The Perfect Fit

New Urgent Search, Account Director in Minneapolis

With 50 years of data-driven direct marketing experience, our Minneapolis Client offers the services, resources, and expertise their clients need to power successful, omni-channel marketing campaigns.

Our Client’s rapidly growing Marketing Services team is seeking experienced account/client services professionals to serve in the position of Account Director. The primary role of the Account Director is to support Group Account Directors, Strategists, and the Sales team in developing and implementing direct response marketing strategies. This will include managing client communication and deliverables as well as direct or indirect supervision of assigned Account Services team members.

Principal Responsibilities
• Become an expert on each of assigned clients’ company, products, industry, offers, messaging and brand guidelines, etc.
• Brings new ideas, insightful thinking and proactive planning to clients on a regular basis.
• Provides input and assist the Group Account Director and Strategists in the development of strategic marketing communication plans.
• Frequently develop pitch and presentation materials and “sells” ideas and recommendations to clients.
• Build and maintain positive relationships with client contacts through daily interactions as our Client’s principal representative.
• Actively participate in development of campaigns from ideation through to client approval and performance analysis in a leading role.
• Develop creative briefs and any reference materials needed to give strong direction to the internal team in order to complete deliverables.
• As necessary, review creative materials and provide detailed proofing to ensure it matches the requirements outlined on estimate, matrix, or other reference documents
• Deliver quality materials on-time, on-strategy and on-budget; monitor project labor vs. budget on ongoing basis, revising scope documents or escalating concerns as appropriate
• Ability and willingness to travel, up to 30%

Strategic Business Development Manager (REMOTE) #21032

General Description:
Our St. Louis Client is a marketing resource specializing in Corporate Communications, both internal and external. They take pride in conveying a company’s message through engaging tactics, suited to their individual culture. Are you passionate about helping a business grow and create extraordinary customer experiences?

Our Client is seeking a talented, highly motivated and dedicated relationship development leader to engage leading corporations and promote internal culture communications. As a customer-obsessed, engagement communications enthusiast, you will influence and build upon the success we have had with other iconic Brands like, Southwest Airlines, Jimmy John’s, Ulta Beauty, TEDx, ABInBev or The Goddard School.

Our Client’s on a mission to hire the very best and is committed to creating an exceptional employee experience, where everyone is respected and has access to equal opportunity. We realize that new ideas can come from everywhere in the organization, and we know the next big idea could be yours! There is opportunity to work from a remote location in the Central Time Zone.

Principal Responsibilities:
• Execute new business efforts, including proactive targeting, RFI/RFP response and financial negotiations.
• Deliver compelling, benefit-focused presentations tailored to each client; ensure presentations stand out from the pack
• Determine where there is a potential opportunity for business and qualify, convert, and engage these opportunities
• Identify and manage the creation and development of presentation materials and room theater.
• Lead the development, customization and delivery of RFP and RFI responses
• Provide accurate and detailed communications, pipeline and financial forecast within Salesforce. Be accountable for each project’s hitting profit targets.

Experience:
We’re looking for experienced new business developers with a marketing, advertising or digital media background. We’d like five to ten years’ experience, most recently in an agency or consultancy environment. If you’re smart, ambitious, articulate and looking for long term career growth opportunity, let’s talk! If you have experience in the Technology, Healthcare/Pharma or Finance categories, we’ll be even more excited for that conversation!

Lead Generation Strategist (REMOTE) #21033

For this role, we want you to elevate the strategy and content components of our new business development protocol. You will work directly with strategic accounts to drive creative content strategies that deliver prospects interested in learning more about our Client (your new Employer). This is the opportunity to improve your skills in marketing automation, create and refine input and help grow a Marketing Agency of the Year.

Our St. Louis Client is an award-winning communications agency, with a respected national reputation for engagement excellence. They believe an agency should be transparent, honest, open-minded, and focused on its clients and its employees. The culture should welcome, embrace respect and support each individual as an integral part of the entire company's success.

This Lead Generation Strategist will run the day-to-day strategy with some guidance with the Chief Growth Officer. Digital experts will partner with you to shape campaigns that unlock exceptional performance. All the while, you will monitor your strategies; partnering with external agencies to drive superior results – the kind of outcomes that lead to long-standing relationships that make marketing matter. 

You will present to clients with authority, "front" meetings, and take ownership of projects/campaigns and their outcomes. Scope of expertise should also cover best practices for executing against a journey-based planning framework that intuitively directs owned, earned and paid distribution channels. There is an opportunity to work remotely, within the Central Time Zone.

Principal Responsibilities:
• Serve as a content marketing manager for agency teams supporting clients with content development and distribution deliverables.
• Integrate with the planning efforts of the strategy account development teams to define audiences, customer journeys, and content ecosystem dynamics associated with client marketing campaigns and objectives.
• Help define and establish the role of content marketing in overall strategic marketing plans, and champion the importance of the content marketing discipline.
• Lead the development and distribution of compelling and engaging content strategies and executions, working closely with martech and business intelligence teams to measure and report and fine-tune performance metrics.
• Lead the agency’s own content marketing effort through strategic activation of social media assets and other owned, earned and paid channels, while managing two external digital media agencies supporting your efforts.

Experience:
Three to five years’ experience in an agency or consultancy, working hands on with digital media, metrics and content strategies. Experience directing the development of a variety of social media and content marketing materials (link to portfolio requested), including use of a CRM. Salesforce, Pardot or Marketo experience strongly preferred. Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint, social listening tools and marketing insight software.

Spring Clean Your Professional Profiles

As Spring is just around the corner, it is a great time to clean and refresh. Consider applying that concept to your online professional profiles with an update to all of your social media platforms. 

As the economy improves, hiring activity is increasing and is expected to really accelerate, especially in the second quarter. In a competitive job market, it’s important to stand out amongst your peers. A good way to catch a hiring authority’s eye is with a strong profile on LinkedIn. Strong LinkedIn Profiles are significantly enhanced with recommendations (more so than endorsements!).

Incomplete profiles or leaving off blocks of time will not get you the same attention as those profiles that are showing effort and attention to detail. Even if you are not actively looking for a new role, your professional presence can yield a conversation about an opportunity that can intrigue.

Recruiters are constantly searching for talented individuals in their field, so demonstrate your contributions by detailing the ways you’ve added value, where you have gained applicable experience, and how you have delivered on leadership, team building and mentoring opportunities.

In addition to updating your LinkedIn profile, also take the time to review the rest of your social media. Hiring authorities might look at Facebook, Twitter and Instragram so maintain those platforms in a manner that represents you authentically and professionally. What you put out there publicly can attract an engagement with a recruiter or eliminate you from the talent pool.

It’s also a good idea to always have your resume up to date. Don’t forget to include promotions, certifications, collaborations and contributions you’ve made since the last time you looked at your resume.

A Client of mine put it best, I think. She said, “I won’t hire any candidate who has something posted that they wouldn’t want their grandmother to see!”

Thanks to Bailey at Bohan & Bradstreet for contributing to this article.

Identifying & Hiring Top Talent Efficiently

Every owner, CEO, President or hiring manager often has a problem to solve. The need could be the result of Covid layoffs, retirement, building bench strength, budgeted growth plans, replacing an under performing team member or one that has moved on. Regardless, the position needs to be filled as quickly as possible, by a candidate who is a professional fit for the role, and equally important, one who is a strong cultural fit for your organization. You need them to flourish on and with your team. 

Sure, you can post your open position on job boards and receive hundreds of applicants and perhaps a handful will work in the industry. Nevertheless, most will not be qualified for your role and they will have no specific industry experience. Perhaps a handful will have worked in the industry but aren’t qualified for your role. You will spend countless hours (which translates into wasted time and money) sorting through resumes and talking to people who cannot solve your problem. If you are lucky, you may get one that you can hire. Are you seeking to ‘get lucky’ in filling this crucial need?  Is that a result worth the amount of time spent?

A better approach is to align yourself with an industry specific, professional recruiter. One that understands your product(s), how you go to market, who your competitors are, and will understand the specific issues that you need the candidate to solve.  Your ‘industry expert’ recruiter is well connected with the people in YOUR industry vertical and ultimately can qualify anywhere from 50 – 200 people (depending on the position). In the end, you will get the best 3 or 4 candidates who are actually excited for the opportunity to join your team! 

Sometimes (especially with highly technical roles) it may be as few as 1 or 2 candidates introduced. Regardless, this is the ‘less is more’ approach. You will receive quality candidates, fully vetted and qualified to fit the specifications of your role, both professionally and culturally.  They will know enough about your company to know that this is actually a career opportunity for them.

Don’t fall into the ‘we need to see more’ before we can make an offer trap. Remember, time to thoroughly qualify a candidate…has already been spent for you. Focus on who is in front of you – the qualified candidate that will solve your problem while achieving success for you and your organization.

Written by my friend Ted Konnerth, CEO of Egret Consulting and lightly edited by me.

As The Economy Improves! Don’t Just Hire . . . Analyze, Identify and Recruit!

If you’re considering hiring new staff in this Q1, chances are that you’ve determined very specifically those skills which will deliver the most return, quickest. The days of just “hiring” employees are diminishing. As modern marketing becomes more and more complex, it’s essential to hire the correct experienced skillset, that will increase or enhance your existing capabilities.

Were you forced to layoff HR and/or recruiting staff in 2020? Many employers simply couldn’t afford the luxury of non-revenue producing positions, no matter how important they were considered. If you post a job online today, will you have the experienced staff necessary to efficiently assess the quality of the applicants and respond promptly?

Bishop Partners is here to support your recruiting efforts. Whether you want local, regional or remote workers, our database of thousands of marketers of every discipline delivers referrals (if not candidates) surprisingly quickly. Our 35+ years in marketing and 20+ recruiting marketers of all disciplines, uniquely positions us to help your hiring managers identify specifically those traits and skills most critical . . . and do it very quickly.

As a result of Covid created Client need, I have “unbundled” the recruiting services. You post the position, I’ll screen the candidates. I develop a comprehensive overview of the candidate(s) for introduction. I also offer multiple payment options. Read more detail here, on my blog at http://bit.ly/2XXRYwC

I’m very proud of the trusted national reputation earned over those 20 years. Please give me a call to investigate how I can effectively and efficiently support your hiring needs . . . Immediately! 

Take care and stay safe!

 

I'm Thankful and Grateful for Thankful 2020! (Hard to Imagine!)

While 2020 has delivered unexpected and incredibly challenging issues, it has also shown that we’re stronger and more resilient that we might have imagined. Thanksgiving is the time to take time and reflect on all that we have to be Thankful for. I’ve renewed my thanks that I’m living the life that I’m living, challenges notwithstanding.

• I’m thankful for Barbara, the love of my life and constant companion (especially during quarantine). It helped reinforce our love for each other.
• I’m thankful for my family and friends who have stayed healthy and such an incredibly important part of my life.
• I’m thankful that I’m healthy. Devastating death and a virus make me realize how uncertain life really is and  what I have to be thankful for . . .
• I’m thankful for loyal Clients who have supported me, encouraged me and hired me through 2020!
• I’m  thankful for my trusted reputation, encouraging candidates at every level of marketing and digital media to contact me for future opportunities.
• I’m thankful that I can support and advise those who need help with presenting themselves in the best light or with advice on career next steps.
• I’m thankful that Covid has opened my eyes and helped me be innovative in the way my recruiting services are delivered and paid for. Clients appreciate that innovation.

Thankfully, I could go on . . . But I’ll spare you . . . thankfully!

I hope your day is filled with love, laughter, and gratitude. Happy Thanksgiving!

Now Interviewing for Sr. B2B Marketing Manager for our St. Louis Client

We're excited to be starting a new search with a new Client.  We're also excited about the fact that the job market is getting more active.  I'm expecting the activity to continue picking up so that in January of 2021, companies are going to start hiring again!  I know that would be a welcome change of events for lots of you who've been affected by Covid!

Senior Strategic B2B Marketing Manager #20102

Location: Clayton, Missouri

General Description:

This Strategic Marketing Manager in Clayton, MO will be responsible for developing growth oriented, marketing strategy and communications plans across three companies, in North America and Europe. A communication, design and tech enthusiast who displays the kind of organized, multi-tasking leadership skills required to research current markets and competition, while juggling multiple projects simultaneously?  You’ll report to the CEO, while collaborating with the Presidents of three other companies to develop and execute compelling B2B sales and marketing strategies.  You’ll have the opportunity to make an immediate impact, while building the foundation for future initiatives that support our Client’s ongoing global growth.  You will earn a seat on the Executive Leadership Team . . . Interested?

Principal Responsibilities:

• While reporting directly to the CEO, you’ll collaborate with three other companies, creating marketing strategies and techniques to tell their stories internally and externally.

• Finalize the worldwide re-organization and re-branding initiative initiated in 2020, including logo identity system and related documents, the update/re-design sales collateral, websites, social media and all internal and external communications
• Develop and execute engaging multi-channel marketing campaigns to generate awareness and drive demand; achieve measurable goals for key initiatives and engagement.
• Create and execute strategies for industry and customer trade shows, while collaborating with sales on smaller, regional events.
• Design and manage market research projects supporting brand positioning, product development, customer segmentation and the industry’s future.
• Plan and execute all web, SEO/SEM, CRM marketing, email, social media, PR and display advertising campaigns.  Produce and direct videos as necessary.
• Be accountable for the marketing budget, while managing third party vendors as necessary.
• There will initially be some International travel, to research the company’s cultures.

No Time (or Staff) to Identify & Interview Job Applicants?

Are you posting jobs and being overwhelmed with applicants? No staff or time to properly identify and screen the best applicants? You’re not alone . . . We can help!

I know from recent conversations that many employers are not “waiting patiently” for Covid to become more “under control”. They are realizing that  the past four months have forever changed the way business will be conducted. Employment for the future has radically changed, almost overnight! Highly specialized digital marketing “specialists” remain elusive, yet in constant in demand. They’re difficult to identify, recruit and hire, even if you’re willing to let them work remotely.

Maybe you’re receiving “unsolicited” resumes. Do they just get “filed” or added to a database somewhere? Does anyone in HR have the time or expertise to screen them and determine if there might be an exceptionally talented or skilled pro who wants to work for your company? What if it’s a skill you really need . . . but you don't respond?

Client demand has helped us re-imagine new ways to support Employers’ Talent Acquisition and hiring needs. We’ve rolled out different ways for Clients to deal with the cost of recruiting search, by spreading payments over months or quarters. There are alternative options for payment, like Paypal, Zelle or Venmo. We’re open to finding even more new and creative billing/payment solutions. It’s a new world!

We’re also “Unbundling” the recruiting and talent acquisition workflow. We understand that your staff has been cut back. If you post a job and receive even 20+ resumes/day, assessing and responding is daunting. If your team doesn’t have time or expertise, we’ll help. Here’s a document that outlines the range of support we provide, if you identify the candidates (Unbundled Recruiting). We of course, would be happy to help identify and recruit your candidates from the beginning, if necessary. Let us know how we can best help you.

Meanwhile, take good care and stay safe!

Bishop Partners Celebrates 19 Years of Recruiting and Executive Placement! Thank You!

July 1 was the 19th Anniversary of Bishop Partners and my becoming an Executive Recruiter! This past year was both the best and the worst in some ways. It was the best professionally and personally, but Covid-19 has obviously had unbelievable impact on all of our lives and jobs.

Fortunately, this past year has been professionally excellent. I was worried that people (Clients especially) would think that my move to Florida, meant that I was retiring. Not even close! Fortunately, Barbara’s and my move for personal reasons has had little impact on my business. I’ve survived past recessions, terror attacks and social unrest. My experience and national reputation continues to be a strong foundation for Bishop Partners’ ongoing success. I’m thankful!

I want to thank all of you who have contributed to our success over these past 19 years. I wouldn’t still be here without your support, your positive feedback and your referrals . . . to both colleagues (Candidates) and Employers (Clients). Thank you!

Even though I had two searches cancelled at the offer stage in early April, I’ve been pretty busy. I have new Clients in St. Louis, Austin, Ft. Lauderdale and Las Vegas. That reputation (and maybe my blog?) has been responsible for conversations in the past six weeks about the strategic hiring of a company’s missing talent.

I’ve had conversations with Clients about a Digital Strategy Director, several about New Biz Developers, top grading for a VP level Media Strategist, a Director of Marketing and a Director of Sales and Marketing. A Former Client contacted me and asked me to start thinking about candidates who could be President of a new agency she’s launching. Someone will call and say, I’m interested in the best talent you know of in a particular specialty or vertical . . . recruiters with a specialty know who the most valuable candidates are (and the candidates know who the best recruiters are!). It’s rewarding to be a trusted resource!

I’m proud of how I’ve been able to help candidates with their resumes and a strategy for unexpectedly having to find a new job. It’s very satisfying to help someone take the next step in their career path. We all