Categories
Business

Abstract Job Hunting – Using Google Adwords to land your Dream Job


thinkoutsidethebox

As an ex recruiter I know a thing or two about how to get a job. I’ve seen a whole bunch of crazy techniques people have used to land themselves their dream job. Some pretty cool, like creative web-pages, some completly idiotic like calling everyday saying “I have job”. I came across this video the other day of a SUPER-EPICLY-AWESOME way to get your next job.

The guy was looking to get senior  job at one of 4 or 5 firms, working for one of the executives. What he did was create a Google Adwords campaign, with the keywords targeted to the names of the Executives he wanted to work for.

If you dont already know, Google Adwords are the sponsored advertisments you see on the top and side of a Google search result. Its basically how they make all their cash. Take a look at the example below:

Google Adwords

The areas in the red are the areas you can “rent” from Google for a price per click. Usually in the 10c – $2 range. Oh and sorry about the funky language, I’m in Budapest at the moment and Google tracks your location to display advertisments close to you.

This guy bought the space for the executives names, so when they Google themself, his advertisment popped up on the top of the search and took them into his website of some sort, which I am guessing was a sales page / resume of him asking for a job.

Check the video he made of the experiement: (click here if you cant see the video)

For all his efforts (probably 1 days work) and money invested ($6) he ended up with two job offers! Genius!

Think of all the cool stuff you could use this for. Tim Ferriss used it for choosing the title of his book. Next time your struggelling to get past that gatekeeper consider the option of putting up a Google ad and see what happens. Now thats abstract living!

Categories
Business Technology

Venturebeat on Facebook Blacklist!?

I tried opening a Venturebeat article from Facebook the other day and got the below screenshot:

Venturebeat on Facebook Blacklist

Just goes to show even the big brands can fall victims to problems like this. Creating a process to test problems like this on a regular basis is crucial and one of the reasons we created Process Street.

Hopefully they can fix this soon!

Categories
People

The Changing Social Fabric

This is a really interesting video on how social networks have changed the social fabric. Social networks are a great way to stay connected and manage multiple relationships, but they are no substitute to talking to people face to face. That is where the real magic happens and why things like conferences are so important.

Categories
Business Technology

How Much Money Does the Facebook Ecosystem Produce?

Facebook went down the other day for the first time I can remember.

Got me thinking about how much money is being lost every minute they are down.

I know individuals who spend upwards of $50,000 each day on Facebook advertising, which is actually nothing compared to the big brands.

If you take into consideration:

  • All the revenue being lost by Facebook themselves
  • The opportunity cost of a large portion of Facebook’s employees not being able to do their jobs properly
  • All the hundreds of thousands of advertisers who’s ads are not being displayed
  • Hundreds of thousands of brands who’s posts are not being read of their fanpage walls
  • All the apps that have gone down, including massive platforms such as Zynga
  • All the third party Fabook developers who cant work right now cause Facebook is down
  • Social media managers who cant do their jobs
  • Loss of data from 3rd party analytics companies
  • Probably many other things I cant think of.

Facebook is SO massive that anything it does has a massive ripple effect. I once read a while back that the Facebook ecosystem had created over 220,000 jobs, that number is probably much larger now.

Crazy to think about.

Categories
Business Featured People Technology Travel

99 Abstract Life Hacks – Make your Life Easier Today!

wet papertowel tip
 
ice cold water trick
 
picture fridge hack
 
comb nailholder lifehack
 
cupcakes icecreamcones tip
 
organize powercords trick
 
extension cords hack
 
recycled pencilholder lifehack
 
clipper tip
 
popsicle holder trick
 
iphone speaker hack
 
pringles container lifehack
 
ghettoaccessory silencer tip
 
headphone tip
 
crib clever trick
 
abort shutdown hack
 
books rollingsuitcase lifehack
 
remove strawberry stem tip
 
binder clips trick
 
cat boardgame box hack
 
direction pizzadeliveryplace lifehack
 
brownie mug tip
 
sponge icepack trick
 
blt sandwhich hack
 
clothespin lifehack
 
shoe cupholder tip
 
microwave corn trick
 
holder baseball hack
 
pencil sunglasses case lifehack
 
picture places traveling tip
 
outdoor dining kit trick
 
lent items friends hack
 
unpopped kernels lifehack
 
exit marker tip
 
icecoffee trick
 
magnet find nails hack
 
poolnoodle garagewall lifehack
 
paper organize parts tip
 
paint lock white trick
 
spring oldpen hack
 
water microwave pizza lifehack
 
spaghetti light candle tip
 
cd envelope trick
 
heating leftovers hack
 
unusual locking lifehack
 
perler beads tip
 
unrolling toiletpaper trick
 
squeeze ketchup bottle cleaner hack
 
keeping bag safe lifehack
 
wireholder tip
 
sealer trick
 
passcode hack
 
keyring zipper lifehack
 
filter unsubscribe tip
 
groceries trick
 
cellphone lantern hack
 
holes garbage can lifehack
 
powerplugs tip
 
coaster top drink trick
 
cardboard ziplock hack
 
sliver soap lifehack
 
tv charger tip
 
velcro strips trick
 
tape breadtab hack
 
tangled cords lifehack
 
emergency money tip
 
remotes trick
 
hold oreo fork hack
 
crunchy tacoshells lifehack
 
straw tip
 
dental floss trick
 
ketchup bottle hack
 
pants hanger lifehack
 
seatwarmer tip
 
sandwhich guide trick
 
wooden spoon hack
 
cd bagle tote lifehack
 
muffin condiments tip
 
doritos kindling trick
 
opening knots hack
 
stocking lifehack
 
vinegar bag tip
 
cordholder trick
 
soda pop tab hack
 
nailpolish lifehack
 
safer keeping tip
 
dustpan scoop trick
 
breadclips hack
 
toothpaste lifehack
 
can opener tip
 
hanging shoerack trick
 
fitted sheet hack
 
toilet paper rolls lifehack
 
scratched furniture tip
 
paint trick
 
staple remover hack
 
dustpan lifehack
 

Categories
Business Technology

Founders of Youtube, Twitter and Skype Speak at Dublin Web Summit

My friend Michael Clyne of Pathpacific.com just posted up the recording of the Dublin Web Summit where they had some truly amazing speakers.

The line up included Chad Hurley – Founder of YouTube, Jack Dorsey – Twitter Founder and Niklas Zennstrom – Skype Founder to name a few.

Michael runs a video production studio in Dublin so check him out if you’re in that part of the world.

Chad Hurley – Founder of YouTube

Jack Dorsey – TWITTER Founder

Niklas Zennstrom – Skype Founder

There were a few other great speakers including Brent Hoberman – LastMinute.com, Sloane Berrent – AnswerwithAction.com and Soraya Darabi – FoodSpotting.com. Check out all the speeches here.

Categories
Business Technology

Social Network Shopping

This is a guest post I just did on awebsitedesigner.com.au

Social Network Shopping – The Dawn of a New Era

We all know about social media and social networking. It’s been a hot topic in the news, on the internet and in Hollywood. But as a business owner who runs a business in the real world, what does it mean for you? How can you actually use social media to help achieve your business or life goals?

It’s true that social media can have a positive impact on business. There are methods such as running viral competitions to mass increase subscribers and more innovative approaches such as the Old Spice campaign. But while it’s true that interacting on social media can boost brand awareness and interaction, is it really the best use of time for an employee?

Read full post…

Categories
Business

The Launch Post – Could this be the Difference Between Life and Death?

I’m currently working on launching my new site which is a complete, free video guide to building an online store as mentioned in this post.

The site is coming along nicely with the core 7 lessons already developed, the email auto responder is set up using aweber so you get a nice email in your inbox with a link to each lesson (the lessons are delivered over 8 days). There is a blog that is coming along nicely, kind of. There are a bunch of sales pages up at the moment. I’m testing different subscription boxes. I have a sales video made, but need to make another one or two so I can have them rotating for testing by the time launch date comes… I don’t like making sales videos so I’ve been putting this off.

The site is already running, it’s been ‘soft launched’ meaning I have done some mild marketing for it and have a fair few subscribers but it’s still a little rough around the edges so need to smooth things out for the official launch.

One thing I’m very excited about is the launch article I’ve been working on. I think a post article can be very important as a solid kick start to any new site. If done properly, it could really blow out and create a viral effect. If it doesn’t work, it will result in a great post with not much traffic so either way it’s not so bad.

For my launch post I’ve been contacting influential figures in the ecommerce space and asking them this question:

“What is one unconventional piece of advice you would give someone looking to start their own ecommerce store”

So far the feedback has been exceptional! I have had feedback from a number of prominent CEOs, top bloggers and even a guy who has a radio and TV show. I won’t reveal the details just yet but there is some pretty juicy stuff. The goal here is that not only is this turning out to be a great post – which might even turn into a free eBook if I keep getting content like this – but hopefully the people I’m contacting will help me promote the article/ebook and it will go viral. I will write a post on how I went about contacting these people in the future. I cant take credit for this idea however, It was actually something I picked up from listening to this podcast between Pat Flyn (Smart Passive Income) and Corbett Barr (Think Traffic).

I plan to do some pretty hefty marketing to friends and people on my social media networks to try and get Diggs and Stumbles up. By hefty I mean one email asking them to Digg and Stumble the post. I’ve NEVER marketed to my friends before so I’m a little nervous about this, but this factor is driving me to ensure the quality of the content is as high as possible.

The whole process is turning out to be much more coordination than I originally thought. I also need to write a press release or two and push it out to the press release sites. I’ve never done that before… I just put a request up on HARO to see if I can get more contributors to my article so will see if that brings back anything useful. And I’m sure there are plenty of other things I need to do that I have either forgotten or haven’t thought of yet. Either way this post is kind of a check list for myself.

The one thing I still haven’t come close to deciding and that is super important is a title for the launch post. Without a title I’m 100% happy with, the launch isn’t happening. Because as you may know from here, here or here the headline of a post/book is the most important part. Here’s a few I just thought of:

Unconventional Advice from Ecommerce Geniuses?

Too boring…

Want Larger Breasts, a Super Model Girlfriend or a Million Bucks?

Too much?

Captains of Industry Reveal their Tips to Conquering the E-commerce World?

F*&% I don’t know… Maybe it will come to me in a dream. Got any ideas?

Categories
Technology

Gangster & Innovator – Mark Burnett @ Blogworld

One of the more interesting events that happened during the day at Blogworld was a keynote by Mark Burnett and his following publicity stunt.

If you don’t know, who Mark Burnett is, here is a Wikipedia excerpt:

Mark Burnett (born 17 July 1960) is a British television producer, known for creating and/or producing competition-based reality television shows such as the American edition of Survivor, The Apprentice and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

Mark Burnett’s international productions include: Amne$ia Are you Smarter than a 5th Grader?, which has been produced in over 55 foreign countries, The Contender-Asia (a Thai kick-boxing version of the American Boxing-Competition show), and The Apprentice which has been produced in over 21 foreign countries.

Mark Burnett is pacting with casino and resorts giant Genting Intl. to launch a $20 million joint production venture. Mark Burnett Prods. Asia will produce original content for Asian broadcasters and license those formats in markets around the world, including the U.S. The TV venture, the first for Genting, marks the latest overseas expansion for Burnett.

For a guy who use to be in the military and worked as a nanny, his talk sounded awfully familiar to a Tony Robins presentation. Which is not a bad thing in any way as Tony Robins is a gangster (the cool kind) and I’m a self help junkie.

The interesting portion of the talk was at the end when he launched his new TV show: Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

While I am no fan of Sarah Palin, I am a fan of Mark Burnett. For his TV shows, his marketing skillz and most recently his gangster Tony Robins like jargon.

During his keynote at Blogworld, he announced this TV show for the first time by having stevegarfield whom I don’t who, but seems to have a decent sized Youtube channel, upload the first copy of the TV Trailer to his Youtube channel, tweet it out then asked everyone in the room to also tweet it out.

This is the video that was uploaded to Youtube.

The official first tweet
The official first tweet

At the time of writing this video is currently on ~82,000 views. Not bad for 10 days.

Who knows if this tactic will work or not but I like his innovation and guts for giving it a shot. Plus its Sarah Palin so no one really gives a sh!t if it works anyway…

Categories
People Technology

Blogworld 2010 #bwe – My Review

I was a lucky SOB and managed to win myself a full access pass to Blogoworld last week. It was an awesome experience. I have been to many trade shows in the past but nothing like this. And none since I set out on my own last year. I used to go representing my company which is a little different.

I had also never been to a multi-day event, which had parties too.

One thing I have learned about myself over the last year, is that I suck at networking online. I just don’t have the patience for it. I know this may be a bit of a negative being in the online space as there is no better place to meet people who work online than online… But I just don’t like doing it. I don’t like hanging out on Facebook, I don’t like tweeting stuff, I think its weird meeting and connecting with people online.

But hey, that’s just my opinion and personally, I think its a pretty stupid one. I should do more of it. I just feel that the computer is a place of work and learning. When I am on my computer, I am almost always doing one of those things. If I am not doing one of those things, I quickly start to feel uncomfortable and need to get outside, meet some people, do some exercise, do something!

I also know this challenge I have is the opposite of many other bloggers / internet markets who find it awkward to meet and connect with people in person but have no troubles online. I guess its the salesman in me.

So when Blogworld came about, I was like a kid in a candy store. Admittedly, I only went to the full first day, then the clubs afterwards. Even though I didn’t make it to too many events the next couple of days (partly due to the seductive beckoning of the pool, partly due to my hangover), I made it to every party – and after party. I know this was almost the reverse schedule of lots of the attendees who made it to Blogworld. Whichever way you prefer to use your time, you need to make sure you use your time.

I didn’t feel there were too many advanced content courses being taught during the days, but lots of great stuff if you are just getting into new and social media.

The nights were where it was at. I met so many interesting people. Had so much fun. Spammed business cards, collected business cards, pumped my LinkedIn account oh and did I mention the fun?

Whatever the type of person you are, if you work in the internet space I think Blogworld is worth checking out. I will definitely be back there next year if I am on this side of the planet.

So what did I get out of Blogworld (besides the ability to party for a few nights in Vegas?) – contacts. I met people. Lots of interesting people. And its all about who you know right?

Here are some photos including some great content slides from Blogworld: