Eric Proulx, take notice. With all the layoffs that we’re commonly used to covering, CNN.com regales us this Friday with a positive tale about Doug Winfield (pictured), a bloke who lost his VP of digital strategies post at Waggener Edstrom Worldwide in Seattle only to pick up a new gig in New York at Publicis unit MS&L thanks to the power of social media.
Winfield says that not only did he join the Social Media Club of Seattle and use LinkedIn to post his resume, but posted a video manifesto on YouTube, created a Facebook fan page and bought Facebook targeted ads. The Northeastern grad tells CNN.com, “I created specific small ads for individual companies that appeared within the news streams and on the walls of people on Facebook. They would see an ad from me that said ‘You need Doug Winfield’ followed by a description of who I am.”
The total cost for his efforts? $170. According to the site, Winfield targeted 20 to 30 companies with dedicated ads. As a result of his two-month campaign, he received 477,000 views within Facebook. Of those, 1,382 people clicked on the ad to see more. While he admits that some called his efforts “creepy,” we say it’s perseverance that paid off.