Use Twitter, Look Smart, Get Hired

I’ve written before here and elsewhere about how “funnel vision” get you hired faster by making you instantly more creative.

Funnel Vision (which I learned from Jay Abraham) is diametrically opposed to Tunnel Vision, which is how most job seekers (and people) go through life.

Let’s define tunnel vision first: it’s doing what everyone else is doing because … that’s how everybody does it. 

It’s why most job searches drag on for 19.7 weeks, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Because everybody waits for jobs to be advertised before applying to employers … everybody spends 50% or more of their day surfing employment web sites like Monster … everybody networks by calling the same 5 people once a month.

And how’s that working for everybody in general and you in particular? Pretty shitty, I’ll bet.

So, stop doing what everybody is doing.

Start using Funnel Vision to open your eyes to successful ideas that others have used to stand out, successful ideas that you can adapt to your job search with a modest amount of effort.

Example: I first got the idea for including a P.S. in cover letters from the sales letters I used to write 13 years ago. Using a direct-mail technique in a job search is Funnel Vision, pure and simple. (Resource: The Guerrilla Job Search Home Study Course).

Which brings us to today’s topic: Twitter.

I just read this great blog postabout how a Houston coffee shop, CoffeeGroundz, used Twitter to double their clientele.

ADD executive summary:

Nothing can build your brand faster than being or doing something remarkable.

On October 31st, 2008 Sean Stoner (@maslowbeer) was hungry. As a regular customer at CoffeeGroundz he sent the following Twitter to Cohen:

Cohen quickly replied and Sean went through the drive-thru at CoffeeGroundz to pick up his burrito.

This simple exchange got a lot of coverage on Twitter and was hailed as potentially the first time that Twitter had ever been used to place a To-Go Order. Seeing an opportunity, Cohen started taking to-go orders via direct message from any of his Twitter Clientele.

Recently, CoffeeGroundz was the venue for a Houston Tweetup that Cohen nicknamed “The Great Twitter Party”. Nearly 100 Houston Twitterites spent a lovely Sunday afternoon there at the largest Houston Tweetup to date. And did I mention that they bought lots of food and beverages? So the next time someone tells you that you can’t make money from Twitter, tell them to think again! 

And that got me thinking … if you’re looking for a job today, how many of your potential employers would be interested in doubling their client base?

Oh, I don’t know … roughly EVERY ONE OF THEM.

So, what if you were to adapt the ideas in the article above and write a cover letter to your potential employer outlining the steps they could take to use Twitter to increase their revenue?

Examples:

• A bookstore or any retail store could use Twitter to share exclusive discount codes, which would almost certainly get passed along, producing instant viral marketing.

• A restaurant or bagel shop could use Twitter to take orders, for faster service.

• A museum, concert hall, or other venue could use Twitter to provide live updates to people who can’t make it to an event, as this Australian museum did.

Get the idea?

Don’t give away all the details in your cover letter, of course. Ask for a meeting where you can explain in detail.

Use Funnel Vision to adapt this Twitter case study and look smart when you contact employers, who are looking for problem solvers and money makers to hire in this economy. With a little thinking and research, that new hire can be you.

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This entry was posted on Monday, February 16th, 2009 at 4:46 pm and is filed under job search tips. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.