Getting your Graduate Job

If you are graduating this year, it's a daunting prospect going into work. You have to search for roles you find interesting, apply for them, attend interviews and hope for success. All this on top of your other commitments such as coursework and paid part-time employment can be really stressful. This encourages people to leaving looking for work to the last minute, and either taking a job they aren't keen or take out of desperation.


I was lucky enough to get offered a job for the company I really wanted to work for when I graduated. When I heard of Fresh Egg and checked out what they did, I instantly knew I wanted to work for them. They oozed passion and expertise in the digital field, and that was exactly where I wanted to be. I applied for a role there, with little experience in Search Engine Optimisation but hoped my passion for the industry and company would be enough for them to take a chance. So, based on my success here are my top 6 tips for getting a graduate job!

1. Be passionate about an industry - It's one thing saying you want to work in business, but you need to be more specific, and develop a genuine interest in a niche sector where you can obtain work. For example do you want to work in finance? Specifically Accounting? Management Accounting? It's best to find a sector you can become passionate about, and this will really come through in your interview if you do your homework.


2. Be passionate about the company - Find companies you want to work for, and go to them, they won't come to you. Show your passion for what they do, and why you should work for them. If a company see a spark in you and you show an interest in what they do, that's a really good way to attract their attention and one of the principle reasons why I think I was offered a role at Fresh Egg. I showed them that I knew what they did, who their clients were, what they could offer them over other agencies, and what they could potentially be doing in the future.


3. Have experience - It sounds really obvious, but you need some relevant experience in your industry. I was lucky enough to have digital marketing experience from my placement year at Rank Interactive. If you don't have any, then be proactive in your search, by offering volunteer work at companies, and again show your passion for why you want to work there. Places like the The Chamber of Commerce are always looking for enthusiastic people to help them out. If you can do things from home to improve your chances; such as building a portfolio or blogging, it will help getting noticed. A portfolio is a great tool to show off what you are made of. Just comprise examples of your work, samples of your blog, and projects you have worked on.


4. Be proactive - Keep looking for work in any situation. You don't have to rely on just websites posting jobs. You can email companies directly, find links and email addresses in press releases and in the local business news. Being proactive shows that you care and have intuitive, and employers can see this as a very strong indicator of a person. Whilst securing my job at Fresh Egg, I continued to stay in touch and arrange interview dates and do anything to move the process forwards.


5. Don't get hung up on salary - People sometimes worry too much about the pay they are initially offered. If it's a good job you want to do, the salary should be an after consideration, as you will be doing something you enjoy. The salary you want will eventually come, but it may not be instant.


6. Network - Always use opportunities to meet business people. You can use websites such as LinkedIn to connect with other professionals, and attend conferences and networking meetings to talk to employers and get a good grasp of the local business scene in your area. You can also follow people on Twitter who work for or own companies you like. You may hear of job openings or new opportunities as well as getting great chances to talk to the people who work at these places.


I hope these steps have been useful and given you some food for thought. You can follow me on Twitter @hybrdoriental or connect with me on LinkedIn. In effort to build my portfolio, you can check out my URL shortening website nowtweet.it and follow the blog, and Twitter @nowtweetit

Brighton SEO Conference 2011

Brighton SEO took place on Friday; a full day of pure SEO geekery! (yeah, so what? :P). The event has grown over the last 3 years from what was a handful of professionals in a pub, to 160 enthusiastic SEO and digital marketing pioneers.

The proceedings kicked off early from 8.30am, where a bombardment of keen SEO's starting registering and taking their seats in the theatre.  People were pushing through the queues, eager to get in. This was typical form for an SEO, always desperate to get to number 1! :P


The day started with a debate on the future existence of SEO, which was actually great! You could see a few bodies squirming in their seats questioning their job security, but the message at the end was constructive. SEO needs to move away from a technical exercise and be treated with more of a marketing discipline. Anticipating the site users wants, needs and behaviour. Things not even Google can know.


Speakers for the day included expects in their relevant fields from Fresh Egg, iCrossing, White Hat Media, Clearleft, Leapfrogg, Propeller Net and Site Visibility. All the talks were well recieved, short and sweet at 20mins a piece, they packed punch, content and some humour. The day was smoothly run by Site Visibility and Kelvin Newman deserves a lot of credit for keeping the day running so smoothly!


What were my highlights? I found the Social Media metrics that Fresh Egg demonstrated early in the day fascinating. It's good to see that social media is starting to become more measurable. Another highlight was from Clearleft, a Brighton based UI company. Harry spoke about Dark Patterns and bad practice in terms of user experience and site design.


It was a great day and there's very positive feedback across the board. It was a great place to network and i really did discover the digital marketing scene is full of nice guys, it isn't cliquey or arrogant. The next Brighton SEO will surely be another great conference.


Twitter:


@FreshEgg
@SiteVisibility
@LeapFrogg
@WhiteHatMedia
@ClearLeft
@iCrossingUK
@PropellerNet
@KelvinNewman


Check the stream out too @ #BrightonSEO

Example AdWords campaigns on my website

This is for my IT382 Digital Marketing module.

This proposed AdWords campaign is for my website: nowtweet.it . The website is a URL shortener optimised for Twitter. Looking at the keywords and discription, I have proposed the following two AdWords Adverts:

Shorten those long URLS
Use Twitter? Shorten your URLS
the simple way with Now tweet it
nowtweet.it

Free Twitter URL Shortener
Nowtweet.it is the best way to get
your long URLs into Twitter!
nowtweet.it/shortenURL

Proposed Keywords: Twitter, URL, shorten URL, shrink URL, tweet, tweet URL, post URL, Twitter tool, free Twitter tool

The estimated search traffic that the Google tool shows is fairly low, but with a limited budget it should be adequate. The campaign can be monitored based on average costs per click and will be shown in countries where Twitter is commonly used; for example the UK, USA, Brazil and Canada.

For IT382 Digital Marketing - Critical Analysis of a blog

Critical analysis for an Ibiza News Blog - http://www.ibizablog.co.uk/

Ibiza Blog focuses on providing Island inhabitants and toursists alike with information, new and listings for the White Isle's top clubs and party venues. There's a regularly updated stream of entries, documenting opening dates for the various bars and clubs. The content is backed up with quotes and Twitter updates from the bars and clubs themselves, and these are displayed on the site.

The navigation provides a list of all the Island's main venues, and shows details on them all. However the site lacks content on other aspects of the island. Although there is nothing wrong with a blog purely based on clubs and bars, the website and name gives the impression there should be more for the site viewers, in terms of reviews and content for other activites in Ibiza.

The site has links to the relevant Facebook pages, and has been monetised with Google Ads, signs that the webmaster knows their stuff. There is also an archive of previous posts. The site offers a good all around information source for people coming to party in Ibiza, however to become a more popular blog and source of information for part revellers, there might need to be more information on flights, accommodation, food and other island activites.

My new Twitter URL Shortening Service :)

Last week I launched my own URL shortener to compete against giants such as ow.ly, bit.ly, TinyUrl and others.


I never had the intention of become as big as those, but i wanted to offer an alternative to the big ones, which I don't think come across that friendly. I wanted the most simple user experience possible, with a great, friendly interface, and a nice brand and copywriting. I decided to specifically target Twitter users, as there are a lack of URL shorteners specifically designed for Twitter, probably the most used social platform of URL shorteners.


Now tweet it!


It's been live for 5 days, and has generated well over 100 uses, with an average of 14 clicks on each link produced. Coupled with a basic Google Ads campaign, nowtweet.it has created over 25,000 impressions on search.
I'm really optimistic about the site, and I've had some great feedback. If you haven't checked it out yet, take it a little peak! ;)


nowtweet.it

IT382 Digital Marketing - How Daniel's Article can be applied

This Blog is for my IT382 module. Referencing: Daniel et al (2003) ‘Towards a map of marketing information systems: an inductive study’, European Journal of Marketing, Vol 37, No 5/6, pp821-847


An Application of Daniel's Marketing Information System Map.

Daniel's map is cyclical and demonstrates how ongoing market activity can be adjusted throughout time. Her model demonstrates 4 key areas:

• Define your market
• Create a Value Proposition
• Deliver Value
• Monitor Value

It is possible to carry out these stages, and when monitoring the results, you can go back to the first stage and make ammendments if needed. For example, you may want to redefine your market if you realise it is not lucrative or big enough.

The method in which you create your value proposition can also change depending on consumer taste. The way in which people behave has a big role. More people are online now, with marketing spends online at a record high. This may alter how you create and deliver value. Daniel's model allows this to be assessed and modified accordingly.

Different Marketing Information Systems can be incorporated into this model as the technology becomes available, and sets out a good starting point on creating a valuable proposition for customers.

You can find the full article here:
http://ow.ly/3YkdS

Fortune favours the brave

It's easy to cut back on marketing spend during economical turmoil. There are 3 well known practices for deciding marketing budgets:

• The Economist's view - Supply & Demand. If demand is low, cut back.
• The Accountant's view - Spend as a % of sales/revenue. If revenue is dipping, cut back.
• The Marketers's view - Objective & Task, decide how to increase sales and work backwards.

Why focus on cutting costs, when you can focus on increasing sales?

Much empirical research by PIMS (profit impact of marketing strategy), based on thousands of companies over many years, suggests that companies who invest in marketing an innovation in a recession, come out better. Companies who increase their marketing spend whilst in a recession, whilst competitors are cutting down, are far more likely to be remembered and noticed by consumers when the recovery starts.

You have a company. You are manager. You are a consultant. Whatever you are, you have a database of customers who trust you. Increase your contact with these customers (but don't overdo it!), and remind them of your brand values and why they can shop with you in a recession, perhaps give them a reason, some sort of promotion spend or competition. Keep them happy and pull them through on the other side.

Fortune favours the brave, and those you don't cut the marketing spend await glory.

Customer lifetime value!!!

I'm overdue a blog, and something popped into my mind today...


I'm doing a piece of coursework on the retail marketing strategy of Ikea, and they got me thinking about an interesting topic. Customer lifetime value.


We know the population of the UK is ageing. People are living longer and theres a social demographic shift towards this. First time homeowners are older, and research shows that more people are redecorating their home as an alternative to moving. Ikea are very good maximising customer lifetime. They offer ranges of furniture and homeware for families of any age. And companies such as John Lewis are booming as the only people with money are the older generation.


Companies should use created relationships (which I have been blogging about previously), in attempt to maximise the time that a customer will stay loyal (if there's such a thing) to that brand. Customers who have a relatively young target market should be thinking, 'we have these customers now, but how can we keep them in 5, 10 years down the line'. The population is ageing and yes, this includes your customers! It might be a smart move to keep up with them rather than isolating them.


You can incorporate these ideas into your retention strategy, creating handy segments of customers who are interested in the different products/services you offer. This sort of database management will help you keep contact relevant, keeping everyone happy. The customers you have now, and the customers you still have from before. Sure there might be business growing pains, and some product diversification and extension, and Ikea are a big company, but don't dare to dream!


From cradle to the grave.

Online differentiation - Prevent commodotisation!

It's easy to be a differentiator on the high street. Play some loud music, make it smell nice, spend a lot of money on your store design, be the price leader, let customers interact with your products, offer other services along your own, create a venue people want to be in and so on...


When it comes to the online game however, things are a little different. Products are being commodities and people know how to get the best deal. With comparison websites and tools such as google shopping, it makes it increasingly easy to find the best deal, and simply go with it. This current trend is forcing nearly all stores into being price leaders...offer the same product as other people, but just do it that little bit cheaper. There are plenty of drawbacks to this way of trading and competing. Firstly you fail to create that vital relationship with your customer because you are acknowledging that your product is a commodity, and that even you, the retailer, know that in the future the customer will continue to compare to find the cheapest deal. Secondly, you are driving profit margins down, and eventually you will price yourself out the game when you realise you can't compare with the big cost leaders exploiting economies of scale.


But fear not, there is a solution to avoiding commodotisation and the devaluing of your brand. Online differentiation! You don't NEED to be a price leader to be successful. Take John Lewis for example. In the e-shopping arena, John Lewis are by no means the cheapest, one would assume the couldn't compete online, but their sales figures suggest a completely different story. They manage to capitalise on their strengths. Their knowledge of what customers want, why people shop in the John Lewis store, and what customers want from the on line shopping experience. John Lewis have managed to put across their customer service, service quality and brand loyalty across to the customers. They have differentiated by doing this allowing them to maximise their profits.


Online stores should learn a valuable lesson. You can differentiate in other ways than your price. You can offer superior customer service and after sales, you can provide blogs and reviews on products you offer, you can have an innovative and functional website, or even provide some rich content media such as videos and games. Many of these differentiators will not only give you an edge over the competition but further develop your relationship with your customers, increasing loyalty and repeat sales.


What should you take from this blog?

• Yes, people are treating products more like commodities and searching around for the best deal nearly every time they make a purchase online.

• No, you don't always have to be the price leader. The best price isn't always 'the best deal'. You can differentiate in other ways, which will help your profits and customer lifetime.

Dare to be different.

Hello all :)

The dreaded first blog. Well first blog here...


I guess i should introduce myself :)


I'm marketing student on my fourth year at University and I'm trying to discover myself. Well more where i want to be. The real world is only just round the corner don't you know...


So far I know I want to be involved with digital media and marketing. I'm also into the ethos that keeping your good customers is far more important than acquiring a load of new ones. So i guess that's what I want to focus on. I mean there's no point being too niche too young so I think I need to find my feet in the digital arena before any specialisation is to start.


eCRM
Social Media
Digital PR
Digital Engagement
Creative Solutions


It's all good stuff isn't it...I best get trying to crack the industry.