by Deborah Shane on March 8, 2010
I lived and worked in south east Florida all my life until 2006. So many things “rooted” me there. My family, childhood friends, college, careers, homes I owned and the business community.
I moved to southwest Florida, August 2006, for a complete career and lifestyle change, which was the right time and decision for me. People told me I was crazy to give up my tenured 23 year career in media radio sales and marketing. It was going to change anyway and I instinctively knew that. They also told me it was a “gutsy” move in the 50’s! Age was not a factor, it was an asset.
I moved to a new community, a new career opportunity, where I didn’t know anyone, and I embraced it as an adventure with great confidence and curiosity. So many things, just haven’t work out the way I had planned or envisioned them the past three years. I know now they are all a part of the adventure and they are turning out better.
I have moved 4 times including moving over, in the past 3 years, due to foreclosure landlords. It simply is a bi-product of the high times when people bought and invested in real estate for the wrong reasons, then got caught up in the reality of not being able to flip or sell, and couldn’t carry the fiscal responsibility. Damn, I’ve been mad at some of these people for knowingly dragging me into their deal. The moving has made me feel not “rooted” in this area. It has left me with a gnawing question, of whether I am supposed to stay here or not?
It got me thinking though about what does make me feel rooted in my life.
It used to be more about stuff, jobs, things, achievements, money, in addition to family and friends.
The last three years has given me a new perspective on this.
I realized although I don’t feel rooted in a home I own, I do feel rooted in the people I have made new relationships with as my extended family, social life and business community. So many amazing people come to mind, that make me feel “rooted” both where I live and elsewhere.
It’s always been my family, friendships, people, relationships, living in passion, memories, serving others that makes me feel connected and a part of. Our roots are anchors.
I feel loved and I can love in return, in so many ways and levels.
“My roots” run deep and are strong, and no matter where I am or where I live they will anchor me to myself and my life because they are connections, that intertwine me with them. They make me feel safe, secure and alive.
What “roots you?
by Rob Taub on March 5, 2010
This is a guest post from Job Searching Expert, Rob Taub.
Job Search Marketing is a lot of work but is doesn’t have to be complicated. Comprehensive, “yes”; complicated, “no”, yet so many people cause themselves a lot of difficulty and stress. I’m going to try to make the concept of job search marketing simple for you to understand. I won’t be able to make it simple for you to undertake, however. It will always be hard work. Nevertheless, with understanding, maybe you won’t feel as though it’s an uphill battle.
Positioning → Marketing → Exposure
1. Positioning:
Identifying your job search focus covers the role you want to play in the next job and the industry. With that you can define specific targets – the specific “customers” for your wares: Talents, background and qualifications, etcetera.
Defining the focus of the job search (role and industry) is the first step in “positioning”. Detailing your interests, credentials, background, likes, dislikes, strengths, etc. is the second step. To do this effectively, you should interact with someone who knows you well and who can remain objective. You’d be surprised what deep, attentive, interactive discussion will reveal; and resultant is the clear-cut understanding of the “best fit” position, type of organization and also, why it’s a “best fit” for the employer, your “customer” as well. Now you know what the product has to offer and to whom, and thus forearmed with all the information you need to develop a marketing strategy.
2. Marketing:
This is the advertising, promotion, selling of your goods to create proper interest and be invited in to an opportunity. The “marketing” is accomplished via strong written and oral communications using a number of different “tools” such as a resume and letter or resume letter combo or marketing letter; and other means of expression used to promote your value and benefit to an employer such as an executive bio / summary, a proposal letter, or some other statement of value. Too, a variety of channels are combined as in any marketing campaign to touch as many potential “customers” in the shortest period of time – strength (and confidence) in numbers, yes?
3. Exposure:
As in a product launch, implementation of a marketing communication strategy that targets your audience utilizing various “channels”, simultaneously, will gain you maximum “exposure” in your targeted market. The goal is to ensure that in the end, your talents are bought by the right company at the right price. Implementation strategies and channels may include some or all of the following and more!
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by Zane Safrit on March 2, 2010
This is a guest post from small business consultant and strategist, Zane Safrit.
Leaders are readers – Jim Rohn
We are all leaders. You could be reading this post during the first hour of your first day at your first job…ever. And you still are a leader. You are the leader for your career, your family, your church, your community, your pick-up basketball team on Thursday nights….What are you reading?
I read a lot. I always have read voraciously. This habit started in grade school. The habit continues today. Before I said “I-Do” I made sure my now wife understood to never leave me alone in a bookstore unless our budget allowed me to walk out with a lot of books. She laughed, then. She doesn’t now.
My reading focus now, as you would expect, is on the business category. And it has been for the past 10 years. What have I read? A lot. While the majority of the books offered value, I can’t remember their titles off-hand. Here are the three books that offered the most valuable solutions then, when I first read them, and now as I continue to expand my reading list.
Creating Customer Evangelists: How Loyal Customers Become a Volunteer Sales Force,
by Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba http://www.creatingcustomerevangelists.com/
The term customer evangelists has become an accepted part of business lexicon. Say it and everyone understands. Use it to describe your goals and everyone nods in agreement. You see it regularly bandied about in blog posts, tweets on twitter, facebook, youtube…
This was not the case 7 years ago when the authors, Ben McConnell and Jackie Huba, first published the book with its research and case studies.
7 years ago was when I found them, their book, their purpose. As CEO of a small company I had watched as traditional advertising no longer generated any results. ANY. I struggled to re-orient, re-articulate, a strategy, a purpose even find a tactic that worked.
Their book, their blog, reminded me of our company’s power then: making customers happy. All of that and their friendship showed me the path to reorient all of our marketing resources away from ads and agencies and towards employees and customers. Sales growth resumed, cash-flows flowed, conversions rose, testimonials accumulated.
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by Susan P Joyce on February 26, 2010
Guest Post from Susan P Joyce, editor and publisher of www.Job-Hunt.org
The Internet is a wonderful place full of amazing information and amusement and interesting people. Unfortunately, as with most other human enterprises, you will also find people looking to make a quick buck, many of them not concerned with how they make that money or who they might hurt in the process.
A large portion of the quick-buck brigade recognized in the recession a golden opportunity – a great new pool of potential victims: desperate job seekers.
Why job search scams?
- To collect private information from you, like your email address and resume to sell to marketers and advertisers who will use it to contact you to make a sale (or try).
- To collect enough private information from you (e.g. resume plus Social Security Number) for identity theft.
- To collect credit card information from you so they can charge “purchases” or money transfers to your credit card.
- To collect bank account information from you so they can tap into your bank account and make a few withdrawals.
- To get your willing (but unknowing) participation in a crime they perpetrate against someone else.
The Main Scam: Fake Jobs
The opportunity may look “real” with apparently genuine requirements and responsibilities specified, or it may look so simple that anybody with a pulse could do it.
The employer’s name could be genuine, even well-known, but borrowed for the occasion without the employer’s knowledge or approval (corporate identity theft). Often, the employer is fictional, sometimes with an elaborate but fake Website for added credibility.
Fake job examples:
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by Mary Jo Asmus on February 24, 2010
Guest post from Mary Jo Asmus
Over the years, I`ve managed to come up with my own beliefs about leadership. They are constantly changing and in flux as I work with clients and observe leaders who are present in other aspects of my life. This essay is my way of making my own beliefs explicit.
Leadership is not a position on an organization chart, although it can be. It is “a way of being”, which means that leaders can be found anywhere in our organizations and communities. Most of us lead and most of us follow at different times, and the flow between leadership and followership is a dance that is seamless at its best.
Deciding to lead should be, when possible, a conscious choice. There are leaders who are “naturals” at it, and have not been conscious of their choice to lead. For the majority, however, leading is an intentional act that requires constant reflection, action, learning, and adjustment to be the best.
Healthy relationships built on mutual respect are the foundation for great leadership. When respect is present, strong relationships can be built. This process builds followership, a necessary ingredient for taking action to achieve goals.
Leaders who focus on the needs of others, assisting them to develop and grow, will reap more benefits than they can possibly imagine. Strong followers who are appreciative of the efforts to provide opportunities to get better at what they do are a great outcome of this learning.
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by Deborah Shane on February 22, 2010
” No matter how far down you have been, see how your experience can help others”
This is one of the promises from most of the 12 step programs, which is the spiritual foundation of how people help each other by the simple association of commonly shared experiences. This goes so much further in life, in the commitment to mentor others and each other.
My love affair with mentoring began many years ago. I really enjoy watching others grow, being there for those aha” moments and being a part of this human process.
As someone who has always been drawn to and excited about new experiences, challenges and ideas, I have watched and studied those who successfully achieve. I have reached out to others for guidance, direction and support as an integral part of my support system for a very long time. The payoff has been big!
I have learned how important it is to give back and pay it forward with sharing my knowledge and experience with others. The axiom is so true: my wisdom and experience only has value if I share it to benefits others! Having said this, I also know we only have so much time to do all that we need to do to balance our warped speed lives.
Here are 3 ways I have found to integrate this into my life, and the benefits are big.
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by Deborah Shane on February 17, 2010
Five years ago in the summer of 2005, I realized that my 23 year career in broadcast media, radio, was about to change dramatically. I could feel the winds of change blowing in my “corporate culture”. Internal changes started to happen yearly and sometimes twice a year with regard to sales commissions and how we packaged and sold our products and services. New management was brought in, people shifted in a very stable management structure.
It just felt weird. I started my personal transition process, in my head, simply by thinking about why I was feeling like it wasn’t working for me on many levels anymore and I wanted and needed it to be working.
First, I had to honestly assess if there was any more mobility opportunities where I was, and then I had to look at myself, with regard to what I really wanted to do and if I was qualified and prepared to do it. I spent almost a year, going on interviews, both locally and nationally, exploring other industries and employment jobs to try to see what resonated with me. As I look back it was really a smart process and revealed a lot about me. Back then jobs were much more plentiful and there were a lot of them in my business. Today, I would not have those same choices and options.
Here are some of the lessons that I learned about the career transition process, that you can apply to today’s employment situation.
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by Deborah Shane on February 8, 2010
How do you grab someones attention if you only have 30 or 60 seconds or less?
How do you get noticed in social media, email or blogging?
Is it a great logo and slogan?
It is a great take on a hot subject?
It it something you say that’s clever and funny?
NOT really.
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by Deborah Shane on February 3, 2010
“In 1950 about one in three women participated in the labor force. By 1998, nearly three of every five women of working age were in the labor force.”
Fast forward to 2010 and the trend for women in the full time workforce is 51% and will continue to accelerate. When you consider women are 60% of college students, control 66% of global spending (BCG) and are starting businesses 2 to 1 over any other group (FLWBC), women are not arriving, we are here and are a force to be reckoned with on many levels.
Many things drive women when it comes to work and working, that are quite different then men.
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by Deborah Shane on January 28, 2010
Is your sales strategy working?
Do you need to revamp or review the sales basics?
There’s lots of reasons now why it may NOT be working.
“Anyone that communicates for a living is in sales” What we sell, who we sell to, the way we sell and the market we sell into…all changed!
The fundamentals of sales are enduring. It’s still a few key steps in the process, but they do need to be delivered into a new market and to a savvy new consumer. [click to continue]
