Tweet #1. I began interacting with him, and he invited me to an event the company was sponsoring. There I met the company executives and employees and began speaking with them. Before I even realized it, there were so many similarities between the direction they were heading in and my background.  I entered into a series of meetings and talks with the company, and the rest is history.

5. Never Forget Where You Came From.

This simply means you should remain consistent and continue what you started with 1-4 above. So many people will be active with networking and commitments they made pre-employment and then abandon all the efforts, and in some cases relationships, because they have a job.  Don’t do it!

I am now six weeks into a Director, Marketing Strategy & Analytics position for an amazing direct marketing company Mercury (follow us on Twitter @mercuryco). They are doing great things at this company including taking their 50+ year credibility and expertise from a mail/print house to an evolving direct marketing company that is innovating traditional media with the latest marketing technologies and providing customers with full service integrated marketing communications capabilities. Social media is the latest addition to the product family, and they created “Mercuralia – a festival ideas,” a series of events to get their customers thinking about social media and where it fits into their business (#Mercuralia on Twitter). Mercury is doing this, not just because the times are demanding it, but most importantly their customers are evolving, and Mercury wants to continue being their long-term partner.  Brands like Comcast, Cox Communications and AAA are just of few who have had long-term relationships with Mercury, and I’m excited about the possibilities (and challenges) that lie ahead. As Mercury evolves, there is much to be learned and gained, especially with a traditional culture that is undergoing fast changes into today’s fast-paced business world.  We are embracing the current social media landscape, and although we are fairly new at it, we are making strides to help our customers understand social media, the power of data and analytics to transform marketing, and how it is possible to integrate (not exclude) traditional marketing like direct mail with technologies like PURLs for more personalized communications that enable businesses to collect customer information for more personalized relationships and conversations.

The End…not!

It’s only the beginning of what’s to come, and I hope to share as much as I can as it happens with you.

So there is my story. It can be your story. If you follow the above steps or if they offer you food for thought, then I have achieved my goal for this post: to share my experience in the hopes it will create an experience for you or at least get you thinking.

Have you been through similar challenges this year? If so I would love to hear about them. Share your experiences in the comments for others. That’s where the real value is.

Afterthought: So I was thinking the other day. Wow! I lost my job! That’s a big deal. Why wasn’t I stressed and down? Why didn’t I worry about getting a new job? What would I do if/when my unemployment ran out? Funny thing is, at the time, I never worried much about those things. I focused on the future and listening to my instincts, and I truly believed it would work out. It did. Am I delusional? An eternal optimist? Maybe, but I’m still from the old school thinking that NOTHING comes without hard work, and I live that daily.  Being busy thinking that way distracts you from those dark thoughts, and I’m so grateful I was able to do that.

If you are reading this, nice to meet you! This is my latest redesigned blog to begin providing insight and help others. I know a whole lot about B2B small business integrated marketing communications. Social media is another tool in the marketing box for me, but a very powerful one at that! I will begin writing posts shortly.

The previous posts are compilations on various topics, business & personal, that I have imported from previous blogs. As you can see there was no real strategy, but if you scroll through maybe there will be something I wrote that will help you in some way. That’s the main thing!

Be well.
A

Being unemployed and currently exploring opportunities, I had to shift my priorities.

I’m so glad I read Danny Brown’s blog post “It’s Good to Say No.” When I first joined Twitter, I was under the impression that I had to immediately have a blog and presence on every single social media site on the internet so I could be effective to my potential clients, colleagues, friends, neighbors, dogs (I’m kidding about the last two). It was an overwhelming thought, and immediately I started creating a new blog on WordPress, which is about 85% done by the way.

I lost my job as a director of marketing & business development for a technology company in late January. Since then my whole world has changed. It’s no longer about getting my blog finished but more about networking and getting back in touch with former colleagues and co-workers to update them on my status. While I could be working on finishing my new blog and writing posts, I felt it was much more important for me to interact with people both on-line and off. Twitter has been a huge help, and I’ve connected with some terrific folks regarding potential projects and jobs. I simply listened to myself and felt this is where the bulk of my energy should be spent for now.

So, when am I going to finish my blog? When am I going to start writing posts? True answer? When I get to it on my To Do list. Right now I would much rather be interacting with people. A beautiful thing happens when you do that – amazing opportunities come right back at you.

Instead of dwelling on the doom and gloom of the economy and being unemployed, I put 150% of my energy into positive, productive things. This is what my instincts are telling me to do, and I am listening!

If you are reading this, I hope you’ve already reached out to me, whether it’s to say hello or if there’s any way my skill set is a benefit to you and/or your business. You will always find me on Twitter at @abarcelos. Hope you say hello!