I have been doing some research recently to look at ways to enhance our communications strategy.  I don't want Greenacre to be THAT type of agency.... You know the one- 50 cold calls a day in order to pick up a job, the one all their clients try to avoid (until they get caught by a bogus name intro or a hidden number call!).

We want to add value to our clients, to inform and advise as much as carry out the transactional recruitment process. I have been watching a number of interviews run by Roy Ripper (@RoyRipper/www.royripper.com) over the past couple of weeks during his Recruitment Marketing Summit, and they've been really interesting and insightful and gave me loads to digest, especially around content marketing.  If you work in recruitment, he is definitely one to follow as he often puts out some great content!!

However, one thing kept cropping up.  When the various experts were asked about how to get started using various mediums (video, podcast, blogging etc), they all seemed to talk about pulling together a top 5 list.  And then I realised, that I have seen a lot of top 5 lists on the web recently!  If you google it, it brings up 327 million options!!!

So I thought rather than come up with a new and innovative format, I'd jump on the bandwagon and give you my top 5 list:

5 Reasons not to do a Top 5 list!

1. Everyone is doing it and so it loses its "uniqueness".  If you read blogs and articles regularly, and 50% of them are lists, then your message will be confused.  You don't want people thinking that the second most important thing to add on your CV is actually the 3rd reason we shouldn't leave the EU.
2. Allow people to interpret your information/advice/ramblings for themselves.  What you feel is important, may not be the most important thing to them.  Let people make their own minds up what is important and stop telling me what to think!
3. As soon as you commit to doing a "Top 5 list", you'll find that you have 3 succinct and useful points, and then you'll struggle to cobble together the other points, which will dilute the message.  Its like those company visions that they try and fit into acronyms- its just forced and starts to lose its relevance!
4. One of the driving forces behind writing this list was seeing a Top 5 list, with only 4 points (it has now been corrected)!!! But the morale of the tale is that you run the risk of looking less of the expert than you'd originally hoped!!
5. As it happens, the blog actually received a number of positive comments, which begs the question as to whether people actually read the full list- I mean do you read a whole CV???

So, with that in mind, you can be assured you'll never get a Top 5 list from me.  Instead, look out for my next blog which will be discussing my favorite lists!! (Spoiler alert- my Christmas list from 1983 was pretty special and is bound to take top spot!!)