Get Axed? Ways to Leverage Your Social Network
What To Do If You Get Axed
Pink slips are becoming an epidemic and a lot of people are feeling quite depressed about it. Surprisingly, though, a high percentage of people are feeling quite freed by the sensation of not having to get up early in the morning. Some are wondering what to do with their slack time until a new opportunity opens up. And all kinds of creative options are popping up. If you’ve been laid off, here are some things you can think about doing in your slack time.
1. Be Like the CSS Guy
The Wall Street Journal just published an article about Justin Rockwell, a web developer who got laid off last fall. He didn’t know what to do with himself or necessarily how to get a job, but he did find himself spending a lot of time on Twitter. He decided to put his skills and his Twitter network to work for him. He began searching tweets for people posting about problems with cascading style sheets (css), an aspect of web development, and offering his services to those people. He offered several payment options, ranging from $35 (which gets your problem fixed within 3 days) to $135 (which gets you two hours of his time). He’s not making a full-time living on Twitter yet but he is catching the attention of quite a few people. And, he earned $1400 in February from Twitter referrals.
Does that spark any creative ideas of how you can leverage your skills on Twitter?
2. Turn Your Online Presence Into You Online Resume and Job Application
So maybe your blog and Facebook account have thus far been a mish-mash of business tips, personal details, pictures of your cat, and any other random thoughts that come to mind. Well, it’s time to shape up and start cleaning house. According to well-known blogger Robert Scoble, if you want to attract a new job you need to focus all of your online resources in the same direction. His advice? If you want to drive a cab then start posting pictures of cabs, offering tips for cab drivers, and following current cabbies in social networking sites. He has a lot more details, too. Check ‘em out here.
What kind of job do you want next and what can you do to focus your online presence toward that aim?
3. Seth Says, “Become an Expert and Get a Following”
We all do what Seth Godin says, right? Well, maybe not everything but the guy does have quite a lot going on in that shiny head of his so he’s worth listening to. His advice for the recently pink-slipped? Make use of your slack time. You’ve got the time so use it wisely. Learn something you’ve always wanted to learn, like a foreign language or how to program your own webpage. On the practical side, he suggests, among other things, building a tribe of followers for your favorite non-profit organization and turning your experience into a case study for your industry or niche. Sounds like a pretty good marketing tool to help you get your next job. Oh, and while you’re at it, get a following and build an online reputation. He suggests doing random acts of kindness, like hooking up people who need each other for no personal gain or giving away information really need. Very much along the lines of “give to get,” which actually works. Read more about what Seth says …
What are you going to do with your slack time?
Photo Credit: Used to kill
