If you’re paying for it, you’re doing it wrong. You’d think that somebody already said that – Mark Twain, Yogi Berra, somebody. But no, at least if I am to believe our search engines, it’s a Staffing Talk original. Strange because it a applies to a lot of things, and not just Eliot Spitzer.
I actually first used it in responding to a company wanting to drive recruits to their career website. They were considering paying a PR firm to get the publicity via press releases and and a larger job board via online ads. Bad idea. Here’s the text of my response:
You can do a lot better than directory registration and press releases. Although they, like paid referral services, may get you some tiny amount of exposure, here’s a better rule to follow: “If you’re paying for publicity, you’re probably doing it wrong.”
Instead:
1. Define the message. Define exactly what it is that you do and who you are trying to do it for. Get specific. I checked out your website…you’ve got a good start with testimonials …nice tagline “High calibre live FMCG vacancies”.
2. Network like no tomorrow. Never eat lunch alone. Constantly be on the lookout on how to advance your clients or anyone in your space. Be the public relations expert of your industry.
3. Slash your marketing budget. Instead use free social media. Write and talk about people doing great things in your space. Tell your story on Youtube, on a blog, on Twitter, in articles for industry journals. Everywhere.
Search engines will do the work from there and drive the traffic to your site.
