Generating Rapid Cash Flow in Your Resume Writing Business

I spent a couple of hours over the past four days listening to the great information shared in Ellen Britt's Rapid Cash Flow Secrets telesummit calls. There were four sessions each day, with each presenter sharing their best ideas for generating quick cash flow as well as developing a sustainable business income for the long haul as well. There were several big-name presenters, including Jessica Swanson, Michelle PW, and Christine Gallagher.

Many years ago, I had the idea that resume writers needed to create some sort of program to complement the resume writing services offered. My original idea was something like a pre-paid legal services model -- where folks would pay a small fee per month (like $12 or $20) and receive access to resume services on an ongoing basis (like one resume update each year).

After listening to the programs, I got some new ideas for resume writers -- like the idea of a membership site (which is kind of like the legal services model), with resources for resume clients. It can be provided as a bonus with the purchase of the resume on a free trial basis, and then as an ongoing subscription revenue source after that. While the average membership site only keeps clients for 3-5 months, I think a resume writer's membership site might attract clients for 6- to 12-months (and certainly selling it in time chunks like that would lessen the attrition rate).

Are you interested in learning more about these kinds of principles? You can purchase the audio files and transcripts for all 16 Rapid Cash Flow Secrets sessions using this link for just $97. I'll also be writing and/or speaking about how you can apply some of these principles in your resume writing business for short-term and long-term income generation in future blog posts and in the Resume Writers' Digest newsletter.

Is this a topic you're interested in learning more about? Let me know...

Associations for Professional Resume Writers

I'm leaving up the original post (below), but I've updated the association listing.
Check out the updated post by clicking here.

Looking for networking opportunities, certifications, information, and more? There are several associations devoted to the professional resume writing and careers industry.

These include:

• The Career Management Alliance. Originally founded as the Career Masters Institute (CMI) by Wendy Enelow, "The Alliance," as it is informally known, was purchased by Kennedy Information (which became BNA Subsidiaries LLC). Their annual conference is in Las Vegas in April 2011. The conferences are pricy, but well done. Memberships begin at $135/year.
• Career Directors International (CDI). Originally founded as the Professional Resume Writing and Research Association (PRWRA), this association is run by Laura DeCarlo. They offer one of the best annual conferences out there. Dues are $150/year. They offer several certifications, including the Certified Advanced Resume Writer (CARW), Certified Expert Resume Writer (CERW), Certified Resume Specialist (CRS), and Master Career Director (MRD) designations. They also offer an annual resume writing awards contest, the TORI (Toast of the Resume Industry) awards.
• Career Professionals of Canada. With a subscriber base of 250, three credentials that are widely recognized by Canadians, and a rigorous training program, CPC is a valuable resource for Canadian practitioners.
• Career Thought Leaders. The brainchild of Wendy Enelow, Career Thought Leaders Consortium bills itself as a "think tank" -- but is offering a conference and symposium in 2011 in Baltimore in March.
• CertifiedResumeWriters.com. Not really a true "association," this is an online directory for resume writers that has morphed into an "information resource site" for resume writers as well. Maria Hebda puts together an impressive line-up of teleseminars. There is a one-time (lifetime) membership fee of $497. (Multiple pay-payment options are available.)
• The National Resume Writers' Association (NRWA). This is a member-driven organization, with a volunteer board of directors. They offer an annual conference (the 2011 conference is in Maine) and a rigorous certification -- the Nationally Certified Resume Writer credential. Dues are $150/year (2-payment and 3-payment options available for new members).
• Professional Association of Resume Writers and Career Coaches (PARW/CC). Founded by Frank Fox, PARW was the "original" resume writing association, from which many other associations branched off. PARW offers the most common resume writing certification, the Certified Professional Resume Writer (CPRW) credential. It also certifies individuals as Certified Employment Interview Professionals (CEIP) and Certified Professional Career Coaches (CPCC). Membership is $150/year.
• Resume Writing Academy (RWA). Not an association, really, the Academy is a training program offered by Louise Kursmark and Wendy Enelow. Resume writers can earn the prestigious ACRW (Academy Certified Resume Writer) credential, which is the preferred certification for many resume contracting firms.
• Arizona Resume Writers' Association. This small group maintains a website to market their services collectively to prospects in their geographic area.
• Association of Online Resume & Career Professionals (AORCP). It offers a Certified Master Resume Specialist (CMRS) credential. Membership is just $50/year.

I Got Distracted

I sometimes say that I have "mild ADD" -- I think most business owners do. We enjoy wearing lots of hats, and don't like doing the same thing every day. I think it's what makes us great resume writers -- I know a little bit about a lot of subjects, and I'm naturally very curious ... which makes it easy for me to get interested in the wide variety of professions that I've written resumes for. It also makes me very distractable.

Which brings me to this blog post. I started Resume Writers' Digest about 12 years ago, I think. (I could go look up the first issue, that that would just distract me from writing this blog post.) It started as a print newsletter, six issues a year for $36. It was initially 8 pages. At some point along there (again, I'm not going to look it up, but I think it was about 2002), I started putting out 16 and 20 page issues ... I think one was even 28 pages. I raised the subscription fee to $60/year ($10 an issue, six issues). It was wildly successful. We "covered" all the major conferences. I solicited paid articles from the top names in the business. (I particularly loved Louise Kursmark's column in each issue). We had advertisers... lots of them.

But then I got distracted. I can't even remember why now, but I had another project (or another client) that took up so much of my time that I couldn't keep on top of the newsletter. So I let it die out. I was sad to see it go, but I had a lot of other stuff going on. (If I recall correctly, it was also around the time that I got married and moved my business into my home.)

A few years ago, in September 2007, I brought it back again -- this time as a free online issue, supported by advertising and the sale of my special reports. But several of the earlier advertisers weren't around anymore, and I got a lot of pushback from one resume writing association in particular, who were upset about the conference coverage write-ups. (They felt that session write-ups would keep people from attending the conferences themselves. My response, that the write-ups were coming after the conferences were over, and that there are many other reasons to attend a conference other than just the content, fell on deaf ears.)

Lots of family issues from 2008-2010 kept me from staying focused on Resume Writers' Digest. The laptop I blogged on died. My former sister-in-law had a midlife crisis and cheated on my brother. My aunt (of whom I'm a primary caretaker) had a stroke. All of these, combined with the need to keep my "main" business going, led to a lack of attention to Resume Writers' Digest. I got distracted.

But I want to get back to making Resume Writers' Digest a priority again. I have a database of about 4000 professional resume writers and career professionals ... more than 800 of them subscribe to the Resume Writers' Digest newsletter. I receive a couple of emails a week from folks wondering where the next issue is. I've got dozens of articles that are ready to go ... ideas and even some full-fledged special reports ... but not enough hours in the day.

I don't really have any grand announcements in this blog post. I mostly just wanted to let you know that I'm working on it. I need to put a plan and a timeline in place ... and say "no" to some other things so that I can get back to what I really am passionate about ... supporting resume writers. That's been an interest of mine since I started my business in 1996 ... and 15 years later, I'm still passionate about it. It's time I put my focus back on Resume Writers' Digest.

Let me know what you want ... Does the newsletter format still interest you? Should I be putting more focus on my blog? Any particular topics for special reports you're interested in? I've got lots of ideas, but I need to know what you want too... please feel free to comment.

Trends in Resumes and Career Marketing Communications

Where is the resume field headed? Get some insights on "Trends in Resumes & Career Marketing Communications" from Career Thought Leaders Deb Dib and Louise Kursmark.

I've been a resume writer since 1996. Certainly, a lot of things have changed in the careers industry during that time -- and things will continue to change in the future. But the need to assist job seekers with clarifying their job search goals and strategies and developing messaging content to fulfill that role will continue to be needed, both now and well into the future.

But even with changes in technology, the job search is still fundamentally about people. Connecting with the people with the authority to hire you. (There's a resurgent interest in networking -- both with and without social media -- which is interesting, because it's always been about connecting with other people.)