Using Amazon Affiliates to Generate Additional Income

A few weeks ago, I put together a five-part series on affiliate marketing for resume writers. Another source of affiliate income is with Amazon Affiliates.

I suggest you set up an account with Amazon Affiliates and build a “Recommended Resources” page on your website, featuring links to books that you’re featured in, that you’ve written, and/or that you’d recommend to clients. While this isn’t a large income source, you are doing clients a favor by offering your recommendations, and any sales you make are gravy. 

You can also use your Amazon Affiliates link to include book links and graphics in your blog posts, especially if you use Blogger. I’ve found my top two book recommendations that have led to sales are Jason Alba’s book, “I’m on LinkedIn, Now What?” and “Career Distinction,” Kirsten Dixson and William Arruda’s book on personal and career branding. 

I also used to sell a couple of copies of “The Insider’s Guide to the World of Pharmaceutical Sales,” but that hasn’t been published in a few years. 

If you have a blog geared to job seekers, I’d recommend doing regular book reviews — review books you’ve read and then include links to your Amazon Affiliate site. 

You can also excerpt your reviews on the book’s page on Amazon directly, which will help increase your “Digital Distinction” rating — and if you don’t know that that is, you should read Career Distinction.

Are You Digitally Distinct?

After reading Career Distinction by Kirsten Dixsen and William Arruda, I became interested in digital distinction and online branding. Then, on Kirsten's Facebook page earlier this week, she posted a link to an Online Identity Calculator.

The results of the calculator matched the results of my assessment when reading Career Distinction: I'm digitally distinct!

Digital distinction is a measure of your online profile at any given point in time. As Kirsten and William define it, "The online identity calculator measures the effectiveness of your online identity and places you on our digital scale. Knowing where you stand today will help you determine exactly how much work you have to do and your next steps."

They go on to say that, "Where you fall on the digital scale is based on a combination of volume and relevance. How many results do you get? How many of those webpages actually pertain to you? Do the references to you on the Web communicate a positive, negative or neutral image of you? How consistently do those results communicate what you want to be known for?"

Here are my results:

The majority of results that come up for me are aligned with my personal brand -- primarily my work with Resume Writers' Digest. This is the area of my business that I want to continue to focus on growing, so it's encouraging to me to see how my online brand profile appears.

Woman Sues Alma Mater for Not Finding Her a Job

Thanks to Barbara Safani for the heads-up about Trina Thompson, the recent college graduate who is suing her alma mater because they haven't "done enough to find her a job."

The story also lends a cautionary tale to professional resume writers: Manage your client's expectations as part of the career development process.

Ms. Thompson thought that paying $70,000 to Monroe College would guarantee her a job … and job seekers who pay anywhere from $49 to $4900+ for career services from you might think the same ... and, in fact, might expect you to do most of the the work for them. ("After all, that's what I'm paying for, right?")

I was reminded of this myself last week, when I received an e-mail from a client who wanted a customized cover letter for a position opening he had identified online. Following the link provided, I couldn't find the position listed online anymore. I e-mailed the client back, requesting that he contact the company and find out if the opening was still available.

The response I received back: "Can't you call them and find out?"

Ugh.

So be careful when you describe the services that you provide ... make sure that clients know that they are still ultimately responsible for the job search ... just as they're responsible for doing the job once they get it!

And be sure to read Barbara's commentary about the client's online brand profile ("digital dissing.") I just finished reading William Arruda and Kirsten Dixson's book, "Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand" (highly recommend it, by the way),

and I have to agree -- it's doubtful that Ms. Thompson is going to win her lawsuit ... and in the meantime, she's created an online brand profile that is whiny and negative ... not exactly traits that companies are looking for in employees today.

Typepad Free Webinar Series

I first learned about the Typepad free webinar series when Kirsten Dixson Tweeted a reminder about it. I missed getting in on it by an hour, but found out that they are recorded. Listening to her session is on my to-do list for this weekend... and it should be on yours as well.

The series also has a number of other interesting topics for resume writers (small business owners). You can sign up in advance for upcoming topics (free) or listen to the archived webinars (also free).

I'm reading Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand at the moment and LOVING IT. I had purchased it a few years back at a resume writing conference and started it, but had set it aside and just picked it up again. Kirsten and her co-author, William Arruda offer fabulous advice for resume writers ... and their clients.

Is The Current Style of Qualifications Profile Dead?

I've been thinking about this for a week now, because a couple of resume writers talked to me about it in Savannah. And with yesterday's post, about the recruiter not seeing the value in the profile, I got to wondering, "Are profiles going out of style?"

I think the answer is yes -- and no.

The flowery, puffy, superlative-filled qualifications profile is dead. Or should be. I've written them myself:
"Seasoned sales professional with demonstrated organizational, planning, interpersonal, and team building capabilities. Skilled in identifying, prioritizing, and capturing new business opportunities. Proven ability to deliver bottom-line results under pressure. Excellent relationship-building skills with the capacity to work effectively with individuals at all levels and from diverse backgrounds."

Blah, blah, Blah, BLAH, BLAH!

Sharon Williams, of JobRockit, was the one who first clued me into the demise of the traditional qualifications profile, telling me that resume critiquers at a recent session were simply crossing off the profiles. And the repeated use of "personal brand" when discussing the resume development process only drove a few more nails into the traditional qualifications profile's coffin.

The "so what" factor comes into play here, as does this question: "Does the qualifications profile you just wrote truly reflect this client, or could it be written of a dozen other candidates with his same job objective?"

I'll have more on this topic, including how to write new-style qualifications profiles -- and a future interview with the queen of personal branding, Kirsten Dixson, co-author (with William Arruda) of "Career Distinction: Stand Out by Building Your Brand."