Mark Aaron Murnahan › Comments

"I like to imagine that you are correct, and I am certain that I would, without bias, hire me without delay. I intend to prove that you are right, and one company will be very fortunate to have me. I am ready to make "overqualified" and art form - and I'm not even asking them to replace my former seven digit earnings. It's a bargain! I win, because I get the "quality of life" perks." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"I believe you are right that without a system in place, a lot falls through the cracks. Human resources seems as you say, very set on their systems, even when they do not work optimally. Of course, to a human resources professional, it seems it is seldom ever conceived that the systems are just being used wrong. It occurs to me that many recruiters will talk a lot about the value of using social media for those three items I listed (discovery, research, and communications), but do not really use them quite as they say. I believe much of this is due to lack of training, rather than simply not having the tools. The tools are there for those who choose to implement them.Without the right mindset and training it loses value - or can become a liability. What's worse is that it seems from the C-level executives, the value is misunderstood, and thus not supported properly - and this is likely the bigger challenge. Their hands can be tied very easily if there is no buy-in from above. As a..." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"It is interesting to me which people I have seen actually be picked. In many cases, I have been very shocked to find that they are chosen by absurdities just like those people I clearly pointed out and mathematically disproved in this article. http://www.awebguy.com/2011... You know me, RR ... I have a blog for darn near every topic. LOL" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Indeed, Ruhani, it is my strong suspicion that social measures are only a small fraction of the human resources / recruiting equation. It seems to me that there is a lot of misinformation spread about this topic, as with every other topic of social media. Let us look at the bigger picture to examine the actions beyond the words, alone. I suspect that most recruiters do not have the time, resources, or ambition to care whether an applicant is "nobody", "somebody", or "the king of bacon" in the social media arena. I also doubt they have as significant need or good understanding of how to discover candidates this way. It is simply a place where there is a lot of guesswork being made by people who listen to people who are just one notch above their understanding - just as it is with marketing online.You're on the back cover of one of my books for a reason. We connected, we understood, and we keep up our pursuits of higher learning by witnessing the absurdities which swirl around us. We..." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"I am unclear on which Kool Aid you are referring to. Do you mean the Kool Aid that there is no opportunity in USA? Maybe the Kool Aid that "rich people" are evil, and that they are all trying to cheat a system on the backs of others? In 2009, I took a voluntary seven digit cut in order to keep people in their jobs a little longer and put my own money back into the company. As a CEO, I made that decision because it was good for many people - but it left me with a lot less money to pay for things like taxes. Many people have had a significant loss of income, and for many reasons. Prior to that, $50,000 can be a pretty small amount of money to a business owner, but when the taxes are due, it can look like a whole lot more. It doesn't require Colombian hookers or blow, as you put it - just a huge change in the world economy. Maybe that makes me "well positioned" in your opinion, but I've never really seen it that way. I'm just a guy who dropped out of school at 15 years old and worked..." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Oh, but it certainly does happen by accident. For some people, $50,000 in taxes can add up pretty fast (days, weeks, months). There were a few of us who encountered an economic breakdown in 2008 and since. Many very productive citizens paid that much every month or less. I think the law is not so unusual as it may be portrayed. Many countries will not allow people a work visa if they have not paid the taxes in their home country anyway. At the same time, it definitely opens some doors to abuse and is worthy of a vigorous debate about extending government control - as should always be the case." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"I hope you found value in my recent email(s). I also hope that you can feel relatively assured I will pronounce your name similar to the way your family does. ;-) Mine is Murnahan. You may pronounce it "Smith" if you like ... Just as long as you remember to say it to Heidi when you hand her my resume." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"No sweat ... it's worth having it twice. :-)" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"If you are contemplating a change of platform any time soon, I would perhaps suggest holding off with any further SEO efforts or significant website architecture changes until you make the swap. Not only does it require more effort on your side, but also more changes for search engine indexes to make ... and hopefully get right. ASP is fine, but there is generally a reason for Apache to hold well over half of the server market share. PHP is a very powerful and flexible language, and LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, and PHP) is a very widely used stack across the Web. Thus, it is also supported much better than most. It is a case of more users/developers creating more solutions. Being deliberate about changes is important. Making broad changes back to back may not be the best answer. Here is a view of server usage that you may find interesting: http://news.netcraft.com/archi..." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Indeed, Vincent, It is worth a read. That's why I actually included a link to that article above - only the .com version rather than the .co.uk version of the same. ;-)" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thanks Bud. Keep a wooden stake handy. As I pointed out, a good SEO can make a huge difference, but a bad one is often worse than none at all." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"If you are going to participate in a community, it would obviously make sense to do both. In any case, it should not be an arbitrary or haphazard effort. It is not a magic bullet." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Here is a way to handle it: <%@ Language=VBScript %><%Response.Status="301 Moved Permanently"Response.AddHeader "Location","http://correct-url-here.com/ri...> I would submit, however, that Windows servers are not the best answer to web services ... even for ASP. That's coming from a guy who was once one of the top options for managed Windows servers. ;-) Feel free to let me know if you need any additional help." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thank you Krista. Windows is a completely different story. Windows does not use .htaccess and the approach will depend on the level of access you have to the server. Are you managing your own server, or using a shared server? Also,  if you are not managing the server, what technologies are you using (e.g. ASP, .Net, etc.)?" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"I do not believe for a single moment that there is an industry in the world which cannot be made far more interesting, useful, humorous, or otherwise desirable with the right approach. Matching the right information with the right audience makes a huge difference. There are trade organizations and publications for almost any known product or service - and that means somebody is interested. Knowing who, why, and how can take a lot of effort to understand, but everything ... everything can be marketed better. For example, even paper clips. See the video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v... I can say for certain that if I was tasked to sell DeWalt drills, and my company success depended on it, there would be some pretty awesome DeWalt drill marketing happening. It would begin with carefully understanding the market and discovering what they respond to favorably. REF: http://www.awebguy.com/2011/09..." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"My users do, including myself. Perhaps an optional emphasis ... or at least make them work again. It seems they are not functional at the moment. It's beta ... but Disqus is still tops in my book." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Sharing via FB and Twitter seems downplayed and less-intuitive." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"I certainly hope so. Disqus lacking for mobile-friendliness is my single biggest drawback. It has gone backward more than forward in prior revisions, and I am glad to learn your intention of reversing the trend." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"I made my prior comment from my Samsung Galaxy S2. I didn't just mention Android arbitrarily. In my opinion, it is far less user-friendly than other similar services on Android. It is not that it is fully broken, but just bent significantly. I believe it is less than intuitive, particularly in the instance of new users." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"What do you think, fellow beta testers, should we put together some donations and buy the Disqus team an Android device? ;-)" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"I believe what you described is very common when somebody wants any job, rather than the right job. What I question the most is how you broke it to the bunny-loving Heidi Golledge that you harbor a rabbit hunting cat. It seems a good stroke of luck that little tidbit made it to the post-hire interview." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thank you Marla. It is often a challenge to continually market something which you are so close to - yourself. That's why it is always important to try our best to look at ourselves from the outside. That's a challenge, indeed! As long as you're still listening, I'll keep on writing. Hopefully it will keep providing some good thinking points. :-)" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thanks Howie. If that's the way the person truly thinks, it sounds like a marketer who should not be in marketing. Marketing is not about telling a good lie, and for those who believe that, their career will not become what it could otherwise. I'm glad you chose to believe this piece!" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thanks Eugene. I had some fun with those political descriptions. Presentation and audience can indeed create a different slant." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"You're pretty passionate about your statements, or rather accusations. While one is so accusing, it becomes hard to overlook the questions of credentials and sources. You may be right, or the nuclear physicists and other credentialed scientists may be right. It is hard for me to say for certain, but I have often found that those who point fingers and call something evil have something of their own battles going on. I will use a point of reference from my own hometown as an example. Fred Phelps of Topeka, Kansas claims that "God Hates Fags". In fact, he even says "God Hates America". He recently left town to carry picket signs at the funeral of young children killed by their father in a murder/suicide, purportedly because he disagreed with the politics of the town where the incident occurred. Yes, you may very well be right ... and maybe there really is some guy in the sky who hates all kinds of things. Whether right or wrong, you and Fred may both do well to polish the presentation,..." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thanks Marla. Keep your incinerator stoked before you talk to any of those SEO zombies. :-D" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thank you Kathi. Many things can become believable when you hold enough desire to believe them. I don't like to seem like a downer by telling the truth, but rather an upper for inspiring action based on the truth." - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thanks. It seems to be a tough topic for a lot of people. Regarding branding, is your name really Admin? ;-)" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Thank you, Gregory. It means a lot to know that it made an impression, and I hope it will serve you very well. It is a challenge to do what it takes to move people to action ... whether that is a sale or an inspiring comment such as yours. Success is also a very tricky thing. Sometimes it comes in very unusual ways. :-)" - Mark Aaron Murnahan

"Michelin is an excellent example, and the Internet has further emphasized the fact that reputations matter. People listen to people, and the Internet allows us to add photos, video, and other substantiating proof of weaknesses. Ignoring that is horribly misguided and it truly perplexes me." - Mark Aaron Murnahan