With Paul’s permission, I’m taking a conversation that we had via email (below), and re-publishing it here, edited for length.
Paul lives in the UK, where he says the new media phenomenon has yet to catch fire among the marketing community. There simply aren’t enough Pauls or Hughs to go around, it seems. Recently, Paul has found himself without employment, and has publicly blogged about his search, his struggle to find just the right fit, and the question of whether to publish one’s CV online.
Paul Fabretti
Paul’s Blending the Mix blog has always been a great read. Like me, Paul spent many months at the beginning reading, reflecting and commenting on the many new media marketing lessons published on the web each day, before beginning to publish his own original thoughts and ideas about marketing on the new web. All of this over a two year time span, give or take. In short, Paul gets it, and has had plenty of time to put much of “it” into practice. What’s more, he has a direct marketing background that helps him understand the dynamics of the old way of “pushing” information, and the new way of using information to “pull” visitors to you.
Since it hasn’t long since I was in a similar position as Paul, at the crossroads, I wanted to add some perspective for both him and his prospective employers about the value of what Paul already understands. And so begins a peek at our conversation:
Paul: In all honesty, most people I get interviewed by tell me I don’t have enough online experience. 2 years is nothing compared to most people I hear get interviewed so how do you show you have the knowledge without having anything to show for it?…How do you pitch what you do to clients by the way? How do you persuade the skeptics who think it is mumbo jumbo?
JB: To the sceptics who say two years is not enough, I say two years is an eternity in new media. How far have we come since we both starting blogging, etc? How much experience could one be expected to have in such a new and rapidly changing biz? Added: (Wanted: Facebook Apps Developer with 3-5 Years Experience! Joke stolen from kk+)
As for pitching clients, I sell them on what I know they want. Forget about the technology, the tools, the strategy, and first address this simple fact: The web allows them to put their already great (hopefully…) relationship building process online. And they can create and track word of mouth online, as long as they join the conversation with the best of intentions. Reaching more people, and creating lasting client relationships; that’s the return.
Web content is more important than ever, and if they have no strategy to manage it, they’ll get left behind. Years of experience managing “Web 1.0″ campaigns are less relevant, in my opinion.
Paul: You make a great point about a fast-changing environment providing little opportunity to gain experience. To be honest, I think it is one thing to use new tools (like blogging or twitter for example) but quite another and much more important, to understand how these tools should and should not be used for commercial purposes. I fear that the UK is not as aware of most of the tools I know and understand, and as such any experience i do have seems largely irrelevant! As you say, with new ideas cropping up all the time it is as crucial to keep track of it all. I also like your take on knowledge sharing on the net. There are always people out
there to share the knowledge and experience with.
JB: Paul, it sounds as though you’re in a perfect spot to help more companies discover this stuff, and your take on the fact that they are merely tools and not strategies will be infinitely helpful to the first smart employer who snatches you up.
It’s a shame that more companies in Paul’s neighborhood (Manchester) don’t already see the value in the kind of knowledge he possesses. Still, being the first with a great idea has its advantages.
Please join me in wishing Paul the best of luck in his search, and feel free to add your suggestions and comments to the discussion.
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Here’s a little link love for the list:
