******
Things are picking up! Soon you may not have time to phone source to fill your hard-to-fill positions. When that happy event happens in your world, call the phone sourcing experts at TechTrak 513 899 9628
There are three things people who achieve massive success have in common. Do these three things if you want to be one of them:
1. Be an explorer. Question. Tweak.
2. Invest in yourself. It’s your most important asset. ASK for directions.
3. Implement. Do something with what you’ve uncovered and learned.
“Implementation draws the bold line between massive success and failure.”
Read the whole thing here.
BOOK OF SCRIPTICALS Volume I and II are ready for purchase!
I received this notice in my email this am from About.com Scott Allen's column)
Gather
Great content. Gather focused on appealing to writers and has attracted a number of excellent writers, including a large number of published authors, to the site.
Revenue sharing. Unlike most of the popular sites built on user-generated content, Gather shares its ad revenues with the content producers and active members who generate all those page views and click on all those ads. You earn points for most of your activities - a trivial amount for posting a comment or rating an article, more for writing articles that get well read and well rated. You can use the points earned to purchase gift certificates ranging from luxuries like cruises and Omaha Steaks to the immensely practical Home Depot. If you earn enough points you can get cash instead.
When you join, (it’s easy!) invite me!
maureen at techtrak.com
AND, if you need to sharpen your writing skills:
Step 1 Open Your Eyes and Ears
Step 2 Write it Down
Step 3 Write it Out
Step 4 Develop Your Own System
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
The BOOK OF SCRIPTICALS is ready for purchase! Telephone names sourcing scripts THAT WORK!
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
The notion of providing custom content at the set-top box is the Holy Grail for TV/Cable advertisers as is personalized content for media is to, well, the media industry. Blogs are no different.
You may have noticed that The Recruiting Edge has installed Criteo's AutoRoll Widget. What this widget will do is "provide [our] readers with a very entertaining blogroll, as it is based on other readers with similar reading habits. Moreover, another huge benefit is that [once you install the widget] you will receive highly qualified incoming traffic to your blog. Indeed, as other similar blogs display your blog on their AutoRoll, they will bring you new readers with a strong affinity for your blog. Last but not least, you will also get a complete private reporting module that contains valuable statistics on impressions and click-through rates to and from your own blog."
In other words, it will enable you to track your blog's traffic and perhaps offer more interesting and topical content to your readers.
So please click here to head over to Criteo and install their free AutoRoll Widget.
'Find Out Who Your Friends Are'
by Tracy Lawrence, Tim McGraw, Kenny Chesney.
Lyrics:
Run your car off the side of the road
Get stuck in a ditch way out in the middle of nowhere
Get yourself in a bind lose the shirt off your back
Need a floor need a couch need a bus fare
This is where the rubber meets the road
This is where the cream is gonna rise
This is what you really didn't know
This is where the truth don't lie
{Chorus}
You find out who you're friends are
Somebody's gonna drop everything
Run out and crank up their car
Hit the gas get there fast
Never stop to think 'what's in it for me' or 'it's way too far'
They just show on up with their big old heart
You find out who your friends are
Everybody wants to slap your back
wants to shake your hand
when you're up on top of that mountain
But let one of those rocks give way then you slide back down look up
and see who's around then
This ain't where the road comes to an end
This ain't where the bandwagon stops
This is just one of those times when
A lot of folks jump off
{Chorus}
When the water's high
When the weather's not so fair
When the well runs dry
Who's gonna be there
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
The BOOK OF SCRIPTICALS is ready for purchase! Telephone names sourcing scripts THAT WORK!
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
Amitai Givertz points us at this article regarding Free Speech in one of his comments over on recruiting.com. It’s called "Free Speech and Censorship in Online Communities", is written by David Teten and Scott Allen and further asks and answers: "Is free speech an absolute right in online communities? Yes, but community owners have the right to establish and enforce codes of conduct."
Edge found it interesting in light of all the recent brouhaha over on the Yahoo! group Sourcers Unleashed on the subject...
"...it is interesting that this debate is drawing so much comment from so few members of what is still a fledgling community. Why is it that when the debate gets serious and deals with substantive issues those who are so vocal in their opposition to being "censored" choose to remain silent?" Amitai's looking for your comments here.
In an effort to extend the time veterans have to take advantage of their GI Bill benefits, Washington Democratic Senator Maria Cantwell introduced the GI Bill for Life Act that would eliminate the 10-year time limit placed on GI Bill benefits.
Read the whole thing (and take action) here.
Katrina Fancazzista stepped into the phone booth, thumbed the calling card, dialed the 201 long distance number in Hoboken, NJ and waited.
“Hello?...Hello, hello?” came the anxious female voice on the other end, and right as she was to about to hang up Katrina spoke, surreptitiously, “You alone? Can you talk?”
Bella’s heart rate surged as she looked around, sighing as she realized that she was indeed alone, Rob having left just moments before. Beads of sweat rolled down the back of her neck as she reached for her robe and slipped it on.
“Yes, I can tawk,” she murmured in a low pitch. “Why you cawllin’ me hee-ah?” she demandingly squeeked, realizing the call was coming in on the apartment phone. She remembered one of the first things Tony taught her about the business – “Nevah, and I mean NEVAH, use a phone dat can be traced. If I evah find out dat yooz or any udder membah of dah bidness ah usin’ a landline, well, you ain’t gonna be high fivin’ – heh, heh, moah like a high foah en-a-kawtah.”
“I lost your cell phone number - the new one - sorry,” came the quick apology. “You get things set up with Tony?”
“No...not yet,” Isabella hissed on the down-low into the phone. “Yaw gonna hafta’ be patient! I tol-ja I’ll get it done!”
“I need you to get Tony to that conference. You know that. We’re depending on you - my attorney and business partner at NAPS said we have until Tuesday to get it done. When will his reservation be set?”
“Katrina, I told yah, how many toyms have you cawlled me about this? Like...toity? Quit awlready! Awl get it done!” Isabella snapped, annoyed at being made late for her nail appointment. She was looking forward to a new full French set and her weekly Brazilian waxing.
“I gawt ta go!” Isabella cried and was about to hang up when she heard Katrina say, “And the other thing - did you get the other thing sent?”
“Wawt? The UA directory? I sent that tah ya last week!”
“No, no...”
“Wawt? The ASME awg directory? I sentcha that at the same toym!”
“No...”
“Well WAWT?” Isabella counted off, in her head, the last few directories she’d sent that Katrina had demanded of her.
“The ASEE awg? The IEEE directory? WAWT THEN? I sent awl those!” Isabella almost screamed into the phone.
“No, no, I got all those - the new one - the Sourcers Guild - it’s already at almost 400 members - you get that yet?”
“I’m workin’ on it - I cawlled Mawreen but she says she’s not so anxious to give it up – she says she’s awlready given up plenty.
“I think she’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing. I really do - she’s as dangerous as Tony.”
“Mawreen Shawreeb? Awe you kiddin’ me oh what?” Bella began laughing, thinking to herself, “What is with all these unstable people in recruiting? Afraid of Tony, shaw, I can see that, but Mawreen? What have I gotten myself into?”
“Maureen isn’t the brains in that organization. Sure she has a voice like a songbird on the first Spring day but it’s her husband Bob – everyone calls him ‘Big Nate’ - who runs the operation. I heard that once he ate 37 Nathan’s hot dogs in a single sitting before co-opting the entire finance org chart from one of the Big Three New York City investment banks without even burping or excusing himself to visit the men’s room. Big Nate is the problem there. She does nothing without his approval - did you know that?” Katrina asked.
“No, and I don’t care!” Katrina cried. “Stop. I gawta go! I’ll see wawt I can do to get the Guild list. I’ll try to weasel it out of somebody in there.” Bella looked at her alarm clock – whew, she thought, I my actually get off this call in less than 45 minutes.
“That would be most appreciated,” Katrina soothed, her voice turning to sugary sap. “What did Maureen say? Is she going to speak at SourceCon?”
“She did’n say – I think she has her hands pretty full right now gettin’ the Guild up and runnin’ – she did say that,” Isabella retorted. “That Mawreen shaw knows howta build out an org!” Isabella paused for a brief moment before imploring “I gotta go!”
“Okay – call me – see what you can do!” Isabella heard Katrina’s insistent voice trail off as she hung the phone up and headed to the bathroom for a fast shower. Feeling the hot water wash from the crown of her head down and all over her body, she wondered, as she lathered soap slowly down her left arm before moving it across her chest and down between her [CENSORED BY BLOGGER.COM], if she was ever going to be rid of this monkey on her back.
She knew they had her stone cold on charges stemming from a sting she’d been caught up in at the first “sourcing” job she did for Tony’s agency – a Florida operation for whom she’d answered a Receptionist Wanted ad. It turned out not only was she supposed to answer the phone for their dwindling directory business but also do organizational build outs on companies wanting information to sell to insurance brokers. The sting started when the Feds contracted with her company to obtain the names, titles and phone numbers of controllers and accounting managers at specific target companies that they provided. They had said they needed the names fast and the telephone sourcer they usually used was out sick so she devised a ruse where she was posing as someone from the California Franchise Tax board, calling regarding new changes that would effect their returns. She was given the names without question and she passed them along to her boss who passed them into the arms of the sting operator. Sorry thing was, they had her on tape; nobody, not even Tony, had ever told her it was illegal to represent yourself as being from a governmental body.
“Bella, I nevah told yah ‘bout dah screwy law ‘cause yah needed ta learn fawh yahself.”
What Tony was doing was testing her; had she “sung” to Tony’s plant in Fed, Tony would have hung her out to dry. Instead, the investigation miraculously ended. Tony always had it all figured out.
Isabella was now in the first week of her biggest assignment to date; the DiNaymo family was the biggest sourcing operation in the NY/NJ area. It had counterparts in California, Nevada and Florida with smaller competitors in Texas and Louisiana. And this didn’t even include the cheap labor that made up the Indian Names Sourcing Cartel. Bella heard there was trouble brewing in the Pacific Northwest between warring factions and she’d heard she’d be heading there next.
“If I make it out alive,” she wondered to herself. She’d seen Tony’s ruthlessness firsthand.
Three nights before she’d witnessed the torture warning a DiNaymo telephone sourcer had received for working a job “outside” the Agency. In the back room of the pork store, was this fellow down on the floor on his knees, pleading for his life when Tony erupted like Mt. Vesuvius, stepping on the four right digits of the pitiful man’s right hand, his dialing hand, saying as he did so, “Whaddaya mean ya din’ tink youse was doin’ nothin’ wrong? Nothin’ happens ‘roun here without me gettin’ the lion’s share – get dat? Va fungoo! See if you can dial a phone with your thumb you sfacime!” Isabella heard what sounded like all ten phalanges crunching – it was a sound she would not forget.
Tony actually seemed elated by his tap dance on the ciuccio’s hand, the same way a runner feels after a long hard workout. He took her back to her apartment that night (“Hey Bella, you gonna be mi cumare, si?”), opened up some Chianti, put his Dean Martin “That’s Amore” CD on, and played pastry chef games with some Zabaglione. He didn’t leave until past 4.
He was becoming more and more demanding, she was producing, and her power was growing. To a twenty-three year old, it was pretty heady stuff.
Recruiting needs to find some mojo!
There’s a good story on Fast Company today: Clan of the Caveman/When the Martin Agency won the $580 million Wal-Mart account, it proved that smart advertising is about more than geckos - it's about the numbers.
The article is about how the advertising Martin Agency - the ad shop that has channeled Neanderthal angst so successfully for GEICO - got its mojo back. It “is not one of some transformational epiphany or monumental business decision. It is a tale of adaptive success, the power of chipping away at a problem until a razor-sharp idea emerges. It's about letting go of industry habit and doing what works now. That may sound simple, but only from the outside does it look so easy a caveman could do it…best efforts often emerged from smaller, more-entrepreneurial groups that were closer to the ground. So in July 2004, he decided to back off, to devolve power to the teams below him. He restructured his creative department, hiring 8 new players and naming 11 people to creative-director posts--a move that was radical in an industry where one or two alpha dogs usually run the show... the new teams would get a chance to work on multiple accounts, parachuting in where they were needed, or where they simply had a good idea to offer. By freeing each team to showcase its ideas in a more individual, immediate fashion, he essentially multiplied the firm's creative voices...giving the brands that kind of voice is different than what usually goes on. It was as if Hughes had transformed Martin into a confederation of mini agencies, rather than a single midsize one."
Reading through it I kept thinking about the applications this model had for names sourcing. At the risk of calling down the anti-poaching advocates upon this initiative, I noticed that this company “…was founded in 1965 by a couple of local ad executives, David Martin and George Woltz. Early on, they poached a rival's brightest talent, Harry Jacobs, who, in turn, lured a young writer, Mike Hughes, to the company. Under the Jacobs-Hughes team, the agency quickly got noticed, with Advertising Age ranking it as one of the top-10 creative shops--in 1981."
“…they poached…who, in turn, lured…” I mean, it doesn’t get any spicier than that now, does it? Who can stand the heat? Who can afford to resist the challenge any longer?
Read the whole thing here.
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
The BOOK OF SCRIPTICALS is ready for purchase! Telephone names sourcing scripts THAT WORK!
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
The NYTimes has a fascinating article today on cyberterrorism. They call it “cyberwar”.
CRASH BANG Governments are readying themselves for the Big One, an attack on computer systems.
The technology allows remote monitoring and control of operations like manufacturing production lines and civil works projects like dams. So security experts envision terrorists at a keyboard remotely shutting down factory floors or opening a dam’s floodgates to devastate cities downstream.
China, security experts believe, has long probed United States networks. According to a 2007 Defense Department annual report to Congress, China’s military has invested heavily in electronic countermeasures and defenses against attack, and concepts like “computer network attack, computer network defense and computer network exploitation.”
According to the report, the Chinese Army sees computer network operations “as critical to achieving ‘electromagnetic dominance’ ” — whatever that is — early in a conflict.
The United States is arming up, as well. Robert Elder, commander of the Air Force Cyberspace Command, told reporters in Washington at a recent breakfast that his newly formed command, which defends military data, communications and control networks, is learning how to disable an opponent’s computer networks and crash its databases.
“We want to go in and knock them out in the first round,” he said, as reported on Military.com.
Again, read the whole fascinatin' "When Computers Attack" here.
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
BOOK OF SCRIPTICALS Volume I is ready for purchase! Telephone names sourcing scriots THAT WORK!
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
Markos Moulitsas, 35, is best known simply as "Kos," a pioneer of the Netroots movement of Democratic online activists. His blog is the eighth most popular on the Internet, and he's also the author of Crashing the Gate: Netroots, Grassroots, and the Rise of People-Powered Politics.
“Because there are now so many more millions of people who are being engaged by politics online than in the last presidential election, our ability to control or fight back against media narratives is much stronger. We can create our own stories and push back against the ones that are BS. To me, the beauty of this medium is that there are so many centers of power in Netroots that no one can ever really dominate."
FastCompany article.
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/sourcersguild/
FREE MEMBERSHIP 'til July 31/07
BOOK OF SCRIPTICALS Volume I is ready for purchase!
http://www.techtrak.com/magicmethod/purchase.htm
Take the Polls in Sourcers Guild - it's the easiest way to see, at a glance, who you are and what you do!
We will either find a way or make one. ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
www.techtrak.com/magicmethod/magicmethod
Learn how to telephone source
Featuring Macho Man Jeffrey Altman
WINNER of the FUNNIEST Names Sourcing Story Contest!
Web Site: www.recruitinganimalshow.com
Call to talk: 646 652-2754
Listen on: Windows Media Player (click icon on site)
Hey everybody, this guy started out in presidential politics. He's got a Social Work degree. He leads groups that return men to their innate masculinity. And, he's been a recruiter for a very long time. What a power-house. What a power-packed agenda!
Be there - the Edge will be!
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
You’ve spent long, arduous hours digging names out of some specific companies - names that hold specific titles that are doing the job you’d like them to do for your company. Now your recruiter (surprise!) asks you, “Have you TALKED to these people? Are they INTERESTED?”
Some sourcers are not only charged with the incredibly difficult and time-consuming front-end research on projects to identify names but also with doing “advance interest” profiling of these same potential candidates for their recruiters. Personally I think it’s just too much to ask of your names sourcers and you’re running the risk of burning these uniquely talented souls out and running them out of your organizations to kinder, gentler pastures but hey, for those of you who so choose, I have the following advice for your sourcers.
I know many of you are not only charged with names sourcing but you also have the responsibility of "profiling" that name you source for "advance interest" for your recruiters.
It's critically important that this "first call" to that truly passive candidate - the one you've identified through names sourcing into a company - is well handled.
To do this we must understand what this "potential" candidate represents. He represents "opportunity" - not an assurance that he is going to respond positively to a canned message prepared by your recruiting department - a job explanation that is too long, too detailed, too difficult to express on this first call.
"This is Maureen Sharib - you've been identified as someone XYZ is very interested in regarding an open position they have -"
"I'm not looking - how'd you get my name?"
"XYZ understands you're not looking. XYZ has identified you as someone they're hoping could help direct them on an open position they have. Do you have a few minutes to talk?"
"I guess - what is this about?"
At this point it's up to you and your skills as a profiler (personally I think you're changing into your recruiter outfit here but it’s up to you to defend your original job agreements) to present the opportunity in a light that engages them and encourages them to speak further with you. You should not be looking to close a deal on this first call - you should be looking to make friends, test the waters, put your finger to the wind.
Remember, eight out of ten of these people you call on this "first call" are actually not looking or maybe not even thinking about looking for another job. Until you call with your "opportunity".
There is no guarantee this truly "passive" candidate will be "interested" immediately in your opportunity. Remember, 10-20% of them won't be truly "passive": 1-2 out of 10 will naturally be found "to be looking" for other opportunities in the population at any one time. Maybe more. Something like sales is a notoriously "movaroundable" bunch. But there is a very good chance that 3-5 of them will be interested enough IN THAT FIRST CALL, if that first call is handled properly, to LISTEN. And that's what you should be looking for at this stage. Be on the lookout for those that may "not be interested AT THIS TIME". There may, and probably will, come a time when they will be. That's why this is a process of making friends FIRST and then pipelining some of these people for FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES.
This is a numbers game. You must engage your recruiters in this concept and get their “buy-in” to the process. They must be willing to accept your hand-off of a candidate and understand how to take it from where you left it. Many staffing organizations do not think this critically or are not trained in how to develop a truly vibrant candidate pipeline. You have to decide where you fit in best – if it’s not where you are at present consider moving on – there are more and more organizations these days “seeing the light” who will highly value your services and offer you the accommodations you need to help them as a names sourcer.
Getting back to results, I guess what it boils down to is that you will receive the reaction that you EXPECT to receive. The tenor of your voice, how you sound, the way you present yourself are the critical elements at this early stage. People have a few seconds to decide if they want to talk to you. They decide very quickly if they LIKE you or not. If you don't sound like someone they "want" to talk to, you're lost. If your delivery is one in which you sound like a quick buck artist or a "get rich" schemer, they're going to hear it and it's going to turn them OFF. Work on your deliveries for best results in this area.
You have a vitally important service (opportunity) to offer – be proud of it and carry its worth in your delivery. Understand that your call may be just the ticket they're waiting on out of wherever they are at the moment. Your call is more likely to be welcomed than rejected if you approach it correctly. Your own listening skills are paramount here. People DO speak to total strangers; they DO listen to opportunity; they DO react positively to what makes sense in the marketplace. Sometimes it's what's NOT BEING said that speaks the loudest volume. It's up to you to hear it and you can't hear it if you're jabbering nervously away, looking for "yes" and "no" answers right off the bat.
NOTE: When you're profiling you're not sourcing. If this is throwing a monkey-wrench into what it is you like to do, consider having someone that follows up on your sourced names do the profiling - a "Candidate Developer". The Poll that's now running in the newly formed (and already approaching 300 members!) Sourcers Guild allows people to identify themselves as Telephone Sourcers, Internet Sourcers or Candidate Developers - a surprising number (for me) chose the last, with the added encouragement of "Give me the name and I'll bring 'em in!"
Check the poll out in there and add yourself to the mix. It's the BEST WAY to get "found", if'n you know what I mean and I know you do!
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
“What da’effin heck is goin’ on heeah?”
Tony Sourcerano's just sipped coffee misted heavily across his 27-inch LCD computer screen as the Glock symbol he used as a mouse pointer helped scroll the Flash scheme that talked of a sourcing challenge at SourceCon2007.
“Hey Bella, what is dis? A friggen’ professional conference or an ad for da ASPCA? What’s next – find Rob’s pussy one en two? Fuhgedaboudit!”
Tony shook his head and wiped the coffee spittle from his chin, a low pitched growl coming from his gullet. It scared his new sourcing assistant, Isabella DeVarona, a luscious 23-year old who wore lipstick so red it made even Tony take his eyes off her red miniskirt that was so short it made no difference whether she wore anything else underneath. Yes, Tony said time and again, “Isabella, you got what we like ta call…it. Nevah fuhget dat you gotta use "it" whenevah you can.”
And Isabella wasn’t afraid of using it. When Tony stopped in at a Panera Breads – something he never did before (“Gimme a break! When they foist opened up a joint in Joisey, I thought they coulda been family but den I found out dey was from friggen’
So Isabella DeVarona found herself as the first associate of the Sourcerano’s Admin Assistant placement agency, where, in her first assignment, she became the Company’s right hand person – actually it was more the President’s right hand that was active.
Three days later, she quit – org chart and telephone directory in hand, leaving behind the President sipping scotch through a straw; the company "continuing" to use Da Agency for its temp staffing needs. And "Bella" moved right up the corporate flagpole, right into the heart of Sourcerano’s business. Just poifect.
“He Bel – evah hoid a' dis guy, Rob? What is he, a friggin’ animal luvah, or a recruitah kind-guy?”
Isabella just smiled because she knew – she really knew about Rob…and about SourceCon2007. And so did Tony (“Do you tink he tinks dat I’m-a spostata oh what?”).
“We have two ears and one mouth so that we can listen twice as much as we speak.” ~ Epictetus
Listening yesterday to Animal's radio show (to “Call to talk” next Wednesday, noon, dial-in: 646 652-2754) I waited a couple times as the Show Host (Animal) asked for clarification/interpretation to a remark the Guest (Ami Givertz) had made; nobody answered and the show’s host continued, undaunted:
“Ideas? Anyone?”
Nothing. Dead silence. A black hole. Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I volunteer what I think had just been said, thinking audience participation was being called for and not wanting my friends to feel like they were floundering. Not once did I respond, but several times throughout the show, wondering why nobody else was “responding” or “contributing” to the string but apparently, instead, only were sending text messages through to the host furiously, who was putting them through occasionally (I guess some were pretty insistent) while simultaneously editing the texted thoughts for audio delivery.
After the show, it turns out the guest had been highly offended by the context of the show and to tell you the truth I feel somewhat responsible and wish to take this opportunity to apologize to Ami Givertz, whom I hold in high esteem and consider to be one of the brightest and most alert minds we have in the Recruitopshere universe. I hope Ami reconsiders his vow to never listen to the Animal show again; surely a great mind and cogent voice would drop beneath a most salient radar.
Here’s the lesson though, for those of you wondering when I’m going to exploit this opportunity and take it ‘round to sourcing. Many, many years ago I attended an all-girls school heralded by the Sisters of St. Ursula. One of my favorite classes was Art; it offered a respite in the grinding and demanding schedule and many times, in good weather, allowed some of us an hour’s dalliance on the beautiful grounds of the convent academy, copying out our interpretations of the many pieces of holy statuary and/or natural beauty on the property. There was a small garden one of the sisters kept and on the garden gate was a sign. It said, “Speak only if you can improve the silence."
As I’ve grown older I’ve enshrined that mantra up behind my eyeballs somewhere; however, the challenge to obey the warning sign many times eludes me. Blinking solemnly as it does in the dark recesses, sometimes it gets eclipsed by my mouth, which has always had a tendency to override all systems. That it did in some measure, yesterday, in the company of friends and I am afraid I over reached my boundary.
However, when I’m working; when I’m telephone sourcing, I am very careful about what I say. Believing firmly that “less is more” in this Art & Science profession of telephone names sourcing I watch what I say and listen carefully to the silences. I’ve alluded to this subject before in my writing – the art of listening to what’s NOT being said and the science of interpreting it. I think it bears repeating, especially, if what some of my colleagues say, the staffing industry has a fast-revolving door of participation and many who heard it before are gone, replaced by fresh eyes and ears.
One of the challenges to cold calling, many people think, is knowing what to say. I disagree, it’s knowing what NOT to say. Many times when I’m on the phone waiting for a Gatekeeper response, or holding my breath as to what an Administrative Assistant is going to say, fighting the urge to writch in my seat during the uncomfortable silence I am met with when I ask an Engineering Manager to count (and name) his team off to me, I purposely and slowly and silently, start counting. “One two, three,” my count goes, “Four, five, six,” it continues. Whatever it is I have to count to I do so as to avoid saying something. Because sometimes, in a conversation’s critical point, and this is especially true in the sales profession, whoever speaks NEXT loses.
You know what I mean. I’m talkin’ about that uncomfortable silence, that awkward pause, that clumsy interlude during which so much can be gained or lost. That space where you want to say something, anything, to forestall the event that is what you’re really most afraid of – failure. We dither, we dance, we wither, we prance, we say anything, anything to avoid that silence and this is where many of us fail in telephone sourcing. It is the patient and observant soul that will win out this contest; the self-possessed and emotionally-in-control individual that will best this situation.
“For fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” ~ Alexander Pope
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
“Wit all due respect, you got no friggen’ idear what it’s like ta be numbah one. Every decision you make affects every facet of every utta friggen’ ting. It’s too much ta deal wit almost. And in da end you’re completely alone wit it.” -Tony Sourcerano
The pressures of running ‘da family’ have taken their toll on Tony. As the acting boss of the DiNaymo, Anthony Sourcerano heads the most powerful names sourcing organization in the entire New York Metro area. A second-generation sourcer, he’s the son of the late Johnny Boy Sourcerano, a DiNaymo capo who brought his boy into his profession and showed him the ropes – both the good and the bad. After Johnny’s death, Tony was mentored by his old man’s closest associates, I. L. Killya (a great sourcer who was difficult to get along with), Artie Fishul (“My names ain’t yours ta give.”), and Pussy Bamalisteo (“Sometimes you gotta do tings you don’t wanna...If ya lookin’ for a poipus in sourcin’, doin’ what’s right is ya poipus.”), as well as Johnny’s older sister, Anita “Junior” Sourcerano, the only woman in “da family” who was ever allowed to use the telephone for reasons other than cooking, cleaning, and making more Sourceranos.
Continuing with “what Shally said” in the original article referred to in this series…
“Additionally, a PRA talent acquisition strategy must be aligned with those long-term business goals. Imagine an organization capable of developing pipelines encompassing the top one percent of talent well into the next five years of forecasted investments and career direction? Recruiting would no longer be limited to “who you can bring us today,” but instead “who you can bring us tomorrow, that will have a sizeable impact on our long-term strategy.” Top global companies sometimes think this way at the most senior level, but visionaries don’t just come in C and V sizes. They can start early with the company as individual contributors, team leaders, managers or directors, and grow into roles where they make big waves. What if instead of an occasional accident, this was a planned strategy?”
Our same sourcer continues our saga and shows Shally to be the prescient being he is:
Maureen, again you speak my language. I can not tell you HOW many times, at most any company I've worked for, I've sourced a potential candidate who needed romancing and petting for a while until we could have an ideal spot for him/her. Whether it's a VP, director, or manager – the company usually had no clue and a lot of times no interest in the romance. If the company wasn’t currently “bleeding red” with an “open req” which required this person's skills, the companies just didn't want to bother. It’s a Great Leader who realizes this gem I've uncovered and is willing to romance them until the appropriate time arises. Honestly, I used to try and train them on how to romance but I gave up and everyone loses. Shame, but true. I had a couple Great Leaders who would romance them and hire them for “bench strength”, and create the position so as to maximize this person's potential and HIRED THEM immediately but this is rare, really rare!
To be cont’d…
Looking for a talented Names Sourcer or for Trainers to teach you or yours how to names source? Look in the Database section of the Sourcers Guild!
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer and Sourcers Guild Guide
513 899 9628
maureen at techtrak.com
You must read this...but first put away that George Forman Grill.
http://wendi-aarons.blogspot.com/2007/03/as-seen-on-mcsweeneysnet.html
Look! It’s the Big Game Hunter!
Immortalized by the wildly creative Jim Stroud:
This isn’t the first time, either. Look here too.
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
What does your BUZZCLOUD look like? Here's mine:
check out the Maureen Sharib's Magic Method of Telephone swicki at eurekster.com
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
FREE MEMBERSHIP in the Sourcers Guild until July 31, 2007!
Join right now – don’t wait! If you join before July 31, you will receive FREE membership for the remainder of 2007 in the Sourcers Guild, the only of its kind organization in existence tasked to safeguard and develop the names sourcing industry.
Much has already been accomplished in the development of this industry, thanks to many of you. In gratitude, the Sourcing Guild is offering FREE MEMBERSHIP to all sourcers active in the industry.
Join here.
After August 1, 2007, membership fees will start at $125 per year. Don’t miss out on joining this organization for FREE today and enjoying the benefits of membership for the remainder of 2007!
SOMETHING FOR EVERYONE
Employers! If you have a sourcing job you'd like to post FOR FREE send it to maureen at techtrak.com and it will be posted for all members of the Sourcing Guild to see!
I look forward to an exciting future for the Sourcers Guild. With all of your help, we can make this a strong and viable organization that can represent itself at the table with a forceful and meaningful mission.
“We will either find a way or make one.” ~ Hannibal
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer / Trainer and now
Guild Guide!
Sourcers Guild
WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT
Jeff Altman, the Big Game Hunter, is the GRAND PRIZE WINNER with his FUNNIEST TELEPHONE NAMES SOURCING CONTEST entry to the 2nd RecruitingBlogs Contest Ever! He receives, as the GRAND PRIZE WINNER:
ONE YEAR of the Fordyce Letter, the seminal publication for our industry
ONE YEAR access to the MagicMethod, the online telephone names sourcing training course
An ORIGINAL CARTOON by Jim Stroud, immortalizing him in the Sourcing Hall of Fame
The runner-ups were:
Noah Roth
Cheryl Johnson
Brenda DePas
Each of them will receive the first edition of the Book of Scripticals - a dozen real-time telephone sourcing scripts.
Note: Noah, Cheryl and Brenda, please send your contact info to bob at techtrak.com to receive access to the Book of Scripticals.
Thank you ALL for your participation - each of you submitted clever and entertaining tales!
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer/Trainer513 899 9628
Pleasure:
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience; he was tingling with pleasure"
Entering the kitchen, I started, “I wish I didn’t love you-”
“Yeah, yeah, but you do,” Bob interrupted, finishing my sentence with one of the more creative love coos I started singing to him about five years ago. “And I’m not a lot of things, but I’m not a lot of THINGS,” he asserted, echoing another one of my affirmations of my devotion to him as he filled the glass in his hand with ice from the front of the refrigerator.
“Yeah, you’re not a lot of things – I’m glad you brought that up -” I started in before he interrupted.
“Don’t start,” came the warning grumble I know so well. “I’m not in the mood – I didn’t sleep well – didn’t you hear me tossing and turning all night?”
“When? After you came to bed at two and before I got up at four? Are you kidding? How many times do I have to tell you, you have to go to bed when you get tired and not let yourself fall asleep in that damn chair! No wonder you don’t sleep well – you get up in the middle of the night to “go to bed”! You deserve to not sleep well!” I called after him, standing at the coffee pot pouring myself a cup of coffee as he headed to the table with his cold drink.
“My knees are killing me – I sit funny on that tractor – we need a bigger one – next rainy day I’m going to the tractor dealer and buy one.”
“You’ve been saying that for two years, Bob. When are you going to do it?”
“Well I can’t decide – it’s between the Deere and the Kubota-”
“Which one do you like?” I interrupted.
“The Deere – the Kubota’s nice but it doesn’t have a warranty – you know I won’t buy a Big Ticket item like that without one,” he mumbled, half to himself, like he was trying to convince himself.
“You should drive them,” I encouraged. “Why don’t you-”
“I hate to spend the money – you think we should?” he said, quickly, looking at me, hopefully. I could feel the decision was in my hands, and I know he wants one but he’s selfless to the point of not indulging himself.
“If you want it – you obviously need it – get it. We have the money,” I told him, for like the thirtieth time on this same discussion. “Why do you hesitate so?”
“I dunno – I just hate to spend the money,” he repeated. “It’s like $25,000. You think we really need it? $25,000 for a tractor?”
“You gonna live again? What are you waiting for?” I challenged. “This is getting ridiculous – here we are – another growing season and you’re struggling with that LAWN TRACTOR that I told you was too small in the beginning…”
“Don’t start. I’m not in the mood – I don’t want to hear it,” he growled.
“Is that it? Because I told you so?”
“NO! That’s not it, you soul sucking harpy witch. Lay off me. I told you, I hate to spend the money,” he said again.
“NO YOU DON’T!” I accused. “You don’t want to admit you were wrong!” I went on, warming to my subject, watching carefully for his reaction.
“No, I hate to spend the money -you know what a cheap bastard I am!” calling the blame down upon himself.
“You may be a cheap bastard but I think you should do it,” I affirmed, with conviction.
“You really think so?” he looked at me, like a little boy about to get a new train set. I could see the light coming up in his eyes; I could feel his hopeful excitement.
“Yes, I do,” I told him. “In fact, I’ll go with you and I think we should go right away – those clouds look pretty dark to me,” I stated. “Let’s go before it starts to rain,” I said, getting up from the table to get my purse. “You ready?” I asked. Buster jumped to attention.
To be cont’d...
What does your BUZZCLOUD look like? Here's mine:
check out the Maureen Sharib's Magic Method of Telephone swicki at eurekster.com
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
Watch for the upcoming first release of the “Book of Scripticals” – actual telephone names sourcing scripts that WORK!
It took 3.6 million years to make a Project Manager. You have until Wednesday to find him. Call us.
Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.
Maureen Sharib is a seasoned telephone names sourcer, names sourcing since 1997. She and her husband Bob own the names sourcing firm TechTrak.com and Maureen telephone-names sources daily as well as teaches telephone-names sourcing in her online telephone names sourcing course "The Magic In The Method." She can be reached by email at Maureen at techtrak.com or by phone at (513) 899-9628. Maureen will come on-site to your company to teach telephone names sourcing to your sourcers.
SourcingSchool is coming – watch for details!
The winner and the runners-up of the "2nd Ever Recruiting Contest" - the "FUNNIEST Telephone Sourcing Story" will be announced today on the Recruiting Animal's RADIO SHOW at NOON Eastern Standard Time.
"Hear" Steve Levy tell who won ONE FREE YEAR of the Fordyce Letter, the seminal voice for our industry, and ONE FREE YEAR of the MagicMethod telephone names sourcing course! Also "hear" who the three runners-up are who each wins the soon-to-be-released first edition of the Book of Scripticals!
Don't miss "Harry and The Losers" that will feature Harry Joiner, the winner of last week's "1st Ever Recruiting Contest" and the losers of that same contest, a few of which who are brave enough to "show up" and face Animal's "music"!
Details:
Web Site: www.recruitinganimalshow.com
Call to talk: 646 652-2754
Listen on: Windows Media Player (click icon on site)
The Contest Question: What is the best recruiting lesson you've ever learned?
Harry Joiner won. So he's coming on the show to explain his ideas in more detail. And he's bringing some of The Losers with him (Heather Hartman, Pam McCaughton and Craig Silverman
The sourcer who contributed the last bit of fodder to our discussion also sent the following:
Okay, I discreetly put out the word that I was looking for a sourcing opportunity but I DIDN'T want to do contract. I'm a single mom with a mortgage. I also like the tightness of a corporate environment and I don't really like having to constantly FIND work. Too scary. My present company had an ad out on ERE.net the same week I started looking. Call it fate – call it justice but here they call it a Recruiting Research Analyst. I like the title better because I can honestly tell people I'm not a recruiter nor a headhunter. I'm just a silly 'ole analyst trying to help my company out 'cause I like the research bit. A bit more non-intrusive on an email.
Hee-hee. We have a Director-Boss, 3 Talent Managers (Recruiters), a Program Manager who manages all the processes, projects, etc. and ME! Oh, and one more – the extremely valuable Administrative Assistant – most of us couldn’t get out of our own ways without her help! She does much of the heavy lifting.
Now, we can't compare my present company to my former company ‘cause my former company is so big with zillions of people, tons of recruiters, etc. This is a brand new structure for my new company and so far, so good. The recruiters are tenured so they know their stuff. It's all female which was VERY scary because I am SOOO not catty. Everything is gelling really well for the team right now. They have NEVER had a dedicated sourcer so I get to set my own limits, rules, etc. I take 2 requisitions (of their choosing) from each talent manager, at any given time. So, I handle 6 reqs at one time. This is still new so bear with me here. I've only started here a few months ago. I tried to make it very clear that, like Maureen, I like the “'wham-bam, thank you ma'am” sourcing component and what I DO BEST is get in, get what I need, have no questions asked and take no prisoners. Wait, I do sort of take prisoners. Hee-hee.
My forte is finding them but not developing them. I don't want to make nice with possible candidates. I don't want them to really even know I exist. We're still deciding where my role starts and stops but what's critical is I now have a team that both listens and respects my opinions as a sourcer.
Overall, I don't believe many recruiters and HR peeps, get what a sourcer does. So now, on a typical job where I would have just found the people... now I have to make the 125 phone calls and 125 emails to these people. Then, you know how it goes: endless voicemails, gone for the day, on vacation, I was not at my computer, blah, blah, blah. So, AGAIN, it takes away from SOURCING. However, I work with solid recruiters who allow me to lead the candidate directly to them so I can further help them by getting on to the next call. Depending on the role, a sourcer should get the hidden names, verify the junk, and move on. Try explaining that to your corporate VP though. Good luck. Most just don't get it. So, if there is any way you can get your people to talk to Maureen, I advise it. There are some other good mentors out there but, I'm not very good at “convincing” people of things, hence, my dislike for candidate development. You might really be good at talking and convincing leadership. But, having worked for a Fortune 100 company who “wanted” to do sourcing, I can tell you it's an uphill battle. Oh, let me add this to the mix. Our SVP of Recruiting was from one of this country’s top leadership consulting and executive search services- even he DIDN'T GET IT.
To be cont’d…
Author’s note: I wouldn’t agree at all that she’s not very good at “convincing” people of things, would you?
Learn how to telephone names source like a pro!
www.techtrak.com/magicmethod/magicmethod
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
Watch for the upcoming first release of the “Book of Scripticals” – actual telephone names sourcing scripts that WORK!
It took 3.6 million years to make a Project Manager. You have until Wednesday to find him. Call us.
Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.
What does your BUZZCLOUD look like? Here's mine:
check out the Maureen Sharib's Magic Method of Telephone swicki at eurekster.com
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer and Trainer
513 899 9628
Is this what blogging/posting is really about?
I read an interesting article called “Real Estate Thinking Space in Small Wooden Shoe”. It’s about a subject I used to call “theatre of the mind” that I thought of as our ability to add to our decision making processes by engaging in creative and sometimes revolutionary “thinking”. I believe good writers naturally go to this space in their compositions; I also think great marketers intuitively grasp this concept. Anyway, the article describes itself as follows:
"In our ongoing discussion about making good real estate decisions, we've yet to consider one important element: good places to think. PJ Wade explains why experimental theatre like Small Wooden Shoe may stimulate creative thinking which in turn expands choices and improves decision making."
It’s interesting reading and can be found here.
Learn how to telephone names source like a pro!
www.techtrak.com/magicmethod/magicmethod
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
Watch for the upcoming first release of the “Book of Scripticals” – actual telephone names sourcing scripts that WORK!
It took 3.6 million years to make a Project Manager. You have until Wednesday to find him. Call us.
Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.
What does your BUZZCLOUD look like? Here's mine:
check out the Maureen Sharib's Magic Method of Telephone swicki at eurekster.com
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
Maureen Sharib
Telephone Names Sourcer and Trainer
513 899 9628
Recently I've seen some very small discussion on the recently enacted "I don't know this person" response LinkedIn users can now implement when they receive an "Invitation to Connect". A couple of the responses on this subject out on the boards follow:
“The number of times your invitations are declined is a metric used by linkedin. The more you have the lower your score.”
“By your actions you cause other members to have their accounts suspended or blocked! If you really don't want to accept someone's Invitation, please email them separately and ask them (give them the opportunity) to 'Withdraw'. This will preserve their Invitation - available to invite a friend - and avoid a 'Strike' against them resulting in suspension/loss of their account because of too many rejections - every one counts..."
The reason I ask this is that I had a call yesterday from a gentleman who brought up the effectiveness LinkedIn had come to have for him with their 11million members (my network stats) but he was concerned about the coming effectiveness with this LinkedIn's response choice capability. He said that if a LinkedIn member gets five or more of these responses to Invitations they send out to others to join them on their networks the account goes on some type of notice - can anyone elaborate what the current status is on this? He felt that less people would invite other people to join them and he felt this would be a dampening effect on LinkedIn's ebullience.
I want to add that I have no problem with accepting Invitations. None at all. What I wonder about, though, and what doesn't "feel" right much of the time, are the many requests to forward to people I don't "really" know. This is a function of networking; I understand that, but it feels much more personal - like a referral and I also understand referrals like that HOLD THE POSSIBILITY of liability. ("You referred this nogood/cheat/scoundrel/blackheart to me on LinkedIn and look what's happened! I hold YOU responsible" kind of thing.)
When I forward (and when I have the time - forwarding takes several seconds), I copy and paste a sort of disclaimer with the referral, a "I don't know this person but I've been asked to forward and I see no harm in doing so..." message. I'm quite sure there will be some brouhaha and litigation AT SOME POINT in the future regarding this referral thing and I see THAT as the bigger bugaboo. IF LI FEELS THIS NEED TO PENALIZE PEOPLE maybe a better place to place the "I don't know this person" response would be on the forwarding request page? That seems like it wouldn't have the dampener potential on membership that the front-end Invite function holds and MAKES MORE SENSE to me. In the same vein, and I understand this is stretching the sense of what I just proposed some, I would also relish the idea of LinkedIn rewarding people somehow for taking the time to "forward" messages to others - for creating activity on the LinkedIn network and increasing their value proposition to their members. Like I said, forwarding is a time-costly affair for many of us.
Your thoughts? Is this a good/bad idea and what are the reasons?
I posted this question over on LI's Q&A in the middle of the night and within minutes the firestorm erupted! View it here.
maureen at techtrak.com
Invite me to your network and I will accept - I promise I will not say "I don't know this person" and place your account into jeopardy!
What does your BUZZCLOUD look like? Here's mine:
check out the Maureen Sharib's Magic Method of Telephone swicki at eurekster.com
Watch for the upcoming first release of the “Book of Scripticals” – actual telephone names sourcing scripts that WORK!
It took 3.6 million years to make a Project Manager. You have until Wednesday to find him. Call us.
Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.
Maureen Sharib is a seasoned telephone names sourcer, names sourcing since 1997. She and her husband Bob own the names sourcing firm TechTrak.com and Maureen telephone-names sources daily as well as teaches telephone-names sourcing in her online telephone names sourcing course "The Magic In The Method." She can be reached by email at Maureen at techtrak.com or by phone at (513) 899-9628. Maureen will come on-site to your company to teach telephone names sourcing to your sourcers.
SourcingSchool is coming – watch for details!
The following “expose” was sent to me from one of our very talented sourcers. It totally explains the frustration sourcers are experiencing inside corporate America today and may help you to avoid making the same mistakes if you’re involved in creating a “Sourcing Department”.
The company I was formerly with created a sourcing role and department sometime back in 2006. Honestly, today, it's not going well. I firmly believe that the majority of HR and recruiting does not understand a true sourcer and what we do. There are some that do - unfortunately, not enough. Before they started forming formal boundaries for sourcing, I begged to do it for over a year. I've been a recruiter for 11 years and found, especially at my former company as a full-cycle recruiter, I was completely inundated with administrative “stuff” everyday. I NEVER was able to truly source. Never. They finally “allowed” me to give it a try. As soon as they started getting hires from my sourcing, they decided to create the department.
They never asked for my advice about sourcing - just BOOM, they created the department and I was BOOM! moved into a “Sr. Sourcer” position. But, as in many corporate environments, there was a need to create rules, introductions; the typical politics became involved. We had a team of six - two of us became senior sourcers, the other four were hourly, non-exempt sourcers. I can honestly say, besides me, none of them really had any experience at cold-calling. I kind of think that management thought now that there was a department they needed to fill it so they randomly moved unsuspecting souls into it. There is no one there now who truly has an interest in doing it. Most recruiters DON'T like doing deep internet searching or cold-calling or they just don't have ANY time to do so.
I think my former company’s efforts are imploding. They want to put all this corporate structure and layers into it and thoroughly roll-out the process and dissect the process out – result: there's no cold-calling going on. I would actually still be there but I had to relocate due to family reasons – they would not allow me to work from home. They just don't do that. During my time there though, I had managed to steer clear of being part of the politics and meetings to figure out what sourcing was; I literally stayed in a dark corner cubicle and stayed on the phones. People soon figured out that despite the fact that they didn't really understand what I did I liked to be left alone to do it! I produced and that's why they delved into the whole concept. Plus, I'm sure that through networking and Competitive Intelligence, they knew some other companies are doing it. We didn't go into it to completely stop using third party recruiters. They are great and even I understand that we need them. We just wanted to cut costs. But, they DON'T understand that they need to completely take ALL other duties off the sourcer so that s/he can spend days on the phone.
Feel free to contact the other sourcers at my former company. Please don't disclose my very honest opinion on their department. They are all great people caught in the typical trap of the corporate politics…
To be cont’d…
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
Watch for the upcoming first release of the “Book of Scripticals” – actual telephone names sourcing scripts that WORK!
It took 3.6 million years to make a Project Manager. You have until Wednesday to find him. Call us.
Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.
Maureen Sharib is a seasoned telephone names sourcer, names sourcing since 1997. She and her husband Bob own the names sourcing firm TechTrak.com and Maureen telephone-names sources daily as well as teaches telephone-names sourcing in her online telephone names sourcing course "The Magic In The Method." She can be reached by email at Maureen at techtrak.com or by phone at (513) 899-9628. Maureen will come on-site to your company to teach telephone names sourcing to your sourcers.
SourcingSchool is coming – watch for details!
Huh?
What’s a swicki?
A swicki is a new kind of search engine that allows anyone to create deep, focused searches on topics you care about. Unlike other search engines, you and your community have total control over the results and it uses the wisdom of crowds to improve search results. This search engine, or swicki, can be published on your site. Your swicki presents search results that you're interested in, pulls in new relevant information as it is indexed, and organizes everything for you in a neat little customizable widget you can put on your web site or blog, complete with its very own buzz cloud that constantly updates to show you what are hot search terms in your community.
How does my swicki work?
Swickis are a new kind of search engine or search results aggregator. Swickis allow you to build specific searches tailored to your interests and that of your community and get constantly updated results from your web or blog page. Swickis scan all the data indexed in Yahoo Search, plus all additional sources you specify, and present the results in a dynamically updated, easy to use format that you can publish on your site - or use at swicki.com. We also collect and organize information about all public swickis in our Directory. Whether you have built a swicki or not, you can come to the swicki directory and find swicki search engines that interest you.
What is a buzz cloud and why is it cool?
Buzzclouds are a list of search tags that are popular or recently typed into the swicki. Its a bit like overhearing your community's conversation at a water cooler - the buzzcloud shows what is going on in their searches. This is useful as it drives more traffic by surfacing what is already at the top of your users' minds, and suggesting interesting things to look at.
How do I decide what search tags appear in my buzzcloud?
You can manage your buzzcloud via this page. From here there are three columns of search tags. The first column is a list of search tags that users have typed into your swicki search box and you can choose to add or block these terms. This is an automatically generated list of suggested search tags you may wish to add to your buzzcloud. The number next to the search tag shows how many times people have searched for it from your swicki.
The second column is a list of search tags that are blocked from appearing in your buzzcloud. Search tags listed here will never appear in your buzzcloud and never be suggested to be added to the buzzcloud The third column is the list of search tags that can appear in your buzzcloud. If the number of tags is larger than the number of tags that appear then a random selection from this list will be taken. If you have a long list then each time you refresh your buzzcloud you will notice different tags appear.
Read more FAQs on swickis and buzzclouds here.
Go here to add my code to your site! If you’re a blogger or webmaster you can post my swicki searchbox and buzzcloud on your site. This will grow your swicki community and increase the learning effect. You retain all moderator rights and control of the buzzcloud that all the sites see.
What’s your BUZZCLOUD look like? Here's mine:
check out the Maureen Sharib's Magic Method of Telephone swicki at eurekster.com
Recruiting.com. Talkdigger, Slashdot, Digg, Delicious.
MagicMethod Module VI is up and kickin’!
Watch for the upcoming first release of the “Book of Scripticals” – actual telephone names sourcing scripts that WORK!
It took 3.6 million years to make a Project Manager. You have until Wednesday to find him. Call us.
Our goal is to save you time and help you succeed.
Maureen Sharib is a seasoned telephone names sourcer, names sourcing since 1997. She and her husband Bob own the names sourcing firm TechTrak.com and Maureen telephone-names sources daily as well as teaches telephone-names sourcing in her online telephone names sourcing course "The Magic In The Method." She can be reached by email at Maureen at techtrak.com or by phone at (513) 899-9628. Maureen will come on-site to your company to teach telephone names sourcing to your sourcers.
