If you haven’t read it yet, allow me to strongly recommend that you get yourself a copy of “Inbound Marketing” by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah and read every word.  I found it to be a comprehensive and eye-opening review of the multiple facets of marketing using social media as a mechanism to reach an audience of prospective buyers and ultimately to convert those prospects to customers.

There is a chapter titled “Picking and Measuring Your People” which addresses the need for companies to find and hire inbound marketing savvy people.  The book referred to these people as “Digital Citizens” who were either “born Web” or very familiar with the Web and who speak Web fluently.  The authors suggested using a framework they referred to as “DARC” to identify and hire these types of candidates.

The “D” in Darc refers to identifying people who are Digital Citizens.

The “A” deals with hiring people who can demonstrate analytical acumen. Because every marketing activity of inbound marketing is completely measurable, the ability to analyze the results will insure better decision making according to Halligan and Shah.

The “R” stands for hiring people who have Web reach.  Web reach is simply a new form of Rolodex; that is, a personal network of connections within a specialty or industry industry through the web.

Finally, the “C” refers to finding “Content Creators”.  These are people with great writing skills who can create what the authors refer to as “remarkable content”.

As I reflected on this chapter of “Inbound Marketing”I had two distinct thoughts:

1. Identifying job candidates who have the skills, background and characteristics required to handle the development and executive of an inbound marketing plan effectively, will necessitate careful consideration.  For each person to be hired, a prospective employer will need to create a comprehensive job description, interviewing questions and determine what, if any, testing should be done to help the hiring authority judge a candidate’s viability. 

2. The second thought I had dealt with a personal observation. It seems to me that when any company initiates a new idea or concept designed to improve efficiency, effectiveness and ultimately to increase the sales of a product or service the company offers, it almost always results in the need to find the right person to insure that the idea or concept is generated successfully.

Interesting, isn’t it…no matter how sophisticated or leading edge our approach to business, it inevitably boils down to a need to hire the right talent!

Let me know your thoughts on this or on any other topic in our blog. The Sourcerer wants your input…