Wendy Weber on Executive Recruiting

I have just learned of a shocking practice. An ecommerce entrepreneur named Vitaly Borker with a website called DecorMyEyes.com actually had a sales strategy of negative advertising. Apparently even furious online chatter raises site rankings in Google search results, and he made a conscious decision to raise web traffic through complaints! As he put it, “I never had the amount of traffic I have now since my 1st complaint. I am in heaven.”

For example, a customer placed an order for a pair of designer eyeglasses and contact lenses. He charged her credit card, and then called her to tell her that they were out of what she ordered, and she should pick another brand. When the customer asked for a refund instead, the merchant said, “What’s the big deal? Choose another brand!” She was then overcharged by $125, and when she told the merchant that she was going to contact her credit card company to dispute the charge the merchant said, “I know your address. I’m one bridge over”…and physically threatened her. A few days later, he even sent the customer an email with a photograph of the front of the apartment building where she lived! He said “Close the dispute with the credit card company if you know what’s good for you. Do the right thing and everyone goes away. I AM WATCHING YOU!”

According to Borker, Google is unable to distinguish between adulatory buzz and scathing critiques when it scours the digital universe and creates rankings. There was a question of whether “sentiment analysis”, which would give points for praise and subtract for denunciations, was raised, Google won’t disclose its algorithm (for competitive reasons).

Through his unscrupulous practices, Borker has actually outranked some of the eyeglass designer’s own websites for their own products!

DecorMyEyes doesn’t stock the merchandise it sells; it simply takes orders, then buys from a variety of merchandisers, including several on eBay. An additional tactic used by Borker is to punish eBay sellers who won’t ship to his addresses (because the addresses have not been “confirmed” by PayPal, eBay’s online payments system) by leaving negative feedback, which damages the reputation of the (ethical!) eBay seller.

Although steps are being taken to bring Borker down, the DecorMyEyes website is still up and running. Beware!

To learn more, click here.

You worked for a company for a number of years. You had a good rapport with your boss. You were laid off, not because of your performance, but due to the economy. Your boss provided a sterling letter of recommendation, and said that he would be happy to serve as a reference.

But now that your job search is underway, and you are providing his contact information to potential employers, he is not returning their calls!

Although it would certainly be helpful for him to take those calls, it may be asking too much of him. If you were part of a broader layoff, or if your boss is still struggling to keep the business afloat, it may be too time consuming to speak with numerous potential employers. The written letter of reference is his endorsement of you, and you may have to tell prospective employers that your prior employer is very pressed for time and does not give verbal references.

As recruiters, it is frustrating for us when we are asked to conduct a reference check on behalf of a client and the former employers provided by our candidate are elusive. We may have to leave several voice messages and send several emails before we receive a response. When we finally connect, the references are almost always complimentary. It is simply that the reference is busy, and taking time out from an already over-scheduled workday is difficult.

Interesting that this issue has been raised by both employers and job seekers during the past week…

Two different clients asked if it was better to postpone initiating a search until after the New Year. I told them both the same thing: I can’t imagine why.

If a company has an immediate need, there is no reason to put off a search. An unemployed job seeker welcomes the opportunity to interview immediately. And chances are an employed job seeker can slip away for interviews during the holiday season more easily than during the usual workweek. With work schedules a little lighter at this time of year, it is an excellent time to conduct a more relaxed interview process.

From the job seekers perspective, there is also no reason to hold off exploring options until after the holidays. Even those who need to stay through the end of the year to receive bonuses need not worry about deferring their search. They are not likely to be giving their two weeks notice any sooner than December 15th, which is only one month away! (The interview process generally takes a month in a best case scenario.)

As far as initiating a search during the holiday season, there is no time like the present!

I was asked to contribute my thoughts for an article in the November 2010 issue of Internet Retailer titled Banking on the Web.

The article featured the salaries of the top e-tail executives from publicly traded companies, including Amazon.com, BarnesandNoble.com, and Nutrisystem. Obviously, most e-tailers are making significantly less than the million dollar packages reported for those industry leaders.

Despite the fact that the average package for an internet retailing executive is in the $100,000’s, it’s a rewarding career choice, and an enjoyable way to make a living!

When Direct Marketing News runs an article titled Abandoning the Mail, we know direct mail has seen finer days.

Although multichannel marketers will continue to use mail as part of their mix for the foreseeable future, it is evident from this article that direct mail is on borrowed time.

The USPS saw a precipitous decline in volume in the last four years, dropping from 213 billion in 2006 to 177 billion pieces in the next three years. “If mail volume were to drop much further, the Postal Service could enter a graveyard spiral of continuous price increases and volume declines,” according to a September study from George Mason University, which adds that the Postal Service could reach “a new price-cost equilibrium.” The study also warns that “there is uncertainty about how much of the recent decline is related to the cyclical events associated with the ‘Great Recession’ of 2007-2009 as opposed to the secular trend of substitution that has been noticeable for many years.” In other words, it’s very unlikely mail volumes will return to pre-recession levels.

A recent NY Post article entitled Hair Today talked about conventional wisdom regarding facial hair on men.

It said that sporting facial hair was traditionally a good way to get rejected at interviews, snubbed for promotions and even fired, city workplaces are becoming tolerant of chin shag that once would’ve been laughed out of a conference room.

While not surprising that advertising is one business that is accepting of freedom of expression, even the world of finance is is accepting men with well-trimmed beards and goatees.

A sidebar to the article pointed out something interesting: Goatees, beards and soul patches may be experiencing a renaissance in the workplace, but one form of facial hair that is still getting no respect on the job is the mustache.