At first I thought it was spam.
No, literally.
When I received the initial email I was like a human see-saw. I leaned forward to read it, sat back, leaned forward again, squinted at it, and sat back with a thump.
I thought “What is this? Someone emailing me out of the blue and offering me an interview at HomeDepot.com?”
No, really, I'm not an idiot. I'll show you later.
I then scanned the email for talk of Nigerian bankers or money orders. But none were there. This was real. This was legit.
I quickly replied and got the ball rolling and let them know that yes – I was definitely interested!
The idea of managing a creative team at a brilliant Fortune 100 company was something I was wholeheartedly interested in.
It was something that I knew wouldn’t just be good for me, personally, but it would be fantastic for my loyal WedLock readership.
(I was lucky! They hired me three weeks ago and my brain is alreaady buzzing with things to pass on to my WedLock’ers!)
And the timing was scary-impeccable.
I’d just hired on some incredible WedLock staff members who were so capable and so passionate about WedLock, that I had fewer and fewer day to day tasks.
All that was left for me to do was to steer the company’s vision and keep providing my members with solid, cutting-edge marketing techniques.
But I had to know – how did the HR department of The Home Depot even know about me? How on earth did I get on their radar?
As proud as I am of the rep that WedLock has built in the past few years, I am under no illusion that the name Jayne Leigh Hallock gets bandied about in many board rooms. And yet, they found out about me, about my work with WedLock and they reached out.
This is the kicker. Ready?
They found me by my Google Profile.
Now, this may not sound so bad to most of you. Savvy business people pay attention to updating their social media. I do too…for the most part. My LinkedIn page is current, my Facebook personal profile (and WedLock page) are updated constantly. But my Google Profile? Was a trainwreck!
Well, wait. I won’t say trainwreck. That’s giving it too much weight. More like a bike wreck.
Because I barely even posted a Google Profile! I just…threw something up there until I had time to go back and properly fill it out. I think my official “bio” at the time HD found me was the elaborate, detailed “I have personality plus.”
My mortifying first impression.
So what can you learn from my mistake? What is the lesson here for you guys reading this? Easy. Don’t be an idiot!
Even if you think that no one is looking at your social media – they are.
Even if you think that you’ll never find any brides, networking connections, Twitter followers, still…don’t be an idiot. I beg you.
Put at least something up. Anything! Get on social media and at least get it started. It’s better to be findable and lame than not findable at all. I’m living proof. I adore my new role as Managing Editor at HomeDepot.com and the super-smart people I’m surrounded by, and I owe it all, quite literally to my pathetic little Google Profile. I shudder to think of how close I came to not ‘bothering’ with Google Profiles and so, not ever being find-able when The Home Depot came looking.
So let me be your poster girl for Social Media! It does happen. Social Media can really, truly change your life. One of the things our WedLock readers love the most about WedLock is the checklist that comes at the end of each issue. They love that even if they only have time to check off ONE thing each month…it’s better than nothing.
Finish reading this blog post and then do me a favor. Go update (or create!) your Facebook business page, LinkedIn page, Twitter account, Pinterest profile and please please please give a little love to your Google Profile!
Because, as my mother always used to tell me, you never know. You just never, ever know.
P.S. Speaking of Social Media, make sure you check out our new fun Facebook contest. Its free to enter and you could win FREE WedLock months. Plus, you could be WedLock’s poster girl or boy for a month.
Have fun with it!
P.P.S As thrilled as I am about my new role at The Home Depot, WedLock is my “baby”.
I’m not going anywhere.
But, as a WedLock member, you’re here to find info and training you can’t get elsewhere, right? What better way for us to continue our education together than learning from the ‘big guns’?
It’s a heavenly cocktail of top-notch, big budget industry marketing with a double shot of “wedding” from your WedLock Experts, the same experts who will continue to be at your service for all of your marketing needs.
I am completely devoted to WedLock as Editor in Chief. My new education at The Home Depot will do nothing but enhance the education we’re able to offer you here at WedLock. Stay tuned…its about to get very, very exciting around here.
(Remember, we have personality plus!)
