Because I'm preparing for this week's NRWA Conference in Charleston, I wanted to share with you a couple of tips for using trade shows to build your resume writing business. For most resume writers, you can work one of two kinds of "trade shows" -- job fairs and association meetings.
If you've written a book that other resume writers might purchase (or encourage their clients to buy), association meetings (especially those within the resume writing industry) can be a good way to gain visibility and sell books.
If you're looking to sell your career services (resume writing, LinkedIn profile development, membership programs, etc.) then you can participate in job fairs OR target association meetings or conferences where your "ideal client" hangs out (i.e., a technology conference if you work with IT professionals).
Whether working a job fair or a trade association meeting, attendees are looking for new ideas and connections. It's one of the few times when people are receptive to actually being sold to in person. If you can leverage this opportunity to put your brand out there and communicate what you have to offer, it can boost your resume writing business in unimaginable ways. You can walk away with powerful connections, immense goodwill, more credibility, more brand recognition and, often, actual orders.
Here are a few different ways you can leverage trade shows.
Networking
The most basic way to leverage trade shows is through networking. This is especially useful at job fairs. Build in some time to get around -- wander from booth to booth and introduce yourself. Let others know how you can help them and look for new strategic partnerships. I've made some great connections with recruiters during job fairs.
And, of course, if you are offering resume critique services at a job fair or association event, you want to connect with as many jobseekers as possible. Limit your time with each individual to five minutes (ideally, two minutes or less) -- be prepared with handouts to give them some additional information and your contact details.
Host a Side Event
A much more powerful way to leverage a job fair or association conference is to host a side event. Book a conference room in the same hotel or in an adjacent restaurant or large bar. Then market the event through the trade show's Twitter hashtag, through flyering, through Meetup and through your own email list.
You might offer a short workshop on "Getting the Job" or "LinkedIn for Jobseekers." If you're an author, do an event where you speak for 20-30 minutes on your topic and have books available for purchase.
By taking this kind of leadership position, you'll drastically increase your own brand and credibility. You'll also make important connections. Instead of seeking connections, people will come and connect with you.
Be a Speaker
Related to tip number two -- you can build a lot of credibility and brand awareness by getting on stage. Talk to the event organizer early on about the possibility of speaking at the event as early as possible. Make sure you have a good amount of credibility and speaking experience built up before approaching large conference organizers. I recommend the "Resume Writer's Guide to Profiting From Speaking: How to Use Teleseminars, Webinars, Workshops, and Seminars to Attract New Clients and Generate Revenue." Make sure your talk isn't too self-promotional though -- focus on delivering great value to your session attendees.
Should You Get Your Own Booth?
If you're serious about building your brand, you should absolutely get a booth. If you are critiquing resumes at a job fair, you may be offered a discounted or free booth. (You may be able to negotiate this if you are approaching an association event planner -- because a booth at a trade show can run anywhere from $250 to several thousand dollars.) The investment might be worthwhile because having a booth means literally two days of having business come up to you and listen to your sales pitch.
If you're attending the NRWA conference in Charleston, I hope to talk to you! Come and see me speak or check out my booth!
Ideas, information, and resources for professional resume writers.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Wednesday, September 12, 2012
Job Search Help on Your Mobile Phone? There's an App For That!
It seems she's created an app for job searchers -- available for Android, iPhone, and iPad users.
Here's the app description:
Career Solvers for iPhone. Our Career Solvers app is designed for those who are serious about growing their professional careers. Our app will be a guide book providing proven strategies that every professional should know. Career Solvers specializes in managing job search campaigns for six-figure professionals and executives who know where they want to go, but need assistance uncovering the most efficient path. Our career management programs help clients gain clarity around their professional identity and personal brand. We create targeted, compelling resumes, cover letters, and bios and supplement these marketing collateral with coaching programs that accelerate your job search, get your resume in front of the right people, improve your interviewing and salary negotiation skills, and promote your professional image online and offline. It is our mission to empower you with solutions that enable you to successfully navigate your career course.
I'm working on preparing for my "Write Great Resumes Faster" teleseminar today, so I haven't had a chance to check out the app yet. But I'll be interested in downloading it and giving it a try. Maybe I can get Barbara to answer a few questions about her new app for a future blog post.
Have you thought about creating an app for your resume business?
Tuesday, September 11, 2012
Firm Asks "Where Are All The 'Good' Subcontract Resume Writers?"
Well, actually, Matt Craven, of UK-based firm "The CV and Interview Advisors" asked on LinkedIn "Where are all the great CV / resume writers."
He wrote:
My problem is finding great CV / resume writers. Nearly everyone I speak to seems to think they are great but then proceed to produce sub-standard work with spelling errors, grammatical inconsistencies, a lack of knowledge of hot skills (therefore a CV which is ill-aligned with industry-needs), weak or clunky language and dodgy formatting. Does anyone have any advice for finding truly world-class CV / Resume Writers interested in earning industry-leading rates of pay?
Because I have some insight into the topic from my work on the "Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor" special report -- as well as "Developing Strategic Alliances and Partnerships with Recruiters" (which talks about the pay-sharing component of contracting relationships), I gave this response yesterday:
As the editor of an ebook on resume writing subcontracting ("Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor") I may be able to offer some insight to you. In talking with other writers/firms looking for contracting writers, there are a couple common issues:
• Low rates for contracted writing. Because most contracting firms pay their writers between $100-$160 per project (which can be 15-35% of the fee charged), it's hard to find highly credentialed/talented writers who are willing to subcontract write. If you charge your clients 250 British pounds sterling = 400 US dollars, and you pay your writers 30% (a pretty standard subcontracting fee), that's $120. That might seem like a lot, but the Resume Writer's Digest Annual Industry Survey (2010) found that the “average” resume sale was $509.36 for surveyed writers.
• Many folks who subcontract write fall into a couple of categories: They are looking to build their portfolio of work/get experience, they want to supplement their income while they grow their own resume writing business, they don't like the marketing/pricing side of the business (they just want to focus on the writing), or they want true flexibility in their schedules (with the freedom to accept/decline assignments as they wish).
• As a contracting firm, you want someone who can accept a reasonable volume of assignments, who turns in consistently good and timely work, who will put your clients first (and not flake out if this is a "moonlighting job" and they get busy with their "real job" -- or if they have their own clients) and who will work for a pay rate that still allows you to make money on the "client management" and marketing aspects of the sale. That can be a tough combination to find if you don't know where to look.
• Speaking of that, you might look at how you're getting the word out about your subcontracting opportunities -- some channels are more effective than others. As much as I love LinkedIn, putting a request for writers on here is akin to putting an ad in a newspaper ... and we all know how that goes! You need to "go where the people are" -- reaching out to folks who are already successful as subcontract writers for other firms ... and/or writers who have achieved a minimum proficiency (i.e., certification).
• Speaking of certification -- Lack of standardization of certification and training programs means it's hard to judge a contracting writer's work without wading through lots of samples from "unqualified" writers. While I don't think that all good writers are certified, most certified writers (especially certain types of certifications) are good. The most rigorous certification is the Academy Certified Resume Writer (offered by Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark's Resume Writing Academy) -- but it costs over $2000 .... so you're not going to find an ACRW who will write resumes for $100. Or even $200.
• In your case in particular, there are no "local" resume writing organizations -- so to "farm" for writers, you're looking at US-based associations. Most US-based writers aren't familiar with country-specific requirements for resumes and CVs, so there has to be a training component with most writers anyway. You're more likely to find competent writers from the U.S. (just because there are so many of us -- the US resume writing industry has been going strong for more than 15 years!)... but you'll have to teach them the cultural (and spelling) nuances.
What would you think about me creating a database of "vetted" subcontract writers? I've already got a pretty robust database of writers who are interested in the topic (by virtue of them having purchased the "Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor" special report.
He wrote:
My problem is finding great CV / resume writers. Nearly everyone I speak to seems to think they are great but then proceed to produce sub-standard work with spelling errors, grammatical inconsistencies, a lack of knowledge of hot skills (therefore a CV which is ill-aligned with industry-needs), weak or clunky language and dodgy formatting. Does anyone have any advice for finding truly world-class CV / Resume Writers interested in earning industry-leading rates of pay?
As the editor of an ebook on resume writing subcontracting ("Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor") I may be able to offer some insight to you. In talking with other writers/firms looking for contracting writers, there are a couple common issues:
• Low rates for contracted writing. Because most contracting firms pay their writers between $100-$160 per project (which can be 15-35% of the fee charged), it's hard to find highly credentialed/talented writers who are willing to subcontract write. If you charge your clients 250 British pounds sterling = 400 US dollars, and you pay your writers 30% (a pretty standard subcontracting fee), that's $120. That might seem like a lot, but the Resume Writer's Digest Annual Industry Survey (2010) found that the “average” resume sale was $509.36 for surveyed writers.
• Many folks who subcontract write fall into a couple of categories: They are looking to build their portfolio of work/get experience, they want to supplement their income while they grow their own resume writing business, they don't like the marketing/pricing side of the business (they just want to focus on the writing), or they want true flexibility in their schedules (with the freedom to accept/decline assignments as they wish).
• As a contracting firm, you want someone who can accept a reasonable volume of assignments, who turns in consistently good and timely work, who will put your clients first (and not flake out if this is a "moonlighting job" and they get busy with their "real job" -- or if they have their own clients) and who will work for a pay rate that still allows you to make money on the "client management" and marketing aspects of the sale. That can be a tough combination to find if you don't know where to look.
• Speaking of that, you might look at how you're getting the word out about your subcontracting opportunities -- some channels are more effective than others. As much as I love LinkedIn, putting a request for writers on here is akin to putting an ad in a newspaper ... and we all know how that goes! You need to "go where the people are" -- reaching out to folks who are already successful as subcontract writers for other firms ... and/or writers who have achieved a minimum proficiency (i.e., certification).
• Speaking of certification -- Lack of standardization of certification and training programs means it's hard to judge a contracting writer's work without wading through lots of samples from "unqualified" writers. While I don't think that all good writers are certified, most certified writers (especially certain types of certifications) are good. The most rigorous certification is the Academy Certified Resume Writer (offered by Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark's Resume Writing Academy) -- but it costs over $2000 .... so you're not going to find an ACRW who will write resumes for $100. Or even $200.
• In your case in particular, there are no "local" resume writing organizations -- so to "farm" for writers, you're looking at US-based associations. Most US-based writers aren't familiar with country-specific requirements for resumes and CVs, so there has to be a training component with most writers anyway. You're more likely to find competent writers from the U.S. (just because there are so many of us -- the US resume writing industry has been going strong for more than 15 years!)... but you'll have to teach them the cultural (and spelling) nuances.
What would you think about me creating a database of "vetted" subcontract writers? I've already got a pretty robust database of writers who are interested in the topic (by virtue of them having purchased the "Making Money as a Resume Subcontractor" special report.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Helping Clients With How to Write LinkedIn Recommendations
LinkedIn is increasingly important in our clients' job searches -- and the role of Recommendations is growing too. September's Pass-Along Materials content on BeAResumeWriter.com focuses on how to give -- and get -- LinkedIn Recommendations.
You must either be connected to the individual you wish to Recommend or know his or her email address. Also, the individual must have a valid LinkedIn account. You may find it easiest to use the "select from your connections list" in the "Make a Recommendation" section.
You can also make a Recommendation from the individual's profile page directly:
(Note: In the Pass-Along Materials, the screen shots are of a fictionalized profile. You can also replace the screen shots with your own profile, like I did above with my own LinkedIn profile)
Some things to consider before writing a Recommendation are:
Within the Recommendation, you want to include four things (this is an excerpt of the full "Formula for a LinkedIn Profile"):
Your finished Recommendation might look like this (this is an example of the type of notification email you'll receive when someone Recommends you):
Resume writers -- learn more about the "How to Give -- and Get -- LinkedIn Recommendations" Pass-Along Materials package. It's brandable content you can use in your own resume writing business.
You must either be connected to the individual you wish to Recommend or know his or her email address. Also, the individual must have a valid LinkedIn account. You may find it easiest to use the "select from your connections list" in the "Make a Recommendation" section.
You can also make a Recommendation from the individual's profile page directly:
(Note: In the Pass-Along Materials, the screen shots are of a fictionalized profile. You can also replace the screen shots with your own profile, like I did above with my own LinkedIn profile)
Some things to consider before writing a Recommendation are:
- What are they good at?
- What did they do better than anyone else?
- What impact did they have on me? (How did they make my life better/easier?)
- What surprised you about the individual?
Within the Recommendation, you want to include four things (this is an excerpt of the full "Formula for a LinkedIn Profile"):
- How you know the person
- Why you recommend them
- A story that backs up your Recommendation (providing "social proof")
- A call to action
Your finished Recommendation might look like this (this is an example of the type of notification email you'll receive when someone Recommends you):
Resume writers -- learn more about the "How to Give -- and Get -- LinkedIn Recommendations" Pass-Along Materials package. It's brandable content you can use in your own resume writing business.
Here's what you can do with this content (you can edit the report or use it "as is"):
- Use it as a free giveaway to build your prospect mailing list or sell it.
- Tweet excerpts or post updates to Facebook and/or LinkedIn using the tips in the content.
- Break it into sections and use it as a series of blog posts or articles on your website.
- Turn it into a video and use it to drive traffic to your website.
- Use it as a a script or an outline for a webinar.
- Make it a handout for a LinkedIn training class.
- Add it as a bonus for a LinkedIn membership program or training.
Because it's provided in Microsoft Word format, you can change out the screen shots to feature your own profile, and you can add to -- or edit -- any of the content.
If you are a Bronze member of BeAResumeWriter.com (just $10/month), you can access this content in the Paid Member Resources section from now until Oct. 9, 2012. Or, you can purchase the package at this link: How to Give -- and Get -- LinkedIn Recommendations.
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