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This new post by Peter Shankman and Sarah Evans (both experts) nail the differences between those who claim to be experts and those who really are experts in social media. Social media is, of course, the hot marketing topic de jour, surrounded by tons of hype and more than a few charlatans. Peter and Sarah do a great job (as usual) of showing how to spot the posers.

Social media may not fit every organization’s goals and does require on-going attention. And the elements may vary from business to business. Not everyone needs to be on all of the “latest and greatest” platforms. Beware of anyone who makes a blanket claim to that effect.

Why the post on job seeking?

Simple: looking for a job is pure marketing. Research the market, distill what your area of brilliance is (core competency) and refine your “one liner” about what your offer to the market.

Once you’ve done this, its time to “go to market”.

Center on your customer

Smart marketing centers on the customer, always. Laser in on where your customer lives. In this case, recruiters, HR managers and business owners seeking qualified candidates to interview. Where do they go first? The Web.

I know an excellent HR consultant who  engaged in multiple hiring searches recently. Over lunch, she described to another colleague and I how she used LInkedIn, Facebook and other Web gathering places as her first stops to find candidates.  At the other end of a recruiting search,  most companies do a background check before extending offers.  And these days, that includes a Google search, Facebook scan and other on-line checking.

You may want to visit the “best practices for recruiters” guidelines on LinkedIn for an insight into how recruiters look for candidates.

The lesson? Go to where your target market goes. In this case – online. Social networking sites may not replace your current efforts – nor should they – but certainly can complement them, and increase your options for finding a great next job.

We used to call it the Blackberry test. If your colleagues faded to check their Blackberry, the point was not compelling or relevant enough to stay engaged in the conversation.

Social media seems like that. 140 characters or less to Twitter a relevant message. Is that so different from headlines? Not really.

Effective marketing has always been about earning attention. Fast. Because if you do, most people will stop and learn more. If you miss, then they move on.

And rightfully so.