Marketing Headhunter

LINKEDIN NEWS: "Thanks for being in the first 1% to join LinkedIn."

ATLANTA, GA - Today I received an interesting email from my friends at Linkedin, who just signed up their 100 millionth member.  See below.

We've done a ton of business with Linkedin over the last -- what is it -- five years already?  And in that time, I can honestly say that LI has done wonders for my recruiting business.  My company owns two of the top five ecommerce groups on Linkedin, and my personal network includes 4400 ecommerce executives (and only three recruiters).  Invite me to connect!

I'm amazed at how many clients and candidates actually READ my testimonials.  Those things have been instrumental in helping me establish trust and credibility among my new users.  I'll explain why this is important at the end of this post.

Not too long ago, I saw Reid Hoffman on Charlie Rose, and Mr. Hoffman said that he could envision 25% of the world's white collar workforce on Linkedin.  Twenty five percent.  With that kind of liquidity, it's not hard to see how Linkedin might develop a labor marketplace like Workmarket (backed by Fred Wilson's USV), or Elance.  Check out the following video (also shown below), in which Mr. Hoffman confirms that Linkedin is a platform for the free agent nation -- and that all of us are basically micro-enterprises.

I can't wait to invest in Linkedin's IPO.

Imagine the revenue opportunity for any company that can monetize the trading relationships of +100 million people.  Years ago, I wrote a white paper about a web-enabled U.S. beef industry and learned that the number of trading relationships in any market is (N*(N-1) / 2.  Try that formula with 100 million nodes in the network ...

New Day Rising

Last year, my Linkedin sales rep told me that there are +900,000 corporate and third-party recruiters on Linkedin. That's insane, but it makes sense: 900K is less than 1% of the community's membership.  Still, that's a lot of recruiters.

When I'm a party and I meet someone, they often ask me what I do.  When I tell them I'm a contingency recruiter, they roll their eyes as if I were a real estate agent or an insurance salesman.  It never occurs to them that I could be a marketer and an entrepreneur.  There's a stigma:  Being the best contingency recruiter is like being the tallest midget.  That's cool. I get it.

But that stigma doesn't absolve a recruiter of his obligation to iterate; to look at how the wold is changing and search for relevance.  Recruiters need wake up and realize that increasingly, they're working for their candidates -- not their clients.

The party's over.

I've long been a believer that the days of the 20% placement fee for throwing a resume over the fence are winding down -- especially for line level job openings.  You'll see a decline of that kind of thing as solutions like Linkedin and TopProspect get traction.  And, lo and behold, should Linkedin decide to become a full-blown ATS, then recruiters will be judged solely on the basis of their ability to attract the coolest searches that attract the best candidates, that, in turn, attract the coolest searches, etc.

Success will breed success, and recruiting agency "brands" will matter more than ever.  Why?  Because it will be up to the recruiter to leverage his brand (ie, trust and credibility) on behalf of his clients to attract the right talent.  In other words, clients who don't have my trust and credibility will want to "rent" my trust and credibility to attract the candidates who can build their businesses.  Make sense?  It has more to do with positioning than salesmanship.

Anway, here's the email I received from Linkedin.  Congratulations to them.

Dear Harry,

I'm thrilled to let you know that LinkedIn's membership reached 100 million professionals today.

Because you were one of our first million members (member number 143,XXX in fact!), I wanted to take this moment to thank you for playing a foundational role in building the LinkedIn community.

With your help, LinkedIn is revolutionizing how companies like yours find top talent and is well positioned to realize our mission of making professionals everywhere more productive and successful. We are so grateful for your support, and we look forward to helping you accomplish much more in the years to come.

On to the next hundred million!

Sincerely,
Mike Gamson
Senior Vice President
LinkedIn Corporate Solutions

JOB OF THE WEEK: "VP of Ecommerce" (NY / NJ)

SADDLE BROOK, NJ - EcommerceRecruiter.com is the leading executive search firm serving the DMA, NEMOA, SEMPO, Shop.org, Ad:Tech, and IR-500 communities. To get our jobs by email the minute they're posted, click here.

We are working with Semprae Laboratories in their search for a Vice President/Director, Online Marketing and Commerce based in Saddle Brook, NJ. Semprae Laboratories markets women's sexual health and well-being products that will be primarily available through direct sales and online, with some retail (Wal-Mart, Rite Aid) and etail distribution.

Semprae seeks an experienced, entrepreneurial ecommerce marketer responsible for planning, implementing and executing online customer acquisition campaigns to generate growth with online marketing team. Focus will be on paid and organic search, email marketing and social media programs.

HARRY'S COMMENTS: Through the years I have been contacted by quite a few adult-oriented online retailers to handle their searches, and I've always refused on the grounds that it wasn't good for my brand. No offense to them, personally.

Semprae Labs, on the other hand, is more like a pharma play with a chewy center: a continuity-based revenue model. Think of their product, Zestra, as a Viagra for women. No kidding. The company's CEO, Mary Jaensch, explained the need for the product and the size of the current market, and I've gotta say -- these people are going to make a TON of money, especially once their ads get approved by mainstream TV (which seems inevitable).  Check out this video on ABC's Nightline ...

Zestra is a life-sciences VC-backed product. Its production is consistent with FDA guidelines, yet because it’s all natural, it does not have to be FDA approved. There are NO side effects, and according to clinical studies, it works on 7 out of 10 women. There is NO financial risk for a product trial, and 50% of Semprae's business is repeat, continuity purchase. Ka-CHING!

There is a fantastic story to be told about the founders, the product, and the opportunity.  Truly, these are wonderful people.  But here's the rub:  I'd love a candidate who has some familiarity with DRTV. If you don't have DRTV experience, I still want you to apply. However, much of Zestra.com's traffic will be driven through DRTV, so the perfect candidate will understand that medium. New Yorkers: The company is based in Saddle Brook, NJ -- a 24 minute drive from the city, against traffic.

Bottom line:  As usual, if I didn't think this was a great opportunity with outstanding underlying economics, I would not be wasting your time with it.

Please Tweet this job, and you'll be automatically entered into our monthly drawing. Just do it and see what happens: 2010 prizes included $100 Amazon gift certs, Dean & Deluca steaks, and Keurig coffee machines ...

Tweet

Position Description:

• Develop marketing strategies that ensure customer base growth with profitable returns in the context of business strategy
• Develop ecommerce and direct strategies, plans and programs to achieve business growth objectives
• Identify target customer segments in the formulation of customer acquisition strategies; develop mechanism for building more in-depth target definitions and insights
• Define, identify and implement customer acquisition strategies through online marketing channels
• Test new programs/opportunities for customer and lead generation
• Accelerate growth of per customer value through range of re-marketing strategies and programs
• Seek out new partnerships for co-marketing opportunities
• Evaluate market share and monitor competition
• Supervise two marketing managers who are implementing the programs

Position Requirements:

• Minimum of 5 years experience managing online customer acquisition campaigns for fast growing, entrepreneurial company that relies heavily on e-commerce for its direct response marketing activities
• Measurable experience in paid and organic search, affiliate programs, comparison shopping engines, email and other online programs
• Demonstrated ability to deliver a quantity of valuable new customers within the framework of ROI goals, as a key part of a successful business enterprise
• Ability to create the strategic direction of increasing ecommerce activity from a variety of online media channels to expand market share
• Ability to effectively manage range of vendors and to integrate activities with offline programs
• Skills in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) along with strong PC skills that include Microsoft Office, Excel, PowerPoint
• Minimum of B.A or B.S. required. MBA viewed favorably
• Strong oral and written communication skills

Applications for this position are being coordinated by Harry Joiner. To apply, CLICK HERE. Candidates, please be sure to ask Harry for packet #1321 of market research and company / competitive intel that will differentiate you in your candidacy. Due to the competitive nature of this search, thorough preparation for these interviews with this proprietary material is strongly recommended.

Search our site for more ecommerce jobs in your city or specialty: