The Resilient Recruiter
Recruitment Coach Mark Whitby
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Recruitment Startup Success: How to Bill $1,200,000 in 15 Months, with Mike Williams
Starting a recruitment agency is hard. Being a great recruiter is no guarantee you’ll be a successful business owner. There are thousands of competent, hard working recruiters who struggle when they go out on their own. That’s why my next guest, Mike Williams, is so remarkable. In his first 12 months, he billed $900,000. He’s now up to $1,200,000 since he started the business 15 months ago. Mike is the founder and President of Carnegie Partners, based in Charlotte, North Carolina. He’s a manufacturing and engineering recruitment specialist. I’m honored to count Mike among our clients here at Recruitment Coach. You’ll enjoy hearing Mike’s journey because he reveals some of the secrets to his success while being honest about the moments of self-doubt that we can all relate to. One of the things Mike has mastered is creating original content on LinkedIn as a key part of his business development strategy. In this interview, Mike shares how to generate content ideas and posts consistently on LinkedIn. Plus we discuss the importance of posting videos to engage with your target audience. Mike has an impressive track record as a top producer. In his first 5 years in agency recruitment, he won "Perm Rookie of the Year" plus President’s Club 5 years in a row. He then founded Carnegie Search in February 2022. Episode Outline and Highlights [01:15] How Mike got into recruiting and started his own business. [06:30] Why recruitment leaders must create a defined career path for their team members. [08:35] Mike’s thoughts on how to retain your top recruiters. [11:37] From top recruiter to successful recruitment entrepreneur: two key success factors in hitting the ground running. [16:06] Building relationships by meeting clients in person and visiting manufacturing companies. [25:22] How digital marketing, social media, and LinkedIn played a critical role in Mike’s success. [28:33] Mike shares his LinkedIn strategy - how it helped him win business and the barriers he had to overcome. [35:35] How to overcome fear when posting content online. [41:24] How to generate ideas and create content consistently. [49:05] Why you should consider posting videos on Linkedin. [51:18] Mike revealed the roadblocks he encountered and his big learnings to date. Hitting the Ground Running - Making a Successful Transition from a Recruiter to a Recruitment Business Owner How was Mike able to hit the ground running so fast in his transition from a top recruiter to a recruitment business owner? “I think the biggest thing was a little more strategic, which was the niche that we defined … and the geographical area where I decided to do it.” Mike’s approach was very analytical, studying the industry trends and looking at the cities with the highest growth. This research even influenced where they decided to live. He explained, “I knew that I liked working locally and meeting the companies and the candidates in person because I felt like it gave just a leg up on the rapport and relationship building.” I think this was a smart move. When I was a recruiter running a desk, we always insisted on visiting our clients in person. Aside from building rapport, as Mike also mentioned, meeting up with clients is a “good litmus test of how serious they are about working with you.” Posting on LinkedIn to Build Your Brand and Develop New Business Mike is good at cold calling and routinely makes cold calls to both clients and candidates. However, he also leverages LinkedIn as a key component of his business development strategy. Mike is a firm believer that you can win clients through LinkedIn. You will hear an amazing story about how Mike received an inbound enquiry from a VP of HR at a billion-dollar company because of a story he posted on LinkedIn. That senior executive became a client and gave Mike a lot of repeat business, which might
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