How Solo Recruiters Can Earn $1.5 Million with Focused Daily Conversations, with Craig Picken, Ep #209

03/08/24 • 64 min

Are you a solo recruiter curious about achieving extraordinary billing figures with just a handful of daily conversations? Meet Craig, a solo recruiter who's been smashing records. For the last 3 consecutive years, he’s billed over $1.25m as a solo recruiter, reaching a career milestone of $1.5m in 2023, which was a down year for many recruiters.

In today’s episode, we explore how solo recruiters can level up their recruitment game with conversations even when times are tough with a returning guest, Craig Picken. Craig is the co-founder and Managing Partner for Northstar Group, a boutique executive search firm based in Wilmington, NC.

Tune in and get invaluable insights from Craig's unique approach that challenges the norms and redefines what's possible for solo recruiters in today's competitive landscape. His ability to navigate the complexities of talent acquisition is truly remarkable. Whether you're a seasoned recruiter or just starting out in the industry, this episode offers actionable tips to enhance your recruitment conversations and propel your career to new heights.

Episode Outline And Highlights

[03:47] The conversations that contributed to Mike’s 1.5m billing record
[06:37] What qualifies the right conversations and people
[10:03] Two tools for tracking recruitment conversation
[14:42] How to ring the phone and create “spontaneous conversations.”
[20:11] How to position yourself for the long game and value “not transactions.”
[27:53] Non-negotiables for success when partnering with a client
[34:50] How to avoid burnout: Solo recruiters' physical and mental self-care tips
[42:14] What solo recruiters can do to level up to $3-400k recruiters
[48:35] Craig’s philosophy of content creation and tactics for writing
[54:54] How podcasting can drive conversations and position you as an expert
[57:26] Strategies to building a 10K people email list for your podcast
[58:44] How to do outbound calls and the volume of calls to puts out there
[01:01:08] What solo recruiters need to do today to be successful tomorrow

5 Steps to Level Up Your Recruitment Business

Craig and I discussed his recruitment strategies at Northstar Group company, a boutique executive search firm based in Wilmington, NC, that focuses on recruiting senior-level leadership, sales, and operations executives for some of the most prominent companies in the aviation and aerospace industry. Craig’s clients include well-known aircraft OEMs, aircraft operators, leasing / financial organizations, and Maintenance / Repair / Overhaul (MRO) providers. With a track record spanning over a decade, Craig has personally concluded hundreds of successful executive-level searches across a variety of disciplines.

Craig outlined five essential steps for recruiters looking to elevate their game:

Invest in Yourself: Craig emphasized the importance of self-investment, urging recruiters to spend some money, go to conferences, engage in level-up conversations, and continuously seek opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Follow the Right People: Recognizing the challenges of talent acquisition, Craig advised recruiters to connect with industry leaders to enhance their credibility and reputation as go-to experts. Following the right people will help you become a destination of choice.
Know who you are working with: Success in recruitment, according to Craig, hinges on understanding your clients, delivering value, nurturing relationships, and adopting a long-term perspective.
Choose Your Battles Wisely: Drawing from his experience and insights from the Naval Top Gun program, Craig shares a valuable lesson: “If you can’t win the fight, don’t fight. Go away and come back. Live to fight another day,” which is a great philosophy in recruiting.
Differentiate yourself: Craig encouraged solo recruiters to carve out their unique identity and differentiate themselves from the competition. Whether through thought leadership on platforms like LinkedIn or showcasing their authentic self, it can significantly impact their success in the field.

Ultimately, leveling up in recruitment involves positioning yourself as a trusted industry expert, promoting your voice, and leading by example.

Positioning Yourself In The Market

Craig shares the importance of positioning oneself in the market not merely as a transactional recruiter but as an invaluable resource, an expert dedicated to adding tangible value. By prioritizing value over closing deals, recruiters can elevate their status in the client's eyes. Rather than seeking short-term gains, they should aim to build lasting relationships grounded in trust and mutual benefit. According to Craig, the last thing he wants to be in his life is transactional, whi...

Episode Outline And Highlights

[03:47] The conversations that contributed to Mike’s 1.5m billing record
[06:37] What qualifies the right conversations and people
[10:03] Two tools for tracking recruitment conversation
[14:42] How to ring the phone and create “spontaneous conversations.”
[20:11] How to position yourself for the long game and value “not transactions.”
[27:53] Non-negotiables for success when partnering with a client
[34:50] How to avoid burnout: Solo recruiters' physical and mental self-care tips
[42:14] What solo recruiters can do to level up to $3-400k recruiters
[48:35] Craig’s philosophy of content creation and tactics for writing
[54:54] How podcasting can drive conversations and position you as an expert
[57:26] Strategies to building a 10K people email list for your podcast
[58:44] How to do outbound calls and the volume of calls to puts out there
[01:01:08] What solo recruiters need to do today to be successful tomorrow

5 Steps to Level Up Your Recruitment Business

Craig outlined five essential steps for recruiters looking to elevate their game:

Invest in Yourself: Craig emphasized the importance of self-investment, urging recruiters to spend some money, go to conferences, engage in level-up conversations, and continuously seek opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Follow the Right People: Recognizing the challenges of talent acquisition, Craig advised recruiters to connect with industry leaders to enhance their credibility and reputation as go-to experts. Following the right people will help you become a destination of choice.
Know who you are working with: Success in recruitment, according to Craig, hinges on understanding your clients, delivering value, nurturing relationships, and adopting a long-term perspective.
Choose Your Battles Wisely: Drawing from his experience and insights from the Naval Top Gun program, Craig shares a valuable lesson: “If you can’t win the fight, don’t fight. Go away and come back. Live to fight another day,” which is a great philosophy in recruiting.
Differentiate yourself: Craig encouraged solo recruiters to carve out their unique identity and differentiate themselves from the competition. Whether through thought leadership on platforms like LinkedIn or showcasing their authentic self, it can significantly impact their success in the field.

Ultimately, leveling up in recruitment involves positioning yourself as a trusted industry expert, promoting your voice, and leading by example.

Positioning Yourself In The Market

Previous Episode

How to Turn Your Recruitment Podcast into a Profit Machine, with Mike Richards, Ep #208

Are you looking for innovative ways to elevate your recruitment firm's brand and solidify its presence in the industry? Podcasting might be the game-changer you haven’t tapped into yet.

In today's episode, we explore the powerful impact podcasting can have as a branding tool in the competitive recruitment industry. Our guest, Mike Richards, CEO & Founder of The Treasury Recruitment Company and host of the successful Treasury Career Corner podcast, shares his journey and provides a blueprint for podcasting to strengthen your brand's reach, authority, and engagement.

Tune in for actionable tips, inspiring success stories, and strategic insights on effectively utilizing podcasting to highlight your recruitment brand and deepen your connection with your audience. Whether you’re new to podcasting or looking to refine your approach, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways to help your recruitment firm stand out.

Episode Outline And Highlights

[01:51] Mike’s background and what he does in the finance recruiting
[02:56] How Mike got into the recruitment space
[04:31] Mike's highs and lows as a founder in the treasury recruiting space since 2002
[07:20] 3 Lessons Mike has learned from over 20 years of building a resilient business
[09:40] Measures Mike has in place to ensure he doesn’t put his business at risk by overspending when he is doing well.
[11:26] Mike’s settlement period and how he makes sure he gets paid without ruffling too many feathers
[15:03] Policies to encourage prompt payment within the guaranteed period
[17:55] How much Mike has implemented from Profits First book
[20:28] When Mike started the Global Salary Survey, they systemized it and how it works
[24:45] How Mike uses Global Salary Survey for marketing purposes
[28:48] How data empowers the provision of market insights and intelligence to your clients
[29:43] What inspired Mike to launch his podcast and the keys to his success
[34:29] Mike's podcast strategy and how his podcast has spanned off to other opportunities
[43:42] How Mike manages the cashflow issues and the cost of running his podcast events
[47:28] What Mike is doing in marketing that is working well for his company
[49:33] Mike's techniques for leveraging social media for his business
[53:46] Marketing engine: Getting in front of people who are interested in your offer

Drivers of Success For Your Recruitment Business

Mike and I discussed his recruitment company, Treasury Recruitment Company, which is a truly global treasury recruitment firm established in 2002. It specializes in global treasury recruitment and supports both permanent and interim assignments, giving its clients greater flexibility and choice. The company boasts a track record of successfully placing candidates at all levels, from corporate treasury to analysts and directors and across various sectors from multinationals to consultancies.

During our discussion, Mike shares three invaluable lessons gleaned from over two decades in the recruitment industry, each contributing to the resilience and success of his business.

Firstly, he emphasized the importance of prudent cash flow management. Mike highlighted the tendency of many recruitment firms to overlook the economics of their spending when they are doing well, leading to potential pitfalls such as imprudent trips, expansion, or investments.

Secondly, he underscored the necessity of closely looking at and monitoring your finances, income, and expenses and ensuring the fuel gauges are topped up for smooth operations.

Lastly, Mike stressed the interconnectedness of these lessons, emphasizing that financial health is the lifeblood of any business and that careful attention to cash flow, income, and expenditure is fundamental to long-term success.

The Role of Podcasting in Recruitment Branding

Using podcasting to grow your recruitment business revolves around sharing compelling stories, providing an avenue for expression, and maintaining consistency. Mike shares that when they started the Treasury Career Corner Podcast, their audience was modest, with their episodes gaining about 30, 40, or 60 downloads. Despite initial skepticism about the investment, Mike highlights the value of engaging even a small audience, equating it to the opportunity of speaking directly to a handful of attentive individuals about your recruitment services.

Over time, their podcast's reach grew significantly, now averaging 400 to 500 downloads per episode and boasting a total of 135,000 downloads. Mike believes that the importance of his podcast goes beyond just the statistics. The podcast has opened up opportunities for him, such as invitations to national conferences where he could make meaningful connections an...

Next Episode

3 Key Steps to Boost Your Recruitment Team's Performance, with Manan Shah, Ep #210

Do you need help building lasting relationships with candidates after placement? Scaling a recruitment business and manually nurturing relationships can be overwhelming, leaving little room for other essential tasks. But what if there is a way to automate this process?

To answer this question, we discuss how recruiters can automate their recruiting process, workflow, and campaigns with a special guest, Manan Shah. Manan is a Co-founder at Recruiterflow. He has scaled Recruiterflow to a 50-person team working remotely while staying profitable from day one. Manan has a long history of building software businesses and a wealth of knowledge on recruitment technology, artificial intelligence (AI), and automation.

Tune in and get invaluable recruiting and sales tactics, philosophies, and tools for building teams and relationships for scale. This is an opportunity to revolutionize your recruiting process, build relationships with a large pool of top candidates, and create a funnel of repeat customers.

Episode Outline And Highlights

[02:27] How Manan transitioned from engineering to running software companies
[09:59] 3 strategies for building teams for scale and lasting growth
[12:21] Five values and attitudes to interview for when hiring
[18:40] How to scale a recruitment agency with non-sales people
[21:45] 3 steps to help your sales team develop the skills to be successful
[27:03] How to optimize your workflow and process with automation
[28:33] Two critical tools for recruiters to drive sales and relationships
[32:30] How to automate your candidate nurture campaign sequence
[41:57] Two tactics every recruiting business should leverage to deliver value upfront
[45:58] How to build a consistent MPC process for your recruitment business
[52:11] How recruiter can make it easier to build market maps
[55:34] Three key metrics recruiters need to track to increase their revenue

5 Essential Strategies for Building High-Performing Recruitment Teams

Manan and I discussed his secrets to success at Recruiterflow, and he shared five essentials for building teams in a growing recruitment business.

Keep a close eye on your resources: Manan emphasized the importance of managing resources closely, especially in the early stages when resources are limited. As a recruiter, you have to consider your resources when making decisions.
Hire for attitude rather than altitude: The right people can learn a lot on a job, but if they don’t have that inherent curiosity and empathy for the customers and their colleagues, they can’t grow with the company and become great contributors.
Growth environment: Manan stressed the importance of creating an environment where employees can learn, grow, innovate, and make mistakes freely, emphasizing the symbiotic relationship between individual and company growth. It’s a journey that is rewarding for them and the company as well.
Hire experimental, high initiative, and high agency people: Manan advocated hiring individuals with a proactive and decisive mindset, capable of taking ownership of problems and finding solutions across teams. Additionally, he highlighted the importance of recruiting individuals who actively seek feedback, as it’s a vital component of continuous improvement.
Lastly, Manan highlighted the importance of cultivating a culture where individuals can disagree constructively but remain fully committed to executing decisions once they're made, ensuring unified progress towards common goals.

These strategies serve as a roadmap for recruiters seeking to build resilient and agile teams capable of thriving in a rapidly evolving industry landscape.

The Power of Nurturing Candidate Relationships

Manan highlights two primary motivations that drive hiring managers to enlist the help of recruitment agencies. Firstly, time is often a critical factor. Many hiring managers face the urgent need to fill roles swiftly, sometimes within weeks or months, while the internal hiring process could take considerably longer—up to two months. Secondly, recruitment agencies offer access to valuable relationships. Recruitment agencies provide a distinct advantage in a landscape where job information is readily available, and individuals can easily connect on platforms like LinkedIn. They possess a vantage view of the industry and collaborate with diverse clients, enabling them to offer candidates various opportunities across different companies and positions. This breadth of choice enriches the candidate experience, fostering stronger relationships, which, in turn, presents an invaluable resource for clients who struggle to cultivate such connections independently.

Manan also shares the importance of nurturing candidate relationships beyond the initial pl...