What's Your Testimonal?

I am in the process of working with a technology consulting firm on being placed in a contract position for a large, well branded company you have probably heard of (more details later perhaps). One of the things they asked me to do was to help them write a short but pointed "testimonial" about my experience in 3rd person, as it pertains to the contract at hand.

I didn't think much of this process, until I completed it. It's actually a valuable thing to do if you are in a job search. Not only do you think of your qualifications, but you write them down as if someone was reading an article about you. I think it's a good mental tool before an interview, and also a good tool in helping create objective statements. Here's what I came up with. What's your testimonial?

Craig is a proven web application development professional, having 7 years experience in Quality Assurance, 7 years experience in Project Management, and a Masters Degree in Information Systems. He recently led the QA team at a small software company through the testing phases and successful launch of a new web application built from the ground up. Craig also has experience working on web application development teams for large companies such as Verizon Wireless & AT&T. He has a solid understanding of SDLC methodology in both Agile and Waterfall environments, and practical experience in creating a web application quality assurance strategy. He has a good-natured personality and will quickly earn respect from the rest of the development team.

The Brand Can Have its own Personality

A lot of great talk going on about what the Murphy-Goode candidate who lands the job will leave behind in 6 months. It started on Andy's Goode Life Blog and continued over onto Hardy's Goode To Be First blog. The person who lands the job will have a "ton of equity- similar to a TV host or DJ". The Murphy-Goode position may be an anomaly to this, but does a Social Media position have to put so much stock in the personality of the person hired? My response on Hardy's blog:

There are certainly ways to promote the brand in social media without promoting one's self. I can think of several brands I follow in social media that definitely have personality, but I don't really know who the real person is behind it. If the person changed, I wouldn't know so long as the personality stayed the same. If you *create* a personality for the brand without linking it to you personally, someone else could potentially carry on that branding indefinitely. I think any brand looking for a social media professional should consider this, or else end up like Sirius w/ Howard Stern.

This may not be possible with the Murphy-Goode situation because of the publicity, we all know who is applying and eventually who will land the job. However, if I were at Murphy-Goode I would definitely be asking myself "...if after 6 months we don't keep this person on, would we lose all of our followers?".

I think the successful candidate will portray a little bit of "it's not about me, it's about Murphy-Goode".

SalesForce!!!

Just got a bunch of great job leads for SalesForce.com that I am excited about. I was networked in to emailing a recruiter at SalesForce who has 14 positions open in her section. At the same time, I got an email from my old boss David Mosher (who was the CEO of my past employer Embark Corporation), telling me of an open position he had heard about that he thought I would be a good candidate for.

This is exciting. It means that there are certainly opportunities at SalesForce, and to be in contact with a recruiter from there makes it even more promising.

SalesForce is a definite leader in CRM and cloud computing. The sales team at my former employer, Embark, used to use it to manage prospects and they all raved about it. I've consulted for The Green Zebra, where we used it to manage client information that is to be published in their coupon books. I wrote a PHP middleware program to interface their front-end data gathering web form to SaleForce, so that the staff at Green Zebra would not have to enter client information in manually as they had to do in previous years. It would go from the client, to the web form, and then directly into SalesForce. Brilliant!

Looking forward to hopefully talking to SalesForce more about their open positions!

Web 2.0 Marketing Strategy

I thought it was about time I posted my idea of a good Web 2.0 marketing strategy. It's a process I have followed in the past with consulting clients of mine, including Peas of Mind and Dr.David E Smith. I thought I'd also tailor this posting to show what my plan would be should I be selected for Murphy-Goode's Lifestyle Corespondent position.

1. Blog: First and foremost, there must be a BLOG. The blog should be updated at minimum once a week, but more often if possible. I would aim for 3 postings per week, with at least one of them having some substantial writing to it (as opposed to just posting a video clip or some pictures). Everything else will revolve around the blog. The blog will be the main focus of the strategy because it is a forum that we can fully control. I'd recommend subscribing to a premier blogging service such as TypePad. Allowing readers to Digg content can expand exposure as well. Having other company websites feed into the Blog is also helpful. It's no easy task to maintain a blog by writing interesting articles, frequently!

2. Twitter: There must be a Twitter account. Update often with things that are current and going on around the business and in the industry. It is important not to always plug products though, or else followers will become wary. Sharing links to new information is important, and linking to the Blog is important. Take pictures often via a mobile device and post them in real time via a service such as TwitPic, so that followers can easily see the photos from their Twitter client.

3. Facebook: Personally, I am not a big fan of Facebook and could do without it - but it is such a big part of social networking that we can't ignore it. Maintain a fan page, and link it to Twitter so that updates on Twitter will automatically update the status on Facebook. This will save you from having to post something twice. Periodically, we should upload photo albums and/or videos. We can also periodically send messages out to followers to announce new products or events. If a budget exists, we could create ads very easily to help increase the page's exposure and the fan base.

4. Flickr: In addition to the occassional TwitPic shot, I'd like to take lots of still photos and have them upload to a Flickr photo stream. This will just add a little more photographic documentation than TwitPic is able to offer, and the content can be presented in different places or referred back to for historical purposes. If possible I'd like to be able to have the photos I take simply upload in real time by using an eye-fi card, so there is no need to wait until I can get to a computer to upload them.

5. YouTube or Vimeo or Seesmic: In addition to taking photos, I have really started to taken an interest in video. I'd like to be able to upload both candid and edited video pieces from special events, occasions, or even just fun times in the tasting room (where I'd plan to spend a lot of time pouring so I can talk to and meet customers). I'm still torn on which service to use to post the videos. I like Vimeo better than YouTube, but YouTube is more widely used currently. I like Seesmic b/c people can respond and interact (video conversation). I may have to use a combination, where videos that I don't expect responses on go to Vimeo/YouTube and ones where I want followers to interact I use Seesmic.

6. Webcam: Gotta have a webcam!!! Maybe a tasting room webcam, or a production webcam, or a harvest webcam? Whatever is going on, if I am going to be there for a long period of time, I'd like to set up a webcam. To be successful it is something that has to be set up for at least several hours, or preferably throughout an entire day. Having a real time video feed can be an awesome supplement to Twitter updates. If something going on with the webcam is worthy enough, we could even tape it for future submission to YouTube or Vimeo.

7. Bandwidth: For Murphy-Goode's position specifically, there will need to be WiFi in most of the company locations; if it is not there already. In addition to WiFi, it would be a good idea to have a reliable service that can connect me to the Internet from almost any location. I would choose Verizon Wireless Mobile Broadband. This will allow for almost anywhere updates.

8. Respond to People: Finally, and most importantly, it will be necessary to spend time responding and interacting with people. Although there is opportunity to do this while "out in the field", to be truly comprehensive one will need to be able to sit down every day or every other day and respond to inquires, thank people for support, and make sure no one has been ignored. Spend time on other people's blogs and spread relevant information from them to your followers. If possible, try to secure a place as a 'guest poster' on a written blog or an interview on a video/audio blog. Sharing content from others helps you 'make friends' in the web 2.0 world, who will usually reciprocate by helping spread your messages.

As time goes by, and as technology and trends advance, it is necessary to continually re-evaluate your strategy. Staying ahead of the curve is also part of the plan.

Be frequent, be interactive, be real!

Pay Consultants Promptly, Please

Since I have been out of traditional employment for 3+ months, I have ramped up efforts to do independent consulting work. I have several trusted clients who I have developed rapport with, but with extra time available - I have looked outside this circle of trust for new clients so that I could possibly come close to being able sustain myself financially between traditional employment positions.

Competition for such work is fierce. In order to compete, I price myself reasonably and try to make dealing with me as easy as possible. One such policy I have is not to charge anything upfront, but instead issue quotes for a defined amount of work and then collect on that quote after the work is complete.

Unfortunately, this system of trust does not always work in my favor. It may bring the client to me, but what compels the client to follow through on their commitment to pay (outside of common decency) when the job is completed to satisfaction?

I have had a few situations lately, with new clients, where work is complete but payment is lacking. Asking several times is not only uncomfortable, but brings more empty promises and excuses. I have had to make the decision to cut some of these clients, and still have not received payment. I can only ask so many times, and small claims court would only be a time hog and a 'feel good' victory.

Working and not getting paid is obviously a detriment to any business, but for the independent consultant (IC) it is devastating as this is the bread on my table. As it stands normally, the amount of work for IC's is not consistent month after month and sometimes even honest payments may take as long as a month to come through. The small bill from the non-threatening IC may not be a priority to a business having received the services, but it could very well be the lifeline for the IC.

A friend of mine does website consulting and had some advice for me. He offers hosting in addition to website consulting, so he retains a credit card for the hosting charges:

It helps that we offer hosting and accept credit cards. People are more likely to pay if they know we can shut down their website and accepting credit cards means there's no excuse.

We also require signed contracts and if we don't have a previous relationship with a client, we require a 50% deposit. If a client is flaky, we work off of retainer.

Nothing you can really do about collecting except for being persistent.

I am probably going to have to give up independent consulting, simply b/c I cannot seem to make the income steady enough to support recurring personal bills like mortgage, healthcare, utilities, etc. It is unfortunate, b/c I do enjoy IC work and believe I provide a valuable service to my clients - who may experience some difficulty in having to find and train a replacement.

The message here is to show your appreciation for your independent consultant by paying them promptly. It can sometimes be a thankless job, and to get a prompt payment is the best sign of appreciation you should show. For those who have been consistent with me over the months/years, I appreciate you now more then ever.

Consulting Keeps Me Going

Something that has really helped keep me going during this downturn in the economy is independent consulting. Since my day job dried up in January, I've been spending more time consulting. It has handed me a wide variety of projects and introduced me to many new people. While consulting probably won't ever replace the security and benefit of working a day job, I thought I'd take a moment to list some of the projects I have been working on as an independent consultant since my last day job freed me up.

1. Peas Of Mind (peasofmind.com): Jill and Kelly continue to think of creative ways to market their products. Aside from the monthly Recipe updates and occasional Press updates I post to their website - some of the more exciting things I've gotten to do for them include creating a custom CMS, a Widget, adding a Podcast, and linking them to Facebook. We are already working on some new social networking enhancements that I am excited about. They certainly keep it fresh! (A note about their products; my nieces and nephews love Puffets - and frankly, I do too. I ate a whole box of Carrot Risotto Puffets over the course of a few days. Add a Puffet to a little arugula salad and you've got a gourmet vegetarian lunch!)

2. Pacific Shaving Company (pacificshaving.com): Stan at PSC throws me more technical curve balls than most. We've created data forms that gather information into a database, added new products (The Nickstick), and most recently changed web hosts - but we handled it so seamlessly and professionally that downtime was minimal. I don't think the website users even noticed. I also learned a valuable lesson with Stan about only taking on the "right" projects - that not every project is right. While it is easy to want to say yes to everything and to please the client, sometimes as a solo consultant you have to know your limitations and seek help early on. Stan was a great guy about this, while I learned the hard way. (A note about their products; shaving oil works just as well, if not better, than shaving cream ! I especially like it because the small bottle of oil goes a long way and is small enough to be TSA approved at airport security.)

3. The Green Zebra (thegreenzebra.org): Anne and Sheryl have a great idea and a mindset dedicated to improving awareness of the environment. They are on their 3rd annual coupon book and they seem to be growing, as I am dealing with new staff members all the time. They are probably one of my most challenging clients as their website is very graphic but we've been able to do amazing things with PHP, MySQL, and Salesforce. (A note about their product: Their annual coupon book is not only informative and fun to read, it easily pays for itself in coupon savings. I've been able to get discounts at restaurants, carpet cleaning, yoga, & groceries - just to name a few.)

4. *anonymous*: In probably one of the more interesting projects I've worked on, I helped a website owner deal with hacking...yes, HACKING...on his website. Someone was using SQL Injection via PHP to access the back end databases of this website and delete content, change content, and otherwise cause havoc. I needed to perform a security audit of his website which included changing all of his host and FTP passwords to something more secure, adding server side password protection to his Admin UI, and adding code to prevent SQL injection to all database facing web forms. That, along with creative and tactful communication with the hacker solved the problem. (Note: I decided not to link to this website to protect his identity and prevent him from being targeted again. He gets plenty of hits so he doesn't necessarily need my link.).

5. Dr.David Smith: I'll preface talking about Dr.Dave (founder of the Haight Ashbury Free Medical Clinic) by noting that he is my father-in-law. However, he has a small army of projects that he is working on at all times. I am helping build out PlazaHouse.org (not ready yet as of this post), have built FreeCC.org for a 40th anniversary of the Summer of Love event in 2007, and most recently cataloged, organized, and copied dozens of DVD's about drug addiction or the 60's for future use, as well as documented (with images and video) construction on several building he has an interest in that are undergoing renovation. Dr.Dave is hoping to one day build a 60's culture museum on Haight Street and I look forward to helping him fulfill that dream.

6. Adam's 100% (mangosteens.com): Adam is the guy who introduced me, and probably many others, to the mangosteen. I had never even heard of one until he and I were introduced. We are continually trying to find ways to present an increasing amount of information on his website in a clear and concise manner. The product continues to make its way into more and more store locations, all of which get listed on the website. (A note about their product: A small glass of Mangosteen juice a day is very good for you. I add a small amount to smoothies and other drinks. A single bottle is big and a little expensive but it goes a long, long way)

There are several others I could mention, but these have been the most interesting consulting projects - and all of them are great products (or people) that I recommend. It definitely helps to work on a website for a product you can get behind - and the people behind them are all innovators. It's inspirational to work with them, and they are helping to keep me going during these tough times on many levels.