G-mail Tools
Everything starts with your email client. The ability to write good outreach content is the single most important thing you need to do. Since there is really only one email client, you have two options:
- Google Inbox vs. Good old Gmail.
I recommend using both, for different purposes. Gmail is good because you can have 3rd party apps installed in your client, which means you can use tools like sidekick, boomerang, Rapportive, greenhouse and many other recruiting related tools. Inbox is good because it has most tools already semi-incorporated into it & the mobile app is excellent. However, it does lack customization options. As a rule of thumb, I use Inbox for day to day email and Gmail for when I am bashing out emails to potential hires.
First off I really recommend Boomerang. Boomerang allows you to schedule an email to be sent later, have easy email reminders and basically lets you take control over your outbound email. For instance, you can specify to boomerang an email back to you if you haven’t received a reply. This way I keep a stream of follow-up emails I need to send to people that have not responded yet.
Secondly, I recommend an email tracker like the Sales Tool from Hubspot (previously Sidekick). Only use this to know if people have opened your email. My rule: If the receiver only opened once, they trashed it after receiving. If someone opens it more, there is engagement, and you should follow up after a few days. Also, do not hyperlink any content in your emails as the link looks funky and a developer will probably know it is a tracked email — which is something you do not want.
Also, I recommend using the Chrome extension UglyEmail, for reasons described above.
Productivity Tools
So now that we have your email setup, let’s get into some tools that will keep you productive.
First things first, you need to stay focused.The Brain.fm ‘focus’ AI generated music is perfect for sourcing & reaching out.
Momentum is great; it gives you a nice image every day & you can keep reminders. It also greets you, what else do you need?
Sourcing Tools
OK, we are completely set-up now. Let’s go into the details of sourcing and information retrieval. First of all, I want to congratulate the guys and girls at Connectifier for selling, really well done. As I was one of the first paying customers (you just pay for good software, period), I think it’s much deserved. But, now that Linkedin 🙁 bought/killed Connectifier there is a gap in online recruiting tools. So I am happy to report that there are two major players in this space that could become Linkedin’s next ‘acquisition.’
Aevy has been around for some time, and I have been using it on and off. However, it was never as good as Connectifier because it primarily focused on the search capacity, which you really don’t need tools for if you understand where your target group is hanging out. But with their recent launch of Anywhere, they made themselves one of the main contenders in the recruitment tool space.
Anywhere features a Chrome Extension like Connectifier, but has an in-app email capacity which is quite nifty: you can see if people have read your message, you can schedule follow-ups and make email templates.
ContextScout is another one that popped up just before the LinkedIn killing spree. They are much more light-weight, but it tends to work well in combination with a tool like Anywhere or Connectifier. It currently only lives in LinkedIn and claims to make it more intelligent by enriching profiles:
What I really like about Context Scout is their pricing, which is considerably cheaper than other social recruiting tools. Knowing this tool has been built by a very small team I think there is much more to come from them.
That concludes volume 1; the next volume will be about how to hire people through Airbnb, Strava, Product Hunt, Couchsurfing & any other site with a user database.
Editors Note: If you like lists of cool tools, click here to check out Dean Dacosta and Steve Levy’s lists!
By Willem Wijnans
This article was originally posted on Sourcingmonk.com and was written by Willem Wijnans About the Author: Willem Wijnans Willem builds the product and platform teams at Improbable.io, an a16z backed startup from London. He is also a mentor at Rockstart, a startup accelerator in Amsterdam. Follow him on Twitter or add him on LinkedIn!
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