When it comes to hiring new talent, our team takes a holistic approach. Of course, we consider qualifications, experience, and technical skills, but we also look for individuals who align with our company culture and values. We want individuals who are passionate, driven, and eager to learn and grow with us. Tune in to this week's episode of the podcast as we delve deeper into our hiring process and share some tips for standing out as a candidate.
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This week's cocktail is Pimm's Cup, a refreshing and classic British summertime drink that has been enjoyed for over 150 years. Originally created by James Pimm in the 1840s, this cocktail is made with Pimm's No. 1, a gin-based liqueur that is infused with a secret blend of herbs and spices. The drink is then mixed with lemon juice, ginger beer, and fresh fruit, such as cucumber and strawberry, to create a light and flavorful beverage that is perfect for sipping on a hot summer day.
Did you know that there have been a total of six bottled Pimm's recipes over the years? Each one began with a different base liquor and used a variety of herbs, fruits, and spices to create unique flavors. However, Pimm's fell out of the limelight around the 1970s, and the brand's portfolio has undergone significant changes since then. Today, The Pimm's Company only produces gin and vodka liqueurs, with an occasional brandy release.
Rich: We are back for another episode Caitlin. Hey hi, hi. It's been a hot minute since I've seen it. It has It has.
Catelin: It has been actually a hot minute too. Summer is upon us.
Rich: Oh, yes, yeah, It's been humid.
Catelin: It's like oppressively upon us And I shouldn't complain. but here I am.
Rich: Yeah, I like warm weather better than cold weather. So I would rather be like hot, sweaty and gross than freezing, so I'd like the happy medium like that nice 72 degrees.
Catelin: Couldn't we find somewhere in the middle?
Rich: Yes, I mean, i had that in San Diego and then I moved back here. Although honestly, San Diego had 90 and 100 degree days, but we also had a pool, which made a big difference.
Catelin: Yeah, i've been lobbying hard for a pool, but my bequest has been met with nothing. It's fallen upon deaf ears.
Rich: I feel like either your whole yard would be pool or you'd have to like get rid of the garage and put a pool there.
Catelin: Yeah, or I mean I think Tyrell would be fine if our whole yard was a pool, because then you wouldn't have to mow True, i would have to mow the pool and pollinate our plants. That's all I want And, quite honestly, i would be fine with just like a little plunge pool, like I just want something that's like slightly larger than a bathtub so I can float in it with a little cocktail.
Rich: Oh, they have those. It can be a hot tub, but it's actually the exercise pool, the continuous stream ones, but they're basically like long enough for your whole body to lay flat. But you don't have to turn on the continuous stream and exercise, you can just use it as like a pool I want that I can have Brian get on that for you.
He sat next to somebody on a plane who worked in Omaha for a spa and pool, not an outlet store, but basically they get all the ones that go to home shows and don't sell, so they get all those back and they're like 30 or 40% off Some of them are high price. I love the sale It was really good, so I'll hook you up. I'll talk to him and figure that out.
Catelin: Thank you so much.
Rich: Thank you, not a problem. So while you're in your pool, would you have a Pims cup per chance?
Catelin: I think I might. Quite honestly, i think I might. I have to say I don't always love a ginger beer. Situation Like a Yule is not necessarily my favorite, but I love the strawberry, i love the mint, i love cucumber and a cocktail.
Rich: And the Pims gives it a little bit of a bitterness to balance the sweet right Like that's. I'm thinking of the right, the right booze there.
Catelin:
I think so I think so, yeah, yeah, i would be into this. I think I. I think the ginger might be offset enough by, like the, the lemon and the other stuff to just be a brightener and not quite so like spicy.
Rich: Well, and you've got the cucumber in this too. So, like, so this is a drink Brian cannot have, so he's allergic to cucumber, cucumber and celery he's allergic to, which is a weird one, and the number of things that have celery salt in them or celery juice at restaurants is ridiculously high.
Catelin: So he would not have this. Is it like anaphylaxis, like he'll choke to death, or is?
Rich: it just like a mild discomfort. No, it's a medium discomfort. It's a fairly, it's a gastric discomfort.
Catelin: Got it, got it, got it. So everyone, everyone enjoys it.
Rich: Yeah. I mean, but it can like it can prevent, you know, good sleep if he has it before bed, because he's just like he's crampy.
Catelin: He's to me hurts.
Rich: It does, it does, but anyway, i would do this. So yeah, we start out by muddling some cucumber in the glass. It looks like. So, two very thin cucumber rounds.
Catelin: I got to say get a mandolin and just watch your fingers. I have never loved like slicing things more than since I got our mandolin.
Rich: Ours has a thing that goes on it in your hand, goes on that to prevent you from, because you can, you can shave the ends of your fingers off You certainly can.
Catelin: You should ask my dad about that sometime, because he got a mandolin and then has been missing his like thumbprint for the last like six or eight months because he keeps. So Tyrell and I are going to get him like a chain mail glove.
Rich: No, that's like whenever they're doing like worst cooks in America and they get out the mandolin. I'm just like sitting there, like. Oh yeah because somebody's going to bleed. It's just going to happen, yeah.
Catelin: So any, but like a thin sliced radish and a salad.
Rich: Yes.
Catelin: It's farmer's market season. I got radishes in my share this week. I'm ready So.
Rich: Kim, who does our proofreading?
Catelin: has an amazing garden.
Rich: If you're down here you should actually swing by. She's out in Blair Fantastic garden and she. Her radishes are ready And so I had some. She's got two different kinds. One is very peppery and I love a good radish. I like vegetables, that bite arugula radishes. The other one is much milder. It's like I think she said it's an English radish or something like an English cucumber. They have a different, I don't know.
Catelin: Anyway, I digress, and for first tea, on that note, microgreens, radish microgreens.
Rich: Wow.
Catelin: They're so good, so so good. Actually, i wonder if we could like muddle them into a cocktail. I would think you could do some.
Rich: Yeah, right, i'm like a, like a savory mojito. Yeah, all right. Well, let's get back to the Pims cup.
Catelin: Yes, this is one long thin cucumber slice for garnish, two cucumber rounds for muddling Use your mandolin. A half ounce of simple syrup, two ounces of Pims number one, and there are several Pims which I didn't know until research for this a half ounce of fresh lemon juice, two and a half ounces of ginger beer, a strawberry for garnish and a mint sprig for garnish. Mint is the only thing that we're growing in our garden that will be edible. This year I bought five mint things. I just planted a whole raised bed of mint Tyrell's very excited Anyway interesting.
Rich: And this is an interesting one because it's not a shaker drink, it's a stirrer drink. Yeah, yes, so you start with the Collins glass. That's the tall, thin one.
Catelin: Three quarters full with ice. Much like our, much like our Collins.
Rich: Yeah, exactly, is he three quarters full of ice? Oh, you're tall and slender, got it Tall and slender Got it. So yeah, and then this one's interesting Like you put the garnish slice down the side, along the inside of the glass, so you want that long. It's a long slice, not like a. You slice it vertically, not.
Catelin: Yeah, like a fry.
Rich: Yeah, like a French fry type of a thing. So then you add the cucumber. You're going to muddle in the simple syrup into a cocktail shaker and muddle those. So I go, I spoke too soon. You do need a shaker. Then the pims and the lemon juice. So again, keep the fizzy stuff out of your shaker. Non-fizzy goes in the shaker. Shake that with ice strained into your Collins glass And then you just top it with your ginger beer or ginger ale Same thing.
Catelin: Okay, Well, similar thing. I was like I could maybe do this with ginger ale. I just don't love it. Ginger beer tends to just get too but too artificially spicy for me. I don't know.
Rich: Well, in Ginger Bear we found brand to brand they're completely different, like completely different. Some of them actually have a bite like they feel sharp on your tongue, and some of them don't. But Ginger Ale is like you know, it's just Ginger Ale Approachable yeah. They have sea germs or whoever figured that out, and it's just what we have. So, then you can put a cucumber wheel on it if you want to. To garnish it, spear that strawberry and tap your mint in it, and there you go.
Catelin: Yeah, that actually does sound really good.
Rich: So you talked about pimps having more than one. Six it says Yeah, six of them over the years, but some of them are not available anymore. So yeah, so very odd. So number two was a Scotch whiskey base that they've discontinued. Number four, a rum base which they discontinued. Number five is a rye base which they discontinued.
And it looks like one, six and three are still available. So six is a vodka based liqueur. Three they call the winter cup, which is brandy based. I like this one with cinnamon caramel and orange. I think it says occasionally available.
Catelin: Probably seasonal.
Rich: Seasonal, That's your Christmas Pims folks. But I love that they. They just don't bother to go with any kind of weird branding or anything It's just one, two, three, four, five, six, yeah, and we're like oh, we got rid of two, four, five, but it's just one, three and six that you can't get down, and sometimes I think I feel like we should have an all office gathering in, like November, between Thanksgiving and Christmas, called Pimsmas, and we'll just drink like I'll make a flip.
Catelin: We can have some flips and we can have some, whatever we make with the Pims number three The winter cup.
Rich: Yeah, yeah, that would be great. I'm all for that. I think that sounds good. So is that, mary Pimsmas? Write that down and let people know. You know what?
Catelin: We could do, we could do a summer version and do Pimsmas in July with this, with this Pims cup. This seems right, great, i like that's a good idea.
Rich: Well, when we close on our new house, you know, god willing at the end of the month. I feel like this we do have a pool and I feel like a summer party at the pool with Pims cups could be. That could be a thing easily.
Catelin: Pimsmas in July.
Rich: I actually think we have Pims number one downstairs too. I'll have to look after this, But meant to be All right. Well, awesome. So with our Pims Cup, we're going to talk about what we look for when we hire people.
Catelin: Yes, so if you're a recent. I don't have any actual criteria, we'll get into it. Mine is a, mine is a gut feeling.
Rich: So that's one of our. We actually have 10 official things that we look for, that we actually rank people on now, and one of them is gut feeling, and gut feeling has veto power over the other nine, just FYI. All right, well, let's take a dance break and then get into it.
Catelin: Welcome back.
Rich: Welcome back. We have our Pims cups. We are not sitting by a pool, unfortunately. Oh, podcasts by the pool. We'll put a pin in that one.
Catelin: Yeah.
Rich: Might be loud, but it'll be a fine. What's an ambient noise? It'll be like an MPR like story.
Catelin: Go. Yeah, i like this. I'll use my best, Terry Gross voice.
Rich: Nice, we're watching the the Gentle Art of Swedish Death Clinging on Peacock, which is really a fantastic show, and they're all heading into a move. Yeah, Yeah, all of them are in Kansas City too, all the ones that they're doing, which is kind of weird. But one of these women So they she donated a bunch of stuff to the gay and lesbian archive of Middle America, which is Glamour. It's this giant warehousey place in Kansas City And they it's narrated by Amy Poehler, so if you can imagine that, But they basically this woman had a very like soothing, gentle voice, and then the curator of that museum they like said.
curator with soothing voice was his like title that they put up on the screen.
Catelin: And he was also very like easy to listen to.
Rich: It was just basically a whole like almost an ASMR kind of episode, but yeah. But highly recommend the Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning. They are not a sponsor, unfortunately, but it's three fierce Swedes who come into your house and deal with clutter, your mental state Emotional baggage. Emotional baggage Yes, and then interior design. So yeah, but that has nothing to do with what we're doing here.
Catelin: Doesn't have anything to do with anything. All right This.
Rich: So we probably not any of them for digital marketing, because that's not what they do, probably not.
Catelin: No. What are we looking for when we're hiring somebody in the digital marketing sphere?
Rich: So I think there's a couple of things. There's like a couple of categories, right. So there's some general things we look at in people we want to work with us. Like who do we want to have lunches with and margaritas and have show up and choose music on the Spotify and all of that, and those just generally are things. We've learned that if you have like these ten qualities, you fit in well here and you're going to work well here. So we're small, so things are changing constantly 11 or 12 now.
Well, we're, we're 12. 12. The moment.
Catelin: Okay, 12 people work in our organization.
Rich: Correct, so I had somebody.
Catelin: I had somebody in one of my HubSpot onboardings yesterday say we're really we're a small group And I was like, can you define small? and he's like, oh, we're 60. And I was like, well, we have a different definition of small because we're 12 people.
Rich: Yeah, same different Anyway, yeah, i had one too, They're actually a marketing agency that specializes in hotels and they're like yeah, we're really small. And then she like somehow threw in like in our European office, and I'm like what? Okay? Like yes, me too, Me too, It would be just me moving to Europe and my home office would be our European office but that's not happening anytime soon.
So anyway, in general, like a couple of things adaptability to change, like you've got to be able to roll with things changing and moving. resourcefulness You know we can't hold your hand the whole time. We've got some training tools. We're here for you to answer questions but, like, being able to dig stuff up and find stuff on your own is important. So, culture, fit, you know, just that's kind of a gut feeling kind of thing. Coachability, determination, expertise is one, and we'll get into that deeper as it pertains to deep digital marketing, prior successes. And then the two that I love like passion is one. Like are you? are you like passionate about? like not even necessarily marketing something like is there something you're passionate about What lights you up?
Catelin: yeah.
Rich: Yeah, exactly, and if it's nothing, that's rough, that's really rough, so hopefully there's something. Everybody has something, and then I know you like the last one.
Catelin: It's the only criteria I have any expertise at.
Rich: Gut feeling. So is there something that gives us a red flag, or is there something that gives us, like a huge green flag that, like you know what you're teachable and you're a great human and we just want you to work here? Yeah, so those are like the 10 things. I think it's 10. 9.
Catelin: Oh my gosh, is it only 9? 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9.
Rich Yeah, it's 9. Oh, it is only 9. That we actually rate on a scale of 1 to 10, and then you've got a score out of. I guess 90. I'm gonna have to double check that. I think I made a score out of 100.
Catelin: So no one's ever gonna get 100. So, I mean, if you're looking at continuous improvement, you shouldn't be scoring 100 anyways, right, true, so maybe I don't think anybody is going to be perfect on those.
Rich: I'm certainly not perfect on those. I don't think anyone is. I think the other one. I know we have some questions that we generally ask in interviews that are really fun, so we're very food centric.
Catelin: Yes, And by the time somebody gets to like a we do kind of have in the past, do kind of like a panel style, where it's like a more of a meet and greet, And my question is always what's the one like? if you had to eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Rich: And people always choose pizza or pasta because generically you can make those anything.
Catelin: It's like pasta, but somebody I think once had burgers. Megan said like ramen or I think Yeah. So there are some like variables within the sphere, But yeah.
Rich: And I think our other favorite is what's your if we were to go to lunch right now? what's your local restaurant? Yeah local restaurant you'd want to go to, and just please let it not be like Olive Gardener, apple Beaser, and it needs to be like ideally.
Catelin: They all have a place, right Yeah, family owned situation.
Rich: I mean, and we love us Achilles at the agency especially in Sioux City especially since everything kind of improved a couple of years ago there. But favorite restaurant probably not.
Catelin: Yeah.
Rich: Got a whole bunch more that I would.
Catelin: I have too many qualifiers where I'm like is it lunch? Am I eating? What am I eating? Are we drinking? What is the like? I have too many. It's like a flow chart that I need to make of like the different qualifications.
Rich: So you need that.
Catelin: Yeah.
Rich: You need that app that's like Tinder for food. Where you want to go, you swipe right. If you don't want to go to that restaurant, you swipe left. And when you and your husband both swipe right on something that's like a very closed in like, yeah, be called eater, and that that should be a thing. Why somebody hasn't created that, i don't know. But I'm also going to open a restaurant called whatever you want.
Catelin: I think it would be. I think the reason no one's created that is because it would be really hard to monetize.
Rich: Probably because we want money. So in a cashless future society where we all do our passion, that app will exist. Sure, okay, alright, so anything more on any of those, like I think culture fit is good And that's like a do we want to hang out with you? Do you get our vibe? Do you get our weirdness? Like we're all weird in some way?
Catelin: Have I scared you away with my extraversion? I think is really what that question should be.
Rich: I think for you yes, it is Caitlin too much for you, because if she's too much now, is it a lot?
Catelin: It's not going to get better.
Rich: Yeah, wait till your first day, or wait till you're in a car with her. Like you're you, just you've got to be able to share.
Catelin: I like. I like to believe, though, that I can gauge the comfort level, like I'm not going to force you to talk to me, but I, if you are talking to me, i want to know you. I want to know things about you?
Rich: Yeah, you're very much like. I want to get into people's heads and understand them.
Catelin:cYeah, and that's good, yeah, i think it makes working together easier when I can like see where people are coming from.
Rich: I would agree. Alright. So we're a digital marketing agency. I mean, we're a marketing agency. We do non digital stuff, but most of what we do is digital, because most of what everybody does these days is digital Like hello everything is the Internet, all the time. I know we're recording like a radio show, but we're doing it on a web browser and it's going out to people via their phone or whatever.
So, yeah, so there's a lot of things that we look for with digital marketing folks that come in And even like if you're an account executive or you're coming in as a project manager like understanding of some of these things is helpful, and I do have a blog out there on this topic that'll probably be linked from this if anybody's doing RSEO correctly, and this will be linked from the blog because that makes sense, it's the same topic.
Catelin: They're talking to each other.
Rich: Yep. So I think one of the first ones is for me, it's just understanding like an inbound or lead gen process, like how digital marketing is used to attract the right people and bring them to you. You know we don't do cold calling, that's not us.
Catelin: I would quit Yep.
Rich: We don't buy email lists and like spam them Also, not us. It's really about putting things out there and understanding an audience and understanding what they need, and the more that you get that and can put yourself in the shoes of whoever you're trying to like reach, the better, the better success you're going to have at any role in honestly any agency anywhere.
Catelin: Right.
Rich: Yeah, so I think that one's good.
Catelin: What else you?
Rich: got. So there's some really tactical stuff. So like understanding SEO. So SEO is a big one. It's a. it can be complicated. There's a lot to it. A lot of people think it's super simple. You throw some keywords on and away you go. It's not the more in depth that you understand that. I mean you've got like the ability to be hired almost anywhere with that one Right. It's a really huge one, because I mean, what company do you know doesn't want to be found on Google? Like, i don't think I've run into anybody. I'm sure there's some out there that are doing shady things on the dark web or whatever, but rent a rent a hit man dot com.
Catelin: Oh, I knew that was coming in the local news It did Yeah Well there was a teenager trying to hire a hit man on just like wild or something, but no one was injured.
Rich: They never was. it wasn't successful. He didn't hire the man.
Nobody was actually injured, but yeah, like so maybe they thought though honestly, i think they want to be found on Google too, like you know, maybe they do. So SEO is a big one for us as well, and that dovetails into, like, my next one, which is just creating engaging content. So they all kind of work together. If you know your audience, how do you create things that? because we create, right, that's what we do, that's kind of what we get paid for. So how do you create things and how do you help others create things that are going to appeal to them, that they're going to respond to and that they're going to like basically give up their information, right? Mm-hmm.
Catelin: Engage with. what are they going to engage with? Maybe a Yeah.
Rich: Yeah, it's a good word. And then wherever that content goes, so if it's on a landing page or social media or a podcast, like, are they going to engage with it? That's a really big one.
Catelin: Yeah Well, i also think like we spend a lot of time talking about content, but not always the amount of time that's necessary to determine what the action we're trying to encourage is, and so like really diving into understanding what the end result or end goal is Like. So somebody sees this piece of content like then, what Then?
Rich: what? What is that?
Catelin: What is next Yeah?
Rich: Yeah, so what is the overarching strategy that gets us to the end result? And then the tactics in between there kind of sort themselves out, usually, right.
Catelin: But, if anybody can crack that code and do it consistently, let us know. Well, I mean I think we'll take you Yeah.
Rich: I think we do a pretty good job of that, but it is a skill that can be really hard And it's It's developed.
Catelin: It's not like an innate thing either. I mean it can be an, but, like you have, it's a learned skill.
Rich: Yeah, very few people come out of the womb with that skill Understanding strategy and how to achieve results from it. Yeah, but it is something that can easily be learned and can you can grow into it. I think it's also one that you've got to be able to help clients understand that as well, because a lot of times it's like this is the output I want. Write 10 blog posts, get me the output, and it's like time out, like 10 blog posts might not get you that output.
Catelin: So three blog posts might.
Rich: Right, Or three blog posts and two videos, or you know it might just or a series of Google ads will get you that result faster.
Catelin: Yeah.
Rich: Or a combination thereof, which is usually the answer Right. So I think there's that piece as well just being able to To understand how to Not necessarily convince others. It's a little bit of a convince, but it's not really a sales kind of thing. It's how to bring others along on the journey and help them see, you know what's necessary and the necessary steps.
Catelin: I wonder if one of your, one of your screening feelings should be just communication.
Rich: I feel like that was one that should have been on there. Maybe that's the 10th one.
Catelin: And that's number 10. On this list, we solved it.
Rich: We'll make it number 10, if it's not already, so that'll be good. Yeah, i mean in the tactical things like social media marketing, you know it's it's hard to believe that people can do that poorly. So I've seen some examples recently of where people have done that very poorly.
Catelin: Any ad you see on Twitter right now is an example of how to do social media marketing poorly.
Rich: Well, those are just really like spammy. It's just all that that multicolored logo and the weird name. So close, all the same company. I've blocked so many. Every once in a while. I take screenshots of all of them that I've blocked, because it's really my whole block list at this point, and I just I post them and I tag Elon and I'm like are you going to do anything about this? Because, like nope, but I'm still waiting for something else to get like critical mass, so that we can all go there.
And it feels like the early Twitter, but yeah, i mean. But social media marketing, i mean people post like a call to action in text but no link Like why, like you know what?
Catelin: is the point by now.
Rich: By now where?
Catelin: Yeah, give me like from the Facebook.
Rich: That's not a choice. I have to go Google you and figure out where your stuff is because you know what I'm not going to do that. Nope, I'm going to scroll on by.
Catelin: Scroll on by And there are things called shopping ads in a carousel that you can put on there.
Rich: I go down that rabbit hole all the time and the algorithm is so weird. for mine, which I know we've talked about, it's really weird.
Catelin: It's really really weird, It's really, really weird.
Rich: So I don't know what's going on there. I may need to just go in and manually reset it, but especially on Facebook It's very odd And they know a lot about me.
Catelin: You do get some strange suggested posts, that's.
Rich: I do get strange suggested posts. Anybody wants to dive into that deeper? Maybe that'll be a blog post I can do on how Facebook's algorithm is just, you know, drunk and needs to go home.
Catelin: Yeah.
Rich: All right.
Catelin: So maybe a more actionable post would be like how to reset your. Yeah there is a reference, there is.
Rich: Yep, and you can go in. You can also just turn it off, so it, and then you just get random stuff because they're not allowed to use your personal info, which is also hilarious sometimes, but sometimes there's something useful that comes up in there. Yeah, all right. So the functional stuff there, like No SEO know how to do, like engaging content, good social media marketing principles.
Catelin: Yeah, another one might might be like general awareness of HubSpot functionality, for there are so many good free resources to just even begin to scratch the surface and understand what tools we utilize. Like, that's an easy get for me if you come in and you say like oh, i've done some certifications, like great. You're 10 steps ahead.
Rich: Anybody with current HubSpot certifications or, you know, seo certifications, google Analytics or Google ad certifications on their LinkedIn profile, because you can put those right on there. Anybody who has a current one. They're going to jump right to the top like right to the top.
Catelin: Yeah.
Rich: And you know it doesn't even have to be HubSpot. I mean that's kind of the the lead gen behemoth. There's other stuff out there, but the nice thing about HubSpot and we'll get into this in a little bit on how you can improve your skills, their Academy has HubSpot specific stuff but also just general.
Catelin: General inbound stuff.
Rich: How to build your email marketing list is a course they have in there, and you don't have to do it with HubSpot. You could do it with MailChimp or something else. So, yeah, I think that's a good one too. So that falls under the like learn what tools that agency is using. Usually, you can find that info on their website or just Google them. If you Google us, I know our HubSpot profile will come up And then, like get one certification in those tools. You're going to automatically look better to them And at least they now know that you're aware of their tools. You did some research.
Catelin: And you're making an attempt.
Rich: Yeah, like a good faith effort Yeah.
Yeah, you figured out where the learning library is for these tools And you did at least one course. Like that's always fantastic, yeah, so yeah. And then I said Google Analytics. But, like really any analytics and data interpretation, it's less like, oh, i can go to Google Analytics and set it up. It's really more the so, what? So when you see those analytics, when you see that people are engaging with your content, what does it mean? Why do you care? Why do I care? Why does the client care? Like understanding what you're going to do with that. Because if you measure stuff and never do anything with it, then what's the?
Catelin: point? What's the point? Yeah, all right, tell me how we can improve our skills.
Rich: Okay. So if you were starting out, or if you came to us from another career path and weren't a digital agency person, caitlin, i would have done that. Or if you've recently graduated and you got a job, but it's not the one you want. You're like I really want to get deeper into SEO or whatever. We got four basic places you can go to get free learning. So it's all it's free. Some of it has paid, there's paid gating on some of it, but there's free stuff at all of these.
Catelin: Yeah.
Rich: So first one we have is HubSpot Academy. We talked about that one Amazing, amazing stuff there And your baseline certifications are free.
Catelin: Yes.
Rich: I actually use that as extra credit in one of my social media classes. Their social media certification is you don't have to, you have to have an account, but you don't have to have a paid HubSpot portal to do it. You just have to have a login and you can get it. and it's free And I make that worth 40 points to offset any late assignments that you may have turned in.
Catelin: Well, that's kind of you in one of my classes I think that's Macky.
Rich: Yeah, this last session only two people did it, though, like it's. So like just commit the time, it's easy. So that's a great one and it's very searchable. You can find it just at academyhubspotcom. Also, it's in the blog post If we link to that from this. Mr Zach, I know he's got that note in his ear now and he would be the one doing that, So yes. So I wanted to put the Semrush Academy in here, because we use Semrush for SEO, but it's all paid, all of it. They don't have free stuff.
So another tool.
Catelin: What a bumper Semrush. come on, You want people to use your stuff.
Rich: Right, at least make a couple of certifications free.
Catelin: Right.
Rich: But the Moz Academy. So Moz also does SEO stuff just a little bit differently. You could choose either tool. The Moz Academy has a lot of free courses on SEO as well, so you can definitely go there and take some free stuff Really really great. If you know somebody with a Semrush account, you can get their login from them and jump in there. Now they're going to get credit for taking the course, but you'll at least have the knowledge. Yeah, so that's a good one for the SEO piece especially, and SEO is just getting hotter and hotter, so definitely something to do. Google has great learning. I just sort of saw that word Google.
Google Google Google Analytics Academy, which is a little bit separate from the Google Ads Academy, but both of those are great places to go And again, you just have to Google.
Catelin: Google Analytics Academy, just search them.
Rich: Gurgle them.
Catelin: Gurgle them. Just let us look them up, you figure it out.
Rich: Yep, so that's a fantastic one. And again, all three of those have certifications that you can share to your LinkedIn And it's just right there in your certifications area. Really, really great to see that when we go to hire somebody because we do stalk you on social Everybody does They go see what you're doing on social.
Catelin: That's actually one of my unsaid job duties is anytime a new applicant comes in, i say OK, tell me about them and then I will find you on the internet.
Rich: Yep, although we're getting some of the Gen Zers who are not in a lot of places.
Catelin: Yeah, they've either locked it down.
Rich: They're not on Facebook, first of all. They may not even be on Instagram. It's probably like a TikTok and maybe Snapchat, though The olds are on. Snapchat, so I don't know. So it gets a lot harder to find people.
Catelin: I am.
Rich: I just don't use it very much, but yeah, but I mean, and being on LinkedIn is good and having your professional stuff on LinkedIn is always a good idea Because it will help people find you and help you find a job. So the last one is a website that's really a content behemoth. They have some training, but they've just also got how to's and tips and just reading their stuff is great, but it's social media. Examiner.
Catelin: You can follow them. This is a new one for me.
Rich: Yeah, it's a really good one. You can follow them on any socials, you can subscribe to their emails, but, honestly, like they're so prolific on like Facebook, twitter, linkedin to some extent, that it's pretty easy to see their stuff. But it's a really really good one And they just have like really great articles about like when Facebook makes a change or when Twitter makes a change. So you can really keep up on stuff, because that's another thing being an agency We're supposed to know what happens before like anybody else, and so we prefer to not have clients coming and being like Hey, i read that Google made a change, what's that going to impact to me?
We'd rather be more proactive and say, hey, google's made this change, it doesn't mean anything for you, we're on it, it's all good And they go. Okay, thank you, you know. Or Hey, Facebook made this change And now, as a nonprofit, you can have a donate button instead of a buy now button or shop now button, which is one that actually happened. So you'll get a lot of that from social media examiner and you'll see kind of what they've got there. I mean, there are other places So, like, coursera has a great 26 week course on SEO.
Catelin: That's paid, right, it's paid and it's expensive, and it's 26 weeks and you have to go along.
Rich: It's a college course. It's a legit, like college course from University of California. I don't know which ones. I want to say Santa Barbara, but I don't think that's right, but it's one of the it's a University of California course that I took. I basically try to take it every two years but it's expensive and it takes time. Skillshare has some courses again a paid service, not as expensive. That one's pretty affordable. But I think anything you can do to come in with that knowledge and not be like, well, i don't know anything, but I'm interested in it, can you give me everything?
Catelin: I can learn Yeah.
Rich: Because we're going to point you at those things, but more likely Another candidate's going to come in with experience and we're going to hire them or at least no experience, but knowledge and certifications. Yeah, so it's really good.
Catelin: Awesome.
Rich: Hey, so those are forward to grilling our next candidates. Well, you're going to now start reading social media examiners, so that you yeah things to yeah, I've got homework. You do have homework, all good, all good. So that's it. Recent grad changing careers. Whatever your situation is Um some really great options there for you on what people are looking for.
Catelin: My main criteria is like don't be a jerk.
Rich: Are you not a big one? I would like to work with you. That goes into the gut feeling.
Catelin: If you're a jerk, you're gonna get a zero on gut feeling and that's gonna make it a 10.
Rich: It vetoes every other thing And just tanks your score. So I think that that's That's a really important one and we can't kind of emphasize that enough. But that culture, fit and gut feeling and The no-jerk rule, like you, know, don't be a jerk like you might be really smart and really great at things. But if everybody hates you no one's gonna want to work with you, it's not gonna work out All right. Well, almost lunchtime, maybe I'll go have a pimps cup with my.
Catelin:Host37:48
Burrito.
Rich: I think it's a burrito today.
Catelin: I don't have lunch today, but I did bring cookie dough, which is not lunch, but no snack.
Rich: But I have a feeling I mean it's 11, almost 11, 30 if you just post in slack to your, your fellow People or just you know, go out and be like I don't have lunch today, somebody well, i guess, yeah, yeah, I've got a good, i've got a deep bench of folks to rely on for lunch plans.
Catelin: It's really It's my favorite thing about working here all very suggestive.
Rich: So even if they brought lunch, most people are willing to Abandon the.
Catelin: I will abandon the leftovers in favor of an enchilada with yep, without hesitation yeah, my burritos.
Rich: Actually Brian's leftover from last night, because He got a burrito and enchilada plate with beans and rice and then, after eating the enchilada, realized it was way too much. I just got a. Because I love a good smothered burrito. Oh, and they do not have the talkies burrito here yet. That's still not one, but there's a limited time hot cheetos burrito, which is kind of a good. It's a okay substitute. It's not the same.
Catelin: You should talk to Adriana about hot cheetos sometime. She'll be really excited about that.
Rich: Oh, I'll have to. I have to get her hot cheetos versus talkies take.
Catelin: There's a friend I'm sure she has a pain. She likes both Yeah but for different reasons. Yeah yeah, exactly.
Rich: All right, we got to get her on a podcast.
Catelin: Should. Maybe that's her work on that.
Rich: All right, okay, enough side. What are they called tangents? That's the thing in our title.
Catelin: Happy lunch, happy hiring, all right, okay, love you Bye.
Rich: Bye. That's it for another episode of cocktails, tangents and answers. We hope it was as much fun to listen to as it was to make you can find me on Twitter or Instagram at at rich Mackey I try not to make it too difficult, it's just my name and you can find our agency at antidote, underscore seven one That's a n t i d o t?
Catelin: e underscore seven one on Twitter and Instagram as well and you can find me at home sipping a craft cocktail prepared by my in-home bartender It's my husband.
Rich: We'll be back with another episode every other week and a whole new cocktail recipe, plenty more tangents and, of course, answers to those pressing marketing questions.
Catelin: And if you'd like to send us a question, you can go to cta podcast dot live to send us an email.