Personal Branding Interview #2: John C. Maxwell | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

Today, I spoke to John C. Maxwell, who is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author who has sold over 16 million books. You should also read my previous interview with John from early 2009. His latest book is called Everyone Communicates Few Connect. In this interview, John talks about why everyone communicates but few connect, some ways to connect with your audience, his five connecting principles and practices, and more.

Why does everyone communicate but few connect?

I believe that most people are more concerned about getting across their point of view, trying to be heard and understood. To connect you have to do something counter-intuitive: focus on the other person and try to understand their point of view.

What are some ways to connect with your audience?

First, listen. One on one, I’ll ask questions and listen to the other person’s answers to get to know them. Even when I prepare to speak to a group, I still ask lots of questions to find out what my host and the people care about. At the event, I pay attention to what’s happening in the room. Sometimes how I’m introduced will give me clues to what would add the most value to the audience. Also, it’s amazing what eye contact and a smile will do to help you connect, whether with an individual or a group. Eye contact helps me gauge their response in the moment, and a smile lets people know I care about them.

What are the Five Connecting Principles? Which one is the most crucial?

1. Connecting increases your influence in every situation.
2. Connecting is all about others.
3. Connecting goes beyond words.
4. Connecting always requires energy.
5. Connecting is more skill than natural talent.

The most important principle is #2: connecting is all about others. Just recognizing this truth will make a huge difference in a communicator’s ability to connect. The biggest single step you can take in growth as a connector is to change your focus.

What are the Five Connecting Practices? Which one has been the most important in your own career?

1. Connectors connect on common ground.
2. Connectors do the difficult work of keeping it simple.
3. Connectors create an experience everyone enjoys.
4. Connectors inspire people.
5. Connectors live what they communicate.

Connectors live what they communicate. I believe that the greatest disconnect is when a speaker’s words and actions don’t line up. You can be eloquent and persuasive and be sharing a great message. But if the audience senses that what you say and who you really are don’t match, you lose credibility and the audience disconnects.

How can someone whose just entering the workforce create change?

It probably won’t surprise you that I believe the best way to initiate change is to CONNECT.

But think about it: Change within an organization begins with the people. So your ability to communicate and connect with others is a major determining factor in increasing your influence. And increasing your influence with them is your way of making change happen.

Some tips:

Be prepared to expend energy on connecting. It’s not something you can do when you feel like it or when it’s convenient. Also, we go back to focusing on others. Focusing on yourself or your agenda isn’t connection; it’s manipulation. Finally, look for common ground. By finding where you’re similar, you can begin to build a bridge.

——
John C. Maxwell is an internationally recognized leadership expert, speaker, and author who has sold over 16 million books. His organizations have trained more than 2 million leaders worldwide. Dr. Maxwell is the founder of EQUIP and INJOY Stewardship Services. Every year he speaks to Fortune 500 companies, international government leaders, and audiences as diverse as the United States Military Academy at West Point, the National Football League, and ambassadors at the United Nations. A New York Times , Wall Street Journal , and Business Week best-selling author, Maxwell was named the World’s Top Leadership Guru by Leadershipgurus.net. He was also one of only 25 authors and artists named to Amazon.com’s 10th Anniversary Hall of Fame. Three of his books, The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, Developing the Leader Within You, and The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader have each sold over a million copies. His latest book is called Everyone Communicates Few Connect.

via personalbrandingblog.com

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The Best College Grad Job Search Resources - Vol 2 - Secrets of the Job Hunt Career Podcast

Reposted from CareerAlley

"There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs." - Anonymous

There are few of us who enter college knowing what we want to be when we grow up, and many of us change our major one or more times. So what does that mean about finding your first job out of school? Well for one, don't stress out looking for the right answer (or the elevator to success) because there isn't always a right answer. The trick is to find a job that closely aligns to your skill set with a company that offers the best chance for achieving your career goals.

Sounds easy, but in practice it takes a lot of work. Take the stairs, it will take you longer to get there but the rewards are worth the pain.

College Grad / Entry Level Job Search Sites:

• Alumwire.com - "Real Connections" is the tag line for this professional network which focuses on "job search, recruiting, career enhancement, and other business pursuits" according to their website. The main page is all about jobs. There is a link for the Alumwire Virtual Career Fair Schedule followed by featured jobs (with a link to see additional jobs), an overview on networking below which is a link where you can update your resume and set-up your profile. View Jobs by Category is on the right hand side of the page. This is definitely a site worth checking out.

• 37signals Job Board - A job board by 37signals.com, the page offers lists of jobs, sorted by job category (Design Jobs, Programming Jobs, and several other categories). Click on any job opportunity to see a job description along with contact information. There is a "live search" box at the top of the page as well. You can click on the category to see all the jobs for that category and you can subscribe via RSS as well.

• Work for Students - By, of course, workforstudents.com. This is a good place to look if you are looking for work while in college. Remember, what you doing during school (and I don't mean just your school work) is sometimes more important than what you did in school (not an excuse to get a C). Links at the top of the page for Opportunities, Resources and Apply. There are links for latest news and Career Resources center page. Enter your zip code (top right hand side of the screen) and click Go.

College Grad Job Search Advice:

• 2009 Best Companies for Diverse Graduates - Thanks to Diversity Edge (thediversityedge.com) for this listing of the best companies for diverse graduates. The article has a brief overview followed by a listing of the companies. You will recognize most (if not all) of the 20 companies on this list. At the bottom of the article is a link to the website.

• Job Hunting Tips for the New College Graduate – Or Anyone - Good article (from Generation X Finance) which has some good advice, covering topics such as Experience Matters, Start Early, Networking and more. This article is definitely worth a read. There are related articles at the bottom of the page.

Company Career Sites for College – Check out these links:

• Northrop Grumman

• KPMG LLP

• Target Corporation

• Turner Construction

Good luck in your search.

Visit my site www.CareerAlley.com
Visit me on Facebook
Visit me on LinkedIn

via secretsofthejobhunt.com

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What Would Dad Say » New Job Searching App for the IPAD

The LinkUp IPad app (FREE, what did you expect from LinkUp?) is now available via iTunes.  Just search on ‘job search’ and you can see it, download it, marvel at it.

You will marvel at it.  It’s that good.  Mah-va-lous.

Our development team used all the Ipad features and functionality.  This is not some slap it together, let’s get it out Ipad app.  It is not an universal app either…you know, one that was really made for the IPhone, but now made to fit on the IPad, but it just floats in the middle like a piece of software crap an embarrassing signal of development incompetence for the entire world to see and unmarvel at…NOT our LINKUP app.

Like Billy Crystal said, “It’s just mahvelous.”

If you have an Ipad, download it. Then browse around.  If you have a job you can see all the other companies who are now beginning to hire–over 450,000 job openings whoohoo.  Real jobs, open, and mostly un-advertised elsewhere.

If you don’t have an Ipad, the LinkUp app is a good reason to get one.

Just saying.

Ed note. You can check out LinkUp Ipad features here.

via blogs.jobdig.com

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Convert Your Personal Brand into Monthly Cash Flow | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

How can you convert your personal branding book into consistent monthly cash flow? Unfortunately, many authors fail to address monthly cash flow issues soon enough.

How and when does your personal branding book convert into cash?

Although writing a nonfiction book is generally accepted as the best way to create and promote your personal brand, less attention is usually placed  on questions like how, where, when, and what:

• How do other authors profit from their brands?
• Where does the money come from?
• When does a meaningful and consistent cash flow begin?
• What can authors do to speed the process?

Let’s start by taking a brief look at how other branded authors traditionally profit from their books and their personal brands.

Origins of authors’ profits

Although there are always exceptions–some trade publishers are still offering occasional six and seven figure advances–these are the exceptions and can’t be counted on. Authors who receive the headline-generating advances are, for the most part, “celebrity” authors from the world of business or politics who have already established their visibility in the public’s eye.

Income from book royalties, after the advance has been paid back, likewise, is a problematic source of income:

• Delays. Royalties begin only after the publisher’s advance has been deducted. In addition, royalties are typically only paid once or twice a year, although some publishers pay quarterly.
• Terms. Author royalties depend on where their books are sold. Trade publishers sell through multiple retail channels, each typically paying different royalties to authors. Books sold through book clubs and warehouse outlets earn different amounts than retail chains and independent bookstores. Foreign rights are typically licensed, adding  to the complexity.
• Deductions. In addition to standard deductions for tasks like indexing fees, significant amounts of money are typically set aside for returns. Most books on display in retail bookstores are displayed on a consignment basis–publishers (and, hence, authors) are only paid for books after they are actually sold.

Because of the above delays and uncertainties, many highly successful nonfiction authors don’t even count on income from sales of their book, even though their previous books may have sold 100,000 copies, and more.

Cash flow and self-publishing

Self-publishing eliminates most of the above uncertainty and offers a far greater per-copy profit, but requires more author investment upfront.

Granted, the “visible” costs of getting a print-0n-demand book published is low, in terms of investment needed to print 25 or 100 author copies for promotional purposes. However, from a practical point of view, most first-time authors require assistance from book coaches, developmental editors, proof readers, and cover designers to convert their book idea into files ready to be printed.

Traditional sources of author cash flow

Rather than count on income from book sales, most entrepreneurial authors typically depend on the following sources of income:

• Professional services. Profitable coaching and consulting opportunities can quickly follow the publication of a book.
• Speaking and presenting. Paid speaking opportunities range from short presentations to keynote addresses and producing conferences and workshops. Ten and twenty thousand dollar keynote addresses are just the tip of the iceberg.
• Proprietary information products. Books offer numerous opportunities for creating so-called “back end” products like audios, videos, memory cards, reports, templates, and workbooks to help readers implement the author’s ideas.

The profit potential from the above is great, but the above profit options share a few significant disadvantages:

1. Hard to leverage. All of the above demand the author’s personal attention and time. Authors can’t send someone to deliver their speech, and most coaching and consulting clients want the author, not a substitute.
2. Consistent income. Many branded authors find it’s either feast or famine; there’s either more business than can be handled, or there’s not enough business.
3. Vulnerability. As many authors have found during the past few years, economic conditions can cause one’s lucrative speaking opportunities to dry up–seemingly overnight, (i.e.,  post 9/11).

In addition, most of the above depend on “event,” or one-time, purchases that fail to create consistent income. Corporations don’t need a monthly keynote speaker, etc.

Continuity programs

To get around the limitations of the above, many authors have embraced subscription-based programs, like membership sites, to smooth their monthly cash flow.

Instead of buying a book or report, clients and readers can subscribe to a series of monthly events, reports, or coaching sessions.

All continuity programs, however, suffer from turnover; new subscribers are needed to balance those who drop out from the program–often for reasons that have little to do with the quality of the information delivered.

Implementation programs

In their Official Get Rich Guide to Information Marketing, Dan Kennedy, Bill Glazer, and Robert Skrob argue a new perspective.

In Chapter 2, Step 2: The Business of Selling Paper and Ink, they encourage authors and information marketers to develop on-going systems to help their readers and clients implement their ideas.

As they describe, the past 25 businesses have been increasingly looking for one-stop solutions to their problems:

• Early information marketers sold “how to” guides for publishing newsletters.
• Later, they offered workbooks and fill-in-the-blank templates.
• Then, in the 1990’s, they began providing printed newsletters, ready for clients to personalize, address, and mail.
• Now, information marketers not only provide content, they maintain client mailing lists and print, address, and mail the newsletters.

The benefits? monthly cash flow and client lock-in:

…these products create customers who pay every month for the service!

In addition, as Internet millionaire Ryan Lee has described, authors who provide monthly valuable implementation services lock-in their clients because, as he describes it, the “pain of disconnect” becomes too much to bear.

Because the costs and commitment required to take outsourced services in-house are too daunting, it becomes easier for clients to maintain the status quo.

Planning your cash flow

What can you do today to leverage your personal brand and your book idea into tomorrow’s cash flow? In many cases, the first step is to re-examine your book publishing goals and resources. Next, you might re-examine your back-end profit ideas from the monthly cash flow perspective, instead of just total earning potential. Finally, you can begin to explore ways you can lock-in monthly profits by helping your clients implement your ideas so they will stick with you longer. Share your ideas as comments, below.

Author:

Roger C. Parker shares ideas for planning, writing, promoting, & profiting from brand building books in his daily writing tips blog. His latest book is #BOOK TITLE Tweet: 140 Bite-Sized Ideas for Compelling Article, Book, & Event Titles.

Related posts:

1. Why it Takes More than Information to Write a Brand-Building Book It takes more than information to write a book...
2. Does Self-Publishing Make Sense? Three big questions One of the biggest decisions business...
3. How to Avoid the 11 Biggest Mistakes of First-Time Authors Writing, books, and personal branding go hand in hand....

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Resume Lessons from a Garden | Blue Sky Resumes Blog

When we moved into our home 11 years ago, the garden was completely overgrown with ivy and weed vines. I spent a few years chopping them back and finally got it to the stage where I could plant flowers. But after clearing all those vines, I also discovered a few plants from some other previous gardener, including rose bush that was situated under a tree.

Anyone who gardens knows that roses need sunlight, so it’s not surprising that my little rose never bloomed. The tree was blocking all the sunlight and the only things that thrived in that part of the garden were ferns, hostas and other shade plants. Still, I don’t like killing things (except those horrid weed vines!) so I just left it there. Every year it grew tall but every year it remained flowerless.

Then last Fall, we hired a tree service to cut back the trees around the house. I didn’t think any more about it until last week, when my rose bush suddenly burst into flower. The tree guy really didn’t cut much off that tree and yet it was obviously just enough to allow those flowers to bloom.

As I took the picture posted with this blog, I thought about how similar this is to the process I go through when writing a resume. So much of the information I learn about a client would actually obscure his or her potential if I included it in the resume. My job is to cut away the ivy and weed vines, and to shine enough light on key facts in order to help my client realize his or her potential.

I think that most people view writing a resume as an exercise in factual documentation (“I worked in this place for this many years and these were the things I did. Then I went to this place and stayed there for 3 years and here is what I did”). But it’s not that at all. It’s a selective process, a filtering process – your job when writing a resume is to determine the important information and then create a document that allows that information to shine out from the page – just like my lovely red rose bush.

via blueskyresumes.com

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Why You Aren't Getting Hired - Excelle

Trouble finding a job?

Hamsa Ramesha | Excelle

Frustrated by unemployment?

Job hunting is tricky business. Getting hired is a subtle mix of the right qualifications, enough experience, interview chemistry, and a dash of luck. Assuming you’re making all the right moves and avoiding the really obvious job seeker mistakes, there are a few points to consider that could be your ticket out of unemployment.

Get out of your job search rut and back in the game by fixing these five mistakes you might be making:

1. Job Description

Read it. Do you meet every qualification listed? If you think you can get away by not having that extra few years of experience or make do without the requested higher degree, think again. Job descriptions are a baseline for hiring managers. With so many job applicants, recruiters are naturally going to pick the best of the best, and that means you’ve got to meet every single one of the job requirements, at the very least. But that doesn’t mean you should give up, either. If you find yourself not meeting a certain job requirement time after time, do something about it! Nothing shows dedication like taking action.

2. Word Play

It’s not enough to have a clean resume free of grammar and spelling errors; you’ve got to go that extra mile. No matter how amazing your resume looks, everything lies in the words. If the hiring manager has to decipher your resume jargon, don’t expect a call back. Phrase your resume with the right keywords. Use powerful words that imply action and sell your experiences by highlighting specific achievements and accomplishments. The right keywords are your key to getting your resume on top of the pile.

3. Job Search Tactics

Browsing through the classifieds? Going through Human Resources? Looking at company websites for job leads? One reason your job search may have hit a dead end is because your methods are outdated. Get with the 21st century and go online! The right social network can connect you directly with the job you want. Use Twitter to find jobs in your field and LinkedIn to maintain your connections. Spread yourself out and try something new — you never know which method will work!

4. Not The Right Fit

There is no perfect recipe to getting hired. You could do everything right — dress your best, arrive on time, and come fully prepared — and still not get the job. Sometimes, it’s just a matter of personality or a clash with the unstated corporate culture. At this point, qualifications don’t matter. It’s the sad truth — and completely legal. One consolation: It’s not you, it’s them.

5. Lady Luck

You’d think if you did everything right you’d be guaranteed a job. But job hunting isn’t always like an equation where the right steps will guarantee you the right answer. Lady Luck can play her hand and leave you in the dust. The position might go to another, equally qualified, candidate, or the timing will simply be off. Family restrictions may prevent you from taking the job or the company simply can’t afford to hire you right now. The best thing you can do in a situation like this is thank your contact for their time and keep that relationship alive. You just may be the person they call for their next opening!

6. High Expectations

It’s one thing to stay positive about your job outlook, and another to have false hopes about your prospects. Are you aiming at jobs out of your league? Expecting a certain salary range or health benefits? We’d all love to work at our dream job, but we take the job that’s good enough — because it is. Ask yourself what you’re willing to give up to get a job. Be honest with yourself. Changing your mindset can broaden your job search results drastically. You may find yourself on a regular payroll faster than you think!

via excelle.monster.com

Posted via web from AndyWergedal

How to Write a Cover Letter That Captures Your Future Boss’ Attention!

The key to writing a cover letter that is sure to capture the attention of your future boss or company is to write it yourself. I’m pretty sure that after reading that first line, you’re already debating to yourself that you’re not a writer and you do not have a clue on what to write. Don’t be too hard on yourself, because everything that is needed to create a good cover letter is right there in your head – you just need to know how to tap into that hidden gift.

Know what you want

The first thing that you need to do before writing your cover letter is to know what you want. Here are some good questions you should be asking yourself before you apply for a job:

- What type of job or industry to do I want to work in?

- Why do I like that job or industry?

- Do I have the skills for the job?

Once you know the answers to these questions, writing a cover letter and even answering your interviewer’s questions will be incredibly easy for you, because you aren’t confused and you have given enough thought to what you are doing.

Know what you’re selling

Any good sales person will tell you that you cannot promote a product that you know little about. Now, what exactly is it that you are selling? Yourself, of course! You are trying to convince your prospective employer that you have what they need! Yes, you may know a lot about yourself, but your buyer doesn’t! This is precisely why you should tailor fit the product (you) for the buyers (your future employer). You can do this by reading through the job description intently and ensuring that your resume is updated.

Personalize It!

Once you have figured out what you want and what it is you’re going to pitch to your prospective employer, it is now time for you to write. You can refer to templates and samples so you know what flow or format to use. The important thing is that you are conveying the message that you want to send to your employers.

Get a second opinion

Even if you are a brilliant writer, it’s still important for you to get a second opinion or another’s opinion when it comes to the work you have done. This is why you should have a friend or relative who is good at writing have a look before thinking of mailing it out.

They will not only help you with the spelling and grammar, but they can also provide you with their opinion regarding the mood and tone of the cover letter. By Chris L Maloney – view samples here.

Similar Posts:

• Learn How to Write a Cover Letter – 7 Essential Elements For Success
• Dressing Resume Cover Letters Samples to Kill – Two Great Tricks For Example Resume Cover Letters
• Your Resume Should Look Like a Marketing Brochure – Five Tips to Improve Yours
• Write a Resume For Results – The Cover Letter is Critical!
• Put Some fever in Your Cover Letters
• Cover Letters – The Icing on the Cake
• Brand It, Sell It, Win it – What Makes You Different?
• Cover Letter No-No’s
• Great Cover Letters Are More Effective With Deeper Research
• 7 Cover Letter Mistakes You Make When Applying Via E-Mail

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via employmentdigest.net

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