The Working World
Lemonade Maker: Chris Hand, Personal Marketer
Profiles of people who turn economic lemons into lemonade.
This week’s Lemonade Maker: Chris Hand
Location: Upper West Side, New York City
Before recession: Running a visual communications agency and recruiting marketing executives.
Now: Building CareerHandlers, a personal marketing agency designed to help job seekers launch professional campaigns.
When did you notice a shift in the economic climate?
In the branding world, we often see indicators of economic downturns well ahead of
the game because companies and individuals tend to do fewer start-ups and aggressive marketing campaigns. At the end of 2007, with my company YellowCouch, we began to see things slow down in all sectors.
What was your “ah-ha” moment?
I began work in executive recruiting for marketing positions in a career shift from the visual communications field. In exploratory meetings, I quickly saw that large advertising firms were having similar problems as my agency – just larger-scale—and I started to realize that the economy was probably in for a major correction. That was my “aha” moment. When the shit hit the fan in autumn, 2008, I saw the job loss firsthand. We began to get more and more requests from people who needed work. That, coupled with economic news and daily layoffs, convinced me that there must be a better way for people to find work and communicate their talents. I decided to couple my expertise in branding and marketing and apply that to individual job searches.
How are you turning economic lemons into lemonade?
Job-seekers aren’t yet using the Internet to its fullest potential for their job search. They present themselves in a one-dimensional way, either by posting a resume or utilizing social networks to share information that’s relatively similar to resumes. On a resume, you’re just a name. Nothing visual. But what if you had a customized, 3-diminsional web portrait? You could provide links that give context and information at the click of a button. Maybe you’ve done a mission in Africa for a year. People want to see pictures – both for verification and visual interest. We live in an advanced entertainment economy, so we have to be visually entertained. It’s about coupling pictures with words, and making important information readily available if an employer wants it. Consider CareerHandlers as your personal ad agency or branding firm. We will build and host your customized website while helping you strategize on how to present yourself in the best possible light. It’s vital to show prospective employers that you’re willing to go the extra mile.
How is your business model tailored to new economic realities?
The new economic reality means increased competition across the board. We all will have to fight harder to be noticed, and that takes time, money and innovation. The business model for CareerHandlers is being built for the increasing numbers of job seekers in the market and capitalizing on their eagerness to present themselves in more meaningful and appealing ways. We have seen fantastic initial success with tests and know that people are willing to invest to brand their job search.
Any tips for other readers thinking of starting a new venture?
The most important element is obviously to understand your target. What are their thoughts, needs and more importantly, their aspirations? Consumer needs and wants are shifting daily as the economic climate shifts. People don’t think and feel as they did a year ago – or even a month ago. If you can truly empathize with potential customers then you can create a product that has a higher potential of filling a need and converting it to a sale.
Read about more Lemonade Makers here.
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Creating brands worth evangelizing about is often misunderstood. The connection between the core values – the soul of the company and the soul of the customer – is why customers evangelize. They have found a temple of core value at which to worship. It’s mythic. It’s epic. The brand becomes icon because it connects to the subconscious yearnings of the customer, imprinting on the brain. The pictured emotional experience becomes a conduit through which the customer can again be touched by those core values.
Those pictures and emotions then become language in the brain of the customer. And it’s the language of evangelism.
The lemonade is a little sour but I’m working on the recipe. As an excavating contractor I watched the building trade die in MA in 2007. Watching friends fight over any crumb that fell from the home building table became too much to bare. I closed my sewer, water and grading biz and moved to NC Jan 1, 2008 at the suggestion from family. In the beginning I was optomistic to see my trade still thriving. Then I was laid off 1 day before my benefits kicked in. I found another job pretty quick and that Co picked up and moved to LA…laid off again. At that point I decided to start something new. NC was in serious drought and people were purchasing rain barrels to provide waqter for flowers, shrubs and vegetables that would otherwise shrivel up and die. But there was nobody installing these barrels for little old ladies. I took an on-line course to learn about building a website and submit press releases. Although I now feel a professional web designer is needed I was pleased with the end result and traffic began to flow. My company expanded to installing up to 10,000 gal rainwater collection systems as a result of the internet marketing along with a grass roots approach at home and garden shows and the local flea market. The holidays brought a slowdown but we are very hopeful the stimulus pkg will bring funding and tax credits in 2009. I believe it will be American inginuity that brings us out of our current situation. If you see a need … fill it.
Is easier than you think to turn lemons into lemonade, It first starts with an attitude. Allow yourself time go grieve and get pissed, but not too long. If you ask yourself the right questions, you will begin to get the answers you are looking for.
Instead of why me, try thinking “what an opportunity to do something I’ve always wanted to do”. Or “how can I take this situation and turn it into something positive”?
Everyone has something to offer that can be turned into a cash machine or small business.
Dog or pet sitting, house cleaning svc, personal assistants, virtual assistants, lawn and landscaping, handyman svc., resume writing, etc. If you put your mind to it and your imagination, you can come up with a way to help others and generate revenue. Before you know it, you will have a great big pitcher of cool, tasty lemonade.
Then open up a lemonade stand and sell the franchise.
Gail Turner Brown
Business Consultant
gtbrown@myceo.com
http://www.myceo.com