MAY 28 — I run Fat Bidin Media. Basically, it’s a one-man-band and I work hard to get jobs. In fact, I do anything to get jobs! (Got a pool I can clean? Or maybe a car to wash?)

The standard begging and grovelling applies. I promote my skills and work online. I put my videos on YouTube, I have a Facebook group, and I blog about my activities.

I do anything to make myself visible to potential clients. Times have gotten so desperate that I even tweet on Twitter!

But I don’t think I’m doing anything really cutting edge. Everyone I know who works like me, do the same things to build and maintain their careers.

I try to think of ways to market myself online that can really push me above the rest. But, aside from the usual ideas, I can’t think of anything.

Although I’m so desperate that I tweet, I’m still not desperate enough to make mind-numbing viral YouTube videos of myself running around with my pants on fire.

There are also the people who warn me to be careful. Putting your whole life online could jeopardise your career (as we’ve read so many times regarding Facebook!).

Then, I stumbled upon an article about a guy in the United States who used social media to his advantage. Alec Brownstein was his name.

What he did was so simple, yet so ingenious that I felt compelled to write about it in this week’s column at The Malaysian Insider.

It’s something that you would read about and then kick yourself in the behind while screaming, “Why didn’t I think of that?”

Brownstein was just a regular, frustrated copywriter who dreamt everyday of moving out of his rut and getting his dream job as a creative director.

While wasting time at work, he loved to Google his own name and see what came up. Hell! I like to do that! I do that on an hourly basis!

He assumed that other people enjoyed doing the same thing. So he looked up the top five creative directors in the advertising industry.

Once he identified them, he bought their names on Google AdWords with the message:

“Hey, [creative director’s name]: Gooogoling [sic] yourself is a lot of fun. Hiring me is fun, too [with a link to his website].”

The idea worked! Four out of the five creative directors called Brownstein up and he is now working at a big international advertising agency.

He has even won two top advertising awards for his shameless self-promotion campaign. And the whole thing only cost him US$6 (RM18)!

So the next time you feel afraid of putting your life online and using social media tools because it could jeopardise your job opportunities, think again.

It could be costing you your dream job!

* The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the columnist.