With a son about to graduate from college, I find myself reading articles on job-hunting that I might have otherwise skipped. CNN.com reports on  copywriter Alec Brownstein, who tapped into the power of Google Adwords:

While Googling some of his favorite creative directors, he came up with a brilliant self-marketing campaign.After noticing there were no sponsored links attached to their names, he purchased ads from Google AdWords. Then he designed a personalized ad for each executive with a link back to Brownstein’s own site.

Whenever anyone Googled one of the five names, his ad would pop up as the top result. He was counting on them doing what we all do from time to time: Googling ourselves. And guess what? That’s exactly what happened.

Advertising, Claude Hopkins once wrote, is selling in print. Brownstein, who had copywriting talents to sell, identified his target and figured out a way to cut through the clutter of resumes and human resources departments — delivering  his sales message directly to his prospects. Did it work?

Within a couple of months, Brownstein was interviewed by all but one. Two of the four offered him a job. The total cost of the entire campaign at 15 cents a click –a mere $6 to make a dream come true.

The full CNN article also profiles a woman who used Twitter to land a PR gig, and a guy who found a job at Amazon via Second Life.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________

Got a question? Wanna argue? Email Phil Bernstein here.

Sign up for Phil Bernstein’s free advertising and marketing e-newsletter here.

Become a Phil Bernstein Portland’s Advertising Expert Facebook Fan here