Social Networking Late Arrivals are Costly and Not Fashionable - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Social Networking Late Arrivals are Costly and Not Fashionable - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Though many businesses have happily joined in the social media bandwagon, some others have not really bought into it yet and are still deciding whether to start their online campaign. These businesses are the ones who still rely on traditional and other “established” forms of marketing, and they’re most likely waiting for this new type of marketing to crash and fail. The reality is â€" they may have a very long wait ahead of them. Social media may be the latest trend in everyone’s marketing campaign, but it has yet to lose its momentum. Social media is currently where all the consumers are â€" and where the consumers are, the businesses usually follow. And though the businesses who have not jumped into the social media scene may think it’s not really hurting their brand, they may be surprised to know that it may be costing them a lot more than they think. There are actually unexpected costs to delaying your business’ entry to social media. Here are some of them: The longer you wait, the more competitors you will have As more and more of your competitors jump into the social bandwagon and derive success from it, the more you delay your entry, the more it will take for you to get where they are right now. This is because your competitors have already begun dominating the field. The social media reach has so far been outstanding, and your competitors are truly taking advantage of this. Think of the 750 million users of Facebook today. And the 190 million Twitter users. And the 100 million LinkedIn users. Yes, those are millions and millions of users that you could be reaching, if you’re taking advantage of social media. The more you ignore these users, the more your competitors will gain monopoly over your target market. For personal brands, the longer you wait the longer that someone else has to establish a relationship, friendship and trust with someone, a decision maker at a company.   The longer you delay, the bigger the costs that you will incur once you consider getting started. True life you snooze, you lose The longer you wait, the more likely it is that someone else will take ownership of your brand’s online presence. As you know, anyone can put up a page in Facebook under your company name. Anyone can put up a website using your company’s name as its domain. It’s so easy and cheap for them, but it’s going to cost you a lot if someone else creates a reputation around your brand that you don’t like. This is why you need to take advantage of the online reputation of your company and brand now before someone else does. You want to make sure that the information people have of you and your business is accurate and well presented. If someone else manages this information, then it may very well ruin your social media presence. Do not wait until someone else creates a Facebook page or a website about you and your company. This will end up costing you more in the long run, trying to remedy what’s been said about you and your brand. Take advantage of social media now and create your online presence before someone else does. The longer you wait the more potential connections you lose When you use social media effectively for your business, you can generate a lot of revenue from it. On the other hand, if you don’t use social media for your business, then you can end up losing a lot of revenue from potential sales that have been lost. Most businesses nowadays have been able to generate sales from social media marketing. And the great thing about social media is the relatively low start-up costs to start your campaign on it. Traditional marketing is a lot more expensive, but nowadays, social media marketing may benefit you a lot more. Even brick and mortar business can generate a lot of revenue from a social media campaign. Social media helps spread the word about your business at a relatively low cost, so instead of buying advertising time on TV, which can be hideously expensive, you can spend less on social media and possibly gain more. For personal brands, the potential of losing your name, your reputation and the competitive edge in your first impression is even greater by waiting it out. What are you waiting for if you still haven’t started your social media presence? Are you waiting for this fad to die out? Online users continue to grow, and mobile smart phones have created another way for people to enjoy browsing the Internet and their social media accounts wherever they go. Stop waiting, or you’ll get left behind in the wake of others, and end up spending a lot more to get where they are right now. Make sure you start your social media campaign today. Author: Maria Elena Duron, is managing editor of the Personal Branding Blog and is also the CEO (chief engagement officer) of buzz2bucks.com â€" a word of mouth marketing firm. She helps create connection, credibility, community and cha-ching through mobile marketing and social commerce around your brand. She is co-founder of #brandchat a weekly twitter chat focused on every aspect of branding.

Transform Your Personal Brands Book With A Great Author Bio - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Transform Your Personal Brands Book With A Great Author Bio - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career Establishing a professional persona for your personal brand begins with a winning author bio. Writing and marketing are just the beginning to attracting readers, and you want to ensure that all of your time and effort gets the most visibility and sales. A personal brand’s reputation online is important when it comes to attracting a large audience. Your summary and knowledge can open the doors to more books sales. Publishing success includes a professional introduction and hooks the reader. This is the calling card for all your books both digital and print. How can your brand make your author bio stand out? Through a clear description, which is unique to who you are, and being very clear about what you can offer your readers. A brand with a compelling bio will get noticed along with a professional website and smart marketing plan in place. In order to be successful there are a few key strategies to put into practice first. How to attract readers for your book with a great author bio There are several ways to attract visibility for your brand’s next publication online: Focus on the important elements first Outline exactly how your brand can help your audience through an introduction of your target market or niche, and the experience you offer. Showcase a personal side to your business that is unique to you and include where your readers can find your company online. Include testimonials and recommendations People want to know that you are an actual trusted resource in your industry. If you have any influencer or customer feedback be sure to include these in your description. This can also be media interviews and guest blog reviews of your work. Show what makes you different If you do a search on places like Amazon youll soon discover there is plenty of competition in your niche. Its important to highlight what is unique to your brand and even include a slogan or two to make your name more memorable. Taking the time to establish your personal brands book(s) as a go-to resource can open the door to even more opportunities and connections. Write something that looks great for both eBooks and print books, and is simple to understand yet with a professional look. A good bio is the first thing your readers will see write it out several times before deciding on a final version.

Start a gratitude journal. - Classy Career Girl

Start a gratitude journal. Its Thanksgiving! What a great day to be thankful for everything we have in our lives.  But, being thankful should not just be for today.  So todays career tip is to start a gratitude journal. “Thank you is the bridge from where you are now to the life of your dreams. Your life will change by practicing gratitude and saying thank you.” â€"Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret and Magic If you’re grateful for the job you have, even if its not your dream job, things will begin to change so you enjoy your job more and opportunities for you will suddenly appear. This is what happened to me when I was terribly stuck in a job but I was still thankful for that paycheck, an opportunity to become an Adjunct Professor at my company opened up. I got to teach a course about how to navigate your career which I LOVED.  I still had to keep my day job but I was SO THANKFUL for a few hours in my day when I got to do something I was really excited about.  And what happened? More teaching and training opportunities continued to come to me effortlessly. “When you get clear about the things you want, you are giving a definite direction to the way you want gratitude to change your life.” â€"Rhonda Byrne, author of The Secret and Magic Another way to show gratitude in your life is to count your blessings. When you’re grateful for the things you have, no matter how small they may be, you will see those things instantly increase. You will be happier when you count your blessings. The more gratitude you feel, the happier you will be. Studies show people who practice gratitude have closer relationships, are more connected to family and friends and have people look upon them more favorably.   Even being thankful for your boss will give you more patience, understanding, compassion and kindness. You will forget about the things you use to complain about them if you are thankful for them. I once had a very tough client in my previous corporate consulting job who was not nice to me AT ALL, but I was and still am SO THANKFUL to her for showing me how to handle difficult clients and situations with class. This is exactly why I make it a habit in my morning routine to write down three things I am grateful for each day. It just makes me happier and gives me a better outlook for the day.

Career Services in Friendswood TX

Career Services in Friendswood TXThere are many companies that offer resume writing services in Friendswood TX. They can provide you with the correct information that you need to add value to your job application, but also be able to improve your chances of being hired.When looking for a good resume that is able to get you hired, it is important to make sure you use a quality company. Since there are so many different companies out there that have no experience at all when it comes to writing resumes. It is important to research what a resume writing service has to offer. This is a great way to be sure that you are getting the information you need and want from a company that you hire.One thing that you need to consider when hiring a company to write your resume is the number of people they have worked with before. Most of them will have very few people that they have written resumes for, or even many people. You should also ask them how long they have been in business.If they are ne w, they may not be ready to write a great resume and they will give you a bad score. Even if they have a great amount of experience, the older people in their resume writing staff may not be as good. This can make a difference between you getting the position or not.Another thing to consider is the reputation of the company. If they had a bad record with something in the past, they may not be someone you want to deal with. This does not mean that they do not have great service, but only that you want to see proof before you hire them. The last thing you want to do is waste your time and money on a company that does not show any proof that they are professional and that they can be trusted.Another thing to consider is the type of skills the company can help you with. Some companies specialize in resume writing services that can be customized according to your needs. Others can provide their services with basic requirements and send you off to a resume writing company for custom servi ce. This can be a great way to avoid paying an arm and a leg for this service.Other services can also be found on the internet and these can be great. A good company to use for this kind of work would be a website called Resume Pro. They provide a wide range of services and are easy to find with your search engine.These services can be a great way to help with your resume and also to increase your chances of getting the job. Make sure you take the time to look around and find the right company for your needs.

How to Talk About Reasons You Were Let Go

How to Talk About Reasons You Were Let Go How to Talk About Reasons You Were Let Go As I go out and interview, how do I position the reasons that my last two jobs ended? Great question and the good news is that you are in good company as many applicants today have moved around multiple jobs in short time spans. The bad news is that many job seekers fumble around the reason they left. Poor examples are: “Off the record, my boss was a jerk; I was fired along with others; I left to pursue my next career move; I wasn’t learning anything.” Rule #1: You don’t need to offer the reason you changed roles unless asked. Interviewers look for the following: Are you self-aware, what did you learn, are you positive or negative, are you still confident? Solution: Create a script to address a short rationale for each departure. Let’s take your examples then give others: Instead of “…needed to cut staff to make it attractive to investors.” Go with: “…mass multi-department downsizing due to business decline.” Instead of “I was not a good fit for the new duties.” Go with: “My entire department’s function was eliminated due to the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) implementation.” Other good examples: “Reduction in force (RIF) due to challenging financials.” “Re-organization eliminated my team.” “The company down-sized, like many in the industry.” “Multiple departments were cut, including mine.” Remember that you must have the majority of skills and experiences if you got the interview! If the company was concerned about the reason you are applying, they probably wouldn’t have granted you the interview. Shift your energy to preparing for the interview on so many levels, not just the reasons for your job dismissals. Do you have a concise answer to “tell me about yourself” or “why do you want this job?” Most interviewers blow it on the most commonly asked questions during an interview.

Of Brits and Danes and happiness at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog

Of Brits and Danes and happiness at work - The Chief Happiness Officer Blog While the English and Danish languages have strong common roots there are of course many words that exist only in one language and not in the other. Cheerio, elevenses and stiff upper lip are examples of highly British phrases that have no direct Danish equivalent. But heres a word that exists only in Danish and not in English: arbejdsgl?de. I know that to most English-speakers this looks like a random jumble of letters youd get if you tossed a bunch of Scrabble tiles on the floor, but there is meaning behind it. Arbejde means work and gl?de means happiness, so arbejdsgl?de is happiness at work. This word also exists in the other Nordic languages (Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish and Icelandic) but not in any other language on the planet. Ive checked! For instance, where we Scandinavians have arbejdsgl?de, the Japanese instead have Karoshi. Which means ?Death from overwork.? And this is no coincidence; there is a word for it in Danish because Danish workplaces have a long-standing tradition of wanting to make their employees happy. To most Danes, a job isnt just a way to get paid ? we fully expect to enjoy ourselves at work. Ive recently been doing some work for Hewlett-Packard in England, helping them promote their mobile products (laptops and mobile phones). The idea is that mobile technology gives employees flexiblity at work and flexibility makes us happy. This means Ive been talk to a lot of Brits and appearing in the British media, and I think I can safely say, that the British approach to work is quite different than the Scandinavian one. Few people in Britain seem to expect to be happy at work. Their focus seems to be on putting in the hours and getting paid. To most Britons, a job is just a job ? and work is not compatible with any notions of enjoyment or happiness. One BBC radio interviewer even asked me if it wasnt fine to be miserable, if being miserable makes you happy. No. No, no, no! Being miserable at work, or even just being sort of OK but not really at work is no longer enough, for three very specific reasons. First reason: time. We spend more of our waking hours at work than on anything else. We spend more time at work than with our friends, families and children combined. If youre unhappy at work, youll spend a large part of your life being miserable. Second reason: health. Hating your job can make you sick. Worst case, it can kill you. Studies show that people who hate theirn jobs run a much higher risk of contracting serious diseases like cancer, heart disease and diabetes. Third reason: money! Happy companies make more money, because their employees are more creative, productive, service-minded and innovative. The results of these two different attitudes is clear: While the Danes have the highest levels of happiness at work, Brits are not happy. Recent studies have shown that up to a third of all Brits actively dislike work, while still more neither like it nor loathe it. Interestingly, you might think that since Danes like their jobs so much, theyd be working more hours. Youd be wrong. Britons are the workaholics of Europe putting in more hours per worker than even those industrious Germans. And seeing as Brits work so hard, youd think theyd get more work done than those annoyingly cheerful Danes. Youd be wrong again. Worker productivity is in fact higher in Denmark and Denmark has the worlds best business climate according to the Economist. So heres my challenge to British companies, managers and employees everywhere: Put happiness at work first. Realize once and for all that lifes too short to spend so many hours in jobs that are at best tolerable and at worst hell on earth. In short ? lets see some more arbejdsgl?de in Britain. Thanks for visiting my blog. If you're new here, you should check out this list of my 10 most popular articles. And if you want more great tips and ideas you should check out our newsletter about happiness at work. It's great and it's free :-)Share this:LinkedInFacebookTwitterRedditPinterest Related

3 Emails Youll Need For Your Business Launch

3 Emails Youll Need For Your Business Launch Holy biz-building, Batman! It’s time to launch your business! Time to pull yourself up by your entrepreneur bootstraps, saddle up to your computer, and write your launch emails. You and your brand new business are out here, baby, and the world’s gotta know! Crafting your launch emails might feel intimidating at first, but remember â€" this is what you’ve been waiting for! It’s finally time to tell your friends, family, and personal/professional network that you’re open for business and you have offers they’ll want â€" nay, need! â€" to get their hands on. In fact, 99% of my clients got their first clients from reaching out to their network with emails just like this! After all of the experience I have launching my own business and offers plus helping hundreds of women launch their own, I know there are three different emails you’ll want to craft to make sure you can accommodate all of the individuals you’re talking to. You can follow my guidelines below or simply swipe these 3 emails to officially launch your business! First, in all three emails you’ll want to explain: 1. ) that your metaphorical or literal doors are open 2.) what you can do for them a.k.a your elevator pitch, and 3.) where they can find you/how they can work with you. It is also so worth it to send individual emails rather than :bcc a big list. This makes the email much more valuable to the reader and is more likely to yield a personalized response. It also ensures more eyes actually land on your message and encourages more engagement! Lastly, be bold. Make your value known. Remember: Your business and offers solve a problem(s) for your clients. If you don’t let them know you’re here, they may look somewhere else for the help they need or never fix it! Do them (and yourself!) this favor.   This (and you!) are a big freakin’ deal and your people should be hyped to hear all about it! Imagine yourself getting a launch email from someone you know and love about their shiny new business that they poured their heart and soul into. Wouldn’t you want to help them out? You wouldn’t be bothered â€" you’d be proud! â€"because you’re awesome like that. Armed with all of this knowledge and power: write or swipe away! Email #1: Write to pitch directly to potential clients (a.k.a people you know might want or could use your service.) Not only is this email to let them know you’re up and running, but it’s also to let them know you thought of them first. Point out the conversation you guys had that circulated around your offers or what made them come to mind! It could look like this: Hi so and so! [insert something personal and relevant here] I’m writing to let you know I’ve officially launched my business [insert biz name website link] and I’m so excited to tell you about it! I thought of you immediately thanks to [insert what made you think of them i.e. a conversation, FB post, etc.] and wanted to make sure I gave you first dibs. The business itself helps [insert elevator pitch info here!], and you can get all the details about my offer right here [link to your Work With Me page]. If you sign up before [7 days from now] I’d be happy to give you an X% discount on top of the pricing you see there. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! Happy to jump on a call with you or answer anything you have for me via email whatever you prefer. You can reach me at [insert phone number], too. Hope to hear back from you soon! Best, [Your name] Email #2: Write to ask for an introduction Send this email out to the folks you know who know somebody. This might mean they’re friendly with other people in the industry you’re looking to work with, or they specifically said something like “My niece could use that!” when you told them about your business idea. As in the first email, it’s worth it to offer this person a referral discount on your services, too! Hi so and so! [insert something personal and relevant here] I’m writing to let you know I’ve officially launched my business [insert biz name and website link], which [insert elevator pitch info here] . I’ve been thinking of you and your relationship with [insert the person/industry you want to be connected to], so I wanted to pass this on right away. I’d love an introduction since I know that I can help them with [insert their problem here]. If you are open to connecting us, I would so appreciate it! Additionally, I’d be more than happy to offer them my service(s) [insert your offer name and Work With Me link] at a discounted referral rate. Feel free to pass along my information here [insert website contact info], let me know his/her email address so I can reach out directly, or send an introductory email to us both. Whatever is easiest for you works for me! In the meantime, if there are ways I can support you in your personal or professional endeavors, just let me know! I’d be more than happy to help in any way I can. Thank you for your time and support! Best, [Your name] Email #3: Write to spread the word to those who know and love you! This last email is your catch-all. Maybe not every person in your life is your ideal potential client or knows someone who would be (that you know about!), but that doesn’t mean you should leave them out! The more people that know about you and your business the better. Let this email promote the heck out of you, and remember the people who love you will be psyched regardless! Hi so and so! I hope this email finds you well! I’m writing because I have officially launched my business [insert your business name and website link], and I’m so excited to tell you about it. It has been a long time coming and your friendship and support in this journey has meant a great deal to me. Now that I’m up and running, I wanted to spread the good news far and wide. The business itself helps [insert elevator pitch info here!], and you can get all the details about how I work with my clients right here [link to your Work With Me page]. I  don’t know if this is something you’re looking for right now or would need in the future, but it would be amazing if you’d pass this along directly to anyone who you know might need it, and/or if you’re open to posting about it on social media within the week! To make it easy, I’ve included some verbiage below for you to copy and paste: Attention [your desired audience]! My friend [your name] just launched her business, and if you’re looking for [insert your elevator pitch here], she’s your gal! Check out her new site at [website url] and tell her I sent you with my highest recommendation. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask! In the meantime, please let me know how I can support you and your personal or professional endeavors too. Happy to do whatever I can for you. Thanks so much for your help! I really appreciate it. Best, [Your name] Obviously, tweak all of the above to your lingo and taste, but keep the bones where you can! Also, just one last extra super-duper careful reminder to always include a call to action (and a deadline won’t hurt)! If you’re ready with your freebie opt-in, tack that on there, too! The support, love, and clients (!) that come in will only be further validation that this was the right choice: pursuing your dream business and following your heart is always the answer. Time to reap those benefits. Daydreaming about writing your launch emails but not sure where to start with the whole *launch* piece? First: Congratulations! You’re already closer to launching than you were before reading this article. Second: I’ve got you. 90 Day Business Launch will help you flesh out the details floating in your head and get your business up and running in just 3 months. Guess what happens at the end? You get to write your own launch emails and I get to cheer like I’m at a Lizzo concert. Lizzo is LIFE, y’all and so is your future dream business.