Writing Well, Writing Brief

Yale writing professor William Zinser said it best:

"Strip every sentence to its cleanest component. Every word that serves no function, every long word that could be a short word, every adverb that carries the same meaning that's already in the verb, every passive construction that leaves the reader unsure of who is doing what — these are the thousand and one adulterants that weaken the strength of a sentence. And they usually occur, ironically, in proportion to education and rank."

Finding Your Voice as a Resume Writer and Business Owner

As resume writers, we talk a lot about communicating our client's "voice" in their resumes and career communication documents so that it "sounds" like the client, not like us.

But what is YOUR voice as a resume writer and resume business owner? What is the point of view that you use in your client communications and content marketing? It's important to figure out your voice so that you can create a coherent and professional communication strategy. Here's some ideas on how to do just that:

Figure Out Your Core Values
What is it that you want to say to the world? What is it that you feel is important? Do you want your resume writing business to be a beacon of light to your audience, shining down on them, creating joy and happiness? Do you want your business to be a wake-up call and teach lessons for your audience? What do you want your audience to think about when they think of your brand?

Get to Know Your Jobseeking Clients and Prospects
Marketing is all about what's in it for them, not what's in it for you. If you can remember that, for every piece of content you create, you;ll be halfway there. Every story you tell — through the articles you write, videos you create, or press releases you send out — should all be focused with your target jobseeker in mind. The best way to do that is truly understand who your ideal client is by studying them and immersing yourself in everything there is to know about them. How you speak to your audience will be directly related to how well you know them. You'd speak to a stay-at-home mom returning to the workforce differently than you'd speak to a senior executive. So your voice has to be appropriate for the prospects and clients you want to work with.

Identify the Value You Offer Your Audience
You're not just writing resumes. You're helping clients identify what sets them apart from other jobseekers, and then creating interview-winning career communication documents that clearly communicate their value. Keep your value in mind as you work to identify your voice.

Differentiate Your Resume Writing Business From Your Colleagues
No two resume writers are alike, but for jobseeker prospects, it may be hard to tell us apart, unless you communicate your value clearly. How do you express your values to prospective clients? How will you deliver your resume services? What sets you apart? How can you deliver more value to clients while also sticking to — and expressing — your core values?

Decide If Your Voice Is Casual or Formal
Once you combine all of the above, you will need to decide if your target audience will respond better to a casual or formal voice (or someplace in between). How you speak to your audience is a very important factor in determining if they will understand your message.

Determine Acceptable Lingo and Terms
Once you've decided whether your voice is casual or formal or someplace in the middle, you can come up with the type of terms and lingo youíll use throughout your content marketing, regardless of format.

Create Documentation as a Guide
Whether you will be creating your marketing content yourself, or getting help, creating documentation to guide you through the process will help. Be specific about which font to use. Write down the type of words you want to use, too. The terminology, lingo, and jargon is important because it will mean something to your audience and help you get your message across in a way that will produce the results you desire.

Don't Try to Be Someone You're Not (Be Authentic!)
Resume writers who provide personal branding services know that it is important for the client's voice to be authentic. The worst thing you can do as you're creating and developing your voice is to try to be someone you're not. If you are not generally formal, don't even try to be formal. If you'd feel fake being casual, don't do it. Be yourself. If you've chosen your target audience well, it will be easy for you to be who you are and market to them in a successful way using content.

Content marketing is the most effective form of marketing today, bar none. Finding your voice will help make everything easier. You'll be able to not only create content easier, you'll also have a guide to help keep it consistent across all marketing channels.

What are your thoughts about finding your voice as a resume writer and resume business owner?

A Resume Is a Lifetime in the Making

A resume writing colleague is donating a resume for a fundraiser and wondered if I had anything she could use to explain to the silent auction bidders the value of the resume package. 

This is what I sent her:

Picasso was in a park when a woman asked him to draw her portrait. He sketched her and handed her the drawing. When asked how much she owed him, he replied, "$5,000." The woman was outraged. "But it only took you five minutes!" she protested. "No, madam, it took me all my life," replied Picasso.

When you have your resume created by a professional resume writer, the time invested in crafting a custom document is not limited to the effort required to gather information about your job target, previous experience and accomplishments, education, and value to your next employer — although this is significant. It's not limited to the several hours of time (and gallons of blood, sweat, and tears!) it takes your writer to carefully choose each word and phrase for maximum impact.

While there is significant time spent gathering and synthesizing the details of your career and designing a wholly unique and customized resume, the value of your professionally written resume originates in the skill of the writer — talent developed through study of effective resumes, training in modern communication techniques, and thousands of hours of writing experience.

You are also benefiting from what Picasso recognized as his biggest asset — a lifetime of knowledge and experiences. Your professional resume writer knows how to paint a custom word portrait for you that is a snapshot of your career progression and ambition, designed to attract job interviews. More than a few jobseekers have turned a single sheet of paper — their professionally written resume — into the job of their dreams. Will you be next?

How do you explain to your clients why an investment of $500 or $1000 — or more — is worth it?

Resume Writers: Do You Need More Marketing Leverage?

As small business owners, we're told that networking and one-to-one consultations are great ways to get in front of prospective clients -- and then turn those resume prospects into clients.

But there's another way, as Ian Brodie points out in this blog post:
How to Get Marketing Leverage

Think about how you can better leverage your time for more results.