Resume Writers: Want More Clients From LinkedIn?

You know that LinkedIn is an important website for your jobseeking clients … but are you taking full advantage of LinkedIn's power to connect you to prospective clients for your resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profile development services, and job search support offerings?

Check out this special report from BeAResumeWriter.com:
"14 Ways to Get More Clients From LinkedIn"

Tips include:

1. Take full advantage of your public profile.
2. Create a unique public profile vanity URL.
3. Create a profile badge.
4. Thank people for Recommendations.
5. Create a Company Page.
6. Maintain your LinkedIn account via mobile.
7. Set up a Google Alert for yourself to monitor LinkedIn.
8. Be choosy.
9. Import all your offline and online business contacts into LinkedIn to create your social graph.
10. Share your social graph with other social networks.
11. Share your LinkedIn posts with Twitter.
12. Whitelist LinkedIn in your email filters.
13. Rearrange your Profile sections.
14. Use LinkedIn – don't just be on it!

The guide includes step-by-step instructions for implementing many of the tips too. And it's free.

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Resume Writers: Are You Easily Distracted?

Are you easily distracted? It's not uncommon -- after all, self-employed resume writers wear a lot of hats, meaning we have to accomplish a lot of different types of tasks each day.

Why is being focused so important in today’s world? What results happen when you are focused? Does being focused make you less stress? Happier? If it’s so important, why don’t people focus more?

Being focused on one thing for a certain period of time allows you to do better quality work, more work gets done quicker, and your creative ideas flow easier. Being focused on one task at a time is less stressful. And being less stressed allows you be happier.

It’s difficult for people to remain focused on one task for a variety of reasons. For one, we live in a world where we are constantly bombarded with TV, radio, cell phones, Internet/ social media, as well as a much larger population that lives closer together than ever before.

It’s difficult to get completely away from all these distractions. Here are some tips to help though:                                                                                                                                      

• When you focus on a single task, avoiding distractions, your brain becomes focused on that task alone. This lets you complete that task much more quickly than if you are trying to complete two or more tasks at once. For instance, let’s say you need to write a blog post, do your bookkeeping for the week and research information for an upcoming speech. The best thing to do is to set aside all but one task. So, for this example, you want to give all your attention writing your blog post. That means turning off the TV, cell phones, social media pings, closing your door and putting all your attention on writing. 

• By giving all your attention to the task without distraction, you can get it done much more quickly and with fewer mistakes. Your work will be higher quality as well. Another benefit to being focused is that your creativity will kick in too. You’ll come up with new ideas associated with the task at hand, whether that's a client resume, a blog post you're writing, or a brainstorming opportunities for passive income in your resume writing business.

• Being constantly connected to others and having many distractions that take away your focus can affect your stress levels as well as your productivity. When you aren’t focused, you don’t get as much done as you could if you were truly focused on the task you’re doing. 

• Focusing on one thing for a certain period of time helps you think better. Having your mind scattered over several tasks at once keeps you from thinking about what you are actually doing. You only have time to complete a task quickly before you must move on to the next one. All the while you are trying to remember everything that has to be done. When you focus, you are able to think about only one thing for that period of time. 

• Focusing allows your subconscious to do the work. Think about when you learned to ride a bike or drive a car. It was difficult in the beginning, but when you began focusing on what you were doing, your subconscious took over and helped you learn. The same is true in your everyday tasks. Once you begin focusing solely on one task, your subconscious helps you do them quicker and easier. 

It’s important to focus on one task at a time to become more productive, do better quality work and be less stressed. Focusing can help you be more creative and have more happiness. 

If you want more tips for getting focused, check out Kelly McCausey's "Managing Bright Shiny Object Syndrome" program. It's free for a limited time, and includes two worksheets and an audio training.

Get your free access to "Managing Bright Shiny Object Syndrome"

What's the Next Big Tool for Jobseekers...After LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is definitely the #1 took for jobseekers when it comes to connecting with your network to find leads, contacts, and opportunities … but it's not the first tool you can use in your job search, and it won't be the last.

An article in TechCrunch talks about a new tool that will help you analyze your existing connections to help you reach the people you want to know. It's called "Conspire," and it analyzes your email (Gmail, specifically) to help you connect to people you want to meet -- and, in particular, it helps you analyze the strength of the connection to the people you already know to make that introduction.

Read the TechCrunch article here:
Forget LinkedIn, Conspire Analyzes Email To Be Your Next Networking Tool

Right now, the app has the strongest successes within the tech community. When I tested it out, it helped me identify people I already knew, but wasn't as successful helping me reach people one connection out. Part of the challenge is that it only uses Gmail right now, and I don't use my Gmail email as much as I do my BeAResumeWriter.com and Resume Writers' Digest emails for work contacts.

For example, I tried Conspire to see how it would do with two of the career industry's top thought leaders. First, I tried Wendy Enelow:

Because I have corresponded with Wendy through my Gmail account (occasionally -- I usually correspond with her through my Resume Writer's Digest email), it found we had a direct connection, although it was weak.

Next, I tried Louise Kursmark … which, considering my connection with Wendy, I should have some sort of connection with her on Conspire:

Nope. Not only did it not connect me with Louise through Wendy, but it didn't show any connection with her at all. (I actually correspond with Louise through my Resume Writers' Digest email account).

So, it's not perfect yet, but it's definitely worth a try. It's another tool in the toolbox for jobseekers … but LinkedIn is still #1. Perhaps as the Conspire network grows, it will become more effective and powerful.

Check out Conspire here. It's free.

Keep LinkedIn From Sending Those "Say Congrats" Notifications To My Network

Got this question from a resume writer:

"Does anyone know how to keep "say congrats" from being sent to someone's network once they've changed jobs? Thank you in advance!! 

Because LinkedIn has several places to control your privacy settings and notifications, this one can be a bit tricky. But here's the answer:

On your LinkedIn profile, click "Edit Profile":

Click on the existing job you're editing in your Experience section (or Add a position). If updating a current position, click the "Edit" button:

After you've made your changes, look in the upper right-hand side of the page and check what settings you have for "Notify Your Network" --

If you do not want LinkedIn to notify your network of the update or addition (and you do NOT want a "Say Congrats" notification sent), make sure the line is RED and it says, "No, do not publish an update to my network about my profile changes."

Want more information? Check out this LinkedIn help page:
http://help.linkedin.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/78/~/showing-or-hiding-activity-updates-about-you

Want to learn more about LinkedIn?

Profile of an "Average" Resume Writer: 2012

Based on the information compiled from the 2012 Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey, here is the profile of the “average” resume writer:

She (the majority of resume writers are female) is in her 50s, and has been writing resumes for 10 years as a self-employed resume writer. She is a Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) and is a member of both the Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC) and the National Resume Writer’s Association (NRWA).

Our average resume writer works from home almost exclusively. She spends 25-30 hours a week writing, and another 15-20 hours a week on administrative and marketing activities. She writes 2-3 new resumes a week, and works on 1-2 updates weekly. Her average package — for which she charges $300 — includes a resume, cover letter, and references page.

Lately, she has added LinkedIn profile development to her service offerings, and she charges her existing resume clients an additional $129 for that. (She has just started getting serious about LinkedIn herself in the last 12 months, updating her own profile, joining a couple of LinkedIn Groups for resume writers, and attending a LinkedIn training webinar to learn more about how to use it.)

She collects payment upfront and uses a combination of a questionnaire followed by a brief phone consultation to gather information from the client.

Her biggest frustrations revolve around marketing her services (especially finding clients who are willing to pay the rates she is charging without too much push-back) and figuring out how Applicant Tracking Systems technology affects the resumes she writes.

As for income, she brings in gross revenues of $3,800-$4,600 each month, and she nets around $44,500 a year after taxes.

Information compiled/analyzed by Résumé Writers’ Digest/BeAResumeWriter.com

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