After disclosing in a tense pipeline review that another month would pass without this account closing, my manager sat me down.  He had disappointment in his eyes and said these words I will never forget:  ”It’s time you change up your approach- you’re growing stale.  You need to get serious and break some glass or you will never get your customers to break it!”  I was super frustrated and confused (break the glass?  What in the world was he talking about?!)  I wondered if my manager could tell that I wanted to throw everything in my cubicle including him.  Then being sensitive to criticism, I felt my neck grow hot, embarrassed and shocked that someone actually thought my approach had gotten old.  I mean, seriously, who the heck was he talking to?  I had been told by clients that I was like an entire cheer squad, or a cute puppy with a severe case of ADD, but never had I been called stale.  It took me a long time to get over that horrible moment in my cube…Looking back now; I understand what he was trying to do.  He was giving me the big shove I needed to take a different approach and ruffle some feathers to get my point across.

Today, I speak to talent acquisition leaders daily and some of them are managing recruiting programs that are seriously flat lining. Sadly, some are incorporating recruiting methodologies and processes that were used 10-15 years ago and they are genuinely disturbed and saddened that the old “post and pray” isn’t effective anymore.  Unfortunately, this is what happens when no one questions “the method behind your madness” or no one cares to challenge the status quo or when HR can’t get support from the rest of the business and they are relegated to being just a huge cost center.  And, let’s face it, recruiting is not an easy gig right now and there is certainly no silver bullet.  It is much easier to just sit back and keep riding the same old recruiting train.  We can kick back and make stops here and there to lay blame:  job boards don’t work, social media is unsafe and unproven, we lack resources or budget, or our website sucks, the economy blows, my recruiters are lazy, and the list goes on and on and on…

Personally, I made a vow to myself at the beginning of the year to find ways to start chipping away at the legacy glassware that has become the accepted and the norm.  I am pushing myself to have frank, honest and sometimes uncomfortable discussions with my clients and hope that they don’t get their feelings hurt or throw me out of their offices.  The questions aren’t that crazy, but you never know when you are knocking someone’s baby.  ”Do you know who you are and why anyone would want to work for you?”, “Do you believe that your (fill in the blank with-process/job postings/ careersite/ branding) is effective?” or “Why do your current employees stay/leave?” Oh, and by the way, if you do know the answers to these questions, then why in the heck aren’t you sharing your story and/or fixing the issues?   It might be a little uncomfortable, but not asking would be a disservice to our clients.  I am going to help who I can that will listen and divert my attention from those that continue to don their 1999 recruiting earmuffs.  I know that I might emerge at the end of 2012 with a few cuts and bruises, but I’m sticking to the plan because I can’t let myself or my customers get stale.

Final thought:  I don’t recommend going in Rambo style and shattering everything in sight, but my mantra is “Take out your velvet hammer and start tapping, kids!”  Life is better when the glass is half full and a bit broken.

When does milk go bad?

Milk goes bad, when milk goes bad.  Milk doesn’t expire on a given date. If I could squeeze a few more hundred dollars out of your wallet during a year by telling you that your milk expires a week early…would I do that? No, that would be wrong. But, not everyone is an “Arlander.”

Where does your milk come from?

For most of us, it’s not from our backyard. So, who is suppling your milk and where is it coming from? How did it get from A to B? Choose someone that knows milk. “Arlanders”, are farmers, distributors and retailers in just about every part of the country. Sometimes, we’re even the cow.

What is the average shelf-life of milk?

Milk does have a shelf-life. If someone gives you a definitive answer, run for the hills. Milk will eventually spoil.  But, how do you know when? Sometimes you can just look at it and know. Sometimes it’s best to ask, “Hey, could you smell this and let me know what you think?” Ask us. We’ll be as honest as the day is long.

What do I do with spoiled milk?

Most of us would throw it away and get some new milk? I might get the same old skim or 2%, but maybe I should be drinking whole milk! Maybe it’s better for my health. Or, maybe I should drink soy milk or almond milk? How do I know what’s best for me? Most of the world drinks goat milk, why don’t we drink it? Let’s talk. Maybe you’re just fine? Maybe you could turn the spoiled milk in to yogurt, cream cheese or custard pudding. Sound good?

So, don’t have a cow. Just talk to someone who has one or two.

Milk is organic and so should your employment brand be. Times change. Attitudes change. Technology changes. A cow is still a cow.

I’m especially looking forward to this New Year’s celebration because I remember exactly what I wrote down on that piece of paper a year ago. I wrote down four words- I want a job.

Last year, I lost my job due to the election cycle and was at my wit’s end with job searching, interviewing and waiting for good news. January 6^th was my last day of employment and I had a couple of prospects that I was holding out hope for, but nothing definite heading into 2011.  Needless to say, I didn’t feel like I had much to celebrate.

A few weeks later, Keith called to offer me the position as Content Marketing Manager and not only did I get a job, but I got one that I thoroughly enjoy.

The Arland Group has had quite a year, as well. This year, we’ve added two new Arlanders, opened a new office in St. Louis and continued double digit growth in a down economy. We certainly have a lot to celebrate this year and I can’t wait to see what’s in store for 2012!

That said, our client, Convenience Store Decisions—a b2b magazine—has had an absolutely incredible year. This is a magazine that a large publishing company ran into the ground and walked away from. A young publishing company, Harbor Communications, bought the title and completely turned it around. What did they do right? Everything. They refused to print an issue less than 68 pages even if they only had 15 ad pages to start, they didn’t skimp on paper or ink quality, they gathered an incredibly potent sales and publishing force, stood behind their talented editorial staff and hired a group of designers who have been with them all the way to help put their magazine at the top of its game—if we do say so ourselves.  They have never sold their industry or themselves short. Everything about them says quality. But they have also redesigned their website, developed a mobile application, created conferences and basically done everything they can to cater to their industry while moving in the direction that technology is taking them.  They haven’t given up on the paper product nor should they. Rather, their paper, web and mobile products along with their in-person events all work in conjunction with one another to support the CSD brand.

So what is the take-away here? If there a service or product that is needed by a particular market, no matter what changes come along, there is no reason that service or product can’t be successful as long as customer’s needs—rather than the presentation to the investors—are always the priority. Sometimes you have to take it on the chin awhile to get something off the ground but once it takes off, hard work and proper money and resource management should keep it going.

Magazines don’t have to die off but they are changing. Many of the same industries exist and benefit from ideas shared. But many publishers have given up readjusting their approach. I think a lot of the reason is big publishing companies have lost site of the markets they service. They don’t make the effort to entrench themselves in the market. I’ve worked with amazing publishers and weak publishers and the difference is that great publishers are their magazine(s).  They foster and raise their magazines and care for their growth and well-being past the ego of the title. They support and direct their team while tirelessly reaching out to the industry. I hope more entrepreneurial publishers buy run down titles and turn them around. The industry needs you whoever you are.  And we’d love to work with you!

Today, social media is not only one of the most exciting segments of our business, it’s also the fastest growing. We now employ people just to develop mountains of content for our clients’ social networks.

To date, most of our efforts have focused on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. But there is a new player in town in the form of Google+. I’m a cynic when it comes to new social media networks, mainly because I think the big three are innovative and continually push for improvements on their platforms. It’s hard to be the new kid on the block when everyone loves hanging around with the older, cooler kid.

I have a Google+ account, but I don’t get it. I think the user interface is clumsy, the concept is contrived and not too many of my friends and colleagues have embraced it, so I feel pretty isolated when on the platform. Despite what I perceive to be its shortcomings though, Google+ has an immense house advantage: the algorithm.

The mysterious mathematical equation Google uses to determine the results of search engines is the holy grail of digital marketing. As an agency, we strive to make sure our clients are on that front page of search results when their clients look for them. Getting on the front page requires an immense amount of work, of which I won’t go into detail here (you can call me though!).

On a recent Google search of  “The Arland Group,” we were shocked to see our Google+ page was the third result posted! It was above our Facebook and Twitter pages, despite the fact that we only have five posts on Google+ and hundreds on Facebook and Twitter. Despite building a solid brand on Facebook and Twitter, Google played its house advantage and tilted the algorithm to Google+.

Kudos to them. If you have an advantage, you capitalize on it. They have singlehandedly forced our agency to start launching Google+ accounts for all of our clients. We’re not sure it’s the best way for them to promote their brand, but with a world of information driven by Google, it’s imperative that our customers are present and accounted for on Google+.