For What It’s Worth (FWIW)

For those of you new to my blog or perhaps unfamiliar with my For What It’s Worth post, you can visit the previous entry to learn more about the derivation of and inspiration for this style of blog post. I hope to make this post a semi-regular feature as a means of sharing my thoughts on various subjects in a given week. Here goes…

Yesterday’s post covered my experience participating in a Social Media Marketing Mini-MBA program at Rutgers. One thing I neglected to mention, but referenced in a tweet last week, was the number of Boston-based companies repeatedly recognized by various instructors as industry leaders on the rise. This warmed my heart both as a native of the area and as an unemployed marketer living in the suburbs of Boston. Both SCVNGR and 451 Marketing were referenced a number of times, with one instructor even using 451 Marketing in a case study. Praise was also universally heaped upon HubSpot.

• HubSpot has long been a favorite of mine. Although I have yet to actually pay for their services, I have taken full advantage of the staggering amount of useful content they produce on their blog, as well as their Webinars and free marketing tools. I am particularly fond of Blog Grader and Twitter Grader, with Blog Grader having pointed out deficiencies in my blog that I quickly remedied, improving it greatly.  Job seekers may be especially appreciative of their most recent offering, a Twitter account (@HubSpotJobs) and accompanying blog providing content, tools, and advice. I am not naive enough to think that this effort is void of any self-serving motives as it can sometimes lead to HubSpot finding new talent. It certainly seems like a fun place to work, if this video is any indication. However, as I tweeted earlier in the week, where most companies might use this type of Twitter feed solely to post open positions in their company, HubSpot provides followers with useful blog posts, articles and resources to assist them in acquiring a new job.

Speaking of helpful web tools provided by companies based locally, I’d like to briefly touch upon PostPost (@PostPosting), which I referenced in an earlier blog post. PostPost, a neat Twitter search tool, is the brainchild of Brad Noble (@BradNoble), Digital Product Designer at Boathouse (@BoathouseInc), a Waltham-based ad agency. Their site provides a very brief, but helpful video demonstrating some of PostPost’s uses. Since many of my blog readers are fellow job seekers, I thought I’d give an example of how I use PostPost to aid in my job search efforts (this same usage can be applied for other purposes as well).

• On a number of occasions, I have sent e-mails to prospective employers in which I would like to illustrate the regularity with which I am discussing their brand or industry on Twitter. I’d like to do so in a manner that does not require them to scan through over 1,000 tweets or simply take my word for it. In those instances, I use a PostPost search of a keyword and narrow the results to show only my own Tweets. For example, if I were to contact Dunkin Donuts, I would search “Dunkin” (which would appear quite often as I am a big fan of both their coffee and their brand). I could then send a link to an easily viewable list of each Dunkin reference I have made on Twitter. This method can also prove beneficial when reaching out to someone who might not be on Twitter as it will enable them to scan through my tweets without requiring any familiarity with how to use Twitter. Unrelated to job hunts, the ability to narrow searches by including or excluding those with photos or links has also proven to be quite useful when searching for tweets on various topics.

Tweeties: Breakfast of Champions

• This morning I attended my first Innovation Breakfast at nearby Cafe on the Common in Waltham. The networking event, held every Friday morning from 8:30 to 10 AM, is hosted by Bobbie Carlton (@BobbieC), founder of Mass Innovation Nights (@MassInno). The coffee paired with interesting and thought-provoking conversation was an excellent way to begin my day. I look forward to being a regular attendee at these breakfasts in the future.

That’s all for this week. Until next time….