Old media vs New media

This is classic. Earlier this week, I was brainstorming for ways to get more exposure for BMA. I decided to email the career columnists for certain newspapers in the Southeast, and pitch the idea to them of an article focusing on how bloggers are now using their blogs as a tool in their job search. I mentioned that an employer could read my posts on BMA, and gleam much of the information they would want from a first interview(Do I make good marketing sense? Do I have good communication skills?). Either way, the employer saves time by either bumping me up to the front of the list, or removing me. It also saves my time, because I know if an employer reads my blog and then contacts me, it means that they are more likely to be interested in hiring me.

So far I have received one response:

Thanks Mack. I always like new ideas. I checked out the blog - and maybe I'm missing something - but I don't see information that shouts "hire me" about anyone, and as a previous Employment Manager/Recruiter, I would never have had the time to read this. I had about 10 seconds per resume. Am I missing something here? How could employers use this to find potential hires ?

Honestly, if the other writers had taken the time to respond, their response would have likely been very similar to this one. This reply screams to me 'I have never read a blog before'. Notice her response wasn't 'Mack I agree that blogs are a great way for employees to reach employers', or 'Mack I think blogs are growing, but I'm not sure they are yet to the point where they can be used as a successful tool in most job-seekers job search'. Anyone that is familiar with blogs, would already have an opinion, yay or nay, on using blogs as a recruiting tool.

I understand completely that recruiters only have a few seconds to scan a resume. I also framed the article proposal as a way for job-seekers to use their blog to appeal to employers. Anyone that's read a blog knows that you're not going to get anything from that blog during a 10-second visit.

But again, it looks like my appeal to 'old media' crapped out. However, earlier today, 2 geniune A-Listers, Hugh MacLeod and Tara Hunt, both linked to my quote on BMA:

"As you move down the long-tail, your marketing becomes less about the product, and more about the people." - Mack Collier

Tara also referred to it as a 'Brilliant quote'.

Now the key question is: Which referrals would have given BMA more valuable exposure, being featured in 5 articles from 5 members of 'old media', or 2 positive referrals from 2 of the most influential members of 'new media'?

I think it's....

New Media - 1
MSM - 0