Accelerate Your Search™ Now

Everyday you have opportunities to connect, build relationships and get your brand in front of decision-makers.  Businesses understand the value of this type of connection.  Think about it.  Everyday you receive coupons and offers via snail mail or company newsletters via email.  Why do they invest time and resources in staying in touch?  Simple.  They want you to think of them when you need their product or service.

For example:  If I need a plumber and the plumber I met at the Chamber of Commerce meeting last March mailed me a note, then a coupon, then another note and enclosed a refrigerator magnet with his logo, website and phone number, odds are good that the magnet is on my refrigerator or at least I will recall his name when I (or a friend) need a plumber.

Starting this year, find or create a system for staying in touch with your network and getting those people to be your brand ambassadors.

How do you get started?  Follow the steps below:

1. Create your list.

Who needs to know you?  Start small and focus on key influencers.  You are not building a mass marketing list.  Think of the people you really want to connect with during the first quarter of the year and those you will stay in touch with throughout the year.

2. Make your regular connection all about them.

Whether you craft a note, letter or email (I recommend giving snail mail a try), don’t go on and on about you.  Focus on what the person means to you, acknowledge them as a person and thank them for previous projects — you can even share an experience or fun memory you’ve had with them in the past.  If appropriate, you can mention what you are doing or ask to connect in person.  Don’t send your card, but do add your phone number under your signature or in other appropriate places.

3. Think about your system and how you plan to continue to connect.

A personalized plan is best.  Decide how often you will stay in touch.  Once per quarter is ideal — more often and you are less likely to actually follow-up (or your contacts may begin to wonder why you have so much time on your hands!).  Add holidays, business events and personal events like birthdays or work anniversaries to your systemized plan.

4. Have an impact and make a statement.

This method of connection also helps your network connect with the things that are important to you.  Do you run in charity events?  You could send a card that also supports that cause.  If you are a golfer, send a postcard from your favorite course.  Or design a card yourself using your own personal color of ink.  My plumber does not send coupons for his services, but rather for purchasing trees to help with reforestation and he sends recipes for his favorite cookies around the year-end holidays.  What have I now learned about my plumber?

5. Mix it up.

Don’t always do the same thing — be creative.  There are many tools to help you find creative ways to “reach out and touch” your network.

Connecting, nurturing and staying in touch with your network is a necessity.  Being known and trusted requires being present.  If you wish to leverage your network, you must invest in your network.  Personal marketing, building relationships and connecting helps others know you, which in turn, helps your career and your brand.  When others know who you are they are able to speak to your uniqueness and value.

Connecting with your network is not just a job search task, it is a career management must.  What is your plan for this year?  How will you really connect with your network?

In late January, I am hosting a 3-part workshop:  Identify, Leverage & Own Your Uniqueness.  The workshop is designed to help you quickly identify your strengths and see how others view those strengths, so that you can stand out in the eyes of hiring managers.

If this opportunity speaks to you, drop me an email.  I will send you the details and information on how to sign up for the workshop.

Have an amazing week!

“What simple things do you do every day that impact your life and income?”

“Please share the ones that absolutely help you enjoy life and work and improve your personal income.”

I recently asked the above questions to my clients and colleagues earning 6+ figures.  While not a scientific survey, I’ve compiled the top and most common tips to share with you.

Why do so?  To help you make 2014 a year of improved performance, higher earnings and, simply, more fun!  Perhaps you too can adopt a few of the things that these highly productive, and happy, people find helpful.

Here are the results:

1.  Maintain your health and care for yourself.  Eat right, rest and exercise.  Self-care, staying fit and maintaining your health adds to your wealth and well-being.    This is a top tip on almost every list!

2.  Know yourself and leverage your strengths.  Performance and earnings increase when you do what you do best.

   “Once I learned to stop focusing on and trying to fix weaknesses, my income jumped 26.5 %.  What an impact that had on me and my family.”  – DDA

3.  Look ahead and set goals.  Know where you want to be in a year, 5 years and 10 years from now.

4.  Maintain personal discipline and be organized.  The tips on this vary.  While there is no one way to do this, each person queried stated that having a set of rules or guidelines for achieving tasks and goals is important.  Whether lists, calendars or assistants, find your system and use it daily.

5.  Read and continue to learn.  Read books, newspapers and blogs.  Read to your kids or family.  Learn and stay current.  Many shared they re-read books that impacted them.  Odds are when you re-read a book, you will learn something new.

6.  Market yourself and stay connected.  One of my mentor says, “Not marketing yourself is selfish.”  Share your talents and passions with everyone who needs to know — you never know when you can be of service.

7.  Invest your time wisely.  Time is the great equalizer.  We all have the same amount of time each day.  Think about, plan and invest your time wisely.  Invest in yourself each day.  If you don’t invest in yourself and think you are worth investing in — why would others take a risk on you?

8.  Don’t fly by the seat of your pants.  It is fine to take risks and to be spontaneous, but know the impact of what you are doing and then decide what you want to do.  Don’t just allow things to happen.  Make a decision.

9.  Be personally responsible.  Whether the outcome is good or not so good, own what you do.  When you’ve made a mistake, own it, and figure out how to correct the action.

10.  Be who you are.  Be comfortable in your own skin.  Know who you are and show and share it with the world!

Enjoy these tips.  Adapt them to help you.  Unleash your uniqueness, your energy and earn what you deserve this year.

Do you have a great tip?  Post it below.

In late January, I am hosting a 3-part workshop:  Identify, Leverage & Own Your Uniqueness.  The workshop is designed to help you quickly identify your strengths and see how others view those strengths, so that you can stand out in the eyes of hiring managers.

If this opportunity speaks to you, drop me an email.  I will send you the details and information on how to sign up for the workshop.

Have an amazing week!

“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” ~ Muhammad Ali

Do you view the world differently than you did 30 years ago?  How do you view your career differently than you did 30 years ago?

Sharing — and owning — your story and life is an amazing and profitable journey.  It is not, however, without risk, fear and bumps along the way.

One of the bumps we all encounter is the need to adjust, adapt or change our point of view.  How have you changed your point of view?  Is your identity still tied to your career?

When I hear someone tie their identity to a job, title, or even a job loss, I immediately flash back to my 20’s and my point of view at the time.  Also, I recall how I felt when I lost the job I thought I would have forever.  I understand these emotions on a very personal level.

I have never forgotten those feelings, nor the lessons I learned due to my point of view at the time.    However, I did not waste 30 years, I adjusted my world view.

One of the shifts in my view is that I now believe I am enough.  I have and can access all I need to be successful.  The super cool thing is that you do, too!

I believe, without a doubt, that each person on earth is given unique skills and talents and is able to find a job that sustains their lifestyle and utilizes their gifts and talents.

You can find a job in tough economic times.  You can do work you enjoy.  You can move past a job loss.  You are not dependent on a specific employer or the state of the economy for your success.

Seeing, sharing and owning who you are as a person (not just as an employee) creates an amazing career and life journey.  You will never see the world the same.

Do you feel like you are wasting time?  Do you need some help to land the job you want?  Contact me and let’s talk about how I might be able to help.

I guarantee shifting your view will accelerate your search and will keep you from wasting years of your life.

LinkedIn is a great tool.  Yet, if you are making some of the most common mistakes, your profile may by hurting you more than helping you.

Recruiters search LinkedIn for candidates.  Hiring managers use LinkedIn to prep for interviews and decide who lands on the short list.  Your friends and network contacts (new and established) access and use your LinkedIn profile to share information about you, connect with you and decide if they would like to do business with you.

What message are you sending?

Here are 4 common mistakes to avoid if you want to be in the running for the ‘right’ position:

1. Pasting your résumé into your profile.  LinkedIn is not a job board, rather it is a gateway to your online presence.  With its volume and traffic, your LinkedIn profile will show up in most searches for you and for the job you do.  Create a compelling summary that gains you favorable attention.  Ensure your prose encourages people to read your summary, click your links and learn more about you.  People hire people they know, like and trust.  Use your profile to become trusted and to build relationships.  Job opportunities will follow.
2. Ignoring the details.  Your LinkedIn profile is a 24-7 marketing site for you.  Be sure you optimize your profile, so it will be found in a search.  List, at minimum, your past three job titles and link to your past employer(s) Company LinkedIn page’s (if they have one). Focus on your key skills, the benefits you offer and problems you solve. Be selective and highlight the talents for which you want to be known.  Manage your endorsements — looking like a ‘Jack or Jill of All Trades’ does not enhance your value.
3. Being generic.  Your profile needs to pop and paint a picture of you.  If it reads like a dry job description, it may be promptly discarded.  People hire people, not lists of skills.  Include your personality.  Create an emotional connection.  Use facts to tell your story and demonstrate your experience and value.
4. Dropping in only occasionally.  Create a plan to regularly engage in the community and update your LinkedIn profile.  Just as not returning a phone call reflects your lack of interest, so does not responding on LinkedIn.  A slow response reveals much to those who use LinkedIn as a recruiting or sourcing tool.  If you are shopping for a home and pass a house with neglected gardens, what is your first thought?  Do you perceive it to have a lower value or be a bargain due to its need of repair?  The same principal applies to LinkedIn.

Do you think your schedule is too busy for a great well managed LinkedIn profile?  You can have a great LinkedIn profile and manage it in just minutes a week.

Email me to learn more about effectively managing your LinkedIn profile.  I will send you a video link and a fun tip sheet.

Listening is a mix of art and science.  The investment is low, yet few job searchers really listen to the companies they are targeting.  Are you listening? You know doing research on potential employers is important.  You know how and where to research companies. Do you think research trumps listening? Too often I hear, “I have done the research and know the company, so why listen?”  OK, I get it.  You know your target market. You have narrowed your list of companies.  You are focused on those who have problems you can solve.  But, do you know if these companies want to solve the problems you’re best at solving?  That is one good reason to listen. What if by listening, you discover that all the companies you are targeting don’t want or need to solve the problems you solve.  What will you do?  Will that change your next action? The real value and impact of listening is saving time.  Listening helps you shift your actions and improve your results. Can you think of other reasons to listen? Here are a few:

• You may discover other problems or wants you can help solve
• You’ll hear about new products or services that are about to launch where you’re experience would be valuable
• You’ll learn about changes in the marketplace or competition that enhances your value

Where do you “listen” to your target companies?   One of my favorite places is industry blogs.  Another helpful place to listen is LinkedIn.  Did you know there are 3 Million LinkedIn Company Pages and Counting? What is your top reason to listen to the companies that you follow?   Where is your favorite place to listen? Please post your answers below and share your great listening tips with others.

Does today, or worse yet, your life, feel out of sync?  Is this feeling impacting your career?

When you get up in the morning to go to work, does it feel like it is the middle of summer and you’re walking around in your winter coat, hat and gloves?  Does your work feel more like shoveling snow than playing on the beach?

It saddens me to think about the number of talented professionals who say their careers feel like a “heavy winter coat on a hot summer day.”  Life is meant to be fun and enjoyable.  Earning a living and sustaining your career shouldn’t feel like a burden.

If you feel out of sync in your work, or in a career transition, it is not a huge problem.  In fact, it is much easier to solve than you think.

But, you say, “The economy is still not very good.”  Well, guess what?  You can have a job you love in a good economy or a bad one.  The economy does not drive your career — you do!

When you feel restless or like something is missing in your career, it might be that you are just a little out of touch with your talents.  Maybe you are not fully using them or you got sucked into someone else’s opinion of what your great career looks like.

These three steps will help you get clarity, find focus and feel in sync:

• Assessing where you are
• Assessing what you are saying and doing
• And, asking yourself, “Are these things in alignment?”

To help, answer the following questions:

• List three things you did this week that felt wearing a winter coat in summer.
• Now, list three things you love to do.
• What do I talk about?
• Does what I talk about feel like a burden or a joy?
• What would happen if I did more of the things I do well and enjoy doing?
• What would happen if the things I enjoy doing were the things I talk about and share with others?

Being in sync is really only steps away when you align your talent to your work, and your message to your talent.   Using the steps above, create a plan to use your unique gift and execute your plan at least 9 minutes per day.  If you have a question or need some help to get started, contact me.

It is summer — even in New England!  To many, summer brings a slower or different pace.  A pace that often allows for reflection.

On a hot summer day, I love to lie in the grass and look up at the clouds, letting my mind wander about what is next for me and my career.  A clear vision begins to form and I use that vision to generate a plan for the coming year.

As a kid I would lie in the grass, usually over several days and I would envision my life, my career — everything.   Then I would have a clear picture of where I was going and what I needed to do in order to achieve my goals.  The vision always became reality when I executed on the priorities. Then the following summer I’d expand my vision and paddle forward.

This process shaped my view of creating, managing and fine turning my life and my career and, to some extent, my view of how others manage their careers.  As I see it, people often manage their careers as travelers on a river.  They are either Floaters or Paddlers.

FLOATERS let the river take them wherever it chooses.  They are content to watch the world go by at its own pace—with their progress and direction at the mercy of other forces. Floaters sometimes take an unexpected dip because they are not prepared for the currents. Floaters just let it happen.

There are floaters in the workplace, too.  They allow bosses, department heads and other forces to direct their careers. Unprepared for change, they can find themselves “in deep water,” trying to figure out what happened – wondering if that promotion will ever come and where their career is going. Floaters don’t take control of their careers; they don’t live their purpose.

PADDLERS, on the other hand, take charge of their direction, path and speed. Paddlers are going somewhere – with a purpose. Paddlers make it happen.

Paddlers have a distinct mindset and a purpose.  They think like the CEO of a business. They assess their strengths and weaknesses, develop their skills and hone an understanding of the currents, conditions and environment.  Paddlers, like kayakers, have a plan for the trip.  If they take a spill they have the ability, confidence and self-understanding to right the craft quickly and continue their journey. What might have been a disaster becomes a minor detour.

Are you a floater or paddler?

Does it matter?   That is for you to decide.

Consider the following:

It is still a very competitive workplace and marketplace.

Releasing your career and floating down the river does limit your ability to control and influence your revenue stream (or salary, if you are still thinking like an employee) and your happiness.  Floating can be stressful and unfulfilling.  Stress and lack of fulfillment zap both the fun and enjoyment out of life and, at least for me, impact happiness.

Owning your career and your vision allows you to control the pace at which you paddle, influence your revenue and kick in your fun factor.  Less stress, more money, the work you enjoy, and WOW, loving your life!  Paddling does take work, yet for me it is the best choice.

Comment below and let me know if you are a Paddler or a Floater and why your choice is important to you.

Getting your résumé noticed and in the hands of the right person is tough.  You can’t afford to waste time or make mistakes.

Boring, plain and empty résumés don’t grab attention and they don’t get read.  If you want to get an interview, you must gain favorable attention.

Are you ready to be happy, make the money you deserve and land your dream job?  Then it is time to avoid the BIG mistakes.

Are you making the biggest mistake?

Failing to address the problems you solve is among the biggest mistakes employers note when talking about résumés.  Hiring managers don’t have time nor do they want to stop and try to figure out if you can solve the problem most important to them.  Grab their attention by sharing how you can solve their problem!

Here are 3 tips to avoid making this mistake:

1. Use all your fire power to quickly and clearly identify what you can do for the employer.

2. Set your résumé apart by telling the reader about the extraordinary manner or method you use to solve problems.

3. Offer an unambiguous picture of what your new boss will experience when working with you as you solve the problems.

Finally, it is not enough to have a great résumé.  You must also be able to avoid this BIG mistake during an interview. If you’re boring or never gain the interviewer’s attention with the problems you solve, you won’t be in the running for the job.

Is a résumé mistake keeping you stuck in a job you have out grown?  Will your résumé knock you out before an interview even occurs?

Do you have a résumé comment or a question?

Please post it below.

Do you look for ways to be indispensable?   If yes, that is wonderful.   If not, you should be.

Pause today and list some of the ways you are indispensable to your current — or future — employer and to the world.  Do you maximize relationships?  What is your unique place within the business model, organization or industry?  Do you bring new ideas or ways of doing things?  Do you produce the best widgets?  Are you the master of quality?

There are unlimited ways you are indispensable in the world.  Use your imagination and ask others for feedback.

Becoming vital to a client, boss or organization creates a bond and a relationship.  When the people you work for and with have a connection to you and to what make you vital, your value changes.  As those in your closest circle experience who you are and what you do best, you strengthen your bonds and your circle of influence expands.  These relationships open doors and provide you with valuable assets — people who tell your story and share your vital skills. 

These people naturally share, with excitement, how critical you are and what make you so valuable.  As this occurs, more and more people and organizations discuss you, what you do and how helpful your presence would be in other situations.

Simply, once your story is told, you stand out and your value shines!

Be vital, it is a smart career strategy.  Be vital and maximize your value.  Be vital and you will watch with amazement as doors open and the ease at which others want to share your story.  Be vital and soar!

Post in the comments below and let me know what makes you vital and who will help share your story.

Bonus Tip:  If you want to learn more about how to be vital, I recommend you read:  Ditch. Dare. Do!  3D Personal Branding for Executives: 66 Ways To Become Influential, Indispensable, and Incredibly Happy at Work.  

You can learn more about the book at www.ditchdaredo.com  or purchase it at “Ditch. Dare. Do!”  

Everyone has a special niche – their little corner of the world.  Are you known in your corner of the world?

If not, why not?   Did you elect to stay a secret?

Are you a secret because:

• You don’t have the time to figure out your value?
• You don’t have the confidence to share it with the world?
• You don’t have the time to share your story?

Odds are you are very good at what you do.  And, the odds are just as great that very few people know much about you, your niche and what makes your work so special.

We are all taught, “don’t brag” and “let your work speak for itself.”   Those are great sayings and I ‘m sure, when shared with us as children, the intent was to help or protect us from something.

As a career coach, I talk to so many people who not only don’t know how to describe or share their unique niche, they have no clue what the value of their special skills are in the marketplace.  Are you one of those people?

If you are, you are limiting your income, happiness and success.  Companies, peers and potential hiring managers are looking for confidence and for people who add value to their teams by knowing who they are and what they can do.

If you are confident and known in you niche, you will be looked for and found.  If you hide your value or simply fail to share it, others won’t seek you out and you will always find yourself running to stay even or just one step ahead.

In today’s marketplace, those who enjoy the most success, have the most fun and are the most influential in their industry are recognized in their niche and by the people who need them.  They have a strong brand and they enjoy life every day.

It’s really not difficult to achieve this status, do the work you love and have clients value your skills.

If you are ready to join the ranks of these confident and talented people, I highly recommend you read:  Ditch. Dare. Do!  3D Personal Branding for Executives: 66 Ways To Become Influential, Indispensable, and Incredibly Happy at Work.  

You can learn more about the book at www.ditchdaredo.com  or purchase it at “Ditch. Dare. Do!”