Ways to Give Back, Get Help and Get Ahead for Marketing and Sales Job Seekers

Hopefully this impromptu post can help a couple of folks! If you’re a struggling marketing, creative or sales type don’t sit around waiting for your next gig think bigger, now’s the time to start your own project, build your own client list and broaden or hone your experience! Don’t over look any possibilities – take back your career track! So here’s our first guest article with many thanks to Cynopsis.com for letting us republish…

Tap it

Started in 2001, The Taproot Foundation is an organization that uses the pro bono work of marketing and design professionals to help non-profits on a local, state, national and even on a global basis.

Offices are located in NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco and Washington DC. Unfortunately, since teams are expected to meet once a month, those who live outside these areas are not viable candidates for Taproot.

The core mission is “to lead, mobilize and engage professionals in pro bono service that drives social change.”

Why is this important to you? Taproot and organizations like it not only provide an invaluable service to non-profits, but also for the media professionals who are currently unemployed.
There is an application that is fairly extensive, so they can place you most appropriately. Taproot is looking for professionals with at least 3-5 years of experience and requires each member to dedicate a minimum of 3-5 hours per week.

Members are placed on a specific project, each project usually lasts 6-8 months but this can vary depending on the pace of the project.

While much of the work can be done at home, members are expected to meet face to face about once a month and everyone must attend an orientation process to become an active pro bono consultant.

Volunteers, (pro bono consultants) should not consider this venture an opportunity to learn new skills, but rather to help the non-profit organization they are assigned. However, there will be many opportunities to network with other professionals within the organization, through both the orientation process and once you become a member, through the Taproot Foundation intranet.

Taproot will consider but cannot promise a particular non-profit nor does it reimburse any cost incurred during the project including gas and mileage for monthly meetings.

The Taproot Foundation offers non-profits the services of sales and marketers that they normally could not afford. The Taproot Foundation receives the benefit of your work, knowledge and experience, and you get to do something useful for your community, fill in gaps in your resume, and enable you to network with other professionals.

All around, it seems like a win win for everyone. To contact The Taproot Foundation please visit www.taprootfoundation.org/.

Nest Issue: The Hiring of Jane Doe (Not her real name)

We are always on the look out for more Experts to advise our readers – if you’re a headhunter, job coach, career advisor, etc., and may be interested in contributing to this edition from time to time, please contact me atjohn@cynopsis.com.

Post by John Cox, Cynopsis Classified Advantage, Cynopsis Media

Good luck!

@richardbouchez

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Richard A. Bouchez | Social Media Specialist | New Media ProductionRichard Bouchez is a certified Inbound Marketing professional specializing in Social Media Marketing & New Media content development. Richard’s web, audio & video work has been honored with Emmy, Promax & CBA awards.

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Big idea? Itching to execute? Now what?

You’re sound asleep in the middle of the night. You wake in a cold sweat because you’ve got it! There it is, the golden marketing idea that will bring the masses to your door! So, where do you go next? Who’s going to execute it? Is it even realistic?

I’d like to introduce you to mFormer.com because I think their concept could help a lot of people get started on marketing projects big or small. Their new online resource for locating a wide range of marketing services and vendors could be especially helpful for business owners and marketers who lack they’re own marketing departments. mFormer.com also offers a free referral service, you can submit your project and they will get you started with vendor suggestions. If you’re a marketer you can create a free listing in their directory here.

SHOP AROUND: Whether you want to start at Facebook community, flyer a neighborhood or spread viral videos, don’t be afraid to schedule face to face or phone interviews with numerous marketers. Even seasoned marketers learn more about  projects just by requesting bids and occasionally you may find out a project is more affordable than you thought! If you  can’t hire out an entire project it’s a great idea to hire an experienced marketer as a project manager. They can help shape your idea, evaluate the folks you want to involve or simply layout guidelines and directions for you follow.

AVOID “DIY” MARKETING PITFALLS: Like many projects, marketing projects are often more complicated that initially thought which makes them more expensive in time & dollars! Let’s face it, everyone’s trying to save a buck and most don’t have a choice, but many projects are better not done than done “on the cheap.”

avoid marketing mistakes

Try to avoid:

  • Taking on too much. Whether it’s you or your staff, everyone makes this mistake and it’s an opportunity killer! You can get sloppy, distracted and so can your staff. Be fair to yourself, can you really make this project a priority?
  • Recruiting your sister, cousin, uncle or the next door neighbor’s kid for “skilled labor.” Even if they are Photoshop experts, for example, “free labor” tend to miss the big picture. Designs tend to lack brand consistency or worse.
  • Handing over Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn accounts to interns! This is your identity & reputation we’re talking about. It’s also an opportunity for you to listen to your customers!

What’s your story? Got a horror story from a project you should have hire out or tips on hiring the right company for the job? Please share in the comments.

While I have no direct affiliation with mFormer.com and I have not used their services myself, in the spirit of “transparency” I want to point out that you will find InovediaMarketing.com listed on their site in the Social Media Marketing category. We offer new & traditional media marketing services such as  multimedia project management.

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Good luck!

Richard (@richardbouchez)

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