Using Your Blog to Get Better Search Engine Ranking

Many resume writers have a blog (Julie Walraven, Jacqui Barrett-Poindexter, Barbara Safani, to name a few) -- but not all resume writers understand how to optimize their blogs to get better rankings in search engines like Google and Bing.

Blogging is a free marketing tool that many don't take advantage of. Using it can help you to achieve higher search engine rankings for your website.

Think of it as the difference between formal and informal meetings with clients. On your website, you are providing essential information about your resume writing services -- what you can do for those who need your services. You give them what they need in a well-written format. They can find your "store" with links to purchase a resume package, for example, and opt-in pages for newsletters and mailing lists.

With a blog, you can let your hair down, so to speak. A blog allows you to post information for your readers and customers. Then, they can provide feedback to you in the form of comments on your posts. You can discover vital suggestions from customers that can enhance your business. (I get comments from resume writers seeking specific resources to support their business development on this blog, and on my job seeker's blog, I get questions from prospective clients.) Blogs have appeal to many and they are also followed by people who like what you have to say but who have not even visited your website -- yet.

So, use your blog to its fullest potential. Here are some ways to achieve better rankings for your resume business website.

* Write optimized posts -- More than likely, you are changing your content on your blog more often than you are on your website. While you are refreshing the website content, you don't need to do so as often to keep interest. However, readers of blogs are more voracious and need fresh news more regularly. By sprinkling the keywords you are trying to promote throughout your entries, spiders can crawl and rank your entries high on search result pages.

* Include links to your website -- Each post is ranked and given its own URL. This is a new opportunity to mention a link (outright or with anchor text) that leads back to your website. For those who only follow your blog, they can now find you in another capacity on your website. This increases your traffic. (Plus, it provides a link to your website, which gives it "authority" in the eyes of the search engines. Bonus!!)

* Use an RSS feed -- People can follow your blog easier and still use links in posts to find your website. Increasing the number of blog subscribers also increases website traffic.

* Submit your RSS feed to a directory -- This can also help to increase your search engine rankings of your blog, which is good news for your website. One example is FeedBurner, but there are many others you can also use. (I use Feedburner for this blog.)

Blogs are free and quick to set up. You can start with a site that has its own templates (I use Blogger!) and then further customize them for your needs. Without spending a cent, you have created another channel to divert traffic to your website though one-way links. Increase your search engine rankings faster with a blog.

Are You Spreading Yourself Too Thin?

As a resume writer -- especially a self-employed resume writer -- it's easy to spread yourself too thin by wearing all of the hats in the business. (Chief Phone Answerer, Resume Writer, Bookkeeper, Researcher, Marketer, Blogger ...)

My husband and I were talking about this over the weekend. I told him my fuse is a bit shorter than it normally is (okay, it's a LOT shorter than it normally is), and I thought I was getting burned out. I did some research on the subject, and yep -- the self-diagnosis is that I'm a bit crispy around the edges... Read on and see if you're getting brown around the edges too!

How Do You Know If You're Spreading Yourself Too Thin?

Sometimes the signs that you're doing too much are subtle. Other times there's absolutely no doubt in your mind that you have too much on your plate. Here are a few signs that you're spreading yourself too thin:

* Insomnia -- you go to bed and cannot get tomorrow's agenda off of your mind. (This is one of my biggest challenges. I've learned to keep a post-it note pad and pen by the bed. If I can write it down at least, I don't worry that I'll forget to do it in the morning.)

* Fear and doubt -- fears and doubts start sneaking in. You doubt your skills, direction, and purpose. Francesca Battistelli's song, "Free To Be Me" speaks to me: "Sometimes I believe that I can do anything; yet other times I think I've got nothing good to bring..."

* Moody -- you feel tired, irritable, and frustrated. You may find yourself snapping at your spouse, children, or family members and then -- of course -- feeling guilty about it. Sometimes a nap helps, but other times it doesn't.

* Exhausted -- everyone gets exhausted from time to time. However, the exhaustion that comes from overwhelm doesn't go away. I know I've gotten to this point when I *know* I need to start a project and I just can't even think about it. And then the guilt sets in ... because there's always a deadline ... and it just spirals around and around.

* Family members -- when your family members start acting out or complaining that they don't see enough of you, then you know you've tipped the scales of balance in the wrong direction. (I don't have this issue as much...as a resume writer, there are peaks and valleys, even in a single day. I might have a ton to do one day, and then a pretty quiet day the next day.)

* Negative thoughts -- when you start thinking, "I'm doing too much," "I'll never get this done", or "I'm not going to make it" then you're likely spreading yourself too thin.

What Can You Do about It?
Spreading yourself too thin isn't all doom and gloom. It is a very useful sign that things need to change for you. And sitting down and assessing what isn't working is a great way to improve and grow both professionally and personally. Truth be told, spreading yourself a bit thin can also be invigorating and fun -- it's certainly better than being bored. I find I like being busy a lot of the time. If I don't have a lot on my calendar on a particular day, that I waste a lot of time and don't get much accomplished. (What's the saying? "Want something done? Give it to a busy person." That's me, for sure.)

However, to be productive and to get where you want your business to be, it's important to regularly assess if your energy is being put into the most productive tasks. For example, if you spend two hours answering email every day, those aren't productive hours. You ideally want to spend your time on high priority tasks -- tasks that make you money. For most resume writers, that's talking to prospective clients and actually writing documents.

Tools to Overcome Being Overwhelmed
When you feel overwhelmed or that you're spreading yourself too thin, there are some very effective solutions.

#1 Create a schedule -- Schedule your day. Put your high priority tasks first. Schedule time with your family and friends. And schedule downtime for yourself. If you cannot take care of yourself, then you can't take care of everyone else.

(This brings me to another good point -- you're probably the caretaker of someone else in your life ... a spouse, child(ren), maybe a parent or other family member. I don't have any kids, but I do have two family members that I help take care of, and I find my "work" fuse is especially short when I'm stressed out about issues related to their care. You have to learn to separate the parts of your life from each other, and not let work-related stress spill over into your family life, and not let family stress spill into your work life.)

#2 Create a business plan -- If you don't have a business plan, create one. If you do have one, then use it. Set aside time each week, or month, and review where you are and where you want to be. Use your plan to help you stay on track. One of my big goals this year is to use a membership site to create passive income, so I'm not trapped in a "dollars for hours" system. My membership site (BeAResumeWriter.com) is to help careers industry professionals be more effective in their work -- but I am working on a training program for resume writers to create a membership site for their clients.

#3 Outsource -- You don't have to do it all yourself, and to be honest you probably shouldn't. Outsource those tasks that you dislike, that take you tons of valuable time or that don't make it to your top priority list. These tasks can include house cleaning, writing, social networking -- you decide what gets taken off of your "to do" list. It doesn't have to involve hiring a virtual assistant. My 12-year-old niece/goddaughter is earning money for a school trip to New York in the spring, and I hire her for a few hours each month to handle shredding and data entry. (And I'm thinking of hiring her to help with taking out the trash each week -- especially after last night's spider-on-my-back episode!!)

Finally, be confident in your decisions and feel free to use the word "No" whenever you need to. Don't be afraid to turn down opportunities, requests, and other things that take up time (time that you don't want to spend). This is your life. You're the boss of it and your business -- take back your time and regain control!

Using TweetChat to Help You Monitor Career-Related Twitter Chats

In this week's YOUnique newsletter (the newsletter of Reach Personal Branding), Kristen Jacoway offers tips on "How Twitter Can Help Your Job Hunt." (Sept. 22, 2011, Issue 60).

One tool she didn't mention -- but that I find helpful when engaging in a chat on Twitter, is TweetChat. TweetChat allows you to monitor the chat in real time without being distracted by the other tweets on Twitter. It creates a "virtual room" for tweets using the hashtag (like #CareerChat) you have selected to follow. (Note: You will sign in with your Twitter account and click "allow" to enable access to your account. This will allow you to post your comments on the chat just the same as if you were posting from Twitter directly.)

(On the TweetChat home page, you put the hashtag you want to follow in the box right at the top there -- between where it says "TweetChat"  and "Go." It can be a little hard to find the first time around, so I thought I'd point that out.)

Here are a couple of chats Kristen highlighted in her article:

• #JobHuntChat – Every Monday from 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. ET. This chat is for a community where job seekers, career coaches, recruiters, human resource professionals, and hiring managers come together. Each week, #JobHuntChat focuses on 6 questions from job seekers and then practicing industry experts offer solutions.
• #CareerChat – Tuesdays at 1:00 p.m. ET
• #InternChat – Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. ET
• #GenYChat – Wednesdays at 9:00 p.m. ET
• #HFChat – Fridays at 12:00 p.m. ET. HFChart is a part of HireFriday – movement where job seekers are marketed instead of job openings.
• #Linkedinchat – Tuesdays at 7:00 p.m. CT. Linkedinchat covers topics about LinkedIn and leverages this social media platform.

You can find a list of regularly-scheduled Twitter chats (not just careers industry-related), at this link:
http://bit.ly/chatsched

You can sign up for a subscription to the YOUnique newsletter here.

Career Directors International Announces 2011 TORI Nominees

Each year, CDI hosts a resume writing competition for the Toast of the Resume Industry (TORI) award.

Winner announcements will take place at CDI's award ceremony at the 2011 Career Empowerment Summit this October.

Here are the 2011 TORI Nominees, in no particular order:

Best International Resume
Barbara Safani, Career Solvers
Donald Burns, DonaldBurns.com
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Sandra Ingemansen, Resume Strategies
Maureen McCann, ProMotion Career Solutions

Best New Graduate Resume

Ginger Korljan, Take Charge Coaching
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering

Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue
Kevin R. Morris, CareerMobile
Surranna Sandy, Surcorp Resume Solutions, Resume Solutions

Best Creative Resume
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering
Michelle Riklan, Riklan Resources
Tina Nicolai, Resume Writers' Ink, LLC®
Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue
Brenda Bernstein, The Essay Expert LLC

Best LinkedIn Profile
Karen Siwak, Resume Confidential
Donald Burns, DonaldBurns.com
Maureen McCann, ProMotion Career Solutions
Melanie Lenci, Resume Relief
Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue

Best Technical Resume
Leeza Byers, Byers Workforce Solutions
Alexander Kofman, Resume Pros for Less
Kevin R. Morris, CareerMobile
Jennifer Hay, IT Resume Service
Donald Burns, DonaldBurns.com

Best Executive Resume
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Holly S. Reslink, EmpowerLink, LLC
Cheryl Simpson, Executive Resume Rescue
Surranna Sandy, Surcorp Resume Solutions, Resume Solutions
Michael Kranes, Resume Slayer

Best Sales and Marketing Resume
Surranna Sandy, Surcorp Resume Solutions, Resume Solutions
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering
Gayle Howard, Top Margin Career Marketing
Sharon Williams, JobRockit
Victoria McLean, City CV Ltd.
Sandra Ingemansen, Resume Strategies

Best Military Conversion Resume
Lee Kelley, CareerPro Global, Inc.
Jennifer Rushton, Keraijen
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Nancy Segal, Solutions for the Workplace, LLC
Joseph L. Tatner, CareerPro Global, Inc.
Fran Sheridan, CareerPro Global, Inc.

Best Cover Letter
Kevin R. Morris, CareerMobile
Maureen McCann, ProMotion Career Solutions
Laura Smith-Proulx, An Expert Resume
Gayle Howard, Top Margin Career Marketing
Rosa Elizabeth Vargas, Career Steering

Robin Schlinger, of Robin's Resumes, coordinated the TORI awards this year.

Judges included:
Barb Poole, Hire Imagine, LLC
Darlene Dassy, Dynamic Resume Solutions
Laura Labovich, Aspire! Empower! Career Strategy Group
August Cohen, Get Hired StayHired, LLC
Annemarie Cross, Advanced Employment Concepts
Jill Kelly, Career Edge
Susan Guarneri, AssessmentGoddess.com