Interviewing 102: Make a Difference

By Dean Tracy

As I coach candidates on job search and interview tactics globally, I admit that there is a bit of a science to nailing the second round interview. If you have the proper formula, you may be the only candidate to make a lasting impression that the company will not soon forget!

Chances are good that if you’re being invited back for a second round of interviews, then you’ve made a good initial impression and have something that they want. That said, besides charisma and all of the right answers to their questions, what will you bring to the interview that will impress them enough to use your interview as the standard against which to grade all other candidates?

Answer: Your 60/90-Day Strategic Plan.

During your first interview, you probably heard all about the pain-points that are driving the hiring manager crazy. This includes project deadlines, technology initiatives, budgets, client visits (if you’re in Sales), revenue goals and so on. Additionally, you may have noticed that they never seem to have enough people on staff!

If you’ve asked the right questions in your first round of interviews, and you are truly excited about this potential opportunity, then you should have a pretty good idea as to what you will do to be successful in this role. You should be able to identify at least a 60/90-day strategic plan, based upon your knowledge of the role as it is today.

If used carefully and properly, your strategic plan can be “The Difference Maker” for you in your second round of the interview process.

Three of the primary factors that demonstrate your value proposition, and will drive your success in this new potential role are as follows: having a vision / overview for the job, establishing trust with clients and colleagues, and being able to identify and set goals and objectives. Let’s go into each of these in depth.

Vision / Overview
Based upon what you have heard in the interview, you should know the vision / overview of the department or company. What impact will you make within your first 60/90 days that can be tied back to the company reaching its goals?

Consider the following when drafting your plan:

Know the Product
Establish a working knowledge of products or services to create long-term value in your employment.

Be Credible
Become a leader among your peers by spearheading initiatives, collaborating with the leadership team, or presenting to your department.

Establishing Trust with Clients and Colleagues
Establishing trust is essential for success in any role. What will you do to establish a high degree of trust within your piece of the company or amongst your peers

Make Introductions
Meet with key stakeholders in the company or department. This is beneficial on all fronts. It offers an opportunity for you to demonstrate your skills, but also allows you to get their perspectives on the company and projects.

Share Expectations
Understand the leadership team’s expectations. This is paramount to your success. Investigate revenue objectives, if possible, to set your personal goals. Think about setting “best practices” that may be beneficial to the company and your role. This will include understanding client needs and identifying what may have been learned from any mistakes along the way.

Create Buy-In and Set Priorities
Identify how you will partner with the leadership team to create attainable goals for success. Fully understand the company mission statement and be able to share it with others. This represents a degree of commitment and clarity on the corporate goals.

Goals and Objectives
Setting goals and objectives is simply good business practice. You need to fully understand your new role in order to be successful, and you must approach it as a business. In doing so, it’s critical that you identify your personal goals and objectives for success in this new capacity

Determine the Objectives
Educate yourself daily on a new aspect of the company, the expectations or the job. Establish product expertise within the first 30 days of employment. Build cross-departmental relationships with departments that are responsible for supporting your success.

Shape a Methodology
Identify the steps that you will take to accomplish your objectives. For every objective that is listed, you should have a supporting methodology for the accomplishment.

Reflect on Success
Identify how you will evaluate or measure the success of your contributions.

Setting yourself apart from the rest of the candidates is mission critical to having a lasting impact on the person or team that is interviewing you. No doubt, you’ve heard the phrase “raise the bar.” My perspective is that the candidate before and after you can raise the bar all they want. By entering into the second round interview prepared with a 60/90-Day Strategic Plan, you are sure to launch yourself over any bar that is set before you!

Dean Tracy is a Professional Recruiter, Public Speaker and Career Coach based in Northern California. He also serves on the Leadership Team for Job Connections.

14 Best Google Doc Tricks

1. If you install Google Gears, you can edit Docs word-processing documents offline, and Docs automatically syncs them with the online version the next time you sign in online.
2. If you make other folks collaborators on Docs documents and spreadsheets, everyone can work on the files simultaneously. To invite collaborators, head to the upper-right Share button (for documents) or Share tab (for spreadsheets).
3. It’s a snap to publish documents created in Docs as blog posts—just select “Publish as web page” from the Share menu, and then click the “Post to blog” button.
4. If you want to embed a Docs presentation in a Web site, just go to the Publish tab, click “Publish document”, and then copy the HTML that appears in the Mini Presentation Module box. Paste the code into your site’s HTML, upload the revised version of the site, and voilà!
5. Google gives you a whole slew of functions to help make working with spreadsheets more efficient. (The GoogleLookup function is particularly nifty.)
6. If your Docs list is getting cluttered, you can hide files (documents, spreadsheets, or presentations) to keep your list clean. Just turn on the checkbox next to any file you want to hide (you can select more than one), and then click the Hide button. To make a hidden file reappear, find All Items in the left-hand menu and, if necessary, click its + sign to expand it. Then click Hidden to see your hidden files; select the one(s) you want to see in your Docs list, and then click Unhide.
7. You can easily turn spreadsheet data into all kinds of charts: column, bar, pie, line, area, or scatter. To create a chart, open your spreadsheet to the Edit tab, select the range of cells you want to convert into a chart, and then click the “Add chart” button. In the Create Chart box that appears, tell Docs what kind of chart you want to create and fill in the other info it needs, and then click “Save chart.”
8. If you create a chart based on a Docs spreadsheet, you can save it as an image and insert it into a Docs document. After you create your chart, click its upper-left Chart link and select “Save image”. Save it to your computer, and then open the document you want to put it in. Click Insert and select Image, then tell Docs where to find the file on your computer.
9. If you don’t like a change that you (or someone else) made to one of your Docs files, no problem. Just head to that file’s revision history (click File and then choose “Revision history”) and pick a previous version that you like better.
10. If you’re working on a computer that doesn’t have Adobe Reader and you need to print a document, click Share and select “View as web page (Preview)” to open the formatted document as a Web page. You can then print it from your Web browser. The formatting isn’t quite as good as if you print from a PDF—and you’ll probably have the browser’s header and footer—but all the content is there.
11. If you’ve published a Docs document as a Web page, you can make the Web page update automatically whenever you edit the document. Just click Share and select “Publish as web page”; then turn on the “Automatically republish when changes are made” checkbox.
12. To see how your Docs document will look to folks you share it with, click the Share This Document page’s “Preview document as a viewer” link. If the preview doesn’t look quite right, then go back and edit the document before you share it.
13. You can add YouTube videos to your Docs presentations. In the blue bar above the edit pane, click “Insert video”. Google opens a box where you can search YouTube videos by keyword. Find the one you want and click it to select it. Then click the Insert Video button to put the video on your slide. Once it’s there, you can move, resize, or delete it, just like any image or shape. During a slideshow, viewers can play the video by clicking the Play button on its slide.
14. When you’ve got several collaborators editing the same document all at once, have each person choose a different color for his text to help sort out who made what changes. (The simplest thing is to have each person use the same text and highlight color.) Then, when you finalize the document, simply select the whole thing and click the “Text color” button to change the rainbow of text colors to basic black.

Source: Amazon.com, Google Apps: The Missing Manual

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11 Easy Ways To Save Time Using Google Apps

1. With Google Docs, you and your coworkers can edit the same document simultaneously, so you don’t have to waste time emailing files or tracking down the current version.
2. Put the Gmail gadget on your iGoogle page so you know right away when new email lands in your inbox (and can read it with one click).
3. When you’re away from a computer, check your Google Calendar events and appointments by sending a quick text message from your cell phone. Send one of these messages to GVENT (48368):
• “Next” to get a message about the next event in your calendar.
• “Day” to get a message listing all of today’s events.
• “Nday” to get a message listing tomorrow’s events.
4. Don’t waste time waiting around for a friend or coworker to answer your email. Use Google Talk to see at a glance whether the other person is online; if she is, click her name to start chatting.
5. Quit slowing yourself down by reaching for the mouse. Use the keyboard shortcuts available for Google Docs, Gmail, and Google Calendar to bring your data entry up to power-user speed.
6. If you use Firefox or Internet Explorer to browse the Web, install the Google Toolbar so you can keep an eye on Gmail, add events to your Calendar, and open files as you zip around the Web.
7. Use Gmail’s colored labels so you can scan your messages and quickly find what you’re looking for. Or simply use Gmail’s awesome search feature to zero in on a message.
8. Creating a Web site? Don’t get flummoxed by HTML, CSS, or any other what-the-heck-does-that-mean acronym. Use Google Page Creator, which comes preloaded with layouts and color-coordinated themes so you can see your pages as you build them.
9. Speed up data gathering by creating a form that automatically feeds data into a Google Docs spreadsheet: Create a new spreadsheet, and then click the Share tab. In the “Invite people” section, turn on the “to fill out a form” radio button, and then click “Start editing your form”. The form can have text boxes, multiple choice lists, checkboxes, and radio buttons. Click “Next, choose recipients” and specify who’ll receive the form. You can publish the form to the Web or embed it in your Web site or blog. When someone fills out the form, the info goes straight into your spreadsheet.
10. Send or receive files as you chat in Google Talk—no waiting around for someone to remember to send them via email or drop them off at your desk. Just drag-and-drop the file into the chat window, and off it goes.
11. Gather the info you refer to most in one place: your iGoogle page. Using Google gadgets, you get at-a-glance access to news headlines, weather forecasts, local movie times, a dictionary, and a whole lot more. So instead of chasing information around the Web, you’ve got the info that’s important to you right where you want it, all on one page. Best of all, you can put mini-versions of your Google apps on iGoogle, including Docs, Gmail, Talk, and Calendar, making it easy to keep an eye on your work and sending your productivity through the roof.

Source: Amazon.com, Google Apps The Missing Manual

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More Tips For Growing Your Network

By Debra Feldman

In today’s competitive job market, those who know what you know can help you generate a competitive advantage. Over 70% of executive jobs are never advertised; most new opportunities are filled through recommendations and referrals. If you’re like most $100K+ executives, you are usually too busy getting things done to spend time cultivating new connections and maintaining your existing professional network.
So when the time comes to look for a new career challenge, chances are you understand the importance of contacts, but you don’t have a network of insider contacts to support your search. By strategically focusing on connections that help to access leads, you can network purposefully and make faster progress towards a great offer. Here’s how to jumpstart your campaign and build your network starting now.

Cold calling is a very effective method for initiating contact with hiring decision makers at target companies. Choose an individual who can appreciate your background and needs experienced help. Show them that you can deliver solutions and won’t be a drain on their resources. Commanding attention requires research into industry and company-specific challenges. Persevere until you finally get the chance to present your interest and demonstrate your strengths. If you don’t persist, another savvy prospective employee will get the job that you want. Communicating the right message to the right person at the right time is key to attracting attention and engaging the employer in a meaningful dialogue about hiring you for their team. Once you meet, keep in touch. It is a lot more difficult to connect the first time than to maintain a connection.

Increasing your visibility to hiring authorities will attract employers to you. You can orchestrate a place for yourself on decision makers’ radar screens by impressing them with your initiative, achievements, and extraordinary ability to deliver results. If you want employers to find you, first they need to know what you can do for their bottom line. One of the best ways to display your talents is to be involved in producing, not just attending, industry events. Volunteer to chair a section or organize a dinner. You can do this online by participating in forums and e-lists where your contributions are evidence of your expertise and knowledge. Get more mileage out of your publications and presentations by sharing citations and hand-outs with your connections. Don’t be afraid to give an interview (or seek one out).

Reaching out to industry leaders purposefully expands your network. By initiating contact and introducing yourself to authors, speakers, bloggers, academics and other key leaders in your field, your circle begins to grow. Then stay in touch via exchanges where you provide help as well as seek their assistance. Look for opportunities to meet others in your field, such as sending them a compliment, asking for their advice or sharing information and encouraging a conversation on a topic of mutual interest. Networking is not a transaction-oriented process but a series of mutually gratifying relationships that grow over time through shared experiences and common interests. Continually nourish, update and maintain your connections whether you are looking for a new job or happy where you are. Introduce your contacts that don’t already know each other – be the network’s spark.

Much of the hiring process is governed by referral relationships. Your network can plug you into unadvertised positions and deliver a competitive advantage in today’s job market. By keeping your contacts fresh and maintaining good relationships, it is more likely that new opportunities will find you even when you are not actively seeking a new challenge.

If you decide to launch a new job search, your network can produce the advice and leads you need to access a new challenge. Similarly, you can return the favor by providing assistance and offering recommendations to those you know. When everyone is contributing, everyone benefits. Be a pro-active connector who networks, keeps contacts and is sought out by others for inside information about new job leads.

Debra Feldman, an executive talent agent. Executives Network Purposefully™ establishing inside leads to unadvertised opportunities. Forbes praised her matchmaking talents as part sleuth, part networker.

WeirdGuy Blog Needs You!

Message From Eric - a.k.a. the WeirdGuy

As a reader of WeirdGuy blog I’d like to humbly ask you to help me. I have a short 10 question survey running from August 28 – September 7, 2008 on Zoomerang.  The survey should take 2-3 minutes to run through. Your thoughtful responses will aid me in future developments for this blog.

I realize I am asking you to volunteer your time, but I value your opinion. Please follow the link provided today — the survey is only available for 10 days.

And, if the survey takes longer than 2-3 minutes then you can feel free to spam me with your hate mail.

Thank you for your patronage…can I say “patronage”?…whatever, you know what I mean.

By the way, I’ll reveal the findings here on WeirdGuy when the survey is up, so if you want your response to count, now is the time to act…now! If you do not care, then what are you doing here at WeirdGuy blog to begin with?

10 Jobs For The Future – They Are Closer Than You Think!

Quick! Change your major and prepare for the jobs of the future.

1. Organic food producers, retailers
2. Computational biologists
3. Parallel programmers
4. Data technologists
5. Simulation engineers
6. Boomer companions, caretakers
7. Genetic counseling
8. Brain analysts
9. Space tour guide
10. Robot builders, tenders

So, what are you waiting for? Strap on your rocket pack and zoom over to the nearest talent agency. You may be the outer space entrepreneur.

10 Marketing Strategies For Smaller Businesses

By Renea Myers | Renea Myers Marketing

#1 Be able to describe what you do/what you are in one clear sentence.
Donald Trump is correct, that elevator speech is really important. Ask a friend or colleague to give you an honest evaluation of your description. Does it give the listener a basic understanding of what you do? If not, make it a priority to work on it. Before someone can decide if they may need your product or service they must first understand what you’re saying.

#2 Be UNIQUE in ALL that you do.
Don’t just give it lip service. If you’ve decided to adopt a unique approach to make your business memorable (tagline, business signature, giveaway, mascot, illustration, photo, color scheme, etc) be sure to use it consistently in your marketing efforts. It should become part of your brand.

#3 Use your mission statement as a filter for all that you do.
Once you’ve clearly decided what your marketing goals, strategies, targets and tactics ARE, it should be easy to identify those things that DON’T fit. For example, if you have identified the best marketing vehicles to reach your customer then it’s very easy to say “no” to those salespeople offering you marketing opportunities that don’t fit your plan.

#4 Don’t jump-process….Discover your target market and your points of difference before you start marketing.
Your printed collateral materials, Web site, and advertising will be much more effective and less expensive to produce if you have your marketing strategy established first. Then you’re simply following your plan in all that you do. Avoid the “shotgun” approach or “reactive” marketing.

#5 Give back to the community…strategically.
There are so many great causes and organizations out there and you can’t do everything. So, pick the ones that will best position you with your target market.

#6 Network efficiently and effectively.
If you don’t feel that you are a competent networker, now is the time to learn how to be or hire someone that is. Enough said.

#7 Remember that inconsistent advertising is wasted money.
A prospective customer must be exposed to the same message in the same way numerous times before they are ready to entertain a buying decision. Pick an advertising vehicle where you can afford to have an ongoing and consistent presence.

#8 If you do trade shows, have a plan and work the plan.
Companies participate in trade shows for a variety of reasons. Unless you have a success plan, you won’t know if it worked.

#9 Look for ways to establish yourself as an expert in your field.
Speaking engagements, publication articles and volunteer leadership roles can all help label you as an expert in your field.

#10 Keep all marketing communications clear, brief and focused…
Did I mention brief? Enough said.

Source: Renea Myers is the owner of Renea Myers Marketing, a Greensboro firm offering businesses a complete outsourced marketing department or special project management. For more information, visit www.rmyersmarketing.com or email Renea at renea@rmyersmarketing.com.

7 Tips From Smart Marketers

Smart companies of all sizes are generating quality content equal to or better than what many media companies are producing. In so doing, they deliver tangible benefits to prospects and customers by providing relevant content that help provide solutions to some of the toughest problems their prospective buyers are facing.

Here are the seven most important lessons you can learn from smart marketers today:

1. Only content that is intrinsically valuable to your customers will work as a core component of your content marketing strategy.

2. You must have a thorough understanding of your customers and what is most important to them. If you do not understand the problems and challenges they face, you cannot hope to create content that is truly relevant to them. Without understanding their problems, you cannot provide solutions.

3. A comprehensive content marketing strategy may provide a complete or partial replacement of traditional advertising and marketing. Such a strategy can be both more effective and less expensive than doing things the old-fashioned way.

4. Print magazines can be a powerful weapon within your content marketing arsenal. They enable you to reach out with precision to your customers with carefully targeted messaging that is totally under your control.

5. Your best content marketing investment may be in the creation of a dedicated internal or external team who understand how to produce great content and who live and die by the success of your content marketing program.

6. Relevant and valuable content is just the first step in turning a prospect or visitor into a customer. You must then make it easy for them to buy.

7. Most of the best practices from larger companies can be emulated in whole or in part, even by very small organizations. It’s not the money. It’s the content marketing mindset that counts. Big ideas can trump big bucks.

Source: Media Brains July 2008 issue

Intuition vs. Logic

Phil Cooke, Producer/Director, recently posted this on his blog. This applies to many areas of life and work. I thought it was interesting…very interesting. Where do you see application in your life?

When people ask me why I use a Mac, my usual response is that it’s more “intuitive.”  A PC is logical, but a Mac’s interface and software is more like the way I think.  I’ve also noticed it in how quickly young kids adapt to a Mac in contrast to a PC.  They just seem to “get it.”  It’s similar to the GPS systems on my car.  A few years ago I had a Lexus and I loved the GPS.  It just made sense.  It thought the way I did.  But now I have a Land Rover and I hate it.  The Land Rover GPS is good, and it’s very logical – but I find it’s very difficult to use.

Read more…

CPM Advertising May Not Be Right For You!

This article was put together by my friends over at 5Q Communications. This is a must read if you’re advertising on the Web.

By 5Q Staff

If you’ve ever set up an advertising agreement with some website, you’ve likely seen or heard the term “CPM”. This common term essentially stands for “Cost Per Thousand” impressions and is still widely used as a model of advertising on many web sites.

Unfortunately, many organizations don’t understand the pitfalls with the CPM model and end up wasting thousands of precious ad dollars. The CPM model typically affords you very little control, little forecasting ability and is more of a gamble than a solid method of building a list, developing site traffic or increasing revenue.

Read more…

Light and Shadow, Shape and Form, Depth of Field – The Power of Images

Light and shadow…

Shape and form…

Depth of field…

…all play and intertwine in the composition of great photos.
They draw the viewer in and beg the questions,
“Who is this?”
“What is happening?”
“What has happened?”
“Where is this?”
“Why?”
And, in so doing draw us into introspection…

…such is the power of great photos.

[Photos from ArTeTeTrA]

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How To Create Engaging Learning – Copywrite With Your 5 Senses

When designing and writing courses, descriptive and sensory language can often be lacking. Informational and factual verbiage is more the norm. Karon’s article relates to copywriting and should be heeded by marketing writers as well as instructional designers to create a truly immersive learning experience.

By Karon Thackston

In its most basic form, copywriting is, among other things, the art of conveying a message in writing for the purpose of persuading someone to do something. This is especially true when writing descriptive copy.

Why? Because your customer’s five senses don’t work on paper, they only work in person. That’s why we, as copywriters, have to create a sensory experience for our customers through our words.

Have you ever stopped to consider copywriting as a sensory activity? You should. In order to see, hear, smell, taste, or feel a product, we have to be in the presence of that product. All too often, when copywriters create descriptions, they leave a lot to be desired. There is no excitement, no interaction, no experience.

Descriptions should be, well, descriptive.
Effective descriptions should fill the gap of what customers would see, hear, smell, taste, or feel if they were standing in the presence of the product. Effective descriptions should draw customers in and create an actual event… as if they were able to be right there with you.

Do you make cinnamon rolls? You wouldn’t want to describe them simply as “delicious” or say they “smell great.” Instead, you’d want to bring your customers into the experience of enjoying your cinnamon rolls. Think of which of their five senses would be most in tune with your product and write to those.

Try this…

Definitely NOT grandma’s cinnamon rolls! Bake them fresh right in your own oven. As the aroma of these gourmet rolls begins to waft through the air, your nose will start to tingle and you’ll immediately know they are worth the wait.

The scents of freshly ground cinnamon and yeast begin to merge as the dough rises and the cinnamon, sugar and butter begin to bubble. Open your oven door to reveal one of the largest sweets you’ve ever seen.

Drizzle the homemade frosting over the top to complete your warm, gooey treasure. Your taste buds will praise you with every bite!

Can you smell the cinnamon? Can you visualize the dough rising in the oven with the cinnamon and sugar bubbling on the top of each roll?

Are you remembering the times you’ve glazed cinnamon rolls in the past and, with sticky fingers, taken that first bite out of a freshly baked, warm, gooey pastry? This copy brings it all back, doesn’t it?

Do you rent private, Jamaican beachfront condos? Taking a basic route and falling back on the phrases “ocean view” and “sunsets are included” will leave your reader lacking a truly intriguing experience.

Something like this will work better…

As your day begins, enjoy a gourmet breakfast prepared by your own private staff who is at your disposal 24 hours a day. A gorgeous view overlooking your own crystal blue freshwater pool welcomes you to another exciting adventure in Jamaica.

A morning stroll along your private, white sand beach is the perfect way to welcome the day. A fun-filled outing can consist of splashing in the surf, sunning on the beach or napping in an authentic hand-woven hammock that cuddles every curve of your body. At the end of the day, you’ll have sun-kissed shoulders, a glowing bronze tan, and a phenomenal appetite.

Unwind at the poolside gazebo as you prepare for a world-class dinner that rivals any five-star restaurant. Refreshing after-dinner cocktails are especially enjoyable when sipped on the terrace as nature provides an amazing display of sunsets and a soft, caressing breeze you won’t soon forget.

Let’s go! “Splashing in the surf, sunning on the beach, or napping in an authentic hand-woven hammock that cuddles every curve of your body.” Can you just imagine? How about “sun-kissed shoulders, a glowing bronze tan”? That paints a picture, doesn’t it? Can you feel that warm tingling you always get after spending a day in the sun?

“Nature provides an amazing display of sunsets and a soft, caressing breeze.” I’m ready! Where do I sign up?

Are you beginning to see the importance of writing truly descriptive descriptions? Your customers aren’t there.

They can’t see, hear, feel, taste, or smell what you can. You have to do the next best thing and vividly depict what their sensory experiences will be like so they’ll want to buy what you have or do what you’ve done.

When you write descriptive copy, choose the senses that are most appropriate and focus on them. If you’re describing food, of course you’ll want to think about what you’re tasting but also what you smell and see. (Presentation is just as important as taste.) If you’re writing travel copy, you’ll want to focus on sights and sounds plus feelings (relaxation, enjoyment, excitement, etc.).

Your goal is to have your readers close their eyes and genuinely, vividly imagine they are in the midst of the same experience you are. When you accomplish that, you’ll find your sales increase as will your bank account balance!

-Source: Karon Thackston of the Marketing Words.

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10 Tips To Interviewing For Your Next $100K Job

By Mark Cenedella | The Ladders

1. Research the company and be prepared with a “good” level of knowledge. You don’t need to know gross margins in the South-western region for the past 8 years, but you should know enough to show the interviewer that you respect the opportunity and you respect her or his time.
2. Be on time, unflustered, with a clean, well-presented copy of your resume – I know this sounds simple (this is “101”, after all) but you would be surprised at how many people don’t leave 10 minutes early in order to get there 10 minutes early!
3. Dress the part – business-like and professional, no matter how groovy the company is.
4. Be kind to every employee you meet – the receptionist, yes, but also the parking lot attendant, the janitor, and the intern. You know, Southwest Airlines used to have the flight attendants on flights anonymously assess the candidates they were flying in for interviews – it just goes to show that you need to mind your manners all the time.
5. Think of JFK – ask not what the company can do for you, answer instead “what can I do for this company?”
6. This is not a filming of “Biography” on the A&E Channel, it is a sales presentation in which you are selling your capabilities to do a job for the company. Stick, mostly, to the business side and how you can solve problems. Don’t go into a half-hour long disquisition on the relative merits of Mozart and Beethoven, the reason you love/hate the Yankees, or the intricacies of your college rivalries. The interviewer does not want your life story, they want to know your business capabilities.
7. “Bad mouth thee, bad mouth me.” Whenever you trash-talk your former or current employer, guess what the interviewer thinks? “Oh boy, if we hire this guy, I’m next on his firing line!” Never, ever, say bad, mean, unkind, or even true things if it makes you look like a prospective ingrate, gossip, or ne’er-do’well.
8. Save the money talk for last. Focus on the job, your ability to contribute, and all the great things you can provide before reminding your future boss how much of the hiring budget you’re going to soak up.
9. Thank the interviewer for their time and ask questions – again, this shows good manners and good sense.
10. Send a follow-up e-mail – thank the interviewer again and reiterate (very briefly) what you discussed and how you can contribute. This serves as a good memory jog to the interviewer of your conversation and reminds them of the points you want them to make for you in the hiring meeting

Rapid Course Outlining With Large Groups

My friend and co-worker, Anna, put this together. Good tips for eLearning and course designers. Enjoy!

By Anna Oskorus

I had a recent experience working with a large group of subject matter experts (approximately 17 teachers, curriculum writers, and program specialists). The goal was to create a course outline in one 7-hour design session. As you can imagine, gaining consensus with a group of this size can be quite a challenge. It was by far the largest group I’ve worked with for this purpose. By structuring the day carefully, applying strategies to engage the group, and using design templates, I was able to keep the group focused and productive, and I felt some of the methods I used would be beneficial to share.

Prior to the Session
Before meeting with the group, I talked with key stakeholders for the project to collect as much background information as possible about the proposed course, including course goals, targeted audience, and technology requirements. Understanding the targeted audience, teachers, helped to determine what form this course should take. Also, I reviewed any available content prior to the design session and read an evaluation report relating to the curriculum upon which the course would be based. By gathering this information beforehand, I was able to ramp up and was well positioned to guide the design meeting, using the course goals as my guide.

Read more…

Time Off WeirdGuy Blog – Just One Week

By E. Brown

I’ll be taking a week off to focus on closing out a project (July 28-August 1). More to come from the lessons learned during this engagement. It’s a really cool online course with custom hooks into a client app. The back-end was designed as “plug and play” so content can quickly and easily be swapped out while still being applicable to the course testing and grading scenarios.

See you in a week.

Marketing And Sales Need To Get Along

There is a war going on within organizations: Marketing and Sales are at odds and fighting against one another. Marketing complains that Sales never follows up on all those leads they send. Sales grumbles that Marketing doesn’t bring them any qualified leads. It’s a battle that neither side can win. And the company as a whole loses unless the two sides wave the white flag and agree to work together as partners, rather than against each other as adversaries. The two sides should join together to fight the war against competitors who are conquering market share.

The truth is both functions are crucial for success. Marketing makes the phone ring and salespeople close deals. It’s a very close association between two functions, so why is there such a disconnect? Part of the problem is that Marketing suffers from a credibility crisis. Marketing is viewed as the people who throw parties and spend budgets, rather than as part of the machine that drives revenue and profits. There are companies where Sales holds weekly revenue calls, and nobody from Marketing is on the call. In order to work with Sales, Marketing must be viewed not as a cost center, but as a strategic asset that drives growth. How can marketers do their part to achieve success and end the war?

Prove Your Worth
CFOs make budgeting decisions and recommendations based on facts and figures. Marketing must present useful data that enables CFOs to understand the value of the Marketing department. Evidence of this issue is seen in a Marketing Sherpa study in which only 17% of B2B marketers queried were sure their CFOs understood the value of lead generation programs. To combat this, provide meaningful success metrics.

Collaborate
Traditionally, the Marketing and Sales departments operate in silos. Each department performs its function without interacting with the other. To end the war, the barriers must be broken down. Sales and Marketing should share common goals. Both should frequently meet to share information. Or, savvy organizations might take it a step further: Have Marketing go on a sales call along with salespeople, or invite salespeople to participate in Marketing meetings, so each side can see, first-person, the challenges the other department is up against.

Instill A Focus On The Customer
Instead of paying attention to divisive internal issues, devote your energy to focusing on the customer. Find reasons to work together to solve customer problems…and to focus on the “right” prospects.

Define Core Messaging
Along these same lines, make sure both departments have a clear understanding of the company’s competitive advantage and key sales differentiators. If Marketing is promoting a product based on price advantage, and Sales is touting customer service (but neither mentions the other) they present mixed messages to the marketplace. Agree on a value proposition, and stick to it. That means having coherent messaging coming from all parts of the organization. Make sure all ads, marketing materials and sales presentations communicate that value proposition to prospects.

Prove Them Wrong
When all else fails, prove them wrong. Make sure you’re generating not just large numbers of leads, but qualified prospects. Remember, in the BtoB world, quality is more important than quantity. You might have a big budget, but if you don’t use it effectively to generate quality leads, why bother?

Don’t Overlook The “No-brainers”
Too often, Marketing’s attempt to “prove them wrong” involves complex strategies and unconventional marketing tactics. But don’t overlook the obvious. One of the most effective forms of online advertising is an industry directory. It’s a small investment – often just a few hundred dollars for an entire year of advertising. And it produces quality prospects. Your ad is hitting prospects at the exact moment that they are actively searching for your company’s product or service. What better way to drive qualified leads than when you already know they’re looking for exactly what you provide?

Marketers who put these tips into action will be closer to ending the war: to being seen as an equal partner with Sales in the effort to deliver revenue for their organization. Marketing programs will be more successful, sales will increase, morale will improve, and customer satisfaction will go up. Peace, at last.

Source: Media Brains 2008 issue.

Have You Conversed With Your Readers Lately?

By Valerie Kendrick

Do you talk to your reader in your sales letters? Are you using language that is too formal or stuffy? Worse yet, are you writing in a style that is too informal?

Formal Language
I talk to so many people that are confused about what is business appropriate in their written correspondence. Many are convinced that the company expects them to use the old formal language.

Let’s look at an example.

Pursuant to your inquiry of March 17, 2008, I am enclosing some literature regarding our XYZ products. Our organization is dedicated to providing the utmost quality and cost effectiveness. We are confident our products will meet and exceed your standards of excellence.

This is too formal and most likely will bore your reader. You should ask yourself if this is how you would speak to the customer in a face-to-face conversation.

Informal Language
Now let’s consider the opposite approach. We treat our customers as if they were one of our closest friends. We use slang, make up adjectives, and forget we have proper grammar and sentence structure to consider. We forget that email, when used for business correspondence must remain business appropriate.

Take another look at the above excerpt now written in a very informal style.

Hey, thanks for calling. I put some really cool stuff about our XYZ products in the package. Our company thinks quality is really important and our pricing is uber-low. You’ll be totally stoked by our super products.

This is too informal. It sounds like we are talking to a friend at a college party.

Business Appropriate
Let’s make our excerpt more conversational, while maintaining the appropriateness.

Thank you for your call. I have sent you some information about our XYZ products. You might have heard that our company values quality. We would like to show you how we can help you be most cost effective. Let’s talk some more about how we can help you and answer your questions. We want to be sure you feel good about your decision to buy our products.

Does the above example sound too stuffy? Is it too informal? Does it sound conversational and still maintain a business-like tone?

Try reading your sales and business letters out-loud before you send them. Make sure they are written in a conversational style that maintains a business tone. Give your customers the respect they deserve by communicating in a clear and concise manner. Choose strong, direct words to convey your message. Write in a style that encourages your reader to want to talk more with you.

Source: Valerie Kendrick is the President of Kendrick Resources LLC, specializing in communications skills training.

Do You Have A Marketing Mentality?

By David Eissman, founder of Guaranteed Growth Systems

Most small business owners and independent professionals start their business primarily because they have knowledge and skills that are in demand. While they understand intellectually that they have to market and sell, often it does not translate on an emotional level. Many business owners tend to look at marketing as a necessary evil, and in many cases, have negative beliefs toward it. They could not stand to be hounded by those pesky salesman in their previous jobs and do not want to “become on of them.” As a result, the tendency is to focus on the aspects of our business that were the reason we chose to go into business in the first place, the actual application of our knowledge or skills.

What is a marketing mentality and how is it developed? There are three components that all link together:

1) The first component is belief. What are the underlying beliefs that affect our mentality? It encompasses our attitudes, thoughts, fears, expectations, and lack of experience. Our actions are shaped by what we think about, what we assume to be true and where we choose to focus. If the thoughts are negative or avoidance minded then we will see marketing as undesirable and in some cases unethical. It will manifest in self talk such as: I don’t deserve referrals, my marketing won’t work anyway; I will look desperate; if my service or product is good the market will know that; I don’t like networking; etc.

2) The second component is behavior which is generally driven by our beliefs. The decisions we make every day are critical and negative beliefs about marketing affect the decisions that are made. For example, how often do we plan for the week and tell ourselves that on Tuesday we will focus three hours on marketing. Tuesday morning rolls along and we receive a client call or an issue or problem with an employee and then rationalize that the marketing must be put off because these issues must be dealt with immediately. The question is how often this is really true. In my experience working with clients the answer is rarely. Although we know that the marketing is important, we let our negative beliefs affect our behavior. Before we know it the pipeline is dry, and then some type of marketing activity is undertaken in an unplanned haphazard manner.

3) The third component is relationship. In order to have consistent lead generation and sales there must be a relationship cultivated with an adequate amount of prospects. This is the main function of marketing. It is the adage of people to do business with those they know, like and trust. Without a consistent and systematic marketing plan, there will not be a sufficient lead generation process.

The linkage is very powerful. The beliefs affect the behaviors and the behaviors affect the ability to develop the relationships. The connectivity between these elements is extremely leveraged in both a positive and negative direction. When they are aligned, the results are extraordinary, and when they are not, the results can be devastating.

So, if you are in this quandary, what can be done about it? First, sit down and make a list, and inventory what your beliefs are about marketing. Be honest and list as many as you can. Then ask yourself about whether these beliefs are really true, or just simply a personal bias. Second, are you absolutely sure what you believe is true, or is it possible that it is not? Next, evaluate how this belief affects your behavior and what would happen if this belief is changed. Try to reconstruct the thought to a more positive mindset. The next step is to translate those new thoughts into new behaviors. One of the best techniques for doing so is to block out time on your calendar and treat it as if it were an appointment with your best client. You surely would not miss an appointment with your best client to deal with a task that was short of an emergency, would you? After a short time, these new behaviors will become habits and the rewards will follow.

If marketing is a struggle, it is absolutely critical to engage in this marketing mentality process. Many companies with great services and products go out of business because they could not implement a consistent lead generation system. Most often that failure starts with the lack of a marketing mentality. The great news is that the necessary mentality can be developed with effort, focus, and an open mind. You will be amazed by the impact on your business.

Source: Reprinted from John Jantesh’s Small Business Articles Duct Tape Marketing (www.ducttapemarketing.com).

Lessons from Great Achievers

By Dan Coughlin

In the past 14 months I’ve given 70 presentations including keynotes, luncheon speeches, after-dinner speeches and seminars in virtually every market in the U.S. and mainly for corporate groups of CEOs, key executives, and entrepreneurs. But the most memorable group I spoke to was the May 2008 graduating class of J.E.T. (Jobs and Employment Training) at St. Patrick’s Center on May 30th in my hometown of St. Louis

St. Patrick’s Center does noble work in helping homeless people find hope and generate permanent, positive changes in their lives. However, the thing I like the best about St. Patrick’s Center is they are very practical. They don’t just talk about helping people create permanent, positive changes in their lives; they dive in and get things done. They help people find a place to stay and they provide them with training on interviewing and job skills necessary to re-enter the workforce. One of their programs is called J.E.T., which is a twelve-week program on a variety of computer skills that will help the graduate increase their chances of gaining meaningful work.

Overcoming Life’s Greatest Obstacles
There were nine people in the graduating class at J.E.T. ranging in age from approximately 25 to 45. I met each of them briefly before my speech and got to know their names. I won’t list them here, but I’ll also never forget them. I could see the excitement over their accomplishments in their eyes. I felt the passion in their dreams. I had to do everything I could to keep myself from crying in front of the audience, which included their family members and friends. It could have been the graduation ceremonies at Harvard because that’s how excited each of these individuals was that day.

To me, these nine individuals represent everything that I’ve written about and spoken about over the past 11 years. They had just completed a 12-week course to increase their capacity to gain meaningful work, and they were incredibly proud of what they had learned and accomplished. They were enthusiastic about the future. They were ready to get on with it.

Isn’t that what life is about? Going after dreams and trying to better ourselves so we can make a greater contribution to other people. Jackie Robinson, the baseball player, said something to the effect that the whole purpose of life is to make a difference in the lives of other people. Well, if that’s true and I think it is, then bettering our selves in order to add value to other people is an important part of the process, and that part should be celebrated.

These nine individuals were moving from a life of homelessness and despair to a life of hope and contribution and carving out the careers they wanted for themselves. One lady stopped me after the ceremonies and said, “St. Patrick’s Center gave me my self-esteem back and now I’m excited about the future.” I almost said to her that no one can instill self-esteem into another person. Self-esteem means the value a person sees in himself or herself. Only the individual can strengthen his or her own self-esteem. As Abraham Maslow said many years ago, “True self-esteem rests on a feeling of personal dignity, the feeling that you are in control of your own decisions and your own destiny.” No one can give you a feeling of being in control of your own decisions. Only you can develop the feeling that you are in control of your own decisions.

But I understood what the woman meant. She meant that St. Patrick’s Center provided an environment of encouragement where she could focus on her strengths and the value she can bring to other people. In doing so, this woman took the time to realize everything she had to offer to the world. That is how self-esteem is built.

I met a teacher named John that day who told me about a life course offered at St. Patrick’s Center on realizing that every super successful leader overcame odds to make a difference in the lives of other people. I totally agree. Walt Disney and Mother Theresa and Martin Luther King, Jr. and Oprah Winfrey and Mohandas Gandhi didn’t just wake up one day ready to contribute. They honed their ability to add value until one day they were so good that other people opened their eyes to all the value they had to offer. Martin Luther King, Jr. worked at writing essays and giving sermons long before he started changing the world for the better in 1955.

Graduation Day taught me or re-taught me so many lessons:

o In giving we receive. I was more touched by those 45 minutes with those nine graduates who had transformed despair into direction, homelessness into hopefulness, and frustration into focus than any work project I’ve done in the past ten years.

o We all need to take the time to recall the value we have to offer to other people. It’s wonderful to help other people see their value, but it’s just as important that we take the time to see the value we have to offer to other people. Recall your past success stories where you made a difference in the lives of other people and the strengths and passions you have to offer to other people.

o Lift your head to see the difference you’re making in the world. You can get so busy giving love to other people that you may not see the impact that your love is making in the world.

o Celebrate life’s most important transitions. That ceremony was a moment to savor like a fine meal. Climbing a mountain means resting at the plateaus. Rest, re-energize, let the success soak in, and then plot your next move up Mt. Contribution, the real-life mountain of trying to make a difference in the lives of other people that we are all trying to climb.

o Pause occasionally from helping your work team move forward and trying to move your career forward and look around you for opportunities to give to others who will never be able to repay you, at least not financially. There are so many magnificent organizations within 30 minutes of your home. What non-financial contribution can you make for them? How can you use your strengths and passions to deliver real value to people who simply can’t afford to pay you?

o Achieving a specific, measurable objective at work is important. Achievements are the basis of promotions, raises, and career growth. Hitting a number is about a goal. Living with purpose is about the soul. Ask yourself, “What is my purpose?” Write down your purpose. Then pour your efforts into both your work and your community events to fulfill your purpose.

In watching the tributes to Tim Russert, I was reminded that great business managers still take the time to give back their strengths and their passions to their communities. As many people thanked him for what he did outside of NBC as he did inside Meet the Press.

Dan Coughlin is a business keynote speaker, management consultant, and author of Accelerate: 20 Practical Lessons to Boost Business Momentum.

4 Communication Styles To Reach Customers

By Valerie Kendrick

How can we use the four communication styles to connect to more potential clients? Why do we need to be aware of these styles when writing our direct mail literature?

If you haven’t asked yourselves these questions before writing your next direct mail piece, you may be missing a lot of opportunities. When we write to an unknown audience we need to make sure we capture the attention of each of the four communication styles.

1. Directors: The first line of your document must attract the “Directors.” It must be direct, to the point, and state clearly the main purpose of the document. You need to answer the question for this reader, “What’s in it for me?” The very last line of the document must tell them how to take action to buy your product because their overriding need is to finish each task.

Example: The new A500 with increased speed and reliability, doubling your productivity, can be ordered directly from our website at http://www.whateveryourwebsite.com.

2. Socializers: Next we can appeal to the “Socializers.” Their driving need is to be appreciated. You need to explain how your product will get them more attention from those they care about. You need to emphasize the “newness,” creativity, or flexibility of the product.

Example: You’ll be surprised when your friends and family continually ask you to show them the new and exciting ways to use the improved time-saving features of the A500.

3. Thinkers: For our “Thinkers” you need to include a chart or graph that specifically depicts the statistics that prove your product is bigger, faster, more reliable, or more efficient. They love facts and details, and those must be presented in a very eye-catching way. You cannot let the details get lost in the body of your document. Remember to leave a lot of white space around your chart of specifications so that the “Thinkers” are drawn to the information.

Example:
Specifications
Reliability: 9.99998%
Operation Hours: 2000 hrs.
Battery Life: 3 years

4. Relaters: Lastly, you must include our “Relaters.” Their focus is on being liked and belonging to the group. They want harmony and a way for everyone to avoid conflict. You need to make sure they know how your product enables them to share with others. This style really appreciates testimonials because they highly value the opinions of others. They will seek out this information by asking all their friends if they have used your product or know anyone who has used it. Don’t make them search for this information; give them the testimonials and endorsements right near the bottom of your document.

Example: “I am thrilled with the wonderful new features of the A500. It has saved me so much time and energy, and my whole family loves to use it. In fact three of my neighbors have already asked to borrow it.” Susan, Dallas,TX.

We all have a dominant communication style and it governs how we respond to information. So the next time you are putting together your direct mail document, keep the four styles in mind and appeal individually to each one.

Source: Valerie Kendrick is the President of Kendrick Resources LLC, specializing in communications skills training. She has been called the “Grammar Guru” because of her passion to help the business person communicate more effectively.