I've written and spoken extensively on the subject of resume distribution services in the past ... and I just keep finding out about more and more of them.
Today, I received a phone call from Martin at ResumeTarget, pitching me on a pre-paid partnership program designed for resume writers and career coaches. I'll write more about the specifics of the program at a later date (I want to call a colleague who is using the program to find out more about her experience with it), but I gave it a test run myself to see what it's all about.
The program is similar to ResumeSpider, an affiliate service I already recommend to my clients. Both firms use an "opt-in" method to recruit hiring managers, recruiters, and employers to receive unsolicited resumes. Instead of just blasting your client's resume to 25,000 contacts (who may or may not be interested in receiving it), these services have your clients narrow down their search, usually by industry and/or geography.
The problem with this, as I found in doing my search, is that you can come up with an impossibly small number of contacts. In the case of a search in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and Kansas for a marketing, public relations, or publishing job, the number of available contacts was ZERO.
The good news is, you can preview the number of contacts (and even the list of contact names/firms) before purchasing. So my client wouldn't be disappointed that her resume did not match up with any of the opt-in recipients.
These services, then, are only as good as the lists they are able to compile.
More on ResumeTarget in a future post...
Ideas, information, and resources for professional resume writers.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Easy Computer Backups
It's been a weird weather year around the U.S. -- in addition to the normal hurricanes and tornadoes, there have been huge wildfires, an earthquake in California, and extensive flooding throughout the Midwest. Even if you've personally been unaffected by any of these natural disasters, you may be thinking about what you would do if it happened to you.
Even something as simple as a power outage can be enough to zap your work. So how do you protect yourself? You can use an online service or backup your work using a CD or a flash drive -- but if you're pressed for time (and want a free alternative), e-mail your work to yourself.
Yahoo, Hotmail, and Google all offer free Internet-based e-mail accounts. Sign up for one that you use only for backups. When you're working on a resume, e-mail a copy to your "storage" e-mail account. Then, even if disaster strikes, you can borrow a friend's computer (or go to the library) and access your work.
Even something as simple as a power outage can be enough to zap your work. So how do you protect yourself? You can use an online service or backup your work using a CD or a flash drive -- but if you're pressed for time (and want a free alternative), e-mail your work to yourself.
Yahoo, Hotmail, and Google all offer free Internet-based e-mail accounts. Sign up for one that you use only for backups. When you're working on a resume, e-mail a copy to your "storage" e-mail account. Then, even if disaster strikes, you can borrow a friend's computer (or go to the library) and access your work.
Monday, August 11, 2008
Affluent Are Networking Online
According to the latest Wealth Survey from the Luxury Institute, 60% of wealthy Americans participate in online social networks, compared to 27% a year ago. These individuals have an average income of $287,000 a year and an average net worth of $2.1 million.
According to the survey, these individuals belong to average of 2.8 social networks, with roughly 110 connections. The most popular of these are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and ExecuNet.
Source: ExecuNet, April 2008
According to the survey, these individuals belong to average of 2.8 social networks, with roughly 110 connections. The most popular of these are LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and ExecuNet.
Source: ExecuNet, April 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Google AdWords
Are you using Google AdWords to promote your business online?
I've been experimenting with them for the past few weeks (since launching a new section on my website focused on my resume writing services) and I'm amazed at the results. (No, not the click-throughs. Those have been a bit slow coming ... about one a day on average.)
No, I'm amazed when I log in to the AdWords site and it tells me that more and more of my search words are inactive because the price has gone up. I'm paying the same ($1.00 per click) for "Omaha Resume Writer" as I am for generic terms like "resume critique."
Now I know there are ways to reduce my costs by increasing the quality of my site, and that's something I'm working on ... and I'm still not to the point where the cost of the lead is prohibitive. After all, I pay about $40 a month for my Yellow Pages ads, and average 3-4 calls a week (and 1-2 clients on average) from that ... so paying $1.00 for a click isn't too bad ... but I'm still working on refining things.
Have some tips for me? Let me know. This is definitely a subject I want to do an article for Resume Writers Digest on.
I've been experimenting with them for the past few weeks (since launching a new section on my website focused on my resume writing services) and I'm amazed at the results. (No, not the click-throughs. Those have been a bit slow coming ... about one a day on average.)
No, I'm amazed when I log in to the AdWords site and it tells me that more and more of my search words are inactive because the price has gone up. I'm paying the same ($1.00 per click) for "Omaha Resume Writer" as I am for generic terms like "resume critique."
Now I know there are ways to reduce my costs by increasing the quality of my site, and that's something I'm working on ... and I'm still not to the point where the cost of the lead is prohibitive. After all, I pay about $40 a month for my Yellow Pages ads, and average 3-4 calls a week (and 1-2 clients on average) from that ... so paying $1.00 for a click isn't too bad ... but I'm still working on refining things.
Have some tips for me? Let me know. This is definitely a subject I want to do an article for Resume Writers Digest on.
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