1.  Don’t forget a cover letter.  Make it short and sweet.  Tell them why you are submitting your resume, a summary of why you think you are a match for their position and what you would like to get back from them (Phone call? Appointment? Interview?)  If they have asked for salary information – make sure you have added it.  If you know you are not what they are looking for right now, ask them for a time frame to check back with them for openings.

2. Spellcheck AND grammar check AND have someone who writes well double-check your resume.  Some of the mistakes people have left on their resumes are the stuff of urban legends – check and double-check.  That goes for the cover letter, too.

3. Ditch “Objective”  and “References”- they take up real estate on your resume and don’t offer any value.  Everyone assumes that your objective is to get a job.  If you say too much there, you may talk the reader out of looking further.  And “References”, if the employer wants them, will be asked for, no need to share contact information up front.  Plus, anyone who has agreed to be your reference will undoubtedly have nice things to say.  Most high level jobs will call your references, AND call your previous employers to see what might get volunteered.  Your best reference is to try to always leave or complete assignments on good terms.

4.  KEY WORDS – if the position or assignment has specific requirements such as “MS Project ” or “Quickbooks” then make sure that those words are present in your resume! If they are not, the person(s) screening the resume will not assume that you have those requisites, they will move on to a resume that has them stated.  And remember, sometimes it is not a person, but a software application that does the screening…if the key word is not there, the resume doesn’t make it through the screening – period.

5.  Depending on the conservative level of your potential employer or client – and this is a judgement call based on your research about them – you may wish to leave off employment that is not germane to the position you are applying for.  Some companies only want to see what applies to their industry, and do not care about your previous careers in other fields…and some understand that skills can be transferred across industries (some of them anyway) and will appreciate seeing them.  Think hard about it before you go one way or the other.

Does it sound like you must have multiple versions of your resume?  The answer is YES.

Plus you should have one “Master Resume”with your entire work history on it to use as reference when you are asked to complete an application – which many companies still require even after they have viewed your resume.  The application should be complete with your work history, as often it is used for background checking.

Good luck and Happy Monday!

If you are like me, you are trying to juggle many things in life – home, work, family, friends… and while you have heard how powerful Facebook can be you are still not clear on how your page can help you in business.

I am still learning and exploring Facebook, and I thought it might be a good way to end this week with my 5 fun tips for Facebooking more effectively.

1. You can create your business profile page easily by logging in as yourself, and doing a search in the search bar at the top pf the page for “Create a Page“ – it will lead you through your choices and it is pretty easy to set up.  If you are a serial entrepreneur with multiple businesses, you will be happy to know that you can have multiple pages all tied to your personal account (and you can keep that tidbit private on those pages, if you don’t want the world – or your boss – to know that the XYZ Candle Maker is you).

2. Once you have created your page, and have “liked” other businesses or people’s pages that are pertinent to your page, you can choose up to 5 of those to be anchored in your page’s list of likes – rather than letting Facebook randomly rotate them.  This is good if you have a reciprocal business agreement with a complimentary entity as you and they can cross promote this way.

Or if you have multiple pages, you may wish to “like” and anchor them to each other.  For example, if you are a writer and have set up a page per book, as well as an Author’s page – you can “like”and Anchor the pages to each other.

3.  If you use an opt-in email tool, such as iContact, Constant Contact or MailChimp (there are many others but these three are the ones that come to mind) – don’t forget to generate a “Join My Mailing List” link and add it to your fan page in the Info Tab or create a new Tab for it.

4. Looking for leads?  Using quotes at the start and finish of key words in the Search Box at the top will get you half way there, once you have the results – look at the left side menu options and click on public posts – you’ll get people who have used your key words in their posts whether you are connected to them or not.

You can comment back to them with advice or a link back to your website.  So if you are making XYZ candles and do a search on “i love candles” – be careful to read the context and then craft a nice intro comment to let them know about your candles.  Remember to do the searches while you are using the Facebook page that you want to represent so your comments will be from the page you want them to see!  If you forget and notice while you are crafting the best ever response – just add a tag to your Facebook Page in the body of your comment.

5. Did you know that you can drive traffic to your Facebook page by advertising that people “like”your page by texting to Facebook?  On your marketing materials suggest that cell phone users “fan”your Facebook page by texting “Fan -insert name of your page” to 32665.

Example:  Text “Fan myEZWebpro “to 32665.

If you are a speaker or presenter – this would make a great final slide.  If you are a band or theatrical group, add it to your posters and other promo material.  Put it on the back of your business cards.

If you have questions about these tips or if you have tips to share, please add as a comment to the blog, and I’ll get back to you – or share your tip in a future post.

Have a great weekend!

Today my friend wanted to talk more about business-oriented writing services rather than our usual creative novel-writing pursuits. Like many experienced writers she is learning to transition from traditional marketing to the new age of social media, with all its complexities.  We had a great brain-storming session and she left with some good ideas about how to promote her work.  She wants a website, so my suggestion was to use WordPress as her starting point, because it is intuitive, easy to use, and free or low-cost, depending upon the options chosen.  I encouraged her to set up a LinkedIn profile, but I’m not sure she is ready to do so.  I also showed her a blog post by Carol Tice, whose blog and website I’ve found both practical and thought-provoking.  Carol is a successful free-lance writer and award-winning blogger who recently wrote about where her writing business came from in 2011.

There are other options, of course.  Using the telephone to contact her targeted customers is one possibility, with a follow-up letter and/or email.  She might consider doing a newsletters using an online tool like ConstantContact, iContact, or AWeber, but a traditional printed newsletter might be an option for her, also.  She can do it on her computer and have it printed at an office supply store like Office Depot.  We also discussed magazines that use free-lance writers and would be interested in her travel-writing skills.   Please note that the advice I gave her was geared to someone who is not yet comfortable with social media.  It’s about dangling one’s legs in the water and adjusting at a slower pace rather than diving in headfirst.

I’m eager to see where my friend goes from here.  J. has many years of experience in writing, ghost-writing, travel writing, resume writing and editing books and marketing materials for all kinds of businesses, so I know she’ll do well with her writing endeavors.  I’m also hoping to see her pursue her dream of self-publishing the mystery novels she has written, since she’s one of the best writers I’ve ever read – honestly – and her work should be out there for readers to find.  She’s a published writer already, but she doesn’t currently have an agent or publisher.  That shouldn’t hold her back.  Lots of writers are finding success by self-publishing.  It’s a brave new world, and everyone – writers, publishers, agents, and even readers – is learning to swim in unfamiliar waters without any floaties.

I’ll keep you posted once she gets her online presence in place.  And I guarantee you, her books will not begin with “It was a dark and stormy night….” and they will keep you perched on the edge of your easy chair, reading long past your bedtime.

But what if you are one of the aforementioned lone or small business?  How do you manage to attend to your Social Wellbeing then?

Extend your concept of team.

For example: the postal employee that delivers your daily mail – make a point of introducing yourself and saying “hi”; do the same at the library or the office supply shop.  Get to know your “extended team mates”, they contribute to your success, don’t they?

Plus, the socializing helps to spread the word about your small business – you can get practice in, explaining what you do and getting additional “word of mouth” exposure.

Let me know how this works for you (yes, emails and chatting count as socializing).

But sometimes we need a little push… a budget for a special project.  That is where Kickstarter comes in.

First let me tell you what it is NOT – it is NOT a fundraising site –  it is NOT for people trying to fund their business start-up and it is NOT a donate for someone’s lifestyle concept.

So what is it?

Kickstarter.com is a site where you can propose your project and the amount of money it will take to do your project – and people who are interested in your project can pledge an amount towards the budget you proposed.  If the amount needed is not reached – for example you may say you need $2,000 to print and publish your original graphic novel – and you only get $1900 in pledges before the time is up on the proposal – then you do not get the money and no one gets charged for their participation.

What’s in it for the investors?

You determine what kind of perks you are going to give in return for the range of dollars an individual donates.   It might be a permanent ” Thank You” on your website – or a copy of the graphic novel, or an autographed copy or several copies.  If it is your project, then you figure out what you would give to sweeten the pot.

What kinds of businesses or areas can I submit a project for?

The categories include:  Art, Comics, Dance, Design, Fashion, Film and Video, Food, Games, Music, Photography, Publishing, Technology, and Theater.

Recently I participated in support of a gardening book to be published.  I have seen tech inventions, theatrical productions and art installations proposed on the site.

How can I submit a project?

Go to the Kickstarter Guidelines page on their site, all the information is there.

Or peruse the projects and see what interests you as an investment – you can invest as little as $1 or perhaps the whole shebang if the project really rings your bell!

The thing is – this is a wonderful way of getting your project launched and getting exposure to a wider audience (since most artistic projects are financed locally – this expands your reach).

Hope this is helpful – let me know!

Shifting gears and viewing oneself as an entrepreneur can enrich you.  It will change the way you view your job, if you are employed, and the way you perform your job.  It will also help you to understand that there are many options available to you.  You can write a business plan and use your own funds or secure funding.  You can work a full time job and start something part time in the evenings, thanks to the power of the internet, which can attract a global audience.  You can  experiment inexpensively with blogging, an Etsy store,  a Zazzle store, an ebay store, a part-time service, writing skills, cooking skills, handiwork skills, volunteer work – the ideas are unlimited, you just have to find one that works for you.  Ideally, you may find several oppportunities that can work for you.

Really — you are never stuck.  Stuckness (I know, I’m making up a word) is an illusion.  But I do believe that you need to follow your dreams in some fashion, if not in your 9 to 5 job — do something in your spare time that feeds your spirit.  Whatever you do that feeds your spirit can only lead you to a better, fuller, happier life.

My background is in recruiting, research and writing – those are key skill areas for me, but like Natalia, I enjoy art, crafts, cooking and other hands-on activities.  My daytime work in the non-profit world provides a great deal of satisfaction for me, but I view it as my “base” and use my spare time to explore other areas.  Currently I’m editing articles for a national magazine; writing web copy for a client; writing recruitment ads for another client; writing fiction, non-fiction and poetry; and I run an ebay store.  I’m toying with the idea of opening an etsy store.

I’m turning my dining room into a factory of sorts.  It will be a writing factory, an ebay shipping center, and an etsy crafting room.  Thinking about it makes my eyes light up with joy.

In 2009 I took Profiting From Your Passions (PFYP) coaching training from Valerie Young, author of  The Secret Thoughts of Successful Women, so I could help people turn their passions — the things they love to do — into profit streams.  The reason I did that was because as a recruiter, I could only help a limited number of people find work.  I talked to many people who didn’t want to face the truth that their line of work was gone, or diminished to the point that finding a job like the one they once had was going to be an uphill struggle.  Some of those people were using up all or most of their savings in a quest to find a job that was turning into long-term unemployment.  Things have gotten worse since 2009.  I’m not being doom-and-gloom-ish here, I’m just stating the reality that too many bright and talented people are facing.

So, maybe you think this doesn’t apply to you — you’re working right now.  Even if you have all the right skills, and you are highly employable — can you depend upon your employer?  Will your employer make good decisions? If your company markets globally, will some event halfway across the world like a tsunami, an earthquake, or a war shut down their foreign facilities?  Will your work be outsourced?  Will you be replaced by a new, disruptive technology that makes your job obsolete?  Or — worse yet — do you dislike your work?  Do you dread going to work every day?

Americans have always taken pride in being independent.  Yet we also know that we are interdependent, not just on each other, but on the rest of the world.  America is not isolated from Europe, China, Africa or the Middle East.  I think part of thriving in this century will involve taking a good, hard look at your situation — whatever it is — and making adjustments to fit the times.  Whether it involves getting rid of debt, saving more, setting up a part-time or full-time business, following your passionate love of a hobby or pastime — if you think about it, you’ll figure out the right direction for you.  And when you’re ready — the path will appear, a teacher or mentor will come into your life, you’ll read the right article or see something on television – and you’ll have what you need to start shifting gears.

In future posts I plan to highlight innovative ideas to help stimulate your thinking and help you move forward with your dreams.  Some will involve people I know; others will involve business ideas I’ve seen on the web, in the paper, in books I’m reading, or in the news.  My goal will be to stimulate your own creative ideas and encourage you to make changes, and I would appreciate your feedback.

If you have always wanted to be able to take credit cards or you have a merchant account and it is so expensive that you hesitate to do business with credit cards – take a look at Squareup.com .  This is a small device that is used with your Android or iPhone with a free application that you can download to those phones.  It enables you to swipe a credit card and process it, for a flat rate, using a little white square that plugs into the earphone jack of the phone.

The process is painless:

1. Go to the website.

2. Sign up for free.  They will send you a verifying email and also verify the bank account that you want to have your money delivered into.

3. Within a week, the little device shows up in your mail.

4. You go to the App Store for your phone and download the free application and log in to your account.

5. You are ready to go.

There is no minimum usage.

There is a flat rate for the four major cards: Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover.

Your money gets into your bank account the next business day.  Your login (from when you signed up) allows you to monitor what you have processed and see when it was transferred to your account.

One of the best deals EVER for sole owners, small business, and anyone who needs to be able to take credit cards (think how handy this would be at the next fundraiser for your church or school).

And to you who are celebrating the Year of the Water Dragon – Gung Hay Fat Choy!

It is always a good idea to look at the interview from the perspective of the hiring side – do some research – what kind of people do they have on their team already?  How will you fit in? What would you like to learn more about their business?

This article at INC give more details.  Click Here.

If you are a member of Linkedin, you can initiate a group.  Or even on Facebook.   Or find a forum in your field (either of business or profession) and start a conversation there.  Do something small and new and kick-start your job search, or search for new business leads.

Another mini-marketing strategy is to ask for advice – often it will lead to referrals or new ideas that will help you.

Let me know what specific strategies work for you and I will share them here! Thanks and make it a great day.

Or view it here: