Recruiting Employees: Need Your Advice

by rosieg
24 replies
Happy New Year Warriors!

I would like to recruit someone to work for me full time to manage my (numerous) PPC campaigns, and help me split test copy and landing pages using Google Website Optimizer.

This person would need to have copywriting skills, web master skills, and of course be good at google adwords and other google tools such as Analytics & Website Optimizer.

My question for you is:

1. Which websites are good for finding an individual with these talents?
2. What kind of remuneration is suitable for someone like this?
3. How would I make sure this person is increasing my bottom line?

Because this job is so integral to my business, I need to work with someone I can meet face to face on a regular basis, so they would need to be based in the UK.

I'm not comfortable with outsourcing something like this due to really bad experiences in outsourcing.

I'd really appreciate your advice on how to attract, recruit and keep someone with these valuable skills.

If you already have these skills, what kind of offer would make someone like you think it was worthwhile?
#advice #employees #jobs #outsourcing #recruiting #recruitment
  • Profile picture of the author rosieg
    Any advice to share?
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  • Profile picture of the author derekwong28
    I cannot give you advice on who and how to hire. The only advice I can give is that you must be very careful. In early 2007, our full-time web designer resigned suddenly. This was one of the precipitating factors that led to the closure of our PDA accessories shop.

    What surprised me was that she had resigned without having found another job. Later, I found out on the computer that she was using a number of disquieting things. For one, she had opened accounts at almost all the media companies I was using. It seems that she was able to copy some of my business model for her own use. Because of this, I am now very reluctant to employ another person or outsource my work.

    Derek
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    • Profile picture of the author marcanthony
      I am currently in the process of setting up a PPC management company. It won't be ready to go for another month or so.

      In the meantime...

      Check out CreativeDigitalMedia.com

      If you need PPC management, this is a great place to start.



      Marc
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      • Profile picture of the author learnmore
        Hi Marc,
        Do you have personal experience with this company? or was it referred to you?

        Thanks

        Originally Posted by marcanthony View Post

        I am currently in the process of setting up a PPC management company. It won't be ready to go for another month or so.

        In the meantime...

        Check out CreativeDigitalMedia.com

        If you need PPC management, this is a great place to start.



        Marc
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        • Profile picture of the author marcanthony
          Originally Posted by learnmore View Post

          Hi Marc,
          Do you have personal experience with this company? or was it referred to you?

          Thanks
          No...

          They came highly referred

          Marc
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    • Profile picture of the author rosieg
      Originally Posted by derekwong28 View Post

      What surprised me was that she had resigned without having found another job. Later, I found out on the computer that she was using a number of disquieting things. For one, she had opened accounts at almost all the media companies I was using. It seems that she was able to copy some of my business model for her own use. Because of this, I am now very reluctant to employ another person or outsource my work.
      Derek, thanks for your input. It's always been a concern that someone I employed would run off and duplicate my business. Although it's a very valid concern (I have heard many horror stories similar to yours) there must be a way to minimize this risk.

      I'd love to hear how any of your warriors have managed to overcome this.
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  • Profile picture of the author yourreviewer
    Hello Rose,
    I don't have any experience with a in person hiring. Agents of Value is a good site if who are looking to outsource because the management makes sure that the person they assign meets your requirements.
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    • Profile picture of the author JamesFrancisIM
      Through learning from Eban Pagan, the most important thing about hiring a new employee is that they must have one thing... Drive. Without a drive to finish their work, or to increase conversions and constantly better themselves, you'll find that their productivity is low and you'll have wasted money.

      The average cost for an average company's mishire is apparently over $10 million dollars. Yes, no mistypes.

      So get it right first time.

      1. The person must enjoy their job.
      2. The person must be a 'driver', i.e. have a drive to succeed.
      3. And of course, the person must be very good at their job.

      Ask the candidate about all of these things in the job interview (or whatever hiring system you're using), with evidence of past experiences to back it up. This cuts out the 'blaggers' who know how to say the right thing, which is often said purely to get the job.

      Also, if you're stuck for ideas for selecting the right person, ask people within your niche for recommendations of good people.

      Finally, as for your third question, when you hire your new employee ask him/her to send a quick informal email to tell you what they've acheived that day, with statistics if applicable.

      Just sharing some valuable information i've learned. Hope i've helped

      - James.
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      • Profile picture of the author rosieg
        Originally Posted by JamesFrancisIM View Post

        Through learning from Eban Pagan, the most important thing about hiring a new employee is that they must have one thing... Drive. Without a drive to finish their work, or to increase conversions and constantly better themselves, you'll find that their productivity is low and you'll have wasted money.

        The average cost for an average company's mishire is apparently over $10 million dollars. Yes, no mistypes.

        So get it right first time.

        1. The person must enjoy their job.
        2. The person must be a 'driver', i.e. have a drive to succeed.
        3. And of course, the person must be very good at their job.

        Ask the candidate about all of these things in the job interview (or whatever hiring system you're using), with evidence of past experiences to back it up. This cuts out the 'blaggers' who know how to say the right thing, which is often said purely to get the job.

        Also, if you're stuck for ideas for selecting the right person, ask people within your niche for recommendations of good people.

        Finally, as for your third question, when you hire your new employee ask him/her to send a quick informal email to tell you what they've acheived that day, with statistics if applicable.

        Just sharing some valuable information i've learned. Hope i've helped

        - James.
        Great suggestions James! Thank you. I'm definitely going to incorporate questions about drive into the interview.

        You're right - It's sooo important to get hiring decisions right first time. The time, frustration and opportunity costs I've expended working with outsourced staff in the past has made me want to explore taking on a quality employee instead.

        @marcanthony and @yourreviewer: I've had direct experience with the two organizations you've mentioned, and so have friends of mine who have IM businesses. Those experiences weren't good.
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        • Profile picture of the author myob
          I hire good quality employees from the outplacement services of local universities and monster.com. The students and graduates are especially bright, articulate, dependable and eager to learn. Remuneration is in the range of $30-$40/hr to start for graduates and much more for advanced degrees to attract and keep the best. I assign some projects to test their skills before hiring. They also must sign legally binding non-compete and non-disclosure agreements.
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          • Profile picture of the author rosieg
            Originally Posted by myob View Post

            I hire good quality employees from the outplacement services of local universities and monster.com. The students and graduates are especially bright, articulate, dependable and eager to learn. Remuneration is in the range of $30-$40/hr to start for graduates and much more for advanced degrees to attract and keep the best. I assign some projects to test their skills before hiring. They also must sign legally binding non-compete and non-disclosure agreements.
            Hiring from Universities? That's a GREAT idea. I live near a University, which offers a wide range of courses, so I'm bound to find someone local with the right skills and attitude.

            Thank you!
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  • Profile picture of the author Rachel Goodchild
    my best advice is to take it as seriuosly as someone would in an offline business.
    talk to them by phone, take time to see if they are a good fit

    the reality is it still can be a diaster and problems do happen
    but the converse is also true and true growth cna only start to happen when we start to employ others

    good luck!
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  • Profile picture of the author Christie Love
    I would look on freelance websites such as rent-a-coder. Before hiring someone to work for you, make sure to review samples first. Just in case something goes wrong, I'd also hire a backup person or two to fill in when your main employee is not available.
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    • Profile picture of the author Franck Silvestre
      I always have a backup person ready.

      Good idea.

      Originally Posted by Christie Love View Post

      I would look on freelance websites such as rent-a-coder. Before hiring someone to work for you, make sure to review samples first. Just in case something goes wrong, I'd also hire a backup person or two to fill in when your main employee is not available.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dana_W
    I also might consider hiring senior citizens who are retired but looking for extra money to supplement their income. You could contact AARP or your local senior citizen's advisory council to find people who fit into this description. I live in Florida where there are a lot of retired people and if I expand, I am DEFINITELy considering doing that.

    Among the benefits: I feel chances are good that I'd get more mature, responsible, and experienced employees, and I somehow feel that they'd be less likely to try to copy an internet marketing business model and run off with it.

    Although a non-compete/nondisclosure agreement is important too.
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    • Profile picture of the author rosieg
      Originally Posted by Dana_W View Post

      I also might consider hiring senior citizens who are retired but looking for extra money to supplement their income. You could contact AARP or your local senior citizen's advisory council to find people who fit into this description. I live in Florida where there are a lot of retired people and if I expand, I am DEFINITELy considering doing that.

      Among the benefits: I feel chances are good that I'd get more mature, responsible, and experienced employees, and I somehow feel that they'd be less likely to try to copy an internet marketing business model and run off with it.

      Although a non-compete/nondisclosure agreement is important too.
      Fantastic idea! I used to have a real headache with getting customer support staff until I hired some older women to do the job. From my experience, older people are more responsible than some of the young people I have worked with.

      I'll see whether these organizations also do IT courses. Maybe I'll get someone with the right attitude and the computer skills.
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      • Profile picture of the author jan roos
        I have seen companies advertise around my area looking for internet marketers to work for them and I cant help wondering if these companies are managing to hire the right candidates because why would someone thats really good at IM whether its ppc, article marketing or whatever work for someone else when they can make a great living working for themselves and having the freedom associated with that.

        I really think it'll be hard to find quality people to work for you as an employee in this field but then again might be wrong as I have no experience regarding hiring employees etc.

        Please keep us updated on how it goes for you.

        Regards
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        • Profile picture of the author rosieg
          Originally Posted by jan roos View Post

          why would someone thats really good at IM whether its ppc, article marketing or whatever work for someone else when they can make a great living working for themselves and having the freedom associated with that.
          Jan - you're right. That could be the reason why I've had problems in hiring good people. I know that other successful IM 'ers have managed to recruit and retain good people, so I want to emulate whatever they're doing.

          What kind of offer would make you want to work for someone else's IM business and not yours?
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  • Profile picture of the author BrianMcLeod
    Recruiting and managing employees... Where to start...

    1) You WILL be both pleasantly and unpleasantly surprised, so expect it and plan accordingly. People that seem to be great can fall apart and people that don't seem to have it together can step up and become amazing. It happens.

    2) I have found that, more often than not, my initial assessment of someone is accurate in the long-view.. and it's the long term that counts. Most employees shoot out of the gate like racehorses. Many however do not complete the racing season intact.

    3) University career offices are a fantastic place to recruit young, eager (and cheap) employees. Some can become superstars in your organization. Some can bail when you need them most as soon as they graduate or shortly thereafter. So, take that into consideration.

    Now, all of the above is more generic employee stuff than specifically PPC.

    Let's talk about PPC for a second...

    Your PPC is some of your most INTIMATE business IP. With an online company, it's often the schematic of your business' engine.

    What you want is someone who possesses both mastery of the medium as well as a core understanding of your business objectives in using it -- and that's not nearly as easy as say hiring a new web designer.

    You may wish to consider working with a local PPC consultant who can help you refine and improve your PPC spend thereby getting you to your desired outcome without the added aggravation of managing "human resources".

    I'm not offering my services, but if you'd like to discuss how to do that further, get in touch.

    Hope this helps,

    Brian McLeod
    Miami, Florida
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    • Profile picture of the author rosieg
      Originally Posted by LoudMac View Post

      Let's talk about PPC for a second...

      Your PPC is some of your most INTIMATE business IP. With an online company, it's often the schematic of your business' engine.

      What you want is someone who possesses both mastery of the medium as well as a core understanding of your business objectives in using it -- and that's not nearly as easy as say hiring a new web designer.

      You may wish to consider working with a local PPC consultant who can help you refine and improve your PPC spend thereby getting you to your desired outcome without the added aggravation of managing "human resources".
      Thanks for your viewpoint. I really hadn't thought of working with a local PPC consultant. I'd worked with some PPC consultants (USA and UK based) in the past and the results were very unprofitable for me (and these are people who had been recommended by people I respected!)

      I'll definitely look into that one as well. I guess if I go that route, I need to interview them as thoroughly as I'd interview an employee... to avoid making the same mistakes as I did in the past.
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  • Profile picture of the author Dana_W
    LoudMac, what do you think of hiring older workers? My experience so far with really young, college graduate employees/temps has not been great. And honestly I became a far better employee after a few years in the workforce - just in terms of self confidence, experience, trusting my judgement, organizational skills, etc.

    My problems with young college graduate types was that I found them - the ones I hired anyway - to be fairly unreliable and to have no concept of the fact that if they showed up late or didn't show up, that really hurt me and my business.
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  • Profile picture of the author jmccarthy1948
    Hi,
    Create a job profile which lists the main activities of the job. Then, redefine those as competencies. Also, create an overall set of goals for your work, with dates assigned. Get references from anybody you are looking seriously at.

    Consider a 'probationary' period as well. Bottom lime, treat this as one of your most critical decisions this year and do your due diligence.

    Jim
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    www.prometheusstrategy.com

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    • Profile picture of the author rosieg
      Originally Posted by jmccarthy1948 View Post

      Get references from anybody you are looking seriously at.

      Consider a 'probationary' period as well. Bottom lime, treat this as one of your most critical decisions this year and do your due diligence.
      Great suggestions Jim. I will definitely do my due diligence on whoever I am going to work with.
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    • Profile picture of the author BSM
      Originally Posted by jmccarthy1948 View Post

      Hi,
      Create a job profile which lists the main activities of the job. Then, redefine those as competencies. Also, create an overall set of goals for your work, with dates assigned. Get references from anybody you are looking seriously at.

      Consider a 'probationary' period as well. Bottom lime, treat this as one of your most critical decisions this year and do your due diligence.

      Jim
      I agree with Jim...a job profile is critical. Make sure you explain the key elements of the position very clearly - & tell the candidate what your important priorities are. It's a way to engage the prospective employee in a conversation to see if she/he is truly interested in the work to be done.

      Often, someone is "good at" something, but doesn't really like it - if you are able to share the job description up front & get buy-in from the interested person, you're more apt to be successful in your choice.

      Good luck!! Barbara
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