Be honest. Have you said or thought any of the following when it comes to creating an online profile for yourself?

“I don’t know how to use all that stuff.”

“I don’t have time to learn all that.”

“I’m not a computer person. That’s for hi-tech folks.”

I’ve heard it all, believe me.

So…

What if I took all the guesswork out of creating an online profile for you?

Put a quick-start book in your hands in less than 2 minutes.

I’m talking a streamlined, no geek-speak, step-by-step guide to get you and your skills visible on the internet

…in less time than it takes to do a load of laundry?

That’s why I’ve put together this mini eBook just for you “The One-Hour Online Profile”

No searching all over the web.

No asking ten different people and getting ten different answers.

One book. About one hour.

And your visibility is raised like never before.  Your network of contacts will grow.

You’ll learn:

How to Get Your Own Webpage and Set It Up for Free.

How to Set Up Your Twitter Page

Smile for the Camera – Why a Profile Pic is a Must

How to Write a Concise, Effective “About Me” Paragraph

and then

How to Get “Discovered”

How to Get Your Website Found

How to Get Discovered on Twitter

So how much will all this cost?  I know you’re probably thinking, “okay here’s where I need to hold on to my wallet because she’s going to try to soak me after all this build-up.”

Wrong.

Un-grit your teeth. Loosen your grip on your wallet or purse.

First let me tell you, I normally charge clients $200 for a dedicated hour of my time but I’m  not charging even close to that for this book. My friends think I’m absolutely whacko for not charging more. But the truth is, I’m a job-seeker just like you. And I understand your budget is tight. Heck MY budget is tight; I get that.

Secondly, let me tell you that after Sunday, this book’s price will jump to $19.97.  However, if you sign up for my Insider’s Email Discount List below, I’ll send you an exclusive 50% Off Discount Code, good until this Sunday Jan. 31 at midnight.

Ready to buy? Just hit add to cart below.

Got your discount code?  Hit add to cart below and then enter your exclusive discount  code in the Discount Code box.

This is #2 in my series Online Myth Slapping for Job Seekers.

I’m of the opinion every job seeker should blog.

Stay with me. If you think I’m about to turn you into the second-coming of Bill Gates, I’m not. I think the reason more folks don’t blog is that we in the blogging community have been too insular. Yeah I said it, own it. WE only talk to each other about it, and when we discuss it we love to go on about releases, and plugins and code hacks but not our actual content. The result is we give off the impression blogging is only for tech nerds, and should only be about technical stuff. Not true.

The truth is:
You can blog about anything. Anything in the world. Cupcakes, fly fishing, day-trading, scrap-booking.

The other truth is:

You sitting down?

(It’s not. that. hard.)

You do not have to be Bill Gates, Jr. to do this.  I’m probably sending some of the top ranked bloggers into hissy fits for saying this, but its the truth.

So why you and why’s this help my job search?

First, let me slap down another myth.

Myth: In order to blog about something, you have to be the recognized expert in the free world on it.

Wrong. WRONG.

Lets break this line of thinking down. If the requirement for writing or reporting on a topic were being the leading expert on it, we’d only have one newspaper in the country, one sportswriter, one radio station, you get what I’m saying? Why do we have so many media outlets? Because each person has their own view, their own style, their own voice, and everyone doesn’t like the same style! Some people like Katie Couric, some like Brian Williams, some like Wolf Blitzer. They all have a job right?

Same goes for blogging. You do not have to be the leading subject matter expert in the nation on pharmaceutical sales to write about it. You have unique experiences, insight, questions, and views,  developed over the course of your career that no one else has.

Which leads me to my second point.

Guess what happens once you start expressing yourself? You start exposing yourself. (Oh slow down!)                              You expose your knowledge and views to people interested in what you have to say. Like maybe, pharma industry folks? Who can maybe tell you about job openings? Give you some fresh insight on it? See the social media world is built on sharing and reciprocity. Yes you can and should build relationships in person. But you can do the same, a lot faster, with folks you would never otherwise meet, using social media.

Does this mean you pounce on the first hiring manager who comments on your site and ask them for a job? Heck no!
You handle the community side of things the same way you would if you were at a networking event. Build rapport. Feel the person out. Whoompty woomp woomp!

Do you feel better about it now? More concerns? Post them in the comments so we can work through them.

I can see right now there are some folks who are unconvinced that an Online Presence is a good thing to have for your job search.

I can feel it in my bones.

Arms are folded. Smirks in place. Eyes have rolled. I get it. I hear ya.

Some of you think this new media/social media/Tweet/Twitter/Facebook/Whatever is just a bunch of digital tree-hugging. I’ve heard it. I’ve read it.  I’ve seen it in your eyes. There is a significant population crying out “I JUST got email down pat, don’t make me go any further!”

However, I believe if we put the slap down on some common myths that are out there, we can get you more comfortable with the idea of an Online Presence as an effective job search tool, and maybe, just maybe, enjoying it.

Ready? Lets whap Myth 1, here.

Um, No. and. No.

It’s not just a bunch of teens and celebrities on there?

(see answer above)

Wanna know why? And this isn’t going to be a long post, by the way.
Twitter is not a kids toy. It is used as a sales tool, a customer satisfaction monitor, a breaking news monitor, a public relations outlet, a news outlet, and near and dear to our hearts, job search and recruiting tool. For our purposes as job seekers, here are 3 types of users you need to be aware of:

• Recruiters use Twitter – a lot. A lot lot lot lot. They publish jobs they are trying to fill. They publish tips for job seekers. Talk about straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth, right?
• Hiring Managers use Twitter as well. I make it a habit  to search for for anyone  I’m interviewing with to see if they are on Twitter.
• People in Your Industry use Twitter.  They can school you on the latest in your industry, who is or isn’t hiring, other contacts.

Now do you feel better? No longer worried being on Twitter is akin to a digital midlife crisis? Good.

If not, please contact me and we can discuss further.

“So what does all this give me?” A close friend posed this question. And it’s a fair one.

So let me give a short answer and then unpack it for you.

What I do at HireProfilez is:

• Create more opportunities for you to be found online by hiring companies AND
• Create more control over what potential employers see when they do an online search on you.
• I accomplish this by establishing what I call an “Online Presence” for you  – profiles, a Twitter account and web pages that I create for you.

A recent real-world example of how this can pay off:

Last week I wanted to attend a networking group mixer, but me being me, I forgot to RSVP.  I went to the organization’s website to find the chair’s contact information. Low and behold, I recognized his name from Twitter. I sent him a Tweet (140 character message on Twitter) told him who I was, and mentioned I was laid-off and looking for a job. Behold:

But the real story is the email I received as a follow-up to these tweets:

from to Krista Summitt date Wed, Jul 15, 2009 at 1:58 PM subject RE: ABCD Membership and Social Tonight

hide details Jul 15 (6 days ago)

Reply

Just realized I forgot to talk about the membership part too.  If not tonight then you can send in the paperwork to Laura at the address provided.  I will update you shortly.

In other news, (XYZ Inc.) is looking for an (XYZ’s job opening) to move their (Dept at XYZ Inc.) initiatives.  Her is the link.

Good luck and talk to you soon!

In short, because I had an established online presence, I got a job lead PLUS exposure. This contact also happens to be a recruiter, so it was a “Daily Double” sort of bonus in my view.

Why do I need this?

1. More Looks at the Basket.

I’m a basketball fan. If you aren’t, stay with me, this analogy is pretty simple. A term you’ll hear often in basketball is “getting looks at the basket”, which means repeatedly getting a player into the best spots on the court to shoot the ball and score. If the player scores most from the left side of the court, his teammates should know to get the ball to him when he moves left, to improve the odds of scoring.

So,Hire Profilez is designed to get you more looks (exposure) at the job basket.  Why is this critical? Listen, it is physically impossible for you to touch as many people with your resume’ and skills profile on your own as you can with an online presence that you control. It is. I don’t care how many job fairs you go to, or if you stayed up 24hrs submitting online applications, it only scratches the surface compared to the unlimited amount of exposure the internet offers.

2.You Can Be Your Own Publicist! Control Your Image

I need to hit you with one cold hard fact. (If you need liquor to hear the truth, go grab your poison. I’ll wait.) Ready? Here it is.

People are Googling you.

They have Googled you in the past.

They will Google you in the future.

Now, if you think Googling is some sort of  voodoo hex, relax. Googling means they are doing a search on your name on Google to see what comes up. If you are thinking about the picture of you at the family reunion singing karaoke to ‘Boogie Ooogie Ooogie’ your cousin put on the web? Yeah they might see that. Your membership in the local Harley riders club? Yeah that too.

But there is hope. By creating your own online presence, and deciding what goes in it, you can virtually eliminate the chances of you being seen in a disco suit or dress singing off-key. Publicists and PR folks call this “controlling the message” but they will charge you the price of a midsize car and more to do it.  With HireProfilez, I charge a mere fraction of that.  How does this look? Let’s peek at my online busines card.

Yeah Krista, but what about LinkedIn, Monster, and all that, huh?

They’re fantastic. I belong to both of those, plus more.  Hire Profilez is here to enhance those tools, not replace them. For example, on LinkedIn, there’s a field that says ‘Webpage’. Now which looks more impressive?

a. Webpage: (blank)

b. Webpage: http://BobJobseeker.com

Finally, let me say as an active job seeker, I really care about other professionals going through their search. These tools are available for you to take advantage of, and I hate it when people don’t take advantage of them because they are inexperienced with the internet or social media.

Want to learn more?

More on the services I offer here.

More on how buying from me works here.

More on me and this site here.