Friday, January 4, 2008

Cover Letter Openings



Congratulations to Abby Locke, of Premier Writing Solutions, for being featured in Kim Isaac's latest article, "New Beginnings For Your Cover Letter." Isaacs is Monster.com's Career Expert.

Locke suggests using the introductory paragraph of the cover letter to suggest three ways your client would add value to an organization. "What core competencies would enable you to excel in the position you're targeting?" Locke asks. "How would the employer benefit from hiring you?"

Locke is also the National Resume Writer's Association's new Certification Chair, having taken over for Sally McIntosh at the first of the year.

Thursday, January 3, 2008

Your Website: What Is It You Do Exactly?

As a careers professional, you might offer other services besides resume writing. Many resume writers also offer career coaching, typing services,administrativ eassistance/desktop publishing, recruiting services, commercial/freelance writing,etc.

But you might be driving clients away if your other areas of specialty are too diverse. I try not to point out specific examples of bad marketing, but this is a website that has several problems.

The company, Charity Design Publications, offers desktop publishing, printing, transcription services, and resume writing. So far, so good (at least as far as the service offerings go). But they also offer web hosting (as a reseller) and the link to the "Online Store" is what drove me over the edge. Selling things "As Seen On TV" may be one way to increase your income from your website, but it's not going to attract you a lot of credible prospects to your resume writing service.

Ironically, the resume services page of the website includes this sentence:
"A first impression is everything when it comes to job hunting."

I'd argue the same is true when cultivating clients for your professional resumewritingservices too. (CDP Resumes offers a 1- or 2-page resume, including a free1-on-1 consultation and free revisions) for $25 (with a 24-hour turnaround time). (I guess it's no wonder they have to offer so many different services ... it's hard to make a living at $25 a resume.)

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

An Interview with Syndee Feuer

Syndee Feuer

Recently, as part of my research for an upcoming Resume Writers' Digest special report "Your First Year in Business," I had the opportunity to talk with resume writer and career coach Syndee Feuer, of Career Tactics, LLC in Jupiter, FL, serving the south Florida market primarily. Syndee spent 28 years in corporate America, working most recently as a Senior Global Training Director for Convergys, overseeing call centers around the world. When her position was eliminated, she decided to go into business for herself, and opened her business in October 2006, although she says she wasn't officially "launched" until June 2007;.

Like most new resume writers, Syndee is finding attracting clients to be the most difficult part of the start-up. We talked about several marketing tools she is using, or has available to her. In particular, I was interested in Syndee's website, since this is an important marketing tool for new resume writers.

RWD: How did you decide what you wanted your website to look like?

Syndee: I had been to many websites that suffered from "information overload." The website has to catch your eye. I read a lot of different websites, and decided on a minimalist approach. I found a local web designer and gave her some content. She's not just a website designer; she also has an eye for marketing.

RWD: What were some of her suggestions?

Syndee: She suggested I use my picture on the website, since resume writing is very personal -- it's a very personal service. It took me six months before I did it. Initially, I had the four apples on the home page (see below); she suggested changing it around. She wanted the site to be visual and textual.


RWD: How long did it take you to get the website completed?

Syndee: It took about two months -- much longer than I anticipated -- to get it up and running. And, of course, I continue to work on it.

RWD: Do you use paid search?

Syndee: No, I work to keep my site active in natural search. If you type in "Resume Writing South Florida," (without the quote marks) on Google, my site is in the top five natural responses.

You'll be able to read more about Syndee's marketing tactics in the "Your First Year in Business" special report.


Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Happy New Year!

I hope this year is the fulfillment of everything you've been dreaming of achieving.

Be sure to write down your goals -- and we'll check back in on Dec. 31, 2008 and see how we all did.