How to Embed a Google Calendar in Your Website Using Iframe Code

If you're a careers industry professional who hosts a lot of events or wants to create a resource for jobseekers, a Google calendar can be a good way to organize the information.

But how do you display the information onto your website so other people can access it?

The answer is to embed the Google calendar on your website -- using iframe code.

First, log into your Google account and create your calendar.

Then, go to "Settings" under the gear on the top righthand side of the page.

Click the blue "Calendars" tab.

Click the calendar you want to work on (listed on the left) -- you may have one calendar, or multiple calendars associated with that Google account.

Next to "Calendar Address," click the blue "HTML" button.

Click the blue "Configuration Tool" button in the popup.

On the next screen, under "Calendars to Display" (on the left), check the boxes for all the calendars you want to display. (As I mentioned, you can display a single calendar or multiple calendars all on one page).

Next, on the top of that page, click "Update HTML."

Copy-and-paste that code to embed the calendar.

NOTE: You must make sure the privacy settings on EACH individual calendar are set to PUBLIC if you want it to show up. (If your calendar page is blank, this might be the issue.)

How to Keep People Interested In Your Website

Sometimes it can take prospects more than one visit to your website before they decide to become a client. But how can you get them engaged in your website (that is, how can you get them to come back?)

Here are six strategies to implement on your website to keep people interested — and coming back!

#1  Blog.  Blog comments are a way for people to be interactive on your website. Of course, you'll have to offer regular and valuable content and youíll want to inspire conversation. This can be done by asking a question, stirring the pot with a little controversy, or by offering valuable content people feel compelled to thank you for and comment on.

#2  Let them promote you! Digg, Twitter and other sites let readers, fans, and prospects promote your posts and content. Use "social share" buttons on your website that make it easy for visitors to do this.

#3  Sponsor contests or sweepstakes.  There is nothing more fun than winning something and people love to enter contests. Whether it's a sweepstakes where the item is won via a drawing or a contest where skills are required, winning is fun and a great way to get people involved.

#4  Surveys/polls. Ask your visitors for their opinion. People love to share their opinion and voice their concerns, interests, and challenges. Get them involved by posting surveys and/or polls. (You can also use the information that you learn from the surveys to design additional services and information products to serve jobseekers!)

#5  Ask for feedback.  Want to know what your prospect's most pressing concerns are? What they need, want, hope for and desire? Ask them.  It's a great way to research your target audience and a great way to stimulate a little website interactivity.

#6 Question of the day/week/month.  If you blog, posting a regular question of the day, week or month is a valuable way to connect with your audience. Your audience is able to communicate what they need, you gain valuable insight, and you boost interactivity. It's a win-win-win! (This is also something you can do on your Facebook page.)

Interactivity is a fantastic way to build trust with prospective clients so they become customers. Loyal customers and prospects boost awareness, word of mouth communication, and your bottom line.  Implement a few of these interactivity-boosting strategies today!

How to Create an Awesome "About Us" Page For Your Resume Writing Business Website

When creating your "About Me" or "About Us" page on your resume writing business website, you must remember that this is part of building your brand. It is your chance to tell your story to potential and current customers. It’s also a chance to tell your story to people who might want to partner with you in the future (for example, career coaches, therapists, recruiters, etc.). Most website visitors click on the "About" page. Some experts suggest that over 80 percent of all website visitors look at and read the about page. It’s important that you use this real estate to its full potential.

Making a great "About Us" page is as easy as answering these six questions: Who, what, when, where, how and why.

1. Tell the reader who you are. Your clients and potential clients want to know exactly who you are. Let them know. The trick is to tell them, while remembering who you are talking to. Knowing who your target audience is will help you tell your story.
2. Tell the reader what you do. Be clear about what exactly it is that your business does for its clients and customers. Remember that they don’t really want to hear that you write resumes — they want to know if you can help them get interviews! What problem do you solve? Answer that.
3. Tell the reader why you do what you do. Part of your reason why, is to solve the problems that your clients have. But there is more to it than that. It can be very personal to you about why you decided to offer your products or services to others.
4. Tell the reader when you started doing it. By giving the details about when you started doing what you do, you will eventually establish your longevity, but even if you just started, it’s good to share where you are in your journey with your readers. Describe how you came to became a resume writer.
5. Tell the reader where you are. It’s perfectly fine to mention your locality. Even if you serve people all over the world, be proud of where you are now and talk about it. Part of what makes your business what it is, is where you came from. You can also use the "where" to talk about where you fit into the careers space — for example, if your "area" of expertise working with financial services professionals?
6. Tell the reader how you solve their problems. This has been mentioned throughout these seven tips, but it can’t be said enough: Customers want to know what’s in it for them and your "About" page is a perfect place to tell them. After all, to the client it’s all about them, including when it’s about you. 

Once you develop a great “about us” page, you can use the information you created there for many other marketing materials. The information can be in the form of a brochure, and some of the information can be expanded to be included in various blog posts, articles, and social media updates. You can expand your brand in a consistent manner across all marketing channels as you develop your branding narrative.

Understanding Web Analytics for Your Resume Website

With more and more clients finding their resume writers through web searches, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and website traffic strategies are becoming more important for resume writers to understand how to drive visitors to your resume website.

One way you can objectively tell if your website traffic generating strategies are working is to look at your web analytics. You can use the analytics built into your website hosting program, or you can use a free tool like Google Analytics. Here's the first page of an actual Google Analytics report:

Website analytics can tell you a lot. For a resume writer, understanding web analytics is a crucial skill. Your analytics can tell you whether people understand what you're offering, whether people like your brand, and whether or not your website is doing everything it can to bring you new clients.

Here are some of the important numbers every resume writer should be watching in their web analytics.

How Many Visitors Are You Getting?
The first -- and most important -- number you should be watching is how many visitors you're getting. In addition to the raw number, also pay attention to whether the visitor count is going up or down. (You can check this weekly or monthly, but quarterly trends will give you a "bigger picture" analysis.)

As your marketing efforts progress, you should see a direct boost to your visitor count. It might not happen right away, but within a couple months, you should see a measurable increase.

How Many Hit a Goal?
Your resume website should have a very clear goal. For most resume writers, that goal should be to get a website visitor to either inquire about -- or purchase -- your resume services. (How many visitors do you convert into inquiries and/or sales?)

You can actually use Google Analytic's "Goals" feature to track your progress towards your stated "goal." You can measure progress in terms of folks who fill out an inquiry/contact form, sign up for your email list, download a special report on a careers-related topic, or make a deposit or sale.

Whatever the case, you should be carefully tracking the goal hit rate for your website.

Learn more about the "Goals" feature in Google Analytics.

Geographic Location
Are the people who're landing on your website the right kinds of people? If you have a small local business, check to make sure the traffic you're getting is actually from your area. Many resume writers nowadays work "virtually," so location isn't as important as it used to be.

Where Does the Traffic Come From?
How do people end up on your website? Do they type something into the search engines and end up on your site? Or do they enter your URL manually? Is someone else sending people to your website? (LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook can be huge "referrers" to your website.)

Tracking your traffic sources and your referrer data can give you valuable information about what's working and what's not working when it comes to generating traffic.

Bounce Rate
This is an analytic that is often misunderstood. The bounce rate measures the percentage of people who land on your website and leave without visiting a second page on your website. (They only visit one page -- maybe your home page, or a landing page -- and then they leave the site.)

A high bounce rate usually means that visitors came to your site expecting one thing but didn't find what they were looking for. If your bounce rate is above 60%, you might have some serious revamping to do.

Are People Coming Back?
Finally, check to see whether or not people who visit your website come back again. (Look at the "New Visits" analytic.)

For some businesses, this is an irrelevant statistic. For example, a restaurant's website doesn't really expect to get repeat visitors. People just use the website to find the address or phone number so they can show up. But for resume writers, you want people to keep coming back to your site -- especially if you have a blog.

Most people who are looking for a resume writer aren't ready to "buy" when they start their search. This is particularly true for prospects who are spending $400 or more on a resume. (Under $250, resumes are almost an "impulse buy" and you may be able to get them to purchase right away.)

Over $400, the goal is to get them to your site, give them some valuable information, and then -- most important! -- get them to opt-in to your mailing list, can move them along the process to making a direct inquiry about your services.

These are some of the many things that your analytics system can tell you. Learning to understand analytics can really help you steer your resume writing business in the right direction.

Effective Website Design to Attract Resume Clients

In yesterday's blog post about "New Year, New Marketing Ideas," I talked a little bit about the role of your website in attracting new clients ... but I thought it merited its own blog post.

One of the most important elements of your online business is your website. Itís as important to you as a storefront is to a brick and mortar business. Your website represents who you are and what you have to offer.

Your Website Is Your Prospect's First Impression

You know what they say about first impressions, right? Actually, a lot is said about first impressions. Two of the cliches are:

• You never get a second chance to make a first impression, and
• Your first impression matters most

Essentially, they say the same thing. Your prospect's first impression matters. You want people to come to your website and:

• Feel welcome -- like they want to stay and have a look around
• Feel comfortable moving around on your site
• Feel confident in you -- your knowledge, skills, and products or services
• Feel like buying (or at least signing up for your free special report!)

And you want them to feel like coming back!

The Key Elements to Effective Website Design

Many people still think that effective website design has to be complicated. They use fancy flash graphics and make their visitors jump through hoops just to get to the core information. Effective website design is actually quite simple. One of my favorite career websites is Blue Sky Resumes.

Louise Fletcher has done a nice job of creating an inviting website. Let's look at some of the keys to effective website design.

• Navigation. Navigation is essentially how your visitor moves through your website. If they have to search for pages, they're likely to leave. If information, is difficult to find, they'll leave. Conversely, if your website navigation is simple and straightforward, you'll provide an excellent visitor experience. This means more sales, traffic and conversions = more profits. (The best way to create effective navigation is to think through what you want your prospective clients to know, and in what order, and then design your site accordingly.)

• Branding. Your website design actually helps form a brand image in your visitor's mind. Every aspect of your website helps establish who you are and what you're about. At a very basic level, color plays an important role. For example, if you focus on careers in the sustainable industry, then chances are you're going to use greens on your site to represent nature. If you work with accounting or IT clients, then you will probably use blues. Colors are associated with professions, niches, and industries.

• Sales. Ultimately your website design needs to support your goals. Your goal with a resume website is to get clients to take action to start working with you -- either calling or emailing you. If elements of your design distract from your goal, sales can suffer. (It's fine to offer job search resources, for example, but if you're SELLING resume services, your emphasis should be on that, not on how many articles and links to free service sites that you can compile.)

Before you create your website or have someone create it for you, make sure you have a clear idea of who you are, what your website goal is, and how you want your resume writing business to be perceived by your visitors. Then make visiting your website as simple and enjoyable as possible. That's good website design. Keep your goals and your customers' experience at the forefront and you can't go wrong.

How to Drive Traffic to Your Resume Website

Although I believe it is possible for a resume business to succeed without a website, an effective website that draws "significant" traffic (and significant can mean different things to different people), can help propel your business.

Generally, the more traffic you have, the more prospective clients you will have.

Here are five ways to drive traffic to your resume writing business website:

#1 Social media. Social media works quickly and if you have a large following on any of the social media sites (Twitter, Facebook), you can generate a ton of traffic to your website quickly. The key is to create attention-grabbing posts that arouse curiosity, make people laugh, or stir up a controversy. You want to generate click-throughs to your website.

Make the most of your social networking tactics and use technology to get the job done. For example, one StumbleUpon post can be integrated with both Facebook and Twitter profiles so you're making waves on all three social sites at once.

#2 Article marketing. Article marketing works well when you concentrate your efforts on quality article marketing sites with large audiences. One well written, informative article, rewritten a few times, and submitted to a handful of directories can generate the traffic you're looking for. Be sure to include a bio box that includes a call to action and a link to your website to motivate click-throughs.

#3 Blogging. Post on your own blog or be a guest blogger on a blog with a large number of subscribers. Like social networking, if you offer an informative, controversial or entertaining post, youíll have people clicking through to your website like mad. Of course, if you also promote this wonderful blog post(s) via social media, you can double your traffic results.

If you don't have your own blog, you can pay to be a featured career expert on Careerealism. It's not inexpensive ($149 for 3 months), but you can get significant traffic for your website from their links. (Here is resume expert's Dawn Rasmussen's blog post on Careerealism.)

#4 Video content. It's amazing how quickly a video can go viral. Like print content, videos that entertain, stir up a bit of controversy, or offer tremendous value cause a buzz. They're forwarded to friends and downloaded on laptops and mobile devices around the globe. A good video can generate all the traffic you need. Again, integrate a bit of social media to promote your video, blog about it too, and you can multiply your traffic results.

#5 Partnerships. Partnering with another business can work quite well to generate traffic fast. The key is to come up with a mutually beneficial agreement. Find people in the careers industry that are willing to work with you and help each other drive traffic. A partnership may include guest blogging on each others' websites, swapping advertisements, or even promoting one another in your e-newsletter.

Itís possible to drive a ton of traffic to your website fast. The trick is to have a plan in place, know your audience and your goals, and take action.

Pros and Cons of Using a Template-Based Website

When you set up a website for your business, or decide that it's time to do a complete overhaul of your existing site, you'll be faced with a number of design decisions. Much of the focus will be on how your new site should look and how people will interact with it, and rightly so. As the internet "face" of your resume writing business, these are very significant issues.

But you also need to decide how your website is going to function behind the scenes, and choose the structure and framework on which your website will be built. If you are using a popular framework such as WordPress, Joomla, or perhaps using one of the pre-built websites that your hosting provider offers, you'll be using what is known as a "template." Using website templates provides a number of pros and cons that you should carefully consider before going forward.

Most resume writers equate the word "template" with "bad" -- i.e., a Microsoft Word resume template. Templates are really much more than that, however. They're simply structure. If you customize the template, it can simply be a good foundation upon which to build. In my book, "Write Great Resumes Faster," I talk about using a template that simply has placeholders for the information you want to include in the resume (often, advanced formatting tricks -- like section dividers.) In the same way, a website template can offer advanced customization features as well.

By the way, "Write Great Resumes Faster" is the October special report offered in the BeAResumeWriter.com website. Join the Bronze level for just $10 a month, and you'll get access to the $14 "Write Great Resumes Faster" book as just one of your membership benefits for the month.

"Pros" of Using a Web Template
One advantage of using a web template is that you can get your website up and running much more quickly than if you were starting from scratch. A web template is usually ready to go right out of the box, or very close to it -- you still need to customize the template for your business name, contact information, and the like, but you're starting from framework.

Because they save you time, templates are also likely to save you money. There's a good chance you can find a free or open source template to fit your needs, or that is already included in the cost of your web hosting package. But even if you decide to purchase a template, it is likely to be significantly less expensive than either hiring a website programmer to build your site from scratch, or trying to learn to do so yourself.

Templates that are in wide usage by other websites are also likely to be stable and less likely to break down. Any bugs or defects in the code are likely to be discovered and possibly remedied by other users. Some popular templates even have discussion board communities on which you can find tips on maximizing the effectiveness of the template.

I've managed (but not built from scratch) Joomla and Wordpress-based sites, and although there is a learning curve, I found it fairly easy to edit existing content (especially changing out existing text) and even adding new pages.

Cons of Using a Website Template
On the other hand, popular templates suffer from a significant disadvantage because when a template is popular, it means that there are likely a number of other websites that look quite similar to how yours would look. Many businesses know that their success is going to depend, at least in part, on their ability to stand out from their competitors. Sometimes trying to start with a template and then undertake significant modifications winds up breaking a template, so you're back to square one.

In addition, although there are many reputable and trustworthy sources for website templates, there are also some sources that could wind up significantly damaging your business. Hackers and computer criminals have been known to take templates and add short snippets of malicious computer code, then offer the template for free. The code is often very hard to see, and wouldn't be found by anyone unless they were digging deep trying to find it, and could compromise your website or let the hacker potentially take full control of it. WordPress and its templates (known as "themes") are common targets, due to the popularity of the WordPress framework. Avoid downloading any WordPress themes or other templates that you see offered for free but which are offered for a fee from the official source.

I had a resume writer contact me just yesterday and mention his site had been targeted by a hacker. (Just like Windows folks are more susceptible to viruses than Mac users, just by virtue of the large user base, the same is true for Wordpress sites. I'd especially recommend changing the default passwords, as this is the easiest way to prevent being hacked!)

Consider all the factors outlined above before deciding whether to use a template for your website.

A Resume Writing Business Without A Website?

Believe it or not, there are some resume writing businesses without a website.

Your website is a 24 hours, seven day a week salesperson. I don't know about you, but I'm not available to answer the phone 24/7. But many folks are working on their job search during the evenings (even at 2 a.m.!) and on the weekends.

A website can "sell" for you, even when you're not awake. But not just any website will do.

It has to look good. You wouldn't send out a salesperson in stained tank top and ripped jeans, would you? By that same token, you shouldn't have a horrible looking website. Like a salesperson, your website will be judged instantly by its appearance. Making sure your site looks good and professional will instantly put people at ease. (And there are a lot of uneasy job seekers out there -- many of them haven't looked for a job in years, and they're scared. A good website can be reassuring -- that there is someone out there who knows what they're doing.)

The site has to be informative. Would you send out a salesperson that couldn't explain what your business was? Would you send out someone one who couldn't answer basic questions about your business? Of course you wouldn't, so why do so many people do that with their website? Your website needs to explain your business properly -- and the more content and information you have the better. Keep the information fresh too. (A blog is a great way to do this.)  If you want your salesperson to be knowledgeable and caught up on the latest news, then you want the same for your website.

If you get into the mindset that your website is a 24 hour, 7 days a week salesperson, you will naturally take better care of it and demand perfection. The best part about the website though? It doesn't ask for a vacation, it doesn't require overtime, and it works for virtually no money. Try finding a salesperson that does that.

Here are some resume writing business websites that I think do a great job:

• Blue Sky Resumes
• Best Impression
• Career Trend
• The Resume Place
• New Leaf Resumes

What makes a great resume writing business website? I'm interested in what you think. Leave me a comment below.

Website Basics

Last week, I gave a presentation to about 30 small business owners on marketing their services. One of the hot topics was websites. I think websites are an important took for small businesses, but they are certainly not the "be-all, end-all" of marketing.

So it was with great interest today that I came across this website, ResumeAnswers.com, and it reminded me of some of the basics that resume writers should remember when developing their website.

These are:

• Make it easy for prospective customers to contact you. Maybe it's my browser, but I can't find a phone number or e-mail to contact the site owner/business owner -- despite several statements about "contact me for 'x'".
• Establish your credentials. I get the feeling that this individual works in a recruitment agency, or maybe in hiring in general. But I don't know who he or she is, or any of their credentials, because they're not spelled out anywhere on the site.

There are certainly more, but looking at this site, these were two very obvious "basics" you should remember. Make sure your phone number (at a minimum) is on every page of the site.

Are You SEO Ready?

Are you one of the resume writers who considers advertising in the Yellow Pages so "last century"? Do you get most of your new resume clients online? Is your website ready to be a primary source of new business for you? Is it optimized to meet the needs of the search engines that drive the majority of visits to websites like yours?

If you're like me, you wonder how you can get your website to show up on search engines so you can keep attracting new clients. And how you can get more traffic using paid listing services -- but ensure that you're spending your money wisely. Nowadays, you're not just competing with other resume writers in your area, you're competing with writers around the world for clients. Are you ready?

This is one of those topics where we, as resume writers, are going to need to learn some new tricks if we're going to still be selling our resume writing services into the next decade ... so we might as well invest 90 minutes to learn the strategies that will keep our phones ringing (and e-mail boxes full!) for the future.

Kathy Sweeney, NCRW, CPRW, CEIC, CCM, is presenting a webinar tomorrow (Thursday, July 31) at 3 p.m. EDT that you should attend if you want to learn how to maximize the Internet as a source of new clients. If your website is producing the kind of traffic that has your phone ringing off the hook, by all means spend tomorrow serving those clients. But if your appointment book is less-than-full, invest the $39 and attend Kathy's webinar. (Even if you can't make the live session, you can receive the webinar recording and materials after the session -- but if you're a Mac user like me, you'll want to attend live -- see the technical note below).

In the webinar, you'll learn how search engines find your website, effective keyword selection, the importance of meta page titles and meta tag descriptions, the difference between "natural listings" and "paid listings" (and the different types of paid listings), how to submit your website to directories (many of them for free!), how to negotiate relevant reciprocal links, and much more.

Register for the seminar HERE.

The 90-minute webinar is just $39. If you're not able to attend the "live" webinar, Kathy will be recording the audio and the actual "on-screen" presentation of the webinar. So even if you can't make it on Thursday, you will still receive the recording, video, and materials at the conclusion of the source. (See the special note below for MAC users.)

About webinars:
Attending a webinar is not much different than attending a teleseminar. But instead of just using your phone, you use your computer to follow along. You must be at your computer and on your phone at the same time. You will need to be able to "view" the webinar
on your computer.

System requirements:
* PC-based attendees: You'll need Windows 2000, XP Home, XP Pro, 2003 Server or Vista. To view the recorded video from the webinar, you must have Windows Media Player, Version 9 or higher.
* MAC folks (like me!) you'll need MAC OS X 10.3.9 Panther (or newer) to see the webinar. Although Kathy will be recording the video and audio, if you're a Mac-based resume writer, Kathy suggests you attend
the live webinar, as you will not be able to view the webinar video afterwards unless you have access to a PC (or run your Mac dual platform, my husband tells me. *smile*)

If the link doesn't work, visit the Resume Writers Resource website and click on "Teleseminars and Webinars."

Note: When you sign up for the webinar, you will be sent an "invitation" to register for the webinar. You must use the link Kathy will send you and "register" for the webinar or you will not be able to participate.

Your Website: What Is It You Do Exactly?

As a careers professional, you might offer other services besides resume writing. Many resume writers also offer career coaching, typing services,administrativ eassistance/desktop publishing, recruiting services, commercial/freelance writing,etc.

But you might be driving clients away if your other areas of specialty are too diverse. I try not to point out specific examples of bad marketing, but this is a website that has several problems.

The company, Charity Design Publications, offers desktop publishing, printing, transcription services, and resume writing. So far, so good (at least as far as the service offerings go). But they also offer web hosting (as a reseller) and the link to the "Online Store" is what drove me over the edge. Selling things "As Seen On TV" may be one way to increase your income from your website, but it's not going to attract you a lot of credible prospects to your resume writing service.

Ironically, the resume services page of the website includes this sentence:
"A first impression is everything when it comes to job hunting."

I'd argue the same is true when cultivating clients for your professional resumewritingservices too. (CDP Resumes offers a 1- or 2-page resume, including a free1-on-1 consultation and free revisions) for $25 (with a 24-hour turnaround time). (I guess it's no wonder they have to offer so many different services ... it's hard to make a living at $25 a resume.)