"Recalculating" -- Mapping Your Course to Success

I have that Allstate car insurance commercial in my head. You know the one (it's called "Mayhem is Everywhere") -- the guy is driving in his car and his GPS voice gives him wrong directions (including a quick "Turn right,") and he crashes into another car. At the end of the commercial, the guy playing the GPS says, "Recalculating." 

Isn't that what life is all about? Recalculating your path after you make a wrong turn -- or worse, crash? If I steer my vessel in the wrong direction, I can find a map and chart out a new course. Stopping is not an option. I will find my way as long as I keep my eyes on the prize.

Success is a journey, not a destination. Strive to make each step count. A positive attitude helps you move forward and, even when you are unsure of where you are, you are not lost. Instead, choose to become a trailblazer. The generation coming behind us will have access to another route thanks to our resolve to stay the course and forge a new path.

When you come to a fork in the road, trust your intuition to guide you. Being spontaneous in this way helps release your inner self and experience success in a new way. Spontaneity gives you freedom.

Missing a turn causes me no panic because I know that I have countless options; I am not limited to only one way. A wrong turn may lead me to find a new way. The opportunity to explore the unknown excites me.

Although it feels daring to get off the fast-paced highway of life and take the scenic route, detours can be worthwhile because they lead us to discover the beautiful things in life that we otherwise may have missed. The road less traveled is filled with the most stunning sights.

Flexibility allows us to prosper despite failure. Being flexible gives us the strength to keep going when we would rather stop.

Self-Reflection Questions: 
1. What do I do when I reach a dead end?

2. How might I become less rigid and more flexible?

3. What changes can I make to ensure that I enjoy the journey just as much as the end reward?

Reduce Your Stress: Get Organized!

Julie Walraven, of Design Resumes, had an inspiring blog post yesterday ("Why I Spent Saturday Shredding.") That's Julie on the left there, and her office does look pretty good (from what I can see of it in the photo...) I asked her for a before-and-after photo of her office, but she didn't take one, unfortunately.

I find disorganization to be stressful. Like many resume writers, I'm surrounded by paper. I like to be able to work from paper documents instead of computer files, so I print out lots of stuff -- the client's old resume, their questionnaire, research materials (from which I cull keywords), work authorization files, drafts. Ugh. I am surrounded by paper. (I'm surrounded by more of it than usual at the moment because my shredder died, and the plastic tote box that contains my current pile of shredding is actually too large/heavy for me to "tote" to my favorite office supply store to have it shredded!)

Seeing the piles of shredding -- along with all my normal paper -- is stressful!

When I'm not organized, I'm stressed. When stuff is piled everywhere, I lose or misplace notes. I would forget about meetings and I was notorious for losing receipts. All of this made my stress rise through the roof.

When you buy something and it doesn't work, you stress. THEN when you can't find the receipt....it isn't a good scene. That's happened to me a few times, I admit!

I've heard of a program called Evernote (works for the Mac!) that I'm thinking of trying. Currently, I'm doing a little better with my "overall" notes and thoughts by using an online website called "Workflowy." I'm still searching for a better way to handle the volume of paper that I seem to accumulate, but at least I know that I perform better when I take the time to organize. As the old public service ad says, "Knowing is half the battle!"

Is organization (or lack of) is one of your stress triggers? How do you handle it? What tools help you stay organized? (Are you one of those resume writers who prints everything out too?)

Introducing Online Manifesto for Biz

Running a business in today's technologically advanced world can be both exciting and extremely challenging. As a resume writer, you have all of the pressures of staying competitive within the careers industry while also staying current with the trends going on in society -- especially the trends in online marketing.

Having a properly planned and optimized web presence is no longer a nice to have. If you want to have long-lasting success as a resume business owner, your business needs to be online -- and it needs to be in all of the various formats of online exposure.

But how do you know where to start when there are so many components to online marketing and such little time to dedicate to it?

You start with a system. A system that has a proven track record and produces predictable results. A system that can be learned in steps and implemented in a realistic time frame. That is exactly the kind
of system that is being presented to you here today.

Introducing:




The Online Manifesto for Biz is a 21-step program that shows you the most critical components required to successfully bring your offline resume writing business FULLY into the online world.

With so many websites, social sites, and advertising platforms available for businesses to make their mark online, it is very easy to get lost and make costly mistakes.

The Online Manifesto has been designed to cut through the clutter, focus on what works, and deliver it to you, the REAL business owner, in a way that can be easily understood and implemented.

Here is an overview of what this system covers:

Web Basics:
Step 1 — Web Hosting

Step 2 — Domain

Step 3 — Web Platform

Blogging:
Step 4 — Why Blog?

Step 5 — Blogging Best Practices

Social Media
Step 6 — Setting Up Twitter

Step 7 — Using Twitter Properly

Step 8 — Facebook Profile & Fan Page

Step 9 — Facebook Places

Local SEO
Step 10 — What & Why

Step 11 — Keyword Research (Localized)

Step 12 — SEO Basics

Step 13 — Setting up Google Places

Step 14 — Google Places Best Practices

Mobile Marketing 
Step 15 — The Power of Mobile

Step 16 — Making Your Site Mobile Friendly

Step 17 — Mobile Marketing Options

Lead Capture
Step 18 — Lead Capture in a Nutshell

Step 19 — Lead Capture Best Practices

Media Buys
Google and Facebook Ads

Step 21 — Cross Promotion

If you purchase the Online Manifesto for Biz by Saturday, April 30, you'll pay just $7 (50% off the regular price of $14). You'll also receive the Best of the Conferences Special Report (an $8 value) as part of my Lent Special -- for free.

Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey

In 2001, we conducted our first survey of resume writers. Here are the links to blog posts related to the annual industry survey (not all survey results have resulted in blog posts):
First Look at 2010 Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey
2008 Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry Survey
Analyzing the Professional Resume Writing Industry
2003 Industry Survey Results
Profile of Resume Writers - 2001 to 2002