Ok, you may ask yourself, "So what?" Try this.
Do a Google search. For the search terms, use a first run movie title plus your home town, as in my case "The Dark Knight Fort Worth," and you're one click away from a complete listing of movie times in your area.
Pretty darn useful, I say!
Let's try another search, this time using the phrase "Human Resource White Papers." While Google (sadly asleep at the wheel on this point) offers no comprehensive listing of the thousands of HR white papers to be found online, some quite useful results do appear.
You'll find well established HR brands such as Kronos and BLR. SHRM, as the leading representative body of the profession, thankfully, also appears on the first page of results (though just barely!).
As I write this post you'll find one additional link on the first page of Google search results (a position we don't intend to yield anytime soon). Here it is:
HR Community - Human Resource Whitepapers +
Find white papers, research reports, Podcasts, blogs, videos and other informative content on a wide variety of HR topics, products and services.
www.hrmarketer.com/site/home/community/hrwhitepapers.php - 30k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this
Ta da!
Ok, you may ask yourself, "So what?"
Ok, here's what:
While not Google's one click movie listings, visit the HR Community and White Papers+, tick a few boxes or maybe search on keyword such as "workforce planning" and you'll be presented with the most comprehensive directory of HR vendor produced content anywhere on the Web.
Still wondering what all the fuss is about?
Ok, a few months ago we asked a question via LinkedIn Answers: "What makes a white paper valuable?" I'll share one response from Alicia Schweter Dixon, HR Generalist with Avenue A | RazorFish in Austin, TX, who wrote:
Personally, regardless of the money behind the program I want to go and do the preliminary research first. Having said that, I find that vendor white papers are extremely valuable. I am typically researching everything from how to set up and maintain a training budget to how to develop a succession plan and HiPo program. The white papers typically save me hours of time in trying to develop or figure something out from scratch. They also have helped, in the past, avoid pitfalls that I may not have seen from lack of exposure to that subject.
I also use white papers as a learning tool for new HR employees. They help provide exposure and real life context. Personally, I would love to see more white papers and the idea of having them in a repository type environment would be fantastic! This would further cut down on the time spent searching.
That sentiment pretty well sums up the responses we received from all of the HR professionals we spoke to. It turns out, the hundreds of vendors we work with as members and clients of HRmarketer.com also like the idea of being a part of such a community. Having their content presented to and their supplier profiles searched by thousands of HR professionals... well, we did not have to twist any arms.
In addition to the HR Supplier Directory and content directory called "White Papers+", free accounts allow for community members (both suppliers and professionals) to post jobs and participate in message boards and discussion forums.
Without Google, would I have found my way to the local movie theater this past week to finally see "The Dark Knight?" Undoubtedly, yes. Am I glad Google gave me my local options within a nanosecond of completing my keystrokes? Heck yeah!
You get the point.
Here's a bit from today's news release announcing the new HRmarketer.com:
In just one month since its launch, the community has collected hundreds of HR supplier profiles and over 1,000 white papers, webcasts, articles, research reports, podcasts and other content—making it one of the industry’s largest and most current listing of complimentary human resource information.
Are you in there? Better check and see! If not, create a free profile.
If you represent a vendor, you'll have a great way for prospects to find you online. You can be sure the search engines are taking notice as well, boosting your SEO efforts.
Finally, give us your feedback. After all, that's what communities are all about - participation! Join in.
Labels: content, HR buyers, HR Community, HR marketplace, HR products and services, HR software, HR suppliers, HRmarketer.com Platform Upgrade, online visibility, podcasts, white papers, whitepapers