Procrastinator? [Guest Post]

Do you tend to put off the activities that you least like in your business?

Do you find a million other so-called 'urgent' items on your to-do list; like hanging the laundry or dusting the bookshelves?

Are you a bit of a procrastinator?

It was 9 a.m. and I had a deadline to get a proposal in. I had met with a pretty senior person in a great company and they were interested in a workshop and coaching program. It was an exciting project and I was itching to get the bones of it down and ready to send out.

No procrastination here. No hesitation at all. I was on a roll. It was flowing beautifully and I sent out the proposal out a day before it was due.

I hit 'enter' on my keyboard and stood up and stretched. As I reached out my arm I knocked over a pile of documents on my desk. It was the pile that had been sitting there for the last 6 weeks, waiting to be sorted through, dealt with and filed.

This was about the tenth time I had knocked over that pile. I was pretending that it wasn't there. It is the work that I least like to do. And I had gotten to the point of absolute desperation with it.

In fact what had happened was that I was telling myself an amazing story about how dreadful, long, tedious and unnecessary this type of work was.

And the truth is, the story was much worse than the reality. When I finally forced myself to deal with it, it was over in less than two hours. When I surrendered to the pile of papers, it was a lot less complicated or tedious than I had anticipated. In fact, there was quite a sense of satisfaction in actually dealing with the issues, and especially in the new space available on my desk.

I have to say, that story made me feel pretty stupid. I had procrastinated for 6 weeks over less than 2 hours of work! Where's the sense in that?

So here's what's interesting and important in this whole issue; we are constantly telling ourselves stories about everything in our lives. We define our reality by the stories we tell.

There are activities that we do that we call 'hard work' and other activities that we call 'play'. It's not the same for everyone. What I call 'hard work' could be 'play' for you. What is the best fun and enjoyment for you, I may be calling a chore.

The exciting thing is; you can change it. You can discover and decide which story will make your day feel like fun and ease rather than difficulty and challenge. It's all in the story you tell.

Your success in business is very much about the story you tell. Think about what you replied that last time someone asked you about your business. What story did you tell? Did it excite and inspire that person? Did it excite and inspire you?

If not, you are telling a dis-empowering story and that's your choice. But it won't bring you business success. Start telling more powerful stories that create buzz and excitement around what you do. You'll see an immediate shift. You'll experience a transformation in how you feel about your business and how it is being perceived externally.

Remember, it's all about the story! Where do you need a more powerful story?

LISA BLOOM is a Professional Storyteller who helps entrepreneurs and business owners beat overwhelm, stress and discomfort with marketing to find confidence, attract ideal clients and make more money by finding their success story. Lisa's Leadership Development & Coaching Programs and Speaking gigs have engaged, motivated and inspired people worldwide! She is delighted to offer you the complimentary ebook "Using Stories to Get Great Clients": http://www.story-coach.com

Personal Branding: An Interview with Susan Chritton

What makes you stand out? How will people remember you?

Personal Branding for Dummies

These are important questions for resume writers to ask clients -- and ask ourselves! I had the opportunity to chat with/interview Susan Chritton, author of "Personal Branding for Dummies" in a Colleague-to-Colleague discussion series as part of the Career Thought Leaders Virtual Conference earlier this week, and I wanted to share some of her insights into personal branding, and how a few simple questions can help resume writers more easily create a theme for their clients' career communication documents.

Chritton is an Executive Career Coach and branding strategist who was mentored by the "godfather" of personal branding, William Arruda. She says her personal mission is to "educate and empower others to use their gifts in the world." I am confident she will reach this goal, as the information she shared during her presentation at the CTL conference — and her willingness to share her ideas with me during this call — was both informational and inspirational.

Question: As a resume writer, I don't often have a lot of time to explore a client's personal brand like a career coach would. How can a resume writer quickly ascertain a client's personal brand?

Chritton: Personal branding can be distilled into two concepts: "What do I think of me?" and "What do they think of me?" So one way to get to someone's personal brand is to ask them this: "Give me five words to describe yourself," and then "What are 2-3 words someone else might describe you as?" People are generally harder on themselves than others would be, so this gives insight into how they want to be seen (by others).

Chritton noted that if clients are receptive to this kind of work, you can give them homework (or a self-study assignment). In chapter 4 of the book, there is a personal brand profile worksheet (pictured) that they can use to develop their personal brand statement. You can then incorporate that into the documents you create.

She also said that one key is getting the client to "get out of themselves" and get a different perspective on how to articulate their brand. Two good questions for this, Chritton said, are: "Who are your competitors (for the job) and describe the qualities they possess." And then follow up with, "Which of those qualities do you have?" Chritton finds that often what clients say in response to these two questions "describes (the client) at their best."

Question: You talk about being authentic in personal branding. How might we get to someone's authenticity (again, quickly!)?

Chritton: Get people to "light up" and talk about themselves. Ask them, "What do you do that is different than others (who do what you do) — maybe something that people don't know about you, or that doesn't seem relevant."

She shared the story of a recent client, a business analyst who, she discovered, is also an accomplished drummer. Once she discovered that fact, she was able to use more colorful words to describe the client. The patterns in music mirrored the patterns the individual was able to see in data analysis. This was a key component of the client's personal brand.

Chritton said resume writers can use their "B.S. meter" to make sure that the client's brand that they are articulating is authentic to them. She shared the story of one young client, in his mid-twenties, who had crafted a personal brand that wasn't authentic. This became clear when the candidate would land interviews, but no job offers. Hiring managers quickly saw through the "style" of his brand and found there was no "substance" to back it up. "If you haven't been completely honest (in developing your personal brand), you won't get the response you're seeking," Chritton noted.

Question: Where do you see personal branding going next?

Chritton: "I hope more and more people use personal branding, because it humanizes people, and helps companies find the right people."

More and more companies are using personal branding, which gives her "a lot of hope" because "personal branding is the ultimate diversity" tool.

Half of the work Chritton is currently doing involves corporate coaching and personal branding consulting within organizations — she is often hired by the company itself, but sometimes by executives directly to work with them. She says the hardest part of this work is the diverse skill set it requires. "In working with corporate clients, you have to be a good coach, a good writer, you have to be social media savvy, and you have to have experience with video," she noted. (Video is an emerging area. She sees more and more of personal branding moving to video.) Chritton points to the video on her LinkedIn profile as an example of this in action.

No matter what the format — resume, LinkedIn profile, video — Chritton says the essence of personal branding work is "representing the client in the best, most honest way."

What If You Could Catch the Attention of Top Hiring Managers?

Oooo...that got your attention, didn't it?

Strong headlines are important. Just like with a client's resume being reviewed by a hiring manager, you only have a few seconds to get the attention of the prospective client who visits your website.

Tammi Metzler

"Urge readers to take notice with an attention-grabbing headline."

This was Step #2 shared by Tammi Metzler of the Write Associate in her teleseminar last week for BeAResumeWriter.com, "Your Website Gold Mine: Discover 5 Crucial Elements of a Client-Attracting, Money-Making Website." This was one of her 5 steps in a roadmap for a website to connect you with interested prospects for your resume-writing services.

If your resume writing website isn't drawing enough visitors … or if you're getting traffic but they're not turning into clients … or they're the WRONG kind of clients, listen to the recording of Tammi's call.

You can listen to the streaming audio here — for free, no opt-in required.

One of the most powerful statements Tammi made can be summed up like this:
If you don't know what action you want visitors to take, neither will they!

What do you want visitors to your website to do — what action do you want them to take? Do you want them to call you? Submit their resume for a review? Purchase a consultation with you? Download a free job search guide? Attend a preview (teleseminar) call? Once you know what you want them to do, it's much easier to create a website that inspires that action!

Tammi also shared a secret of how your website can reduce price resistance among prospective clients – which has been a HOT topic recently on some of the resume writing association e-lists. Making this one simple change on your website can dramatically increase your client conversion rate (the number of prospective clients who visit your website and actually become clients)!

I also invite you to join me for Tammi's upcoming class, "Secrets of a Client-Attracting Home Page: Five Simple Steps for Creating a Home Page That Lets Your Website Connect Your Business With Dozens, Hundreds, or Even Thousands of Your Ideal Clients Online." In that training, Tammi is going to share 11 proven headline formulas to draw visitors into your website so that they'll stick around long enough to learn more about what you offer and how you can help them in their job search, plus nine engagement techniques you can use on your website, and more.

I've signed up and hope to "see" you on the live call on March 27!

P.S. – Finally, Tammy has a free report for you to enjoy -- "Five Ways to Turn Website Visitors Into Clients" (a $97 value). Click on the link to find out more.

So What? Make Me Care! Do It Fast!

I love this phrase: "So what? Make me care? Do it fast!"

Deb Dib uses it as the "mantra" for all the work she does for her career clients. It's a phrase she came up with a few years ago at a Career Thought Leaders conference in Baltimore. 

Earlier this week, I attended The Academies' Certified G3! Coaching preview call, where Deb and Susan Whitcomb shared some of the strategies used in the program (you can read some of my take-aways below).

G3, in case you're not aware of it, is "Get Clear, Get Found, Get Hired" and it's a 10-week program designed to teach resume writers and career coaches how to create branded career communications ("career-comm").

From The Academies' program description:

To land today, your clients need to build an organic web of influence across multiple channels — starting yesterday! To do this, most clients will need more than a resume writer or coach – they’ll need a leading edge go-to resource with the training and talent to position them for this uncommon new world of careering … with resumes, LinkedIn profiles, and more for the mobile marketplace.

You can watch the 54-minute preview video here:

G3! Coaching Preview

It's definitely worth your time, even if you're not ready to pursue the certification yet.

Here were some of my key take-aways:

• Social media (especially Twitter) and the increase in mobile devices have inspired a need for shorter, more focused career communication documents. That doesn't mean that there isn't a need for two-page resumes (and addendums), but you should also be creating short-form pieces. Mobile devices outnumber PCs by 3-to-1 worldwide, so we as resume writers need to consider how what we write is being consumed … and a lot of it is being read on smartphones and iPads.

• Deb pointed out that we are helping people navigate one of the most important transitions in their lives — so we need to be on top of our game in terms of knowing what's needed now and what's coming next. As Deb says, "We have a moral imperative to help our clients navigate change."

• Deb introduced the concept of "Why-Buy-ROI" as a way to express client's "branded value in the marketplace." The "Why-Buy-ROI" formula takes the idea of expressing accomplishments a step further. It says, very quickly, "I know what you need, I can do it, I can prove I can do it, and I can do it again." The formula is: WHO/HOW/WHAT —> Measurable result. (Deb and Susan provide specific examples of this in the video, including one for a support position — which, as you know, it can be hard for people in support roles to quantify their value.)

• Think in terms of mini-modules that can build upon each other when developing your client's career communications. Susan and Deb described the process as creating a "Parts Store" where you can "shop" to find pieces to meet the client's needs in the job search.

They also showcased the G3 Smart-Step System, and described the pieces that take you (and your clients) from "4 smart steps" to "4 awesome outcomes."

Finally, Deb and Susan talked about how the G3 system can be incorporated into a resume writing business to add additional revenue. Deb said in her first year, she made $750. Total. But she also pointed out that was 20 years ago. She provided a sample price chart that showcases packages that can be built using the G3 system, and the "Power Pitch Resume with Proof-Points™" is twice that alone. If you've been looking for a way to increase your prices — and revenues — this system provides the key.

If you ARE thinking about becoming a G3! coach, the next program starts April 15, 2013. As I mentioned, it's a 10-week training class. Deb Dib will be your instructor, and sessions are held from 4 to 5:30 p.m. Eastern time via teleseminar/webinar every Monday. When you complete the program, you'll have two certifications: The Academies' Certified Get Clear, Get Found, Get Hired! Coach plus the 360Reach Certification offered through Reach Personal Branding.

The Academies is offering a special offer if you sign up by Friday, March 8. 

The first five people who register by midnight on Friday (and note: Several spots have already been taken!) can register at a $300 discount ($2197 instead of the usual $2497 price, and that can be paid in four installments of $572), plus you'll receive a free coaching session with Susan (a $500 value), and a free iPad Mini ($400 value).

If you're interested in this special offer, register using this link:

March 8 Special Offer for G3