concentrated, focused, listening group will be happy to risk a click to get to the next page just to see how much they stand to earn. Now that Hallmark has shifted the conversation from “send an e-card” to “talk to Hallmark about gift certificates,” Hallmark has a chance to sell these consumers on why a gift certificate might be a remarkable gift. And many of these sneezers—suitably motivated, rewarded, and educated—will go ahead and send one.
Of course, this promotion doesn’t hit a home run unless recipients of the gift certificates start sending gift certificates as well.
Isn’t a million points a lot to give away? Exactly. It’s Purple.
When the Cow Looks for a Job
So far, we’ve talked about what companies should do. But what about you? Can you apply this thinking to your job search?
Odds are that the last time you switched jobs, you used a resume. Following conventional wisdom, you may have sent it to hundreds or thousands of employers. You may have posted it online or e-mailed it in an effort to “network” your way to a new job.
All of this effort is really nothing but advertising. Advertising in a way that’s very different from buying TV ads, but also very similar. After all, your resume is likely to land on the desk of someone with no interest whatsoever in you or what you’re up to. Worse, it’s unlikely that this strategy will lead to much word of mouth.
There’s another way. You’ve probably guessed it: Be exceptional. Remarkable people with remarkable careers seem to switch jobs with far less effort. Remarkable people often don’t even have a resume. Instead, they rely on sneezers who are quick to recommend them when openings come up. Remarkable people are often recruited from jobs they love to jobs they love even more.
The secret doesn’t lie in the job-seeking technique. It has to do with what these people do when they’re not looking for a job. These Purple Cows do an outrageous job. They work on high-profile projects. These people take risks, often resulting in big failures. These failures rarely lead to a dead end, though. They’re not really risks, after all. Instead, they just increase the chances that these people will get an even better project next time.
If you’re thinking about being a Purple Cow, the time to do it is when you’re not looking for a job.
In your career, even more than for a brand, being safe is risky. The path to lifetime job security is to be remarkable.
References available upon request? Nonsense. Your references are your resume. A standard resume is nothing but an opportunity for a prospective employer to turn you down. A sheaf of over-the-top references, on the other hand, begs for a meeting.
Visit www.monster.com. Millions of résumes, all in a pile, all waiting for someone to find them. If you’re in that pile, it’s not a good place to be. Before you start looking for a job, consider what you could do today so you never have to worry about that.
Case Study: Tracey the Publicist
So my friend Tracey quit her job at a publicity firm to set up her own shop. Following conventional wisdom, she sent out hundreds of form letters to hundreds of marketing directors all over the Northeast. This is awfully expensive advertising, and of course, it didn’t work very well.
Any marketing directors who need a PR firm probably already have one. If they were looking for a new one, it would take far more than an unsolicited FedEx package to get them to pick up the phone and call Tracey.
What to do?
After talking with Tracey, I suggested that she focus on the narrowest possible niche. Her background was in pharmaceuticals, so we picked that. In fact, we went way further—to plastic surgeons. Tracey decided to focus obsessively on being the world’s best publicist to plastic surgeons. If pharmaceutical companies need to reach this audience in the most effective way, they’ll need to call her. She knows all the journals, all the
Of course, this promotion doesn’t hit a home run unless recipients of the gift certificates start sending gift certificates as well.
Isn’t a million points a lot to give away? Exactly. It’s Purple.
When the Cow Looks for a Job
So far, we’ve talked about what companies should do. But what about you? Can you apply this thinking to your job search?
Odds are that the last time you switched jobs, you used a resume. Following conventional wisdom, you may have sent it to hundreds or thousands of employers. You may have posted it online or e-mailed it in an effort to “network” your way to a new job.
All of this effort is really nothing but advertising. Advertising in a way that’s very different from buying TV ads, but also very similar. After all, your resume is likely to land on the desk of someone with no interest whatsoever in you or what you’re up to. Worse, it’s unlikely that this strategy will lead to much word of mouth.
There’s another way. You’ve probably guessed it: Be exceptional. Remarkable people with remarkable careers seem to switch jobs with far less effort. Remarkable people often don’t even have a resume. Instead, they rely on sneezers who are quick to recommend them when openings come up. Remarkable people are often recruited from jobs they love to jobs they love even more.
The secret doesn’t lie in the job-seeking technique. It has to do with what these people do when they’re not looking for a job. These Purple Cows do an outrageous job. They work on high-profile projects. These people take risks, often resulting in big failures. These failures rarely lead to a dead end, though. They’re not really risks, after all. Instead, they just increase the chances that these people will get an even better project next time.
If you’re thinking about being a Purple Cow, the time to do it is when you’re not looking for a job.
In your career, even more than for a brand, being safe is risky. The path to lifetime job security is to be remarkable.
References available upon request? Nonsense. Your references are your resume. A standard resume is nothing but an opportunity for a prospective employer to turn you down. A sheaf of over-the-top references, on the other hand, begs for a meeting.
Visit www.monster.com. Millions of résumes, all in a pile, all waiting for someone to find them. If you’re in that pile, it’s not a good place to be. Before you start looking for a job, consider what you could do today so you never have to worry about that.
Case Study: Tracey the Publicist
So my friend Tracey quit her job at a publicity firm to set up her own shop. Following conventional wisdom, she sent out hundreds of form letters to hundreds of marketing directors all over the Northeast. This is awfully expensive advertising, and of course, it didn’t work very well.
Any marketing directors who need a PR firm probably already have one. If they were looking for a new one, it would take far more than an unsolicited FedEx package to get them to pick up the phone and call Tracey.
What to do?
After talking with Tracey, I suggested that she focus on the narrowest possible niche. Her background was in pharmaceuticals, so we picked that. In fact, we went way further—to plastic surgeons. Tracey decided to focus obsessively on being the world’s best publicist to plastic surgeons. If pharmaceutical companies need to reach this audience in the most effective way, they’ll need to call her. She knows all the journals, all the
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