The Point of Personal Marketing Tools

In the world of Web 2.0, the “personal marketing” tool (web site) is one that serves a useful purpose, but perhaps has not yet come into its own. The Secrets of the Job Hunt blog mentions one such tool, iAdverto.com, and goes on to explain that it has some great features but ultimately loses out to a personal blog for marketing yourself professionally. Generally, I’d have to agree, as a personal blog gives the individual much greater control over the material being presented and helps one to stand out because it is so personalized.

On the other hand, the personal marketing tools often bring some features that are difficult to implement on your own (unless you’re a techie) and one other very important feature…eyeballs. I hate to use this ubiquitous marketer’s term, but the point at which a personal/professional marketing tool will really be hailed as an advancement is when it gets serious traction and becomes a destination for recruiters, HR professionals, employers, etc., etc. Basically, the individual blog will help you stand out, but if you’re only driving a few visitors per day to that, it’s little more than an advanced online resume that you can reference when communicating with potential employers.

The personal/professional marketing tool/site with a million visitors per day may throw your profile together with thousands of others, but you’ll also stand out because of the sheer numbers of people looking for talent who are likely to stumble upon your profile. Of course, there may come a time when our hypothetical online marketing tool becomes too big for its britches and the value swings back to the personal blog, even with its slow trickle of traffic. It’s pretty basic, really. Do you want ten people looking at you and you alone, or a million who can potentially find you? The answer is likely…both. Rest assured, however, that when one or two personal marketing tools gain a prominent place in the collective consciousness of recruiters, employers, etc., it will be a good idea for the talent to jump on board too.

Tags: iadverto, personal marketing

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