What’s a quick thing you can do to support another’s business, even if you have little money and less time?
How about recommendations?
That’s the idea behind a new project I launched, TestiMAYnials. There’s not much to it as far as fancy tech or innovation, but I think there is something to the idea:
For each day in May, write a recommendation for someone.
The idea is LinkedIn-centric, since most people I know have 500+ connections, and it isn’t a stretch to think that one could find positive things to say about 31 of them.
So, write a recommendation. Don’t worry about who reciprocates. Don’t overthink what you write. Find someone who made a positive impact in your life and share that with them, and with all who see their profile.
There are lots of ripple effects here.
That recommendation could help that person rank higher in search results for someone looking for their services.
The recommended person might put your testimonial in their portfolio or on their resume and use it to help close deals or land a job.
It could help just by making that person’s day. Just write to say you care (right, Stevie Wonder?).
This doesn’t have to be about LinkedIn. You could support people on Alignable, a local business networking site where I increasingly see connections pop up (I’m here if you want to connect). You could write reviews for your favorite local restaurants, dry cleaners, hair and nail salons, bars, and other spots that you hope to frequent if and when they reopen.
If you like the idea, my one request is to check out testimaynials.com and then spread the word, or share the LinkedIn post announcing it.
Thanks to professional resume writer Allan Brown for initially inspiring the idea. In a community where we’re both members, he shared a post about writing LinkedIn recommendations without reciprocation, and I loved the message so much that I had to run with it.
***
Addendum:
Last week’s column on divergent thinking struck a nerve, with quite a few direct responses and many others adding to the thread on LinkedIn.
One response, from Francesco Caporusso in Lititz, PA (a second-degree connection) particularly struck me. He wrote, “The old adage actually has a second line that is overlooked and changes the entire meaning: ‘Jack of all trades, master of none, oftentimes better than master of one.” Does Aziz Ansari know this?
It’s a concise lesson in the importance of context. “Jack of all trades” is a generally positive term for a generalist when used on its own. Adding “master of none” turns it 180 degrees and promotes specialists instead. Adding “oftentimes better than master of one” turns it another 180 degrees. Language is marvelous. Wikipedia traces the phrase’s evolution from the early 1600s, and we’re still adapting it. I’m a generalist with specialist envy, so Jacks and Jills of all trades are my people, but I am always impressed by those who find their niche and exploit it to the fullest.
Thanks for making me a little smarter, Francesco. Your turn, dear reader: what are you making of yourself?
David
PS: Personalized referral rewards are live. Here’s your personalized link if you’re open to sharing the newsletter. Thank you.
https://www.serialmarketer.
PS2: We have a bunch of new events, including the May speaker lineup for Serial Marketers Salons and JB Smoove hosting this weekend’s Shorty Awards. You’ll see some new jobs too and several new job listing sites too.
PS3: If you do participate in TestiMAYnials, please don’t gratuitously recommend me. If we really have connected in some meaningful way, it’d mean the most if you save mine for May 31 after you’ve done 30 others. If you know me or at least my writing, you know I’m not trying to get anything out of this myself.
On to the links!…
——————————
LEARN. TRY. SHARE.
——————————
GIFT CARDS THAT KEEP ON GIVING
I’ve been a fan of Danny Goodman’s and his Charity Gift Certificates site since he first reached out to me in 2003, before LinkedIn even existed. My contact notes said it was a “decent idea,” and I wrote a story about him in 2004. He’s still pursuing his mission, with their CharityChoice eGift redeemable by the recipient for more than 1,000 causes that they list, and many listings directly support those affected by the pandemic.
https://www.
A GLIMPSE OF COVID TRENDS
Glimpse is my favorite trend tracker, and they have a free version to give a taste of trending topics. Now, they have a more robust free site to see what kinds of searches and topics are trending up and down due to the pandemic.
https://meetglimpse.com/
A PENNY FOR YOUR TRENDS
Want even more retail trends? For each trend, this report shows revenue, conversion rate, Facebook spend, and Google spend.
https://go.within.co/retail-
THE ESSENCE OF A SALE
One of my favorite salespeople, Anne Hrubala, has a take on why selling is essential. I helped get her hired at Storyhunter before I got there, and you can always learn a ton from her.
https://www.linkedin.com/
LOVE AT FIRST PITCH
Communications Match is a useful service for searching for agencies, and I’ve mentioned their founder Simon Locke in this newsletter before. He has some free offerings for agencies, consultants, and freelancers that are worth checking out.
https://www.
A DEAL YOU WILL GO BAN-ANA-S FOR
This is a much better offer than the headline. The Association of National Advertisers (ANA) has opened up a lot of its content and virtual events to anyone through June 5. Sign up for ANA Community Access here.
https://www.ana.net/content/
RESOURCE HIGHLIGHTS
There are now so many that I’ve broken them up into categories. Keep the terrific links coming.
DATA
- Bing’s COVID-19 tracker
- Covid spread tracker from Rt.live
- Financial Times: coronavirus tracker and visualizations (access for free)
- Domo’s coronavirus tracker and visualizations
- Data hubs from Google and Foursquare with location trends related to coronavirus
- Retail trends from Retailmenot and Rockerbox (D2C focus)
- State maps of coronavirus spread for New York and Texas
- USAFacts.org: up-to-the-minute metrics
- World Federation of Advertisers (WFA) tracks brand responses to coronavirus
DONATE & SUPPORT
- $1K Project to support families for three months
- Coffee donations for healthcare workers
- Hospitals near you need support — via Protect the Heroes
- Local business gift cards via Square
- Personal Trainer directory from Salut; support them with donations
- PPE resources from Laura Fitton
- Support Restaurants with dining bonds
- Tip bartenders handsomely (even the less handsome or pretty ones)
GUIDES
- CoronaHub: the job board and Slack community
- Guild’s work-from-home guide
- Family activities from Standupbly
- NUMA’s collection of business resources
- Springworks’ resources for managing remote teams
- Unemployment Guide for all 50 States via HireClub
- Upskilling During a Downturn: resources from Scott Monty and Jeremiah Owyang
TOOLS & ESCAPES
- Audible’s free audiobooks for kids
- Home scheduler by Owl Labs
- Murray’s Cheese Shop now runs virtual cheese tastings
- Remote team tools via Collaboration Superpowers
——————————
EVENTS
——————————
Below are events that are either virtual or scheduled far enough out that they hope to be real-world functions. Please send over any virtual events you’re hosting or attending, and I’ll add them to the list.
All times for virtual events are EDT unless otherwise specified.
SERIAL MARKETERS SALONS
Tuesdays, 3pm EDT
We have an incredible lineup coming up. Email me or check Slack for the event password.
-5/5: Overcoming Ad Fraud with Judy Shapiro, CEO of engageSimply
-5/12: The Future of Fundraising with auctioneer CK Swett of Lot 1 Auctioneers
-5/19: Ask a Recruiter Anything with Kelly Herrick of Searchlight
-5/26: How Local Businesses are Adapting with Dani Hall of Yelp
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
MEDIAVILLAGE
Virtual
Events for May and June include conversations between Jack Myers and luminaries such as the ANA’s Bob Liodice and 4As Marla Kaplowitz, Ford’s Lisa Schoder and Jim Motavalli, Madison Avenue Manslaughter author Michael Farmer, and LUMA’s Mr. Lumascape Terry Kawaja.
https://www.mediavillage.com/
B2C GROWTH AND INNOVATION VIRTUAL SUMMIT
April 29-30
Virtual
Here’s a free event that anyone in the e-commerce space might appreciate: “This Virtual Summit will teach you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about the strategies, tools, and tactics that are making a difference at the world’s fastest-growing companies – despite all of the challenges we’re facing today.”
https://b2cgrowthsummit.
SHORTY AWARDS
May 3, 7pm
JB Smoove, who you know and love as Larry’s housemate Leon from “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” is the host for the first-ever virtual Shortys. And really, this is about people tweeting and tokking and stuff, so if any show can be a good one virtually, this is it.
Subscribe to watch: https://www.youtube.
More info: https://shortyawards.
SOCIAL MEDIA WEEK’S #SMWONE
May 5-28
Virtual
One of my favorite annual events is going virtual:
#SMWONE is a month-long virtual conference series taking place May 5-28 that will deliver live content, talks, panel sessions, and workshops, together with on-demand content, product demos, attendee hangouts, and networking experiences. They are pivoting both of their NY and LA conferences into a single event and adding double the programming.
Confirmed #SMWONE speakers include Kristin Patrick, CMO of PepsiCo, Rishad Tobaccowala, Chief Growth Officer at Publicis Groupe, Pam Wasserstein, President of Vox Media, Rishi Magia, Creative Strategist at Instagram, Dara Treseder, CMO of Carbon 3D, and Joe Marchese, CEO of Attention Capital.
A Delegate Pass Pass (Early Bird $449/Regular $499) allows access to 100+ hours of sessions with 300+ speakers. Through my link, you can get 20% off:
https://events.smwone.com/?
ERA ROUNDTABLE 141
May 5, 6:30pm
Virtual
Entrepreneurs Roundtable Accelerator (ERA) will bring its event online featuring Rebecca Kaden of Union Square Ventures, plus five pitches from startups.
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/
CROWD 2.0 SUMMIT
May 7, 10am-5pm
Virtual
From my friends at Crowdsourcing Week, here’s a free virtual all-day event: “The Virtual Crowd Summit, a 1-day online web conference covers actionable topics in crowdsourcing, open innovation, collaborative economy and crowdfunding that are increasingly rewriting the rules in every sector now more than ever. Whether crowdsourcing is a term that’s sparked your curiosity or a practice you use every day at work,”
https://crowdsourcingweek.com/
COMMUNITY CHAT SUMMIT 2020
June 3-4
Virtual
I’m excited to attend this one. You should too and take advantage of $49 earlybird tickets which cover the full two days: “The Community Chat Summit is a gathering of community builders helping each other navigate the world of community building by sharing resources, strategies, and best practices. Featuring keynote speakers, workshop sessions, 1 on 1 networking and more.”
https://hopin.to/events/
SOCIAL MEDIA STRATEGIES SUMMIT (NEW DATES)
June 9-12
Virtual
The previously-Chicago-only event is now virtual and coming up soon. I’ll be speaking about how to build and run a successful B2B community. Of course, I will be including examples from many others, with a bit of experience covering mistakes I’ve made that others can learn from.
https://
LDV SUMMIT (NEW DATES)
February 10-11, 2021
NYC
“The premier global gathering in visual tech” is run by one of my favorite firms of any sort out there, LDV Capital. They specialize in bringing some of the best people together in all sorts of ways.
https://www.ldv.co/
——————————
JOBS
——————————
I’m working on sourcing more jobs for this. In the meantime, check the resources below, and keep checking out the #jobs channel in Serial Marketers.
TIKTOK
Various product marketing roles
NYC
Via Chris Vennard on LinkedIn: “I have 3 roles open on my team, and a few more in our overall group. All of these roles are leading Go-to-Market strategy and execution around the TikTok ad platform. For my team, I’m looking for very deep & specific experience within programmatic advertising and API, as well as some more general experience across 3rd party marketplaces and Ad Measurement on our larger team.”
https://careers.tiktok.com/
UNIVERSE
CMO
Remote
“Universe is looking for a Chief Marketing Officer to lead our growth and marketing initiatives. This role is part art, part science. It spans the quantitative (product analysis, in-app experimentation, pricing) and qualitative (brand marketing, press, collaborations) sides of marketing. In this role you’ll work with best-in-class analytical marketers, product managers, and designers. The goal is to grow our business and put a dent in the larger culture. We’re looking to build a marketing “machine” that complements our category-defining product team.”
https://workatuniverse.com/cmo
- Ad Ops Online: Job listings for ad operations, programmatic account management, sales operations, and more.
- Advisable: Get instant access to top marketing freelancers
- AMA Job Board: Listings from the American Marketing Association (maybe you can also ask them anything)
- Built in NYC: Jobs at a range of levels and functions, as long as you’re okay working in this quaint, backwater hamlet.
- CareerList: Here’s a form for companies hiring and a form for job seekers; here’s the public list with tabs for both
- CoronaHub: Jobs relating to the crisis response
- ExecThread: Senior roles spanning a range of verticals and cities; membership is free but fully vetted (this uses my referral ID to get you in faster)
- GLG: Get paid to share your topical expertise; it can lead to some interesting conversations at a potentially decent hourly rate
- The Hired Guns: An array of jobs in marketing and related fields at brands, agencies, and media companies
- Hunterz: A way for connectors to get paid to introduce startups to large enterprises
- Lead5: A paid service for executive roles, plus intel on changes with companies and PE investments; you can try a risk-free weeklong trial to see if it’s any good for your needs
- Lunch Club: Match 1:1 around predetermined goals with accomplished professionals (free)
- NYC Ad Jobs & Networking: A popular Facebook group
- One Club for Creativity: COVID-19 Jobs Board
- TechNY Daily: While more technical, there are also some sales and marketing jobs at NY startups.
- VentureLoop: Free startup job listings; their paid option is $15/month and might surface more leads (but it might not).
- Wanted: Wanted helps top talent in tech and marketing find a job at your desired pay. Plug in your salary, stay anonymous at first, and connect with companies that want to recruit you.
Do you run or enjoy other job listing sites? Let me know, and I’ll share them.
This column was originally published in my newsletter. While I share the introductory column here, other updates such as jobs, events, and commentary on news are exclusively available to subscribers. Sign up now to make sure you receive it.
