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Who is Steven Davis? He’s “The Recruit4U Guy” who took the time to respond to our blog-video series on Linkedin Success Stories in the Staffing Industry that we posted on Linkedin.  He shared with us how his wife found a new job through networking on Linkedin.  Here’s the story as he sent to me via Linkedin:

“My wife a paralegal was laid off in February ‘09. Of course being married to a recruiter (in her eyes) made it an especially challenging time. Unfortunately, I did not cut her a whole lot of slack. Once she decided to hit the ground running she did the usual standard process: applying online and sending out cover letters with resumes.

Two weeks into it, she called me one day and said, “Okay honey, I have sent 55 resumes, but I have not heard back from anyone.”  I replied, “Well what are you going to do about that?” to which she responded, “Well I guess I will try to reach some people.”  “No,” I said, “what you need to do is get on LinkedIn, complete your profile, build up your connections, research companies and last but not least, join some user groups.”

She ended up participating in a discussion on one of the user groups and next thing she gets Inmail via LinkedIn, which leads to an interview and then a job offer. She was only out of work for 6 weeks.  Naturally, I had to nudge her and say “I told you so!!!” Granted this is just one success story, but it is one that is so simple to show the immense value of LinkedIn!!!”

Steven G. Davis, “The Recruit4U Guy”
Director of Operations/Staffing
Staffing Sense, LLC.
sdavis@staffingsense.com
Check Steven out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/sdavisrecruityou

Thanks Steven for taking the time to share this indisputable Linkedin Success Story.  The conversation that Steven and I struck up on Linkedin is a win-win situation for everyone: Steven gets his name and company put out there on a blog in a positive light, I get some compelling content that I can post, both of us get energized by making such a quality connection, and you get to read about and share with others clear business success on Linkedin.

So what else do you got?  Share with us by clicking on Linkedin Success Stories in the Staffing Industry or by commenting on this blog.

Everett Reiss
Business Relationships Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

How can you strike up compelling conversations with your clients, prospects, candidates, and fellow staffing professionals? Watch this blog-video to see some examples of how we’ve done this in targeted staffing industry Linkedin discussion groups.

Also, check out our previous two blog-videos on:

I like talking to our clients, solving problems for them, and working on creative projects; but I hate dealing with computer issues and slowness.  I imagine you’re in the same boat.  Whether your focus is selling staffing solutions, finding qualified applicants, running a business, or trying to take your staff to the next level; your PCs and laptops are just supposed to work.

Which is probably what frustrates me about Vista so much, but I’m going to stop there before this turns into a rant!  Instead, this week I took a major step in accepting the fact that my Vista machine isn’t going to get any better unless I proactively do something to make it better.  The 20 minute boot-ups in the morning drove me to this common-sense realization.   So I’m going to share with you some of the very simple steps and resources I used to improve my Vista machine’s performance.

I know maintaining and improving your PC or laptop’s performance is not your main job and may not even be on your radar, but it’ll pay off exponentially if you and your staff gain 5 to 10 minutes a day.  The main article that got me off and running was “10 things you can do to increase performance in Vista,” on Tech Republic’s website: http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/10things/?p=200&tag=rbxccnbtr1.

Besides adding additional RAM (this is the only acronym I’ll use – I promise) , here are the 3 most effective things I did to boost my laptop’s performance.  The first one only applies to Vista machines, but the second two apply to all PCs or laptops.

1.       Turn off Aero  - the slick graphical look that comes with Vista.

While Aero makes Vista look pretty, beauty comes at a price – memory and lots of it.  I’m content with a classic Windows look, so here is how you can change from the sexy Aero look to the workhorse Windows look:

Right-click the desktop and select Personalize, then click Windows Color And Appearance, click Open classic appearance properties for more color options, from the Appearance Settings dialog box select either Windows Vista Basic, Windows Standard, or Windows Classic, click OK or Apply and voila you’ve proven you care more about what’s on the inside than the superficial things of life.  

2.       Defrag  your hard drive, which rearranges your data and files in a way that is easier for Vista to access.

I know “defrag” sounds scary, but it is really quite simple; if you have a Vista machine, go to:

Your Start menu, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and select Diskeeper.  When Diskeeper is displayed, you can right-click on you your hard drive – most likely (C:) – and select Defragment.

This process slows down your computer, so it is best to schedule it or kick it off when you are not using it.  There are also many third-party defrag utilities available.

3.       Turn off extra startup programs.

You probably have a lot of processes, services, and programs running in the background that you may not even be aware of.  To turn off unnecessary startup programs, go to:

Your Start menu, Performance Information and Tools, and Manage startup programs, and you can literally go down the list and Remove any unnecessary startup programs. 

If you are not sure about removing a program, either ask your IT person, google the startup program name, or check out CNET’s The Download Blog’s startup posts: http://download.cnet.com/download-blog/?keyword=startup.

I hope this gives you the information and nudge you need to do something positive for you, your computer, and your productivity.  It was hard for me to get to this point, but I’m glad I tapped into my inner-geek.  If you need some further inspiration; get a bag of Doritos, Red Bull, and a your own hacker handle (alias) at http://www.rootcompromise.org/hhg/.  Mine is Static Darkness.  This week, follow these three steps and comment on this blog or click I actually did something good for my computer to let me know if you and your staff are saving time, money, and emotional health.

Static Darkness (aka Everett Reiss)
Business Relationships Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

I recently changed one aspect of my daily routine to what I’ll call the “first things first” routine.  For a while I was doing my daily planning, then slogging through all my emails, and then eventually getting to some of my most important “to dos” and project items related to my core job.

Then a few weeks ago I was listening to a podcast I subscribe to, and one of the people being interviewed was talking about how she now resists the temptation to first check email.  Instead she spends the first 30 minutes of her day working on an important item that is looming over her and then gets to the emails.  The funny thing is that this wasn’t a workplace related podcast for me, but was an idea that came off of the August 3^rd Youth Specialties podcast, http://www.youthspecialties.com/freeresources/podcasts, which is for people involved in youth ministry.

Regardless, it was an idea that stuck with me and I decided to tweak my routine around it.  So now, my routine is as follows:

·         Spend 15 minutes planning out my day.

·         Spend the next 30 minutes to 1 hour working on some important item that’s on the forefront of my mind; and that I know is the main thing I really do want/need to get to today.

·         After either completing the item or making sufficient progress on it, I then check my email.

With this routine, I’ve noticed that:

·         I’ve been able to gain positive momentum much sooner each day.

·         Most emails can wait half-an-hour to an hour, or even a day for that matter – I’m not that important.

·         It makes more sense to actually put first things first, and rarely should checking email be first on the “to do” list.

The reality is many of us need to check our email at least three to eight times a day, but do we really need to flip back-and-forth between our core job-related tasks and email every five minutes?  Or do we need to burn our freshest half-an-hour of the day scrolling through our inbox?  Try your own version of the “first things first” routine, share it with your fellow sales and staffing professionals, and  comment on this blog or click First Things First to let us know what routine is working for you in the staffing industry. 

Everett Reiss
Business Relationships Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

Our third blog-video of a three part series on Linkedin Success Stories in the Staffing Industry is going to be on “Creating  Valuable Discourse in Your Area of Expertise on Linkedin?”  In the interim, a side “social media success story” has developed that’s worth sharing as a demonstration of the power of engaging people through social media.

For the past 6 months, I’ve been listening to the Ten Golden Rules Internet Marketing podcast, http://podcast.tengoldenrules.com, which is produced by Jay Berkowitz, CEO of the internet marketing company Ten Golden Rules.  He’s developed a sizable following because during each podcast Jay and his team offer up extremely applicable information and principles to help all sorts of companies develop and advance their Internet marketing strategies and practices. 

Recently, I posted a question on Jay’s blog asking about the next steps The Staffing Cooperative could take in our social and internet marketing process.  Jay personally responded on our website and asked me to call up his show to discuss our correspondence.  On his most recent podcast, http://podcast.tengoldenrules.com/internet-marketing-podcast-Free-Press-Releases-SEO-Alt-Tags-Susan-Bratton.html, Jay featured our conversation and gave The Staffing Cooperative a much appreciated plug.

There are a tremendous amount of positives for both The Staffing Cooperative and Ten Golden Rules in such an exchange:

·         I received some really valuable feedback on our social and internet marketing strategy that we’ve already begun to apply.

·         Jay gets to use me to generate compelling content for his podcast.

·         We also received links to our website from the Ten Golden Rules website, which will help our positioning on the search engines.  Through this blog post, we’re returning the favor to Ten Golden Rules.

·         Such acknowledgement by Jay, a respected thought leader in marketing, helps position The Staffing Cooperative as a thought leader with our target audience and industry.

·         Ten Golden Rules may get some new listeners and marketing engagements, if any of you find this blog post compelling enough to check out http://www.tengoldenrules.com.

Let us know what podcasts and blogs you are following that’s made a difference in your Internet and social marketing strategy by either commenting on this blog post or clicking on Social Media Success Stories.

Everett Reiss
Business Relationships Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
;”>Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

How are people getting to your staffing company’s website?  For that matter, who is visiting your staffing company’s website?  Right now, you may not know the answer to these questions, but today you can start driving quality traffic to your staffing agency’s website through your disciplined use of Linkedin.  I do highly recommend that you use Google Analytics, http://www.google.com/analytics/, a free tool that measures your web traffic and breaks that information down into many useful forms.

The following two videos will show you how we’ve increased the quantity and quality of your web traffic through Linkedin. 

The first video is geared towards staffing managers and professionals who are starting out with Linkedin and shows you how you can:

·         Publish your company’s website on your profile .

·         Drop into comments your signature with hyperlinks to your website as you participate in discussions.

This second video is for more experienced social networkers and discusses how to use Linkedin to drive traffic to your blog, newsletter, or some other regular content that you are producing.

Let us know how you’ve successfully used Linkedin or or get our feedback by submitting your questions or anecdotes to Linkedin Success Stories.

Click-in for next week’s Linkedin Success Story on “Creating  Valuable Discourse in Your Area of Expertise on Linkedin?”

Everett Reiss
Business Relationships Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

How much time are you actively on Linkedin?  Are you wondering if Linkedin is worth your time?  Or is your staff, co-workers, or manager skeptical of the business value behind social networking?  This is the first blog-video of a three part series on “Linkedin Success Stories in the Staffing Industry” that will demonstrate to you and your fellow staffing professionals proven ways you can use Linkedin to:

• Gather valuable professional information that can sharpen your staffing game.
• Drive traffic to your staffing company’s website.
• Strike up provocative discourse in your area of expertise.

Let us know how you’ve successfully used Linkedin or pick our brains on the topic by submitting your questions or anecdotes to Linkedin Success Stories.

Additionally, check out the May 15th blog post we compiled off of a Linkedin discussion that we started on cold calling and leaving voicemails, http://www.staffingcooperative.com/news/?p=35.

Click-in for next week’s Linkedin Success Story on “How to Drive Quality Traffic to Your Staffing Company’s Website Through Linkedin?”

Everett Reiss
Business Relationships Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

Recently, a frustrating customer service experience with a national rental car company at the Atlanta Airport, which will remain unnamed; and an incredibly smooth experience with the California beverage chain, Beverages & more! (www.bevmo.com) compelled me to take the time to post two reviews on Yelp.com.  Yelp.com is one of the fastest growing websites for people to read and post reviews about local businesses.

As I was typing these reviews and selecting the number of stars to rate these experiences, I realized how everyone at every level in a staffing agency should be striving to make their candidates and customers feel genuinely good about their relationship. This applies to all businesses, but even more so to the staffing industry because of the people-centric nature of the business on every side.

In the spirit of staying positive, I’ll avoid the temptation to vent. But for a good laugh, watch the following Seinfeld clip, which prophetically depicted my experience with this rental car company.

On the other hand, I had one of the smoothest experiences ordering a bottle of wine through Bevmo.com for a business associate of mine who had recently helped me out. After ordering online the exact bottle I was looking for, I realized that I had forgotten to send it as a gift. I frantically called the customer service number listed on the website. A live voice immediately answered and transferred me to someone who was able to log into their tracking system, change my order to be shipped as a gift, and hand-type the message I dictated to be sent with the bottle.

Mediocre service just doesn’t cut it anymore. The main thing regional staffing agencies have going for them is the ability to make a personal emotional impression on each candidate and client. The question is, “What type of emotional impression are you and your staff going to make?” Here are some action steps you can take to raise your candidate/customer service game:

• Have people at “every touch point” within your staffing company ask, “How can I make our candidate and customer feel especially good about our relationship today?”
• Setup a Google Alert (http://www.google.com/alerts) for your staffing company’s name to be emailed to you everyday, this will help you monitor what’s being said about you online.
•  Ask candidates and customers, who have positive experiences with you, to write reviews for your staffing agency on sites like Yelp.com.
• Create a candidate and client-centric culture within your company by celebrating positive reviews on a regular basis.

Everett Reiss
Business Relationship Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

What do you know about your competition in your staffing market?  Richard Piske, co-founder of The Staffing Cooperative talks with his partner Dave Reiss about how when he was running a national staffing firm, his sales organization knew as much about their competition as their competitors knew about themselves.   

Richard says, “We knew how they thought…, what their strategies were…, how they behaved…, where they were weak…, where they were strong.  There wasn’t anything we didn’t know.”  Listen to this blog-video to hear some specific examples of the type of intelligence your staffing sales organization should be gathering on your competition.

This conversation was held before staffing executives and staffing professionals at AST’s 2009 Users Group in Jersey City. AST (http://www.astusa.com) has been providing staffing software solutions to the staffing industry since 1985.

In last week’s blog-video, “For the Staffing Industry – What’s Different About This Economy?,” Richard said that while this recession is “more comprehensive,” regional staffing agencies can gain advantage in their staffing markets by gathering solid market intelligence and leveraging the “tenure that they have in the marketplace.”   This week, Richard laid out the aggressive “need to know” attitude that a successful staffing sales organization has to maintain to gain in their market.

Ask Dave and Richard about the types of questions you should be asking about your competition by clicking on the following link: What should I be asking about my competition?

Click in next week for “Using Linkedin to Develop an Online Presence for Your Staffing Business.”

Everett Reiss
Business Relationship Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op

In this next blog-video, Richard Piske, co-founder of The Staffing Cooperative discusses with his partner Dave Reiss, how this recession is different than previous ones; and the type of market intelligence regional staffing agencies need to be gathering to separate themselves from the rest of the pack in the staffing industry.

This conversation was held before staffing executives and staffing professionals at AST’s 2009 Users Group in Jersey City. AST (http://www.astusa.com) has been providing staffing software solutions to the staffing industry since 1985.

In last week’s blog-video, “What One Staffing Executive Focused on to Grow His Staffing Company Through Every Recession,” Richard said that in order to grow through this recession, staffing companies need to be focusing on market share and capturing more of it.  This week, Richard gave us two more words to focus on - “market intelligence.”

Ask Dave and Richard how you can start gathering market intelligence by clicking on the following link where you can submit your questions: How can I gather market intelligence?

Click in next week for “What a Strong Sales Organization Knows”

Everett Reiss
Business Relationship Development
The Staffing Cooperative
Check me out on Linkedin:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/evreiss
Check us out on Twitter:
http://twitter.com/StaffingCo_op