‘What is the relevance of podcasting to Human Resources Directors and Talent Managers’ is a question I often get asked.

Having been an SVP Human Resources in a global corporation, I often wished I had had the facility to create and distribute podcasts to support employee engagement and expressing the employer brand.

Internal communications teams and human resources departments have a fantastic opportunity to lead the way in adopting new media to connect and engage with their employees inside the organisation and that’s often a place it’s easier to start to engage in social media if you are not ready to launch a corporate blog or podcast to the world.

So I was delighted when Marie Boran contacted me as she was writing an article about podcasting in recruitment. The article was published in this weeks business section of the Independent and you can read a copy of the article online as it has been cross posted to Silicon Republic.

Developing a podcast to support you in your recruitment and talent management strategy not only brings to life the roles you are recruiting for in a meaningful way, it’s also inexpensive which is an important consideration in these challenging economic times.

Having read the article, if you want to take the next step with a podcast to support your recruitment process here are five tips to get you started:

1.    Research – Take the time to research and understand your target market so you understand what might be of interest to them – for example, tips about the recruitment process or insights from current employees about some of the projects they work on. Take the time to explore other recruitment and employee engagement podcasts

2.    Plan – Identify the content matter for your podcast, your podcast production timetable and decide if you want to produce it yourself or prefer to engage an external consultancy for podcast production

3.    Produce – If the content of your podcast is ‘king’ so that it engages and inspires your listeners, then production values are ‘queen’. Make sure that your podcast sounds great to listen to. A conversation between people versus a single monotone talking head is more likely to have more energy and is going to be easier on the ear

4.    Publicise – Now your podcast is ready for publication, decide where you will make it available from – for example as a link from the main navigation of your corporate website and your career website. Make it easy to find, accessible to download and listen to and encourage people ‘pass it on’ and refer your podcasts to a friend. Then promote your podcasts integrating it into your other employment marketing materials from your business cards, to email footers and brochures

5.    Seek Feedback – Ask for feedback from your listeners and discover what they value and continue to enhance the content of your podcasts in future episodes. Take the time to evaluate and measure the success of your podcast for example which were the most popular episodes - that will provide insights into how to continue to develop and improve your recruitment podcast series in the future.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

If you want to learn more about podcasting in the context of marketing, communications or human resources, here are some events you will find me talking about podcasting and other social media platforms to support your marketing and communications strategy in the next few months:

• Building buzz through blogging, microblogging and podcasting, a workshop I am delivering on behalf of the Irish Internet Association, ICAN and the Marketing Institute of Ireland on the 18 September 2008
• Podcamp Ireland - the no cost unconference that takes place on the 27 September in Kilkenny
• Word of mouse marketing, a free workshop I am delivering on behalf of the Limerick County Enterprise Board on the 7 October 2008
• Talent Management Strategies In a Turbulent Economy, a workshop I am delivering and specifically speaking about web 2.0 and social media strategies in talent management on behalf of HR Ireland (watch out for a post soon with details of the 10% discount for my readers or contact me by email), on 27 November 2008, Dublin
• HR 2.0 - 7 Keys to Leveraging Social Media to Attract, Develop and Engage Talent in a Challenging Economy a workshop  am delivering for the CIPD Southern Region, sponsored by RecruitIreland.com and taking place in Cork on the 8 January 2009.

And don’t forget to check out my archived articles and podcasts where you will find more guidance and tips on the adoption of social media platforms to support your communication goals.

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If you are involved in the public sector in Ireland you might be interested in attending the forthcoming eGovenment sSymposium taking place in Croke Park Conference Centre whose goal is provide public sector professionals, with a forum for the exchange of visions, ideas, practice, results and experience.

The programme is titled: Advancing eGovernment: The Next Challenge and will include presentations on:

• Building a Better Future by Bill McCluggage, Director of the Delivery & Innovation Division, Department of Finance & Personnel, Northern Ireland
• eParticipation in the Era of Web 2.0 by Dr. Julia Glidden, Sheffield City Council who will offer insights into how changing citizen expectations of government service delivery has affected our lives
• Improving Local eGovernment Policies by Katja Kaunismaa, Project Director, The Baltic Institute of Finland who will share lessons from the implementation of eCitizen services across Finland, Denmark, the Baltic States, Russia, Italy and the UK.
• The Power of Information by Alex Butler, Director of Transformational Strategy, Central Office of Information, UK who will discuss how governments use web 2.0 to open up and share information with citizens
• The European eRegion – Case Study on Estonia – Hannes Astok, Member of the Estonian Parliament will share the initiatives that have been conducted to enable electronic transactions in all areas of public life.

There will also be break out sessions on online marketing, mobile technology and local government.

Early bird tickets at €335 are available until 5 September 2008 after which the price increases to €395.

NOTE: If you are a member of the IIA, a 15% discount applies - you can book your place here.

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If you want to experiment with online video, an easy platform to get started is 12seconds.tv. Currently you need to apply for an invitation to 12seconds.tv then it’s easy to get your profile set up.

As you set up your profile, consider how you want to be known. I usually recommend that you use the same name across all social networks so that your online friends can easily find you.

The one problem I did have with 12seconds.tv  was uploading my avatar so I have used a different image to my usual photograph for my personal profile and channel on 12seconds.tv.

The interesting thing about 12seconds.tv is that just like it says in it’s domain name, you only have 12 seconds to share your message. Personally I think creating a 12second.tv message is more challenging than a microblog post of 140 characters if you want to deliver a meaningful message.

You can record your video message on 12seconds.tv with your webcam or as I did for my first post, using a mobile phone with a video (mine is a VERY old Nokia 6230i - it must be at least 5 years old).

12seconds.tv is also a social network so you can connect to your friends an add comments to their online video’s.

I think 12seconds has a huge potential in helping us express ourselves through online video and provides the opportunity for us to experiment and develop our communication skills, and as with many social media platforms it’s free to use.

Here’s my first 12seconds.tv online video - I’m certainly going to experiment with this platform in the next few weeks. What ideas do you have for using 12seconds.tv to bring your personal brand to life online?

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In this episode of ‘Biz Growth Live’, I am joined by Stephanie Booth who has been successfully developing joint venture partnerships with leading experts in social media and entrepreneurship and who have collaborated with her in the development of a conference for solopreneurs and freelancers - Going Solo.

What I can tell you is that Stephanie is a straight talker and she will let us know exactly what it takes to run live events - not only in your own country but also overseas - she lives in Switzerland and her next conference is taking place in the UK! This is definitely a masterclass not to be missed.

We will be discussing ideas and strategies about how to enhance our business results by collaborating and delivering workshops and how social media can support the marketing of the workshops.

NOTE: Subscribers of my ezine receive a 10% discount to the next Going Solo conference taking place in Leeds on 12 September 2008

Here are the details of the Masterclass:

DATE OF THE MASTERCLASS: Monday 18 August 2008

TIME OF THE MASTERCLASS: 6pm Dublin and London/ 1pm ET/10am PT

INVESTMENT: FREE

HOW TO LISTEN

• Join us live by dialling into ‘Biz Growth Live Blog Talk Radio Show’ (it’s a US number). Call-in Number:  +1 347 633-9467
• Access the live streaming audio of this weeks at ‘Biz Growth Live’ Blog Talk Radio
• Subscribe to the show through our ‘Biz Growth Live’ Podcast feed and you will receive an update when the recording of the show is available
• Subscribe to the show on iTunes - see the link on our ‘Biz Growth Live’ BlogTalk Radio page

SOME OF THE QUESTIONS WE WILL BE COVERING

• How has social media played it’s part in connecting Stephanie to speakers and also attendees
• Tips on how to access sponsors and sponsorships.

If you have questions for us you can ask them by posting them here or on our live questions page or to our FriendFeed room.

If you want to access insights and ideas about developing and delivering live events so that you thrive not just survive during recessionary times, don’t miss this Masterclass - and remember it’s free to join us.

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Did you miss our live ‘Biz Growth Live Masterclass’ about Gravitational Marketing?

Last week on ‘Biz Growth Live’, I was joined by LinkedIn expert Chuck Hester who will be sharing strategies and ideas to boost your business results through LinkedIn.

We shared specific actions you can take to will help you raise your profile and attract the opportunities we are looking for – be that a new client, business partner or career move.

You can now access the live streaming or download the interview. Be sure to take notes as we provided some invaluable advice building your personal brand online for professional success using LinkedIn.

SHOW NOTES

00:23      Show begins

02:53      What makes LinkedIn stand out as a social network for business

07:10      How Chuck uses LinkedIn to set up meetings and media relations versus his use of Facebook

08:57      How to use your profile on LinkedIn to reflect your personal brand online

12:56      How to make effective business connections on LinkedIn

16:52      Ideas and tips to raise our profile on LinkedIn to nurture business and career opportunities in a slowing economy

24:50      How to use the LinkedIn Questions/Answers facility to best effect so that you are not seen as a nuisance to your network

34:00      How to use LinkedIn to reduce costs of recruitment finding potential employees through LinkedIn

43:00      How to build a responsive and substantial LinkedIn

51:30      Creating and connecting LinkedIn with your ezine, for example with icontact.com - why you need an ezine and autoresponders and not just a blog

55:30      Using groups on LinkedIn to keep connected with your virtual team keeping your people engaged to the corporate agenda and engaged

58:48      Using the status update on LinkedIn and how to update them automatically

61:00      Additional resources and tips about LinkedIn

66:46      Show ends

HERE IS WHAT SOME OF OUR LISTENERS SAID ABOUT THE SHOW

Love Krishna’s show! Great stuff. Kim Dushinski, author and mobile marketing consultant

I just wanted to drop you a note to say that I thought your tips last evening for using Linked In were brilliant, really practical and I will be updating my profile as a result. Pamela Fay, Director of Business Performance Perspectives

HOW TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW

• Access the streaming audio of this weeks Biz Growth Live Podcast HERE
• Subscribe to the show through our Biz Growth Live Podcast feed
• Subscribe to the show on iTunes - see the link on our Biz Growth Live BlogTalk Radio page

If you like the show and appreciate our guests sharing their experiences and guidance, do add us as a favourite on the Biz Growth Live BlogTalk Radio page

You will also find us in iTunes - just search for Biz Growth Live.

HOW TO LEAVE A COMMENT

We really welcome your comments and feedback about the show. What would you like us to cover in future shows? What questions do you have about implementing social media strategies to support your business strategy?

Leave your comments and feedback about the show at our comment line (we have lots of choices so there are no excuses!)

• Contact us by email : commentnow(at)gmail.com
• Calling from Ireland dial 01 443 442
• Calling from the UK dial 0131 208 4423
• Calling from the US dial 818 528 4423
• Calling from elsewhere dial +1 8185284423
• Calling or sending us an IM via Skype then reach us at:’mycommentnow’
• Join the conversation at our Biz Growth FriendFeed.com Room

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Find out more about icontact.com HERE.

Access you copy of ‘I’m on LinkedIn Now What’ HERE

Read Chuck’s blog HERE and you will find his LinkedIn profile HERE

Connect to Krishna on LinkedIn HERE

Access more of Krishna’s articles about LinkedIn HERE and her podcasts about LinkedIn HERE

Don’t miss details of our future shows by subscribing to our newsletter - you’ll also get access to a free brand assessment and exclusive articles about branding, marketing and social media. SUBSCRIBE AND BECOME A MEMBER OF THE BIZ GROWTH COMMUNITY TODAY

THIS WEEKS SHOW - 6pm Ireland/UK and 1pm ET on Monday 11 August 2008

Remember to join us next week for the live show when we will be joined by Elizabeth Marshall, coach and co-author of the soon to be released book ‘The Contrarian Effect’ and we’ll be talking about becoming recession proof through collaboration rather than competing and creating joint venture partnerships.

Join us by either listening to the live streaming of the show, or you can dial in to our Biz Growth Live Blog Talk Radio show (it’s a US number).

Call-in Number:  +1 347 633-9467

And if you miss the show, don’t worry, its available as a podcast.

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