Brenda Blackburn has been a workshop facilitator since 1991 in Vancouver and specializes in career topics with specialties in facilitating career exploration, job search strategies, professional development, and life skills. She’s a regular guest on radio and has been sharing her knowledge with career success radio and many other media outlets for years, so she was a natural selection for me when I decided to do a feature piece on someone with great advice on using social media for job seekers. Full Podcast Interview of Brenda Blackburn: Social Media for Job Seekers Brenda and I connected through a mutual friend on LinkedIn and decided to combine our efforts to address the challenges job seekers face today. We discussed how they can use the new social media tools that are available to leverage their networks to bring them closer to their goals, aka getting their dream job! This article is the product of our long discussion and has been written in a long-form blog format rather than the common “interview style” so that job seekers can skim through and get the info that is most relevant to their situation. Be sure to listen to the full podcast to get all the [...]
Social Media For Job Seekers: Interview With Career Expert Brenda Blackburn
Social BOOM! Jeffrey Gitomer Gives The Goods On Social Media
I’ve always been an avid reader but I have to admit that I was never drawn to fiction or novels, almost exclusively reading educational books my entire life. The only books I recall reading that are story-based were Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Life’s Golden Ticket by Brendon Burchard…both motivational parables with very strong, prominent real life themes that resonate with our own experiences. I have spent countless dollars on educational books to help strengthen my entrepreneurial tools and skill set, many of which found a place collecting dust on my bookshelf. Despite this fact, one of the authors that have managed to consistently prevail as a dominant influencer in my business strategies as well as millions of sales professionals and entrepreneurs across the world is Jeffrey Gitomer. His sales strategies have been appreciated and sought after as a corporate sales trainer by some of the world’s most successful companies including BMW, AT&T, Time Warner, GlaxoSmithKline, IBM and Coca-Cola. All of his books have been number one best sellers on Amazon.com including The Sales Bible, Little Red Book of Selling, and most recently, Social BOOM! Gitomer has managed to turn his offline audience into a thriving social media community that [...]
10 Ways You Can Become An Industry Leader In Your Community And Niche
Whether you are a lawyer, accountant, dentist, coach/consultant, chiropractor, or other health or service professional, being seen as an industry leader in your local market is one of the best ways to increase visibility and credibility, boost sales and have a steady stream of clients and referrals seeking out your expertise. How can you make that happen? This article will show you! Your local community can be a great place to showcase your expertise and gain visibility, soon being seen as the leading authority within your industry. Below are 10 ways you can use social media and other online and offline tactics to become an industry leader in your community. 1. Start a Blog There is no better way to showcase your expertise and position yourself as a leading authority in your niche than to create valuable content targeted towards your local market. Provide insightful posts that showcase your knowledge as an industry leader and offer valuable insights and solution to problems experienced by your ideal client. 2. Create a Twitter Account Open connection policies make Twitter an excellent resource for introductions and connections online. Use tools like Twitter Local or Twitter’s own advanced search feature to find great people [...]
Should Social Media Be Blamed For The London Riots?
Over 1,000 citizens have been arrested for violent crimes and dozens of police officers were injured during the riots in London. The riot started last Saturday when 5 police officers allegedly shot and unlawfully killed Mark Duggan, a Totenham resident. As the riots worsen and the civil unrest heightens, officials are blaming social media. Social media like Facebook and Twitter are now under the microscope. But really, is social media really to blame? These allegations rooted from London riots news and updates spreading like forest fires on Twitter and Facebook with corresponding photos and similarly disturbing statements like plans of attacks and security threats. Officials say that social media is not helping, instead, it triggers more violence among people. To alleviate the situation, the government devised a daunting plan which involves banning certain social media sites on specific users. This big step, even though blocked access is just temporary, needs a lot of work to implement successfully. After the announcement of the plan, many people now ask, “Is this the right thing to do?” It is remembered that social media played a positive role during the Middle Eastern turmoil and campaigns on Saudi women’s rights to drive. Social media sites [...]
Expand Your Business Contacts With Linkedln
In the business community, contacts are very important. If somebody says that contacts are not important for them, I would imagine their business is suffering. In whatever business venture, one cannot grow without the help of other people and industries. A restaurant business cannot start without the help of a good lighting, construction, interior design business and more. Everyone is interconnected and there is no sense in denying that fact. Top Dog Social Media specializes in helping businesses in Kelowna and across British Columbia and beyond, promote themselves and make new contacts through Linkedln. So how do you use Linkedln? It’s very simple. All you have to do is create an account and put all the necessary information of yourself and your business. The information that you can share ranges from the basic location and contact information to creating a profile of your products, services and specialties. Aside from businesses, a lot of professionals use it as well; from accountants, doctors, lawyers, realtors to graphic artists and more. The number of contacts that you can generate when you set up an account with the site is limited only to the amount of time you have to spend on it. For [...]
Does It Pay To Use Social Media?
Social media can pay big dividends when used effectively and with the appropriate social media strategy. When we work with our clients we work with them to determine their goals but for most businesses their goal is to increase their visibility and profits utilizing social media marketing. It’s important to understand that the use of social media marketing isn’t only about advertising and exposure, it’s about increasing sales like you’ve never experienced before! A lot of people are wondering if you can really make money from using social media. The simple answer is: YES! A lot of businesses and individuals alike are making money just by having and properly maintaining their own Social Media sites. This applies to businesses of all sizes in all cities from Kelowna, BC to all across the world. Now a new question arises: How do they do it? Below are some of the strategies businesses use in order to help them have the best advantage of using Social Media and: MAKING MONEY. Free Advertising We all know how advertising can cost a fortune these days. Big companies spend millions of dollars just to promote a product for a few seconds on TV. But with the [...]
Choosing the Right Social Media Expert
A lot of people raise their eyebrows whenever they hear the term Social Media Expert. There are many reasons as to why they have negative connotations about it, but it simply boils down to there are still people that have not yet discovered the power of Social Media for businesses, big or small. Top Dog Social Media embraces the fact that Social Media is growing and it will help businesses improve their visibility and profits for years to come. With 4 out of 5 Canadian’s using Social Media, you’d be crazy to overlook this. Those business owners that are close-minded will really miss the boat, and see there competitors that are using Social Media effectively, soar ahead of them. It doesn’t matter whether you are a business in Kelowna, Vancouver or some other location in Canada or the US, it’s going to be important for you to have a Social Media presence and manage it effectively and consistently. Now, if you are open to the idea of Social Media and in using it to promote your business, why should you hire a Social Media Expert? The answer is simple: You need a person with the right combined skills to effectively [...]
