Services
Here are the ingredients it takes to attract the decision-makers most likely to hire you, and get the highest odds of success.
- Value proposition letter: a concise and compelling statement of what you accomplish, not what you do.
- Targeting: the growing industries and locations that are more likely to hire you, and this changes monthly.
- Mailing list: the decision-makers at the businesses most likely to hire you ... typically CEOs, Presidents, Owners, etc.
- Website: this is where all the supporting documents go, including your resume, bio and more.
- Video Clip: This allows you make a personal connection with your website visitors, and make a lasting impression.
We provide all of these services.
Value
proposition letter
Imagine poking your head in a CEO's door, and he or she looks up from the desk and asks:
- What do you want?
- What good are you ... exactly?
- What makes you so special?
- What's in it for me?
- Why should you get the big bucks?
- Why should I waste my time talking to you?
- In fact, why should I care that you even exist?
Your answer should be clear, concise and compelling, and phrased in dollars ($) or percent (%). They want to know what you accomplish, not what you do. The more you measure, the more it counts.
To help drive this point home, consider this:
I turn lead into gold at $50,000 per day. If you must know, I can't read or write, I dropped out of 5th grade, and I learned how to do it last week. Plus, I am old, fat, ugly and take a nap every day from noon to three. However, I do turn lead into gold at $50,000 per day - would you like some?
How hard can a value proposition letter be?
Listen to our conversation with a
mid-six-figure CEO.
For example:
One of our clients was a $450k Textile CEO in Charlotte NC. He could not relocate (kids in high school), his industry was declining fast, and there were very few companies in his industry that were available for his mailing list. So, we changed his value proposition to minimize textiles and leverage his experience in acquisitions and turnarounds. This changed his targeting and mailing list, and he had to rewrite his resume.
He targeted several thousand local companies outside of textiles and received 17 calls, 8 long phone interviews and 6 follow-up interviews ... all within 9 weeks. He turned down 2 job offers and accepted a third that offered ownership. His thank you note read in part: "Six years ago the retained recruiters found my new job. This time it was the direct mail - a numbers game. Only 1/2% had any interest but those 1/2% really needed someone at that time. Thanks for all your help along the way."
Don't send a resume
When going directly to decision-makers, send only a letter. Our clients (average $300k) helped us test the "Don't Send a Resume" theory in 2006. We gave them a free website in exchange for split mailings - with and without a resume. After tens of thousands of letters, here were the results:
- Value proposition letters without a resume averaged 6 times more responses than letters with a resume.
- For letters that specifically referred decision-makers to our client's website for their resume (thinking that's what decision-makers wanted), only 13% looked at the resume.
- Decision-makers consistently told our clients that the letter would have never reached their desk if a resume was attached.
Do you like to read resumes? Do you know anyone who does?
Well, connect the dots - give decision-makers what they want. Almost all job-seekers believe their resume is the first thing they should prepare for a job search. Yet, almost all JobBait clients rewrite their resume after we've developed their value proposition, targeting and mailing list.
Targeting
To increase your job-finding odds, look for a job where the jobs are. Industries and locations that are growing will be more likely to hire you.
Our targeting files are proprietary and comprehensive. They include the short term and long term trends for 14,000+ industry-location combinations, and they're are updated twice a month.
Clients can find their best job-finding odds quickly and easily, whether they're looking locally, regionally or nationally. And they can see the impact of previous recessions on their choices, and how their industry is forecasted to perform through 2018.
Check out more about our Job-Search Targeting tools.
Mailing
Lists
An accurate mailing list accounts for 40% of your success rate. When it's compiled correctly, you can easily save 50% to 75% of your total mailing costs.
Most clients develop multiple mailing lists, depending on their value proposition and targeting. They typically include VCs and other investors who might need them for a portfolio company.
We normally spend several hours with clients, hand in hand in the database, helping them develop their mailing lists correctly.
If you're looking for an email list, see how email distribution works. Email is not a viable alternative for a host of reasons. Classic direct mail is the only polite and practical way to reach the decision-makers most likely to hire you.
Websites
Websites are faster and easier for decision-makers to learn more about you. Plus, you control the content and there's no drip marketing or advertising like you see with LinkedIn or other free services. You can put as much as you want on your website and let them choose.
Decision-makers are 50x more likely to visit your website than call, and 2x more likely to look at your volunteer work than your resume.
We'll help you build the content for your website based on your value proposition, targeting and mailing list.
Websites allow you interview while you sleep ... in fact, some clients see it as networking while they sleep.
Think LinkedIn is a good substitute for a real website? Click here.
Video Clips
Click the play button on the video on the right.
Your picture belongs on your website - it's worth a thousand words.
A video clip also belongs on your website - it's worth a million words, and has the intangibles of sound, chemistry and more. Video clips increase the "stickiness" of your websites by 6 to 8 times.
Decision-makers are going to meet you eventually, so give them a head start. Keep your video clip short - less than 30 seconds. Long videos (especially "video resumes") seldom get played to the end.
Audio testimonials
These are an emerging trend. Visitors to our client’s websites are listening to the audio testimonials over 80% of the time when they click on the testimonials page. The audios are from the client’s references, and they’re similar to a streamed voicemail recording.
