Interview 14: Jason Alba Knows the Value of Relationships

Jason’s Dream

Jasonn Alba had a dream. That’s what he called it. You might call it a vision. He saw too many people who found themselves without employment and with no network or networking skills to support their need to get back into the work force.

Jason’s dream was to build a a personal relationship manager that allows folks to nurture their most valued relationships – for the lifetime of a career! Jason is a natural relationship blogger.

I got to talk to Jason on the phone yesterday. We agreed to this interview. I’m hoping it might be able to get him to SOBCon. He’s the kind of guy who would add great ideas to the audience mix.

Jason, When I first visited Jibber Jobber, your site, some time ago, I thought it was a job recruiter site. Now I know it’s more. Why would someone want JibberJobber while they still have a job?

It’s true there is an area in JibberJobber to manage a job search. But it’s much more than “job search” software. JibberJobber is a personal relationship manager – relationships may be the most important thing to direct your career! Statistics claim that jobs are filled by networking between 60-80% of the time.

JibberJobber is your personal relationship manager. Understanding, managing and growing your network is important for everyone: student, entrepreneur, job seeker, cubicle warrior, executive, artist… don’t we all have relationships to manage.

It makes sense to network (build relationships) when you don’t need to. And it makes sense to start using JibberJobber when you don’t need to look for a job!

As an added bonus there are other features that make sense in managing a career. A place to store elevator pitches. An interface with Google Maps to get directions to your contacts or target companies. A relationship management goals tool. A view of your network graphically, which will allow you to see how wide and deep your network really is. There’s a ton of features in the system – but just realize it was designed to give you professional tools to use in your personal career management.

What was the inspiration behind Jibber Jobber?

It started when I lost my job in January of 2006. I was using a homemade spreadsheet to keep track of who I talked to, where I sent my resume and where I was at with each job I had applied to. It was okay at first but as my job search went on the amount of data grew… and it became a mess (and I even studied how to manage data in college)!

I thought “what if I could take the CRM tools (like Goldmine or SalesForce) and marry them with what career experts tell us to do? That would be an awesome, useful tool for just about anyone!” And that’s what we did – we made it web-based and we made it very affordable (90% of the program is free, with an optional upgrade for $10/month).

It incorporates advice from master networkers, job coaches, resume experts, etc. Put all of this together and you have an excellent personal career toolset.

What part does the Jibber Jobber blog play?

I started blogging last June – and haven’t stopped since then! I love to blog about career issues – sometimes I talk about specific job search techniques but I love paradigm-shifting topics. My most commented post is in response to a monthly award I give called the “You Get It” award for people that use the web to quantify their personal brand. The winner put that she is associated with PETA, and one of my readers commented that some people association PETA with terrorists — and the pursuing conversation was incredible!

So I blog on personal branding, networking (social and unsocial), job search stuff, recruiters and general career management. Its been a blast and I enjoy the conversations around the issues.

Jason sees a bigger picture. He sees how relationships move with us from job to job and from career to career. Jason has found a way to help us keep our business relationships thriving and part of our lives, despite the mobility of the job market and the world in which we live. Plenty of testimonials tell the value of what he’s built.

That’s why Jason is hoping to make it to SOBCon 07 in Chicago in May.
He knows everything he learns about relationship blogging can only add to the effectiveness of what he does and that every relationship he makes will only strenghten his business.

Thanks for the interview, Jason! Hope to see you in Chicago

Don’t let important relationships you value slip away over time. Sign gn up for Jason’s easy to use managment tool. Jason is offering a special lifetime upgrade of JibberJobber premium for only $99 (that’s down from $495), but its only available through April 9th. The price goes back up after Monday!

Then come meet Jason at SOBcon with me.

–ME “Liz” Strauss
Reister Now for SOBCon 07, the hotel is sold out except for our special rate room block. The content-rich presentations all demonstrate how to take your blog and your business to the next level though conversation and relationships that turn readers and customers into brand-loyal evangelists.