New Scam Targeting Resume Writers

There is a scam targeting resume writers that began circulating last week. Colleague Laina Krisik alerted me to the scam -- here is her correspondence with me -- and my response.


Hi Bridget,

I received an e-mail the other day that's just not sitting right with me. The subject line read, "YOUR SERVICES!!!!!!!!!!" and the e-mail was cryptic-like asking about my services and charges. I replied with a brief e-mail stating that I'd like to see her resume and cover letter to see what kind of work needed to be done. I also asked her how she heard of me. Below was her response:

Am very much happy to read back from you and okay with the charges for the pages in which am sure it will be well prepared,easy and well understood by the reader.

Again,am presently undergoing ear sugery in which will be kind of hard to hear you clearly.we can easily communicate via email and i will answer all your question.

Therefore let me know the charges for the attached resume and Kindly get back to me with information below:

1: Your Full Name to be on the payment
2: Your Address and zip code
3: Your cell phone number

So i can instruct my financial secretary to issue out the full payment as soon as possible for the service.Do note that you will not release it to me not until have the payment with you.


I will need your immediate response via email assuring me that i can trust you to handle this with care

Best Regard

Here is my response to Laina:

My gut instinct is similar to the uneasy feeling you got: RUN!

There is no way you should need to give a prospective client this information before you've even decided on a quote.

It reminds me of similar "phishing" (scam) emails that restaurants in this area have received. "We want to order $1000 worth of food for a party. Please send us information on where to send payment." Then, they send more than the amount owed, with instructions (because the payment is coming from a third party) to "send a check for the overage amount to 'x.") When you deposit the check, the funds won't clear, and if you've sent a check for the "overage," they'll have stolen that amount, and you'll also be out the insufficient funds fee from your bank for their original payment not clearing.

That's the reason to communicate via email too and not by phone. Many of these scammers are based in Africa.

I would just NOT REPLY again. Move on to more fruitful waters!! 

After seeing reference to this same "client" on several profession E-Lists, my suspicions are confirmed. This is a variation on the classic "mystery shopper" and "employment" scams, where you are "paid" but then asked to send money to the individual (or their agent). Many jobseekers have been caught up in these types of scams -- resume writers need to beware, so you aren't caught up in one too!

My First Resume Client

Me and my Dad (7/15/12).

My first — and most important — resume I wrote was when I was 12. That resume was for my Dad, Keith Weide. I was the middle of five children, and suddenly, my Dad was unemployed. This was 25 years ago, so I don't remember all the details (and the original resume is long gone), but the end result was that my Dad secured an interview — and a job — with U.S. Army Audit, where he worked all through my junior high and high school years.

The job required extensive travel, and my Dad often left home at mid-day on Sunday and would drive to far-off places like St. Louis, the Quad Cities, and someplace in Kentucky. He'd work a compressed work-week (five extended days one week and four extended days the next week, leaving early every other Friday). He'd return home — usually around midnight on Friday night, and I would greet him at the door.

The distance was difficult for us — my Mom, and all of us kids. This was in the days before cell phones. Often, my Mom wouldn't talk to him at all when he was on the road. But always, he returned home.

This past Tuesday, I saw my Dad off for the last time. You can read more about that here.

Thanks, Dad ... for being my first, and most important, resume client.

Should You Like A Facebook Page of Another Resume Writing Business?

• Tammy Shoup

  • Quick question ... I do believe in networking with colleagues but I'm not sure about "liking" other Facebook pages. How is this helpful? Thanks for any insight you can share.
• 

  39 minutes ago

  Bridget Weide Brooks

  • Hi, Tammy!
    
    There are two reasons to like your colleagues' Facebook pages. The first is the "give to get" principle -- if you like their pages, they are likely to like yours too!
    
    The second is to get ideas/information on things you can share with your clients. You might find articles and resources that your clients will benefit from when you see them posted on your colleagues' pages.

Tammy Shoup, of Breakthrough Resume Writing Service, asked me this question yesterday on Facebook. Her question is a common one. As resume writers, should we worry about "liking" the work of others, or sharing articles written by our peers -- should we be worried that it might encourage our prospective clients to seek our our colleague's resumes writing services instead of our own?

I reminded Tammy that clients always have choices -- but by sharing information from other resources -- including other resume writers -- we show prospective clients that we are committed to staying current in our field -- and sharing the best information -- even if it's not something we did ourselves.

By "liking" another resume writing business Facebook page (or following them on Twitter or Pinterest), we increase our connections to our careers industry community. We also have the opportunity to see articles and information that we can share with our clients. There is so much information out there, it's nice to have other resume writers help "curate" it.

But if you're worried about "standing out" among the many resume writing firms out there, here are some ideas that can help.

There isn't one set formula that every resume writing business should use to stand out. (After all, if everyone did that technique, no one would stand out!) What follows are a series of attributes that stand-out companies tend to share. Implement these in your own resume writing business and add your own twist to them to make your services stand head and shoulders out of the crowd.

Be Genuine
Most sole proprietor resume writing firms try to be bigger or more official than they really are. Businesses that are able to let that drop and actually share what's genuinely going on are often able to garner a lot of trust and loyalty. After all, when it comes to their career, clients want individual, personalized service. If you're a one-person shop, they will actually be working with you -- and that's an advantage in setting yourself apart from larger firms!

Be real about who you are and where your company is at.

Cultivate Win/Win
A lot of businesses -- not necessarily career service businesses -- treat their value propositions as win-lose. They make money, the customer loses money. I sometimes see this principle reflected in payment policies for resume writing firms. After being burned by one or two clients (out of one hundred -- or hundreds!!), the resume writer puts policies into place that "punish" future clients for the transgressions of a few.

Great companies, on the other hand, view their relationship as a co-creative one with their customers. Their customers want solutions and you're there to help provide that to them. You trust your customers to pay you (sure, you can still have policies, but you can be somewhat flexible when the circumstances warrant it).

View your customers as your partner in their career success and look to cultivate more win-win relationships with them. Involve customers in the design of a specific service program to fit their career goals, and you'll ensure you're really solving their problems.

Do Unusual Promotions
Did you know that Otis, the man who invented the elevator safety mechanism, got his company launched by placing himself inside a giant elevator in public and hacking off two elevator cables with a hatchet?

Unusual promotions garner a lot of attention. Try to come up with shocking or unusual ways of promoting your business. An "ugliest resume" contest might be one way to do this.

Write with Personality
Groupon launched its service with a successful business model — but they also had something else. They had fantastic writers that had real personality. People love reading personality-filled bits of content online. If you can get people to write witty, funny or edgy content, there's a very good chance you'll stand out.

Pick a Niche and Be World-Class At It
Don't try to be good at everything. Instead, try to be fantastic at just one or two things. Pick a niche and become the best in that niche. Stand out in that niche, rather than in the broader market. (I'm writing a cover story on this topic for the next issue of Resume Writers' Digest.) If you want to be known for something, don't just serve anyone.

Choose a Company Culture
A company culture permeates your website, your writing, and everything else about your resume writing service. If you're a solo resume writer, you may not think you have a "company" culture, but that's just a phrase. For example, the fact that your dog is your company's mascot speaks to your company culture. Is your resume writing business entrepreneurial and fun, or more corporate in nature? You can consciously shape your company culture.

These are some of the many ways you can stand out. Pick the ones that resonate with you and implement them in your resume writing business.

Using Content Marketing In Your Resume Writing Business

One of the best tools resume writers and career coaches have to market their careers industry businesses is content marketing. Sharing information and ideas with jobseekers can help them become prospective clients for your resume writing business.

Content marketing is getting more and more important every day. People today are finding more and more content through social networks and less and less through search engines. That means that creating content people want to share is becoming ever more important.

Here's how to use content marketing to your advantage.

Build Your Personal Brand
At the end of the day, the only thing that you have is your reputation. But a lot of people -- including resume writers -- fail to consciously build their personal brands. Yet this is truly one of the most valuable assets you have -- and it's one of the best ways to grow your resume writing business.

By creating high quality, unique content for a certain market, you establish yourself as an expert. If you want to target a special niche of clients -- for example, sales executives, or equine professionals -- you can tailor general job search information to the specific needs of this audience, and increase your "know, like, and trust" factor with these folks.

Build Trust with Prospective Customers
Jobseekers looking for help with their job search are more likely to trust someone who provides a lot of quality content rather than a website that just says "buy, buy, buy."

There's something about consistency that really builds trust. Anyone can put up a website to start selling resume writing services, but if you're producing high quality content for six months, people will instinctively trust you a lot more. They'll think you'll still be around to help them six months down the line.

Build Your Platform Before You're Thirsty
One of my favorite books is Harvey Mackey's "Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty."



The same is true for resume writers -- build a list of prospective clients before you need them! Your platform is your list of clients and prospective clients who are interested in what you have to say. Let's say you want to launch a LinkedIn profile rewriting service. If you haven't been publishing content and building your mailing list, how will you find people who want this service? It would be very hard. But if you've already been publishing content for months, you'll already have a reader base you can use to launch your new service!

The "Secret" to Good Content Marketing
Great content marketing is really as simple as focusing on providing good content, consistently.

Good content should be compelling content. One of the best ways to create content is to use examples from your work with clients. People can relate to the struggles of your clients -- and learn from the lessons you teach them of how you helped those clients with their specific challenges.

Don't be disappointed if it takes some time to build up your reader base. That's how it works: reputations take time to become established. Fortunately, once your reputation is established, it also builds momentum and can grow very quickly. It's not an overnight technique; so the sooner you get started, the sooner you'll start reaping the benefits.

If you're interested in content marketing, check out "Using Content to Capture New Career Clients" (teleseminar recording and transcript) and the "Resume Writer's Guide to Article Marketing" (which is the July special report for Bronze members on BeAResumeWriter.com).