« Smart Business: 6 Steps To Get Back in the Marketing Game »

Is it just me, or is there a surprising number of smart and accomplished marketing professionals having a tough time finding a job these days? My personal theory for this unofficial trend is that many were laid off as a result of the recession and are now finding their skill set out of sync with the new jobs that are slowly becoming available.

A few simple steps to get any ‘old schooler’ back in the game. The list below shows you the six simple steps I took to get started in the new digital/social media marketing world. There are many more levels to this type of marketing, but I chose to stick with the six simplest and most beneficial steps to get someone started (especially someone who may feel reluctant or resentful about having to learn a whole new marketing play book at this stage in his/her career).

1. BLOG. Start a blogsite. I use Squarespace for my site, but WordPress, Blogger and many other services make sites easy to establish and maintain. This is a key self-promotion tool that future employers will want to see.

2. WRITE. Write at least one blog post every day. Write short posts on subjects you are passionate about. If you are disciplined in this endeavor readers will find you. It’s amazing.

3. READ. Learning an entirely new approach to marketing means you have to read. The two books I found most helpful in getting me through the initial transition to digital-social media marketing are: 1)  Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs by Brian Halligan, Dharmesh Shah, David Meerman Scott; and 2)  The New Rules of Marketing and PR by David Meerman Scott.

4. TWEET. Get a Twitter account and start sharing interesting stuff you read online (including your own blog posts). Start following other marketing people and join the discussion. Future employers will want to see that you maintain an active Twitter feed and how many followers you have.

5. CONNECT. Get a LinkedIn account or update your existing account. If you haven’t used LinkedIn lately you are in for some pleasant surprises that have made the site more social (i.e., it's a great way to share your blog posts and Twitter feed). Now, more than ever, LinkedIn is an indispensable tool for professional networking and self-promotion.

6. STAY IN THE GAME. The key to succeed in today's marketing world is to stay motivated and persevere. Keep in mind that, if you can’t succeed in making digital-social media marketing work for you (in your own critically-important self-promotion), chances are likely you’ll keep sitting the bench. The learning curve is steep, but certainly not impossible. The payoff is successfully positioning yourself to continue the career you love.

What do you think? Please use the comments section below to share your thoughts.