Get Mike a Job

Why

After seeing the same handful of positions posted on every job board I was really fed up with searching online. Since I am looking for an opportunity to help people improve their marketing through the use of social media I decided to start a campaign for myself using these tools.

How

Here’s an outline of the tools I set up listed chronologically:

1. Twitter- I chose a name that was short enough to be a Twitter user name, was descriptive and that I could get the domain name
2. Bought the domain name- I got the domain name from BlueHost for $10/yr
3. Added the domain to my hosting account with BlueHost- I already had an account with Bluehost for a WordPress blog I had been experimenting with. BlueHost is inexpensive ($60/yr) and they have provided great support. They guy laughed when I told him the domain name. He said “my roomate’s name is Mike and he needs a job.”
4. Set up WordPress on my hosting account. WordPress is a free open source software package. I am new to using it. It’s a little more tricky than Blogger, but it is versatile and has some custom themes that look nice
5. Downloaded a custom theme for the blog- I got the Vesper theme for free
6. Added some custom widgets for the blog- I added some free widgets for SEO and Social Media
7. Put my resume on Scribd- I was able to post my resume on Scribd for free and embedd it on my site
8. Wrote the contest rules and prize list
9. Wrote the job description
10. Wrote the Help Mike section on the site
11. Set up a getmikeajob Gmail account
12. Set up getmikeajob YouTube channel
13. Posted a link to the new site on Twitter- used TinyURL to shorten the URL for posting.
14. Use Netvibes to track my michaeldaehn account and getmikeajob twitter accounts simultaneously. Also set up a search for mentions of getmikeajob
15. Set up the Get Mike a Job Facebook group and invited friends
16. Set up the #getmikeajob hashtag
17. Dugg the site on Digg
18. Posted an ad for the site on Craigslist
19. Followed interesting marketing and social media types on Twitter
20. Set up autofollows on Twollow of people tweeting with the keywords marketing and socialmedia
21. Bookmark pages and posts to Onlywire which syndicates to multiple locations
22. Continuously tweeting blog updates, links and replies

Results (First Week)

60 Facebook group members
76 Followers on Twitter
113 Followed on Twitter
62 Updates on Twitter
244 Views on YouTube
2 Diggs on Digg
8 Results for getmikeajob on Hashtags
64 Related search results for getmikeajob on Google
9 Employment inquiries

Conclusion

I had 2 job interviews in the first 10 weeks of looking for a new job. I have had much more buzz and potential for employment in 1 week of using social media. Most of these tools are free. I spent about $6/mo for a domain name and hosting. The biggest cost was my time and putting myself out there for public scrutiny.

I would rather spend my time in a place where I am seeing results. Nothing more depressing than filling out a bunch of applications and proprietary job resume forms and getting no response. As for the public scrutiny, some people love my geeky photo, others have pleaded with me to take it down. I’ve elected to leave it for now- I’m already married.

I’ve learned a lot from doing this campaign. I’ve been telling clients how important social media is, but it’s a little different when you are doing it for yourself. To do it right takes work and humility. I have been humbled by the cool people out there, some I have never met before, who have reached out and supported my cause.

In the end my success is dependent on the grace and kindness of the community. With their help I’m confident a great job is on the way.