Gen Y'er Chris Perry (@CareerRocketeer) Taught Me a Twitter Marketing Lesson

by Carol Fishman Cohen

I'm not one to overly obsess about my Twitter following, but about six months ago, I couldn't help noticing that I was attracting followers at a pace rivaling the comment rate on Yahoo! Shine's coverage of Michelle Obama's new hairdo! A little investigation revealed the reason: I had recently been added to Career Rocketeer's 150+ Experts on Twitter all Job Seekers Must Follow. Not only did Career Rocketeer Founder Chris Perry populate this list with live links to each Twitter "expert", he included below it a convenient way for people to follow the whole list via NinjaFollow.

I thought it was very generous of Chris to include me (note this was before Twitter itself decided to add a list feature - they probably got the idea from Chris). It was also a pretty shrewd marketing move - not in a spammy, cheap kind of way, but in a quality, strategic kind of way.

Think about how this worked. Chris puts me on his Twitter experts list and gets the word out about the list like crazy. I get a bunch of new Twitter followers as a result and find out it was because of his list. Chris is now on my radar screen. In fact, many of those named on the list get back to him to thank him, and then he is on their radar screens, not to mention those of all the people who downloaded the list. The list benefits all constituencies involved; people looking for advice, people giving advice, and Career Rocketeer as the vehicle for identifying and connecting the two groups. Nice work all the way around. I love learning from Gen Y.

Career Rocketeer is aiming to be an aggregator of the top career experts, advice, and resources. In addition to Career Rocketeer, Chris has also launched a number of other online career services and communities, including MBA Highway, and has more under development. Since most followers of our Back on the Career Track blog and company iRelaunch know that we coined the term "relaunching" to describe the process of returning to work after extended leave, it makes sense that Career Rocketeer's "launching" mission" resonated strongly with us. Career Rocketeer's latest project is its new print publication, Launchpad: Your Career Search Strategy Guide (Volume 1), a quarterly with exclusive articles by top career experts. I haven't had the opportunity to read it yet, but judging from the caliber of the contributors, I have high expectations. And this is just Volume 1!

Keep an eye on Career Rocketeer's Chris Perry. He's going places.

Vivian Steir Rabin Carol Fishman Cohen

Carol Fishman Cohen and Vivian Steir Rabin are the co-authors of the acclaimed career reentry book Back on the Career Track: A Guide for Stay-at-Home Moms Who Want to Return to Work , and the co-founders of iRelaunch , a company producing career reentry programs, events, and content for employers, universities, organizations and individuals.