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If you are currently a job seeker or an over-worked employee in an under-staffed environment, there is reason for optimism according to a new study by CareerBuilder and USA Today.  “For the third consecutive quarter, more hiring managers and human resource professionals are projecting they will increase headcount in the next three months while fewer are expecting staff cuts.”¹

If you are looking for a job or in need of additional staff, you might be wondering how you can take advantage of this improving job market to get ahead of the curve.  The survey outlined six trends hiring managers and human resource professionals said they foresee regarding staffing in the second quarter of 2010.  Amongst those were two items that could give someone, or a company, a needed edge: hiring contract workers and hiring for social media.

Contract Workers – In the upcoming second quarter, 25 percent of employers expect to hire contract workers or freelancers and 13 percent of them expect to hire them fulltime later on.  Becoming a contractor is great way to become familiar with new companies, update skill sets, and avoid lengthy gaps on resumes.  Contractors are much easier to onboard than full-time employees and, as such, employers often seek out consulting services rather than wait for headcount approval.

Social Media Savvy – Its best to become an active member in the social media community, as business have begun to realize its potential to growing business.  According to the study, nearly one-in-ten employers plan to add jobs related to Web 2.0 in the second quarter.  If you happen to already be employed, it will also be beneficial to hone your social media skills, as 13 percent of employers plan to add social media management to current employee responsibilities.

Click here to read more about contract work and job market trends.

¹ Ferguson, Matt, April 2010, 6 Job Market Trends to Watch, http://www.cnn.com/2010/LIVING/worklife/04/01/cb.job.market.trends/?hpt=Sbin

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In light of the current economic times, retailers have begun to reduce the number of products they offer.  When the economy was booming, a consumer could easily peruse through a national retail store and find 88 varieties of Pantene shampoo or even 50 varieties of Oreo cookies.

According to a news article by The Wall Street Journal retailers plan to cut product variety by at least 15%.  Some have already begun to do so. Walgreens used to carry 25 different superglues and now it carries 11.  Walmart cut the number of tape measures it carried by 20, leaving only four.  Kroger Company plans to reduce cereal varieties by 30%.

Why you might ask?  Retailers believe the old saying that less is more.  Consumers complain that shopping experiences have become too hectic with so many product offerings that they become easily confused.  Retailers have found if they eliminate the excess, product sales will actually increase.  There are other advantages for these retailers as well, including lower labor costs, fewer out-of-stock items, and better negotiating skills with manufacturers.

This is good news for the leading brands, but not so good for the smaller unknown brands.  Retailers have been cutting back on these brands, leaving more shelf space to the big guys.  The smaller guys, like Church & Dwight, who manufacture products like Arm & Hammer baking soda and Aim toothpaste, have begun to fight back.  Sales representatives prepare compelling national sales trends to get their products back on the shelves.  Other manufacturers are fighting back in a different way by reducing the number of products they produce.  For example, Sara Lee will now only offer 14 varieties of Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, compared to 25 the prior year.

It will be interesting to revisit this topic in 2010 to see who has won the battle.

Read the complete article “Retailers Cut Back on Variety, Once the Spice of Marketing.”

photo credit – ( www.neurosciencemarketing.com)

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If you were like most, you weren’t one of the lucky 100,000 people selected to test Google Wave.  From what I have read so far, it looks like an intriguing tool that could potentially change the way we communicate online.  Seems Google is attempting to incorporate some very cool wiki-style functionalities, conversation playbacks, drag and drop features, web embedding capabilities, and Facebook-like applications into an email/instant message platform.

The result of Google’s ambitious project could potentially be something that changes the way we communicate online.  You can bet that businesses everywhere will be monitoring the beta testing to see where advertising and branding opportunities arise.  There will be real-time social media marketing possibilities galore, where companies could join a conversation amongst friends or co-workers.  Online/email marketers should certainly take notice, as the marketing game could be changing in the near future.

Below are some links to in-depth reviews of Goggle Wave that are very helpful in explaining functionalities:

http://lifehacker.com/5370738/google-wave-first-look

http://mashable.com/2009/05/31/google-wave-features/

http://arstechnica.com/open-source/guides/2009/09/surfing-the-google-wave.ars

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This past August, CareerBuilder and Harris Interactive conducted a study that surveyed 921 full-time workers in the United States who were laid off from their jobs within the last 12 months.

Here are the highlights:

People Are Finding Work:
Since June 2009, 48% of workers who were laid off found full-time positions.  This is a 7% increase from March of 2009.  Although less workers have found part-time positions quarter over quarter, Brent Rasmussen, President of CareerBuilder North American contributes this to “part of this job search is related to workers expanding career options to new industries and locations.”  And that leads us to our next statistic…

Changing Industries May Help:
38% of the workers who found new full-time jobs after being laid off said they found new work in a different industry/field than before.  A majority of these workers also said they were enjoying their new roles.

Not Everyone Is Taking Salary Cuts:
One of the most promising findings in the study was that 56% of workers who found new full-time positions were able to receive a salary that was either comparable or higher than their previous salary.  The other 44% took a pay cut when negotiating their new salaries.  However, the good news is that this is an improvement over March of 2009, when 48% took a pay cut.

Change Of Scenery Can Be Good:
More workers are willing to move to new cities for full-time work.  One out of 5 workers (20%) of the 48% of workers who found new jobs after being laid off within the last 12 months relocated for a job.  44% of those who have not been able to find work yet say they are willing to relocate for work.

Self Employment Becomes Viable Option:
29% of those workers who have not been able to find work since being laid off are considering starting their own business.   In March of 2009, this percentage was only 25.

On August 25, 2009, Robert Half International and CareerBuilder published the 5th Employment Dynamics and Growth Expectations (EDGE) Report.¹ The report gives an “overview of the current employment situation, as well as a glimpse of the future hiring landscape.  The report offers information on what types of professionals employers will be looking for when economic conditions improve and the strategies businesses plan to implement to recruit and retain talent.”  The survey polled more than 500 employers and more than 500 employees between April 30 and May 31, 2009.  The report was extremely informative, so I thought I would give some of the key highlights:

1. Employers will be hiring within next 12 months.  53% of those polled said they expect to hire full-time employees, 40% will hire contract-to-hire or temporary workers, and 39% will hire part-time employees.
2. Hiring managers cited customer-facing roles as the most valuable in these difficult economic times.
3. Hiring managers said customer service and sales departments will be the first to receive new hires.
4. On average, 60% of new positions created will be for entry-level (28%) or staff-level workers (32%).
5. Hiring managers will be looking for the following characteristics in new hires: multi-tasking, taking initiative, and creative problem-solving.
6. Employers biggest obstacle with hiring new employees is finding qualified talent as 44% of resumes received are unqualified.
7. 61% of hiring managers are willing to pay more money for top talent and are willing to negotiate salaries.
8. Employers will need to think about retaining current employees when economic conditions improve.  49% of current employees expect pay increases to keep them on board and 20% expect better benefit packages.  40% of hiring managers polled plan compensate employees when times are better.

^{1 http://www.careerbuilder.com/share/aboutus/pressreleasesdetail.aspx?id=pr520&sd=8%2f25%2f2009&ed=12%2f31%2f2009&siteid=cbpr&sc_cmp1=cb_pr520_}

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The recent bid to purchase  Yahoo by Microsoft could result in a 28% combined share of online searches.  As such, this would be the first major threat/competition to Google’s reign of online search domination.  In order to adapt, many companies may have to utilize old tactics, to generate effective search marketing results for the future.

In the late 1990s, the world of online search was very different than today.  Unlike today’s Google dominated era, the playing field was divided amongst several strong search engines.  Marketers created separate pages optimized for different search engines depending on ranking algorithms, something they may need to adopt in the near future.  While  Bing’s, Microsoft’s new search engine, algorithm is still being tweaked and developed, we do already know two crucial things that marketing departments must take into account:

1. Google’s algorithms give more weight to inbound links, while Bing focuses more on the content or the keywords contained on pages. This means that sites which rely on inbound links for high rankings in Google may see themselves outranked in Bing’s results by keyword rich sites.

2. Bing sometimes shows only five organic results on its first page, after which it groups results into categories.  Currently, position six on Google means users only have to scroll down to see the result, while on Bing users have to click to the second page (resulting in a dramatic fall of impressions and clicks).

Of course, as Yahoo potentially becomes fully integrated into Microsoft, things could dramatically change.  What we do know for sure is that this is a situation that online marketers should monitor closely.

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With today’s economy creating a difficult environment for winning new clients, small businesses are focusing on retaining the customers they already have.

The Wall Street Journal recently covered the growing trend of small companies focusing attention on retention marketing tactics over attracting additional business.  According to the article, “some companies are allowing regulars to stagger payments or place smaller orders, and even throwing in free services to keep long-time customers interested.  With fewer new clients coming in, small businesses hope that holding onto regulars will help maintain stability and possibly boost sales when the economy bounces back. ”¹

Tread water to survive until the market turns around seems to be the message of this article. However, focusing on retention marketing shouldn’t mean forgoing acquisition efforts.  In fact, a well executed retention plan should expand business.

Reach Out to Your Database
Now is an opportune time to reach out to old/former clients and customers with a targeted message and campaign.  Always keep the lines of communication open with your customers and clients.

Offer Loyalty Discounts
No matter the industry, repeat business and bulk discounts can increase revenue and offer value to your customers.

Sales Follow Up
Following up on any new business is a great way to turn a new customer into repeat business.

¹ Cordeiro, Anjali, “In Dry Times, Companies Coddle Their Regulars,” The Wall Street Journal, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124571863733739347.html (June 2009)

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McKinley is pleased to announce that it has appointed a new General Manager and Director of Business Development for our growing Dallas, Texas market.   Serving in this capacity is Lynn Handley, who plans to increase the company’s presence using her 18+ years of entrepreneurial and leadership skills.

As a former marketing consultant, Lynn’s expertise will be an invaluable resource and we’re glad to have her on board!

Read more about Lynn in today’s press release.

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In June, The Center for Regional Analysis (CRA) issued a forecast for the Washington Metro Area’s economic performance.   This organization researches the economic, fiscal, demographic, housing, and social climates in the Greater Washington region.  The study shed positive light during these tough economic times, proving that the Washington, DC area is slowly, but surely recovering.

Highlights include:

1. Even with Washington losing jobs daily, we still remain in the lowest percentile.  Los Angeles, New York, and Chicago have been hit the hardest…even harder than Detroit.
2. CRA reported that job change, or the loss of jobs, varied by industry.  As we all know, construction and retail have seen the biggest loss of jobs.  Federal government, education and health services, and professional and business services appear to be the front runners in their respective industries.
3. When unemployment rates were ranked by city, Washington’s unemployment rate was 3 percentage points below the national average.
4. Most credit the Washington area’s stability to federal spending.   For the past 20+ years federal spending has increased at a steady rate.  Procurement opportunities have also increased, giving more business to small businesses, woman-owned business, veteran-owned business, and much more.

The next question is what can we take away from all of this?

Washington’s economic outlook is starting to look up and hopefully will remain that way.  We are in the lowest percentile in the country for jobs lost, we have one of the lowest unemployment rates, and we have the Federal Government providing some insulation.  It will take some time to get back to the unemployment rate of 2006, but Washington has the foundation to survive this crisis.  Let’s hope the trends continue.

Are you seeing any signs of hope?

Corresponding Graphs:

To see the complete study called The U.S. and Washington Area Economic Performance and Outlook click here.

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Every Friday morning at 10:30 Kelly and I get together for our weekly SEO/Social Media huddle. We review our Google Analytics reports, update our social media calendar, discuss upcoming blogging topics, and adapt our social media strategy depending on current news. The conversation often times swings off topic, with an occasional break for “Hey did you see this You Tube video?” or “I found this great article/website.” Sometimes there is an overlap in what we have found, but generally we expose each other to articles/videos/websites that are completely new to the other person.

What Kelly and I realized is that while we both work hard to keep our ear to the ground for marketing news/trends, we use completely different resources to do so. Every person has their favorite spots where they routinely turn to stay updated on their interests. We thought it might help if we shared our favorite resources.

Kelly’s Resources

1) Google Reader – I set up my Google reader with various industry blogs. I love this one-stop shop option because it allows me to read everything quickly and in one organized place. I also set up Google alerts that alert me when someone mentions McKinley in the blogosphere.

2) Newspapers and Magazines - Call me old fashioned, but I love sitting down to read newspapers and magazines. This is where I find some of the best stories.

3) LinkedIn - I belong to a few groups on LinkedIn. I like to see what other people in the industry are talking about. It gives me inspiration and motivation to stay ahead of the curve.

Marty’s Resources

1) Digg.com – A great resource for world news, business, entertainment, and unique stories. Users of the site “Digg” articles/videos/pictures they like, with the most popular, and generally the most informative resources gravitating to the top of the rankings.

2) CNNMoney.com – A reliable source for breaking business news. Offers analysis on technology and the economy, giving a great foundation for knowledge of the current market conditions, something that is crucial for marketers to understand.

3) Fellow Marketing Bloggers – Want a good way to keep up with trends? Identify who the most credible members of your industry are, then listen to what they are talking about.

Mutual Resources

1) Hubspot.com – This is our go-to spot for anything SEO. These people are geniuses. They have great ideas, give great advice, and really know what they are talking about.