Most of you know that I never vouch for a product unless I've used it myself and I believe that it can create value for users. The "used it myself" piece is big - I only really believe endorsements if someone can show me they've used an app and they're not just getting a referral fee for recommending it.

Well, I've used the below one . . . and no, I have no relationship with Jason Gorham, CEO. I just think it's a great model by him giving away SharkStrike for free. It's a win-win for all of us.

Basically, SharkStrike will allow you to name keywords, create folders (meaning you don't have to do it again and can continue to refine), set up PPC campaigns, and even build your search strings in Google, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Being an entrepreneur, of course he is continuing to refine it and please keep in mind that the more users he gets, the more $ he'll have to pour into development . . . so we're very much on the front end right now. It's the classic entrepreneurial dilemma, however web 2.0 is making it possible to again build a company in a garage like the late 90s'. This time, however, us end-users benefit because the core functionality is often free, whereby we pay for customization or extended functionality, etc.

Anyway, I used SharkStrike for some of my searches yesterday . . . and I was very impressed. Jason was blown away that some of my work is so niched that there were only ~5 people on all of LinkedIn that met the criteria! Needless to say, many of the Google responses were out of country . . . however this still creates value for me because I have clients that will hire in other countries if they can't find talent and capacity here in North America.

Let me know what you think once you check it out - I think the providing sourcing automation tools for free is brilliant. It reminds me of how there is no cost for us here at RBC. In the end, it just works out great for everyone :)