Michael Manzi’s Post

Remember, there's no universal 'right' or 'wrong' way to create content. It's about finding your unique approach. What there is is content that is well aligned and positioned to talk to your people and content that missed the mark. Instead of worrying about if you're doing it "right" or what could be "wrong," think about your messaging, your audience, and if there are practical, actionable takeaways for a reader. What does this look like in practice? 1️⃣ Share stories or insights similar to the way you would in a job interview! All those behavioral questions they ask that you spend hours prepping for, tell those stories but reframe them with a catchy hook... Think, "The worst mistake I ever made as a manager" or "Here's what I thought would get me fired!" 2️⃣ Compare and contrast changes people can implement and gain success from. Instead of "i started doing this and x happened" think, "when you do x, y will likely follow." 3️⃣ Pro and Con/Do and Don't/Old You -> New You Lists. No need to sit in the trenches with your readers; build credibility by talking about where you were or where they are, and then show them a way out. What steps did you take? What are the easy, simple, maybe overlooked habits that will build the dream you're chasing? Share those! 

'Tell me about yourself.' 😩 Four words that I used to dread in an interview. What should be the easiest thing to answer Was somehow always the hardest. It felt like a spotlight shining on my insecurities. I'm not a recruiter. I didn't excel at writing resumes. I even struggled with the occasional icebreaker. So it's clear I'm no Guru of Interviewing. Despite this I've found some useful strategies to improve at interviews That I hope will help you too👇 ✅ Every Misstep is a Lesson in Disguise Did my anxiety cause me to forget my entire career once? Sure did. Embarrassing? Absolutely. Informative? You bet. What did I do? I sat down and wrote an elevator pitch. And I repeated that damn thing every day. I repeated it until everyone in my home had it memorized against their will. ✅ Curveballs Are Guaranteed With my elevator pitch ready, I developed 3 scenarios I thought I could use for anything they asked. But without fail I'd get: 'Tell me something that’s true, that almost nobody agrees with you on?' or 'Teach me something in 5 minutes.' And if you're wondering The previous night's chili was still on the stove. So that recruiter received an awkwardly rushed chili recipe in 5 minutes. ✅ Vulnerability is Strength I thought I had to have an answer to everything. Be able to do anything. But then I realized sharing my fears humanized me. It allowed me to show my commitment to growth. And it turns out, teams appreciate honesty over presumed perfection. --- Here's to embracing the journey. The lessons learned, and the awkward stories we gain. 🟢 PS - What's your most awkward interview story? 🟢 PPS - If you're currently in the market, I'm willing to help in any way I can. Need an introduction? Sure. Need some new LI banners? I've got you. DM me. --- #marketing

🚀 Facing the press can be intimidating, whether you're a Fortune 500 CEO or a startup founder. I've found that the biggest fear is often misquoting or saying the wrong thing. In today’s fast-paced media landscape, one slip can escalate quickly. Here’s how to ace your next interview: KNOW THE INTERVIEW FORMAT 🎤 Understand if it’s a backgrounder or an expert interview and prepare accordingly. RESEARCH THE REPORTER 📰 Know their recent stories and social media tone. Be ready for tough questions, especially if there’s a history of negative coverage. PLAN YOUR MESSAGES 📝 Identify your key points. Keep them simple, memorable, and free of jargon. PRACTICE 🎯 Just like athletes, practice your responses. Rehearse with potential questions and prepare for sensitive topics. Ideally, prep the day before to avoid last-minute stress. FOLLOW UP WITH THANKS 🙏 Send a thank-you note post-interview and share the story once it’s live to show your support. THE BOTTOM LINE: A media misstep can have big consequences, but with thorough preparation and practice, you can turn interviews into reputation-boosting opportunities. 🌟 #MediaTraining #PRTips #ReputationManagement #InterviewPrep #CEO #PublicRelations

Your interview content doesn’t have to be so dry. Just put a little more effort into the questions. Stop sending lists of boring questions to people and publishing their boring responses. If you work in the B2B space, you likely have partnerships with other companies. These partners can be great sources of interview content. 1. Your partner's audience is usually the same as yours or significantly overlaps. 2. The ask is easier because the relationship already exists. 3. You can make it repeatable for a steady source of content. ► But beware! Partnership content can quickly become sucky. It can easily become sales pitchy, boring, existing only to check a marketing box. ► To create partnership interviews that don't suck, do the following: 1. Find someone within your partner company who's used to being interviewed. Do your research before you approach your partner, and have a specific person in mind. 2. Brainstorm controversial opinions with that person. You're looking for: → Best practices they don't recommend following → Big mistakes they've made in their careers → Things they believe that many of your customers might be doing wrong → Ways they'd change the industry, that make sense, and that you haven't heard anyone else say before 3. Have an in-person conversation and record it. Don't post the raw footage. Instead, rewatch the candid conversation and look for moments where you: → Both laughed → Agreed strongly → Someone looks surprised Then, develop interview questions on those points and ask them to go deeper. 4. Offer them an incentive. Tell them it's because you want more than an hour of their time in preparation so you can produce something very high quality. 5. Don't have them talk too much about their company or product. Obviously, they'll want to plug it, but save it for the end. When people start making big macro statements about how their companies and products fit into the industry, legal and PR teams start nixing stuff. Keep it high-level and valuable. 6. If you've got a good working relationship with a partner, you can create a repeatable process that includes exposure to their relevant audience. This can become another organic channel. ► What's your recommendation for great interviews with partners? #Interviews #InterviewContent #ContentMarketing #B2BInterviews #PartnerInterviews #OrganicContent

"I'll let you know when I am hired" 😲 ......The Ultimate Answer 😱 Who needs a business plan when you've got punchlines like these, am I right? 🤣 I was stunned by the confidence level of the candidate in a recent interview 🤔 #interview #confidence Alright, buckle up folks, because I have got a tale that'll have you rolling on the floor laughing! Picture this: the tension in the room is palpable as the interviewer drops the bomb, "How can you bring more clients for our business?" 💼 And just when they brace themselves for a killer marketing strategy, our intrepid interviewee drops the comedic equivalent of a mic drop: "I'll let you know when I'm hired." 😂 You can almost hear the record scratch as the interviewer's eyebrows shoot up to the ceiling in sheer disbelief. 🤨 Did they just hear that right? Did our candidate just pull off the ultimate plot twist in the history of job interviews? Cue the laughter track, folks, because this is comedy gold! This is what happened with me when I was having an interview round with one of the candidates. When we asked "How can you bring leads for our business?" The answer we got ...."I'll let you know when I am hired" 😱 In a world where business strategies are dissected under a microscope and marketing tactics are as carefully crafted as fine art, leave it to our hero to throw caution to the wind and serve up a steaming plate of hilarity instead! 🎭 To all the hiring managers out there, brace yourselves: you may think you're searching for a marketing whiz, but what you might just discover is a certified comedy maestro in disguise! 🤣 All the best! #jobinterviews #career #hiringmanagers #recruiters

Why positioning yourself is better than preparation ? What's the difference after all you may ask.. You prepare for interview all day and night on the questioning, cases, etc. This is mere preparation. Positioning is more intrinsic. You understand the uncontrollable, try to gauge psyche of interviewer, reach out folks to see common connects/ nuances, what's relevant for that industry, focus on communication, appearance etc... This is positioning. I try to figure out more about this in current edition. How does it impact you in real life, and three questions for you to ponder.. Do share your thoughts !!

Mastering the art of the interview is crucial. Here’s how you can make a lasting impression and set yourself apart from the competition: ✅ Craft a Strong Opener: Start with a concise summary of your experience to make a memorable first impression. Example: "I’m a seasoned digital marketer with over 7 years of experience creating impactful campaigns that drive growth." ✅ Be Prepared: Have key anecdotes ready to showcase your achievements and handle any challenges positively. Example: "When leading a product launch, despite tight deadlines, my team and I exceeded our target by 30% through adaptive strategies and strong collaboration." ✅ Slow Down: Use techniques like note-taking to manage anxiety and maintain control over the conversation. Example: If faced with a tough question, say, "Let me take a moment to think about that," while jotting down key points for a thoughtful response. ✅ Breathe and Stay Comfortable: Set up a comfortable interview space and use relaxation techniques to stay calm. Example: Prepare a relaxing environment at home and practice deep breathing before your interview to boost confidence. Implement these strategies to boost your confidence and make your interviews more enjoyable. Good luck! #JobInterviewTips #CareerAdvice #Staffing #StaffHire

You are rejected. You hear this from an interview. For instance, you go to give an interview with fully prepared documents, packed with knowledge. You know each and every question's answer. Then what's the reason that you get rejected? Well you forget one thing that... How you look also matters. By looks, I mean... - your dressing - your hair - your beard (if you're a boy) And the same goes for LinkedIn. Don't just focus on your content or posting. But also focus on how your post will look. Presentation matters just as much as the content itself. That's why I always: ➺ Use plenty of white space and avoid clutter to create a clean, professional look. ➺ Ensure, posts are well formatted and free from lengthy paragraphs. ➺ Organize content with bullet points or numbered lists to make it easier to follow. ➺ Stick to one clear message per post to maintain clarity and engagement. It's all about ensuring clarity and making it easy for our audience to engage with the content. Because if your post looks untidy and messy, then no one will read it and they'll just scroll down. PS: What's one thing you do to make your LinkedIn posts look good? #personalbranding

Interview Episode😤 How well can you answer interview questions? Ever been stuck while trying to answer a question? How well do you prepare for your interviews? Honestly, interviewers have a thing for simple, yet complicated questions. How do you answer a question like this?👇👇 😎Interviewer: Tell us about your personal life. (An outside work activity that you enjoy doing). What do you do when asked a question like this? Here's a few steps to help. 🍀Introduce your services again. Aside being an extraordinary Social Media Manager who has promoted over 3 social media account in a space of 3 months and have built brand online presence using management tools like Hootsuite and Buffer as well as creating exceptional contents that generates leads and promote client's sales, 🍀Tell us what you do. I am a Fashion Model. 🍀Highlights what being a fashion model entails. As a Fashion Model, I create quality walk videos for my fan base and upload them across my different social media platforms. 🍀Ship in some additional skills you have. I use my editing skills to create consumer worthy videos with high quality and interesting ideas that entertains and educates. I actively engage with my followers and viewers; replying to their comments, and questions, attending to their worries and appreciating their engagement, encouraging them to have faith and continue to stick with me for more amazing The above is a brief example of what your answer to the question should be like. 📌I did not only talk about my personal life rather, I used the opportunity to introduce more skills and experience as a content creator, video editor, customer engagement expert and loyalty building. In addition, it is advisable that you should talk about your relevant skills while doing that personal activity. 📌Use something Unque, original, and out of the usual. I hope this helps you plan your future interviews well. Seeing my post for the first time? 🤝I promote your social media presence and help you attend to administrative activities. ✅Connect with me for more tips like this. 🌚Meet the Fashion version of your favorite Social Media Manager Wahdoh!!! #linkedin #linkedinconnection #tips #interview #linkedintip #growwithme #socialmediamanager #manager #building #mondaymotivation #monday

🌟 Find great employees faster! 🌟 If you've ever felt like the interview process is a high-stakes game of poker, where both sides are cautiously revealing their hands? I'm here to change that narrative. As a seasoned expert with a decade of copywriting and hiring experience, I've crafted a must-read blog post for you: 'Finding Cultural Matches Through Engaging Interviews.' Dive into the art of interviewing with a fresh perspective and discover how to spot those rare gems who align with your company's heartbeat. 💖 🔍 It's not just about ticking boxes on a resume. It's about peeling back the layers to reveal the candidate's true essence. How? Here are a few teasers: Ask open-ended questions that prompt genuine stories. Dig deeper with follow-up questions that unveil core values. Encourage narratives that highlight conflict resolution and emotional intelligence. Slow down the pace and invite your team to participate in the process. Click the link below to learn more on how to transform your interviews into a magnet for attracting the winning team. 👇 https://lnkd.in/dxCZjJnB #HiringStrategy #CulturalFit #EngagingInterviews #TeamBuilding #Entrepreneurship #BusinessGrowth If you need help implementing the tips above, use the link below to schedule a call with our team. 👇 https://lnkd.in/eaGfj_Xm #HiringStrategy #CulturalFit #EngagingInterviews #Entrepreneurship #ActionCoach