Handwritten Notes Can Help Your Clients Build Their Networks

Marketing expert David Frey shared the following story of how George Bush Sr. become president -- winning the ultimate job.

It's said that every person that George met, he kept in touch with.

It didn't matter whether it was interns, politicians, business people, or clergy, he and Barbara Bush would make sure they stay in touch.

The way he did that was with simple greeting cards and personal notes.

(This isn't a political story -- it's a networking story. Read on.)
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Handwritten Notes are King!
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Here's quotes and excerpts from six different, well-known professional business experts about the power of handwritten notes.
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1. “Short handwritten cards yield long results. In sales, never underestimate the importance of the personal gesture, and right at the top of the list of effective personal gestures sits the handwritten card.

Always send memorable cards and personal notes when you are reminded of a person.”

HARVEY MACKAY, Author of "Swim with the Sharks Without Getting Eaten"

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2. "Because I understood that building relationships is what selling is all about, I began early in my career to send thank you cards to people. I set a goal to send 10 thank you cards every day.

Guess what happened? By the end of my third year in sales, my business was 100% referrals!”

TOM HOPKINS, Auhor of "How to Master the Art of Selling"

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3. "Sending cards is one of the most powerful tools in building a huge network, both professionally and socially.

People with the most impressive networks are typically avid card writers.

It's one of the best techniques for long-term winning without intimidation. I suggest getting into the habit of immediately sending out cards."

BOB BURG, Author of "Endless Referrals"

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4. "Write customers personal, handwritten cards frequently. If you run into an old customer anywhere, follow up with a handwritten card.

In this electronic communication age of email, the handwritten card with a postage
stamp gets more immediate attention than ever.”

DANIELLE KENNEDY, Author of Seven Figure Selling

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5. Welch sent handwritten notes to anyone in the company who he felt deserved personal communication, whether to motivate, correct, or congratulate, from top management to laborers.

Much has been said in business books and magazine articles about Jack Welch's habit of sending handwritten notes to his GE subordinates.

Matt Lauer of the Today Show said, "Jack is a master of the hand-written note.

JACK WELCH, Former CEO of General Electric

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6. Joe Girard, the world’s greatest salesman -- listed in the Guinness Book of World Records -- sent over 16,000 handwritten greeting cards to past customers and clients every month.

As a result of that effort, Joe became the #1 car salesperson in the entire world for 12 years straight. Nearly every one of his sales came from referrals.

JOE GIRARD, Author of "How to Sell Anything To Anyone"

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7. "I cannot overemphasize the value of the handwritten thank you note. I believe it’s more important than ever, because so few people do it anymore."

SHELLEY KAEHR, Ph.D. Author of Sales 101: Simple Solutions for Sales Success

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Are You Convinced Yet??
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If you're not sending out handwritten notes, then you're really missing the boat.

I personally write between 2-6 handwritten notes a day to people.

That one small practice has changed my life and the lives of many others.

Writing notes endears you to people and sets you apart as someone who truly cares about others.

With all the competition out there in today's business world, the one thing that can set you apart is the small, kind, thoughtful things you do for people.

And writing notes is the fasest, easiest, and most effective way to reach out and touch people.

Now that you're convinced that you should be sending out handwritten notes and cards, David recommends this solution to help you keep in touch:http://www.ILovetoSendOutCards.com
David Frey is the CEO of MarketingBestPractices.com and the author of the Small Business Marketing Bible.

Using PR Techniques to Get Your Clients Interviews and Get Hired

Jessica and Meryl

When I saw this article on "Using PR Techniques Can Get You Hired, Promoted" in the Atlanta Business News, it immediately caught my attention.

I've often said that there is no "degree" in resume writing -- careers industry professionals come from all walks of life and diverse backgrounds. My personal background is in journalism/public relations, and I've often used these techniques in helping my clients with their resumes ... and to get interviews.

A couple of specific techniques from PR are important:

• The message is the most important. When providing interview training, I remind clients that it's up to you to communicate your message. The interviewer may have his or her own agenda for the interview -- and it may not align with the message you want to communicate. If you can pick 2-3 key messaging topics for yourself, you'll be able to stay on track in the interview.
• Use the "inverted pyramid" style of writing in the resume and cover letter. When writing a news article, you start with the most important information at the top, with the least important successively as you go down the page. In newspaper copyediting, this helps the editor trim from the bottom up, when space is an issue. The same is true with the resume.
• Have a theme or story. The use of storytelling principles continues to grow in the resume writing field -- because it's important to stand out. The same is true with newspaper writing. Personal interest profiles are written very differently than straight news stories. You'll see this reflected in resumes too -- and it can be the difference between an "obituary" resume versus an interview-winning resume.

If you are interested in this subject, check out "Be Your Own Best Publicist" (Career Press, January 2011) by PR pros Jessica Kleiman and Meryl Weinsaft Cooper.

Business Card Resumes

Over the past 15 years, there have been many attempts to makes resumes "portable" -- from JIST Cards to Social Media Trading Cards to the "Business Card Resume."

Martin Yate's article this week on the topic, "The Business Card Resume" caught my attention.

While his article covers the basics, I thought the visual example he gave was lackluster:

If you're going to provide these cards to your clients, you need to make sure they have the same branding and identity (and look and feel) as the resume. And by all means, the "Performance Profile" has to be as distinctive as a branding statement on the resume. I don't know why Yate chose to abbreviate "Senior" in this example (did he really need to save the extra three letters?) or why his performance profile doesn't quantify ($$, %%, or ##) the real value the client can deliver to an employer.  (Shouldn't all senior A/R specialists be focused on the "identification, prevention and solution of recurring accounts receivable problems"? What sets this client apart? A 44% recovery rate of receivables past due more than 120 days? Expertise in reducing average time-to-collect by 23 days?

More "trendy" -- but not necessarily appropriate for all job search uses, are social media trading cards (thanks to Wendy Terwelp for pointing out her hometown's company, Meet-Meme).

These cards are certainly attention-getting! Another neat feature of the company's services is that QR codes on the cards direct to a personal online brand site, which can contain the full resume and portfolio.

No matter what format you recommend (or provide) for your clients, make sure that it's consistent with their personal brand and identity. Provide as much value as possible in the small space, but don't cram it with information. Consider adding a QR Code (like the ones on Meet-Meme's social media cards) to lead to the client's LinkedIn profile, or a personal website.

CDI Announces 2011 Career Innovator Award Nominees

Career Directors International has announced its 2011 Career Innovator Award nominees. This is the fourth year this award will be presented. The winner will be honored at the 2011 Global Career Empowerment Summit in Savannah, Georgia, in October.

Nominees include:

• Jennifer Rolles, IntRvue, Inc. The website allows job seekers to create multipage multimedia storyboards, enabling them to use storytelling techniques in the job search.
• Mary Elizabeth Bradford, The Job Search Success System.  A 10-step job search system for job seekers with 18 audio modules covering such key topics as internet job searching, "how to ace your interviews," networking without asking for a job, and finding and working with recruiters.
• Camille Roberts, "Create an Effective Federal Resume with the USAJOBS.gov Online Resume Builder." This 21-page free e-book, from Job-Hunt's Federal Job Search Expert, provides step-by-step guidance for clients looking to develop and upload their federal resume to the USAJobs website.
• Barbara Adams, CareerPro Global Inc. Barbara has introduced the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) principles to the resume writing and career services industry.
• Janine Moon, "Career Ownership: Creating 'Job Security' in Any Economy." Janine's 120-page book, available for purchase on Amazon.com, offers a roadmap for job seekers to take ownership of their career path and chart their course to success.

Congratulations to all the nominees!