"Dig your well before you're thirsty."

- Harvey Mackay

Candidates often ask me what I know about certain companies. Typically, they’ve visited the company websites in question and now they’re seeking the inside scoop.

Are they checking out the competition? Sometimes, but that’s not the norm. Usually, they’re weighing their career options and determining whether or not those companies would be good future employers.

How many marketing candidates visited your company website over the past six months to get a feel for what your organization is about? Probably many more than you’d think.

Does your team have an effective way of connecting with these candidates and staying connected with them over time? If not, then many of them will soon forget about you, and you'll have no reliable way to contact them directly when you have an open marketing position to fill.

Wouldn’t it be better to build your talent network by staying in touch with candidates over time? One good way to do this is by publishing a free e-newsletter.

An e-newsletter costs practically nothing to develop and distribute, and it’s a very effective method of staying in front of a lot of people. Most importantly, it can make finding and recruiting top marketing candidates much easier.

By publishing an e-newsletter – you and your team will capture some attractive benefits. Here are some of the main ones:

- Publishing an e-newsletter is an easy way to stay in regular contact and build trust with people who may be great candidates but are simply not ready for change right now. It allows them to get to know you better over time, and when they’re ready to seriously consider a change, they will feel more comfortable contacting you first, rather than your competition.

- An e-newsletter also allows you to keep track of high-quality candidates who have sent their resume your way and look great, but either fall short in terms of time spent in a marketing role or are just reaching out at a time when there are no open positions. In either case, I highly recommend adding them to your list and letting them get to know you better through your e-newsletter. Naturally, this makes recruiting them later much easier.

- After only a few months of e-newsletter publishing, a viral marketing effect takes place. Many excellent marketing candidates will add themselves to your list of subscribers. If your experience is anything like mine, you’ll see hundreds of new candidates added to your talent network without any effort on your part.

Publishing an e-newsletter is a smart move in this candidate-driven job market. Don’t wait until you’re feeling the effects of a talent drought to take action. As the opening quote says: “Dig your well before you’re thirsty.”

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Resources We Like If you’re interested in further exploring the idea of creating an e-newsletter, then I recommend picking up a great little book by Michael Katz entitled E-Newsletters That Work. While he wrote it primarily for small-business owners, it’s clearly just as useful for an organization of any size that’s looking for a concise, practical resource on this subject. You can buy a copy at Amazon.com. Comments on this section – or any part of this newsletter? Other resources that you recommend? I encourage you to email me directly at: slahey@laheyconsulting.com. I look forward to hearing from you! Lahey Consulting is a specialized search firm. We recruit and place brand management and marketing professionals (from associate brand manager to executive level) within consumer products companies throughout the United States. Lahey Consulting, LLC P.O. Box 395 Delmar, NY 12054-0395 www.laheyconsulting.com info@laheyconsulting.com Voice: 518-439-4285 Fax: 518-439-5795 Copyright © 2006 Lahey Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. (However, you may reproduce this article if you include this copyright information and our web site address: www.laheyconsulting.com)