 We all know that in today's age people have an abundance of information right at their fingertips. As such, people will only read a blog for an average of 37 seconds (source). 👉Use emojis Using emojis helps to engage a younger audience In a recent survey, it was shown that 56% of brands who used emojis in their email subject lines received higher open rates; and in another survey 72% of young people said they’d rather use emojis instead of words when texting. In other words, emojis have become a popular part of our everyday lives. They've come to symbolise contemporary and trendy content. Using emojis is speaking the same language as your younger audience! 👉Use contractionsDon't panic, we haven’t just suddenly switched to discussing birthing techniques… a contraction is how you shorten words like do not and it is into don’t and it’s. This creates a less formal and more relatable tone to your writing. 👉Be colloquialColloquial language is one of the best techniques you can use to relate to your readers. This means making your language conversational. Which one of these sentences means more to you?
Obviously the second sentence is more relatable because it’s using everyday language. 👉Use images Using images helps capture your message Blogs that use images gain 94% more views. Young people are bombarded by visual content every minute of every day and have developed a subconscious pattern to form an opinion on their content through its use of images. That means you too need to use images to help convey your message in a quick and effective way. 👉Format your textYoung people are spoilt for choice when it comes to content. If you can’t deliver their information quick and fast in a blog post, chances are your competitor will. A great way to make your blog easier to read is by using these formatting techniques: 💥Break it up into sections and use headers (like this post) 💥Highlight key details in bold and italics 💥Ignore paragraph grammar rules - it’s okay to have 3 consecutive sentences take a separate line each! ConclusionThere you have it, folks! Writing for a younger audience is a different kettle of fish. You’re dealing with an extremely competitive blogging market so you need to own your brand voice if you’re going to keep your young’uns engaged. Try adapting these techniques consistently for 2 months and watch your post engagement levels increase. 
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 In today’s world, there’s no doubt that blogging is an integral part of business growth. You’d find it hard to come across an established and successful company that doesn’t have a blog these days.  👉Look for bloggers in the right placesOkay, I’m going to jump straight to the point here. Avoid websites like contentmill.com and fiverr.com These websites are notorious for their poor quality. The low standard of work produced by these websites is a separate blog post in itself which a simple google search can help you with. But put simply, hiring from content mill is the equivalent of buying a frozen pizza from Sainsbury's and expecting it to taste just like Italy's finest - yes, they're both called pizza, but you will Taste The Difference indeed [sorry, just had to]. If you’re going to go pro with your blogging, there’s no point in doing it unless you’re going to do it properly… and that means investing a little more for the quality.
 Use the search bar on LinkedIn to find freelance bloggers 👉Hire a specialist, not a generalistThere are two types of bloggers: those that blog about anything, and those that blog about a particular niche industry. Make sure you’re hiring a specialist, someone that understands your industry and how it operates. You’ll get far better results from your blog posts when the author knows what they’re talking about! How do you know if they’re a specialist in your field? Check their website and their portfolio! This brings me nicely onto my third point: 👉Ask for samples of work Always ask for samples! It’s common practise to ask for 2 or 3 different samples before hiring a blogger. Any professional blogger should have samples of their published work available. This is a great way for you to assess the quality of their work before parting with your precious pennies. You want to assess a few things when reading their samples:
👉Look for testimonialsWouldn’t you feel so much better about hiring a blogger if you could see that other companies in your industry rated that person highly? Not all bloggers will be able to provide testimonials, but it’s certainly a bonus if they can! Sometimes these will be displayed on their website, but you can also check their LinkedIn for recommendations too. It’s also handy to look on websites for a list of companies that the blogger has worked with. Sometimes freelance bloggers will have a small section on their website with the logos of the different companies they’ve worked with. 👉Take full advantage of a free consultation Take advantage of a free consultation This is your opportunity to get to know the blogger before hiring them. You want to see them asking lots of intelligent questions about your business such as… Tell me about your target audience How does your business generate revenue? How do you want the tone to be? What are you trying to achieve through your blog posts? Questions like these show that the blogger is really interested in producing tailored content that yields results. It shows they’re looking to impact your business on a long-term basis. 👉Nail the detailIf you’re not used to hiring bloggers, it can be hard to know what to ask. There are a few things that you will want to clarify. Usually a good blogger will clarify these things before you need ask, but make sure you get clear on these details before signing on the dotted line: ❓How many revisions will they provide per post? ❓When will the drafts be submitted for review? ❓How long will the posts be? ❓How many topics will you get to choose from on a monthly basis? (If you’re looking at retained blogging rather than a one-off piece) ❓What is the duration of the contract? ❓Will they source images? ❓Who will be posting the content? (The blogger or your own team?) ❓Who will be inserting tags, categories, SEO optimisation (not all bloggers will provide this service) 👉Lead the strategyIt’s not the writer’s responsibility to come up with your blog’s strategy. Nobody understands your business the way you do, so decide on the areas that you want to focus on, and communicate these to your blogger. Your responsibility: coming up with the strategy (which areas of the business to target, frequency and length of posts, posting days etc) Blogger’s responsibility: executing the strategy (researching topics, keyword optimisation, creating engaging content to target those areas)  You set the strategy, the blogger executes! For example, let’s say you’re running a recruitment company and you want to drive more candidates to sign up with your agency. You've set the strategy to attract more candidates, now the blogger comes up with ideas to target and engage more candidates such as CV Writing Advice, Interview Tips etc. 👉What’s the price tag?I wish there was a straight-forward answer to this question. But since you’re dealing with freelancers, there’s no rule book when it comes to pricing. However, what I can say from personal experience and from speaking with numerous other freelance bloggers, is that it would not be uncommon to pay between £150-£300 for a quality blog post of 1000 words, written by a specialist in your niche industry. But of course, costs will depend upon the experience and expertise of the writer, and the details of the service such as the length of the post, and the extent of research required. If you’re looking to hire a blogger on a long-term retained basis, then you may be able to negotiate a reduced rate if you commit to, let’s say, 3 months and pay half of the total fee upfront. Conclusion I hope this has given you the confidence to outsource your blog and has provided a little direction on how to hire the right blogger for your business.
It may take you a few tries before you find the right person. Just make sure that you don’t enter into any long-term contract until you’ve been able to test the waters for a month. If you’re a company operating in the recruitment industry, you can book in for a free consultation with me here.  When it comes to blogging, the temptation can be to Do It Yourself. It’s just typing up a few fancy words, right? |
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Tier 1 contains the winning KPIs, the KPIs closest to the money but harder to achieve. They're matched with the prizes that cost the most.
Tier 2 contains the KPIs that contribute to the business' growth, but are more towards the beginning of the sales funnel.
Remember, you are dealing with sales people that are motivated by winning. If you are delaying commission payments, you need to find a cheaper way of incentivising your staff.
Although you might feel the urge to cut costs wherever possible, it might just be worth your while putting aside a bit of cash to motivate your staff during these times.
After all, the sales staff are your only source of generating revenue. If anything is worth investing in during this time, surely it’s them!
If you are looking for ways to have a successful remote working system, take a look at this post: 7 Steps To Transforming Your Failing Remote Recruitment Team
Tier 2 contains the KPIs that contribute to the business' growth, but are more towards the beginning of the sales funnel.
Remember, you are dealing with sales people that are motivated by winning. If you are delaying commission payments, you need to find a cheaper way of incentivising your staff.
Although you might feel the urge to cut costs wherever possible, it might just be worth your while putting aside a bit of cash to motivate your staff during these times.
After all, the sales staff are your only source of generating revenue. If anything is worth investing in during this time, surely it’s them!
If you are looking for ways to have a successful remote working system, take a look at this post: 7 Steps To Transforming Your Failing Remote Recruitment Team
When it comes to working from home, I can guess that most of your recruitment consultants would jump at the chance, right?
Who could blame them?!
In fact, in a survey carried out in 2019 by Buffer, a whopping 99% of respondents said that they would want to work remotely for the rest of their career, or at least be based from home for part of the time.
Source
Under normal circumstances, the work-from-home request requires a lot of thought and consideration.
Will your consultant stay motivated?
Will their revenue drop?
What software and systems will you need to put in place?
Will the entire sales floor come knocking on your door asking for the same privilege?
Under normal circumstances, the work-from-home request requires a lot of thought and consideration.
Will your consultant stay motivated?
Will their revenue drop?
What software and systems will you need to put in place?
Will the entire sales floor come knocking on your door asking for the same privilege?
A very difficult decision indeed. So we can only imagine your sheer and utter panic when you were obliged to transfer your entire sales force to remote working following the recent COVID-19 lockdown.
I mean, at one point you MAY have been tempted to consider remote working requests for your top billers, but now you’re expected to have your whole team working from home?!
Even the guys that are coasting?!
The answer is yes, my friend. Even the coasters.
But it may come as a surprise to hear that, although your team’s prayers have seemingly been answered, a lot of home workers are actually struggling with this new transition.
In another recent survey conducted by the Institute of Employment Studies, the preliminary results have shown that a massive 50% of U.K. workers were unhappy with their work-life balance during the first 2 weeks of lockdown!
So it appears that working from home is with its flaws.
Well, that’s bad news for you as a manager of a sales team. You need your team engaged, united, & performing now more than ever.
The good news is, lots of companies in the world successfully operate in this way already… you just need to cover a few key points to ensure your team’s morale and performance remain in top shape.
So, I’m here to help you make this work for you AND for your team. Here’s how.
I mean, at one point you MAY have been tempted to consider remote working requests for your top billers, but now you’re expected to have your whole team working from home?!
Even the guys that are coasting?!
The answer is yes, my friend. Even the coasters.
But it may come as a surprise to hear that, although your team’s prayers have seemingly been answered, a lot of home workers are actually struggling with this new transition.
In another recent survey conducted by the Institute of Employment Studies, the preliminary results have shown that a massive 50% of U.K. workers were unhappy with their work-life balance during the first 2 weeks of lockdown!
So it appears that working from home is with its flaws.
Well, that’s bad news for you as a manager of a sales team. You need your team engaged, united, & performing now more than ever.
The good news is, lots of companies in the world successfully operate in this way already… you just need to cover a few key points to ensure your team’s morale and performance remain in top shape.
So, I’m here to help you make this work for you AND for your team. Here’s how.
1. ENVIRONMENT
First and foremost, nobody enjoys looking at a pile of mess let alone working in one.
Have you thought about your team’s working environment? It’s quite possible they’re in a dark, cluttered room that does nothing for their mental clarity.
Hold a competition with your team to makeover their home work spaces (however big or small) without spending any money. Encourage them to get creative!
Grab some flowers from the garden!
Make use of that old paint in the garage!
Pin up some family photos!
Clear that mountain of paperwork that’s been collecting dust for the last decade!
A nice working environment = mental clarity, and that’s the formula you should be leading your team with.
Have you thought about your team’s working environment? It’s quite possible they’re in a dark, cluttered room that does nothing for their mental clarity.
Hold a competition with your team to makeover their home work spaces (however big or small) without spending any money. Encourage them to get creative!
Grab some flowers from the garden!
Make use of that old paint in the garage!
Pin up some family photos!
Clear that mountain of paperwork that’s been collecting dust for the last decade!
A nice working environment = mental clarity, and that’s the formula you should be leading your team with.
2. STRUCTURE
One of the hardest parts about working from home is ensuring your team achieves the same amount of activity as normal.
BUT
...there are tons of new distractions at home that they won’t be used to tackling.
Get your recruitment team structured by holding a virtual whiteboard meeting 3 times a day where your team pledge what they will achieve AM + PM, with a final review at the end of the day.
Maybe they commit to sending 2 CVs in the morning, and making 10 sales calls in the afternoon.
Try using Miro - a free virtual whiteboard where your teams can collaborate & share their daily pledges.
BUT
...there are tons of new distractions at home that they won’t be used to tackling.
Get your recruitment team structured by holding a virtual whiteboard meeting 3 times a day where your team pledge what they will achieve AM + PM, with a final review at the end of the day.
Maybe they commit to sending 2 CVs in the morning, and making 10 sales calls in the afternoon.
Try using Miro - a free virtual whiteboard where your teams can collaborate & share their daily pledges.
Just be sure to remember to review the whiteboard pledges twice a day to see how everyone performed against their targets. This will hold everyone accountable, and accountability is key when it comes to success.
3. TIME MANAGEMENT
One of the most common issues with remote working is not being able to 'switch off' after work. Remote workers have a tendency to take long casual breaks and, as a result, compensate by working later into the evening.
Try using Cuckoo to manage time better. This is a remote working timer where you can time power hours and breaks as a collective.
Try using Cuckoo to manage time better. This is a remote working timer where you can time power hours and breaks as a collective.
4. COMMUNICATION
The results from Buffers' survey showed that 19% of respondents said that feeling isolated is their biggest challenge with working from home.
SOURCE
Feeling isolated can quickly turn to feeling demotivated. It’s vital you keep that team spirit alive.
Here are two basic ways you can achieve better team communication:
Feeling isolated can quickly turn to feeling demotivated. It’s vital you keep that team spirit alive.
Here are two basic ways you can achieve better team communication:
- Zoom - Daily/Weekly team meetings
- Google Hangouts - instant messaging teammates throughout the day with the ability for video conferencing also
5. INCENTIVES
Okay, so your budget might be tight and perhaps you’re holding off on paying bonuses out for now. But there are lots of other ways to incentivise your team on a budget.
With the whole country being on lockdown, it’s also important you pick incentives that are within reach and that your consultants can use whilst on lockdown. Here are 5 cheap incentives to excite your team even during lockdown
(If you need more incentive ideas, read this: 10 Budget Incentives For Your Recruitment Team )
With the whole country being on lockdown, it’s also important you pick incentives that are within reach and that your consultants can use whilst on lockdown. Here are 5 cheap incentives to excite your team even during lockdown
- Half day Friday for hitting weekly KPIs
- 6 months of Netflix paid for
- £50 cash bonus for sales competitions
- Online exercise / yoga class subscription
(If you need more incentive ideas, read this: 10 Budget Incentives For Your Recruitment Team )
6. INSPIRATION
When your sales team is working from home, you definitely need to inject some fresh i n s p i r a t i o n into their veins to keep motivation levels high.
Get your team members to take it in turns to source a 5-10 minute motivational video daily, and get everyone to watch this together on a Zoom call first thing in the morning.
Not only will this boost individual motivation levels, but this will also boost the collective morale and create more unity across the team by sharing that moment together every morning.
Get your team members to take it in turns to source a 5-10 minute motivational video daily, and get everyone to watch this together on a Zoom call first thing in the morning.
Not only will this boost individual motivation levels, but this will also boost the collective morale and create more unity across the team by sharing that moment together every morning.
7. MOTIVATION
This ties in with inspiration really well. The number one tip from successful entrepreneurs across the world?
VISION BOARDING.
Does your team know what their personal financial goals are?
Do they know what they will buy once they hit X amount of savings in their account?
All of your team can create an online vision board to get specific with the outcomes they want to achieve. If they’re saving for a holiday, a holiday to where and when and with who?
Try Dream It Alive virtual dream board.
VISION BOARDING.
Does your team know what their personal financial goals are?
Do they know what they will buy once they hit X amount of savings in their account?
All of your team can create an online vision board to get specific with the outcomes they want to achieve. If they’re saving for a holiday, a holiday to where and when and with who?
Try Dream It Alive virtual dream board.
This is a great tool for building an online dream board that you can always have with you wherever you’re working (plus, your sales team won’t need to worry about getting the scissors and glue out!).
Conclusion
It may feel overwhelming adapting to this new way of working, but all it takes is a bit of careful thought and time to adjust.
It will take a few teething errors to get your team performing to the same levels you’re used to, but once you’ve nailed it, you might be surprised to find that they out-perform themselves in the end!
Just ensure you are implementing the right measures to keep your team’s morale high and work-life balance...well, balanced!
It will take a few teething errors to get your team performing to the same levels you’re used to, but once you’ve nailed it, you might be surprised to find that they out-perform themselves in the end!
Just ensure you are implementing the right measures to keep your team’s morale high and work-life balance...well, balanced!
When it comes to blogging, it’s very easy to focus on how you can make your posts different and unique. Whilst this is a very important part of running a successful blog, it is important not to neglect the recruitment blogging basics!
Here are 5 topics every recruitment business should blog about...
Here are 5 topics every recruitment business should blog about...
1. Writing a CV
This is the very least a candidate can expect to find from a recruitment website. Give tips to your candidates on how to walk their CV straight to interview.
2. Candidate interviewing tips
A perfect guide for your candidates that can easily be sent out as a resource to each candidate at interview!
3. Client interviewing tips
Don’t assume your clients know it all. Interviews are the heart and soul of any recruitment business, and sometimes clients need just as much guidance as the candidates do.
4. How to retain staff
Your recruitment consultants talk to the best candidates on the market all day everyday about what their ideal job would be. To a recruiter, it may feel like this information is easy to obtain, but to a Hiring Manager this is the unique insight they value in recruiters!
5. How to pick the right recruitment agency
This is your chance to shine and promote your services. Hiring Managers are inundated with recruiters and often struggle to know where to start when choosing a recruitment company to work with. Help them understand why YOUR agency is the right fit for them.
Once you've mastered the basics, you need to up your game and write something different. Learn how to create unique content here: The Secret to Creating Original Content for your Recruitment Blog
If you have been blogging for any length of time, you will understand the struggle to always keep coming up with unique ideas for your blog posts.
Of course, any recruitment blog should contain the basic pieces that you’d expect to find on any half decent website (How to write a CV, Interview tips, Benefits of using a recruiter etc)...
BUT...
...you also need to find a way to give your audience something different to chew on if you’re going to keep increasing the amount of traffic you drive to your site.
Follow these tips to make your content stand out and keep growing your recruitment presence.
Of course, any recruitment blog should contain the basic pieces that you’d expect to find on any half decent website (How to write a CV, Interview tips, Benefits of using a recruiter etc)...
BUT...
...you also need to find a way to give your audience something different to chew on if you’re going to keep increasing the amount of traffic you drive to your site.
Follow these tips to make your content stand out and keep growing your recruitment presence.
1. Stay current, follow the news
Current affairs will always be a fantastic way to keep creating unique content that grabs your audience’s attention.
For example, everyone in recruitment was talking about the new IR35 legislation that was due to take effect in April 2020 (now postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19). Businesses and employees were confused by it and were seeking out information to get their heads around it.
Follow the news and ask yourself how certain events might affect the world of recruitment.
For example, everyone in recruitment was talking about the new IR35 legislation that was due to take effect in April 2020 (now postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19). Businesses and employees were confused by it and were seeking out information to get their heads around it.
Follow the news and ask yourself how certain events might affect the world of recruitment.
2. Always walk with a diary of your ideas
Writing inspiration can come to you at any time during the day. Don’t let yourself miss out on any nuggets of gold that might occur to you whilst you’re driving to the office.
Make a habit of keeping a pen and diary to hand and getting those ideas down.
Before you know it, you’ll have pages of potential blog post ideas.
Make a habit of keeping a pen and diary to hand and getting those ideas down.
Before you know it, you’ll have pages of potential blog post ideas.
3. Conduct interviews
Interview professionals in the recruitment industry and create a truly unique piece of writing. This could be interviewing an individual about their story, or perhaps you have an interesting topic that you want to get their opinion on.
4. Storytell and share your personal experiences
We can all write about how to compose a top CV or how to conduct a solid interview, but nothing could be more unique than your own personal experiences and point of view.
People love to read stories and can relate to this style of writing in a way that isn’t possible with non-emotive, informative pieces.
People love to read stories and can relate to this style of writing in a way that isn’t possible with non-emotive, informative pieces.
5. Carry out your own polls
Unique research = unique content!
If you have a lot of email subscribers, it may be enough for you to send a poll out via email. Otherwise, attend recruitment networking events with your poll ready to hand out.
If conducted in the right way, just one single poll could produce enough material for 10 new blog posts!
If you have a lot of email subscribers, it may be enough for you to send a poll out via email. Otherwise, attend recruitment networking events with your poll ready to hand out.
If conducted in the right way, just one single poll could produce enough material for 10 new blog posts!
6. Write about recruitment research
The world wide web is bursting at the seams with factual information & research that you can base your blogs around. These include many established recruitment platforms that publish research and surveys (with thousands of respondents) such as CV Library and TalentPool.
But wait, why would someone want to read your blog when they can read the original research?
A lot of research is unappetising to read.
It's lengthy, and also lacking personality.
Your blog post offers a space to break it down and highlight the important bits, making it quick and easy to read!
But wait, why would someone want to read your blog when they can read the original research?
A lot of research is unappetising to read.
It's lengthy, and also lacking personality.
Your blog post offers a space to break it down and highlight the important bits, making it quick and easy to read!
Now that you know how to create unique content, remember to make sure that your blog is covering the basics: 5 essential blog posts every recruitment company should have!
VAnessa Ramkissoon
Recruitment content writer
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