The Recruiter's Go To Market Plan

Let’s start with some quick announcements!

Version 1.0 of recruitingwithdynamite.com is live as of this morning. Go check it out and stop by the tools section to get free trials to the many tools I love.

Also, on August 22 we are officially beta launching our BoomLabs community. This is by far my most exciting endeavor thus far.

Members will have access to exclusive content, courses, resources, interviews, recommendations, tool discounts, lives, a community of like minded recruiters and so much more.

We are even working on a solution for folks to partner and split deals with no middle man fees.

Access will be limited to 100 people starting off. Be sure to join the waitlist here and claim your spot!

Now onto the main attraction.

As we embark on the first chapter of our five-part Recruiter Go-To-Market series, our mission is to equip agency recruiters with the knowledge and strategies to venture confidently into new markets.

Whether you are a recruiter struggling in your current market or a leader looking to expand your reach to meet your goals, the ability to identify and validate is paramount. This segment will illuminate the intricacies of pinpointing a promising new market.

Define Success

Before we delve deeper, it's imperative to emphasize the significance of goal-setting.

Venturing into a new market without a roadmap is akin to sailing without a compass. Begin by scrutinizing your past revenue streams. Dissect them, understand the driving forces behind each dollar earned, and assign tangible values to each activity. This meticulous analysis will provide invaluable insights.

Once this foundation is laid, project your revenue aspirations. To truly challenge yourself/ team, consider amplifying these targets by an ambitious 30%. This not only sets a benchmark, but also ignites the drive to surpass it.

Your exercise might look something like this.

With these coordinates in place, you're faced with a pivotal decision: Do you amplify your efforts, or do you refine and optimize your existing strategies?

This choice will shape your approach to the new market. Also, once you analyze your market, it will guide you in determining if the market is large enough to meet your goals.

Rethinking Traditional Tactics

Historically, recruiters were armed with rudimentary tools: a list, a designated territory, a phone and a pat on the back. Often times being led by someone who might have just been great at volume pounding vs someone who actually has a repeatable strategy.

Getting insights and a process from folks like that is like pulling teeth. Often, their answer is to simply to send more SPAM. Why? Because it worked for them.

If you are having PTSD just thinking about that person (we all know them), I am with you.

However, the landscape has evolved. The old playbook, where recruiters operated with limited business development acumen and can throw spaghetti at the wall, is becoming less effective.

The problem is that, if your traditional market wanes and you're company tethers you to an inflexible plan, PIP might be in your future.

On the other hand, many of you work in a no-territory, goldrush environment and simply follow what the top billers are doing, never claiming the full potential of a market by being a first mover.

The need of the hour is a paradigm shift. With a plethora of data at our fingertips, the transition from a passive stance to a proactive strategy is not just beneficial—it's essential.

This is why we need to know how to identify markets early.

Here are some ways to do just that.

Follow the funding

A time-tested strategy to uncover burgeoning markets is to keep your finger on the pulse of financial flows. Monitor sectors attracting significant investments, be it venture capital, PE or government allocations. Such financial influxes often herald a surge in demand and hiring.

Just be sure you are hopping onto a solid trend line. One announcement is an event, two in the same week is a coincidence and three or more in a month is a trend.

While free online searches offer a starting point, leveraging specialized platforms like Crunchbase, Apollo and Clearbit can provide nuanced insights, streamlining your market research endeavors.

Whats in the news

In the dynamic world of recruitment, information is currency. Regularly tuning into industry chatter can offer a pulse on market health. A lull might indicate stagnation, while widespread optimism could signal potential opportunities. But don’t always look for good news. Downturns have their opportunities too.

For instance, even as the tech sector currently faces challenges, the demand for accountants have surged. Companies, in their bid to streamline finances or attract investments, are currently on the lookout for financial experts.

This demand coupled with the volume of folks exiting the market and the low levels of candidates entering it, has created a highly advantageous opportunity for the savvy recruiters that pivoted back in November.

Tech Disruption

The tech sector is in perpetual flux, with innovations possessing the power to redefine industries overnight… just look at AI.

While it's tempting to chase every new development, discernment is crucial. Evaluate the longevity and disruptive potential of each innovation.

Questions to ponder include the cost-effectiveness of the technology, its revenue multiplication potential, implementation challenges, the scalability across sectors and potential regulatory hurdles.

These questions are generally a good starting point.

Industry Influencers

What are the influencers in that given space saying?

Watch some recent YouTube videos, listen to podcasts and read a few articles from folks who are making a name for themselves in your target market.

I’m not talking about influencer recruiters (most don’t have a clue). Instead the folks that your decision makers and their employees might be getting signals from.

These individuals often lead the charge in research and can offer a vantage point on industry pain points, aspirations, and trajectories.

FOMO

The Fear of Missing Out, or FOMO, extends beyond technology—it encapsulates evolving market dynamics. FOMO is by far my favorite and most lucrative identifier.

By adeptly identifying and capitalizing on emerging trends, recruiters can position themselves at the forefront of industry evolution and ride the wave early and long.

A great indicator of FOMO entering the marketplace is a unique blend of capital injection, economics, SEO trends lines, news coverage and scarcity/limitations. Its essentially every one of these indicators I listed above put together.

I’ve pivoted and expanded in FOMO markets several times in my career. I did it in programmatic advertising in 2013-16, Crypto/Web3 in 2016-18, Healthcare Tech in 2020-22 and now in AI.

As mentioned earlier, its not just tech related. For example, construction saw a massive stimulus due to Trump Era deregulation, the mortgage industry experienced a spike due to practically free money lending in 2020-22, and travel nursing became essential for hospitals to properly staff during covid.

The key is to not jump in at the breaking point as it can give you an extremely short term gain and you could potentially be blocked out by the influx of competition.

You want to have first mover advantage so you have some staying power.

The easiest way for me to identify if I’m too late is similar to when your mechanic became the crypto “expert”… everyone is talking about it.

You might also see an influx of grifters entering the market with courses and low barrier entry trainings with promises of getting rich quick.

Recruiting even had its time in the sun with folks from heavy retail, art and fitness backgrounds entering the market with hopes of high earning potential in 2021. They capitalized on a wave, made some money and now they are “industry experts” giving terrible advice to candidates and recruiters alike…

I digress.

If you see any of this, then you might have missed your opportunity so just get ready for the next wave.

In wrapping up this segment, venturing into a new market is a multifaceted endeavor. It demands clarity in objectives, a willingness to evolve, and a keen eye on financial trajectories, industry updates, and technological advancements.

I go into a bit of this in my podcast interview with Ben and Sam Miller. You can check out the video below. But I’ll be running a live stream next Thursday at 3pm PST going over a more detailed workflow using my tool stack.

If you are interested, be sure to sign up below.

Stay with us for Part 2 of this series, where we'll delve deeper into market validation nuances.

Until then, continue your quest for knowledge and growth.