Why A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Words on Your Blog

The truth is that content (articles, blog posts, social media posts) works to get you visibility for your resume writing business … and new clients. This is the content that will attract visitors via the search engine traffic that the keyword-rich content will generate when jobseekers make a search.

Studies show that blogging about your services at least 20 times per month will allow you to get 5 times more traffic than if you don't. This is according to a study done by HubSpot.com. You can literally double your website traffic in six months if you keep it up.

But, if you want the visitors to stick to your blog and read it more than once, it's important to make your blog posts visually pleasing. Putting images in your blog posts will break up the text to make your blog more attractive. In addition, it can help further explain the meaning of the content that you place on your blog. Taking the time to choose a relevant image will make your blog look more professional, too.

There are many ways you can find appropriate images.

Take Photos Yourself
You can produce perfectly good images by using your iPhone to take relevant pictures. If you have a digital camera, that is another way to take pictures.

Get Creative
An image doesn't have to be a photograph; it can be an attractive arrangement of a quote from your blog post made into a .jpg file with a beautiful and colorful background. This is a great way to add interest as well as call out an important point within your blog post. It looks attractive and helps explain meaning to your readers.

Hire Someone
There are plenty of graphic designers on sites like Fiverr, as well as other sites that you can hire to help you come up with appropriate graphics for your blog posts. They may be better at coming up with ideas than you, and it's perfectly okay to hire someone.

Look on Stock Photo Sites
There are quite a few stock photo sites that you can use to find appropriate images to use on your blog. My favorite is Fotolia.com. Some of the sites are free, and some are paid. Just check the license rules to ensure that you have a right to use the image. It's also good practice to give credit for images. You'll notice I use the Fotolia link on my blog post images (it also includes my affiliate link).

You want to use images, but don't go overboard with them. Remember to consider loading time, so use smaller images. As well as that, remember to use the "alt" tags on the images so that if the image doesn't show up for some reason it will tell the reader what the image is. This is also another way to alert search engines about the subject of your website.

RESOURCES:
You can purchase individual graphics from a site like Fotolia.com
Or subscribe to a service like Image Monthly from Kelly McCausey

Yes, I Am A Resume Writer

Photo of me from 2001.

Twice last month I had the opportunity to talk to a couple of resume writing colleagues, and both of them asked, "Bridget, do you still write resumes?"

Of course! I started out as a resume writer, and I still write resumes. Not as many as I did a few years ago when I was a subcontract resume writer, but yes, I still write resumes, cover letters, bios, and even LinkedIn profiles.

I was reading an article in the February 2014 issue of Inc. about "origin stories" and thought I should share mine here, so you can understand where Resume Writers' Digest and BeAResumeWriter.com came from.

You probably already knew that I wrote my first resume at age 12, but you might not know that Jon and I started our business right out of college in the spring of 1996. In fact, I remember calling to arrange an appointment to see an office space while sitting in the hallway at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (my alma mater) between classes our senior year.

We started our business with the goal of serving SOHO clients -- Small Office, Home Office businesses. Soon, we'd change that to helping individuals and small businesses market themselves -- people with resumes, and businesses with newsletters and other print pieces.

In high school, I had taken second place in the "Job Interview" category at the Future Business Leaders of America State Leadership Conference. Students were asked to write a resume and cover letter for a job at "Merit Corporation" and then interview with businesspeople who volunteered as judges at the conference. My "genius moment" was when I decided to specify what Merit Corporation was. Usually, students created a very generic resume and cover letter to this "mystery" employer. I decided it would be more effective to identify the type of business Merit was through my cover letter and resume so that the employer could have a more realistic interview. After all, he or she was supposed to be representing Merit -- and yet, most interviews were extremely generic, because neither the student nor the interviewer had anything specific to talk about. (Somewhere around here I have the floppy disk with the resume and cover letter I wrote.) In examining my scores from the judges, I learned that what kept me from winning the category was my attire -- my first lesson in the importance of dressing for success. (I wore a black-and-gold skirt and jacket -- the judges were expecting blue or black only).

Anyway, my Yellow Pages ad was a client magnet, and I was writing a couple of resumes a week. But I was young (21) and knew there was a lot I didn't know. In 1998, I wanted to pick the brain of some of the industry's leaders -- people like Wendy Enelow and Louise Kursmark -- but I didn't think if I just asked them directly that they would talk to me. (I have since learned that people in our industry are some of the most generous you'll find anywhere!) But at the time, I thought, "Well, I could interview them for a publication, and then they'll talk to me!" (I had a few magazine articles published in national publications while I was in college while I had majored in journalism/public relations.) So I decided to start a trade newsletter, Resume Writers' Digest, to get answers to the questions I had as a resume writer. In time, it grew to several hundred subscribers, paying $60/year for six print issues.

In 2004, I got distracted by other things in my life and business, and decided to stop publishing the newsletter. I brought it back as an occasional online publication starting in 2007, because I was still writing resumes … and I still had questions!

Then, in 2011, I decided to start a membership site for resume writers to share the content I was creating for my own clients. I figured other resume writers could use the information with their clients too — so I license the content to subscribers to use with their clients. Instead of starting from scratch, resume writers can take the Pass-Along Materials and use them "as is" or customize them. Most of the ideas for the Pass-Along Materials come from my work with my clients.

So yep, I'm still writing resumes.

"I Showed The Resume You Wrote To My Friend and She Said..."

Ugh...there are few statements that elicit that feeling of dread for a resume writer than the one that starts with, "I showed the resume you wrote to my friend and she said..."

I received an email from a resume writing colleague today. She wondered what to say to a client who had circulated her resume to friends and family and received "mixed reviews."

Here was my response:

You tell your client, "I appreciate you showing your resume to others for their feedback. Everyone has an opinion about resumes, and sometimes the feedback can be useful and we can use it to improve your resume. I am happy to discuss any feedback you receive, including explaining the strategy behind why the information was presented the way that it is in your current resume. However, the ONLY opinion that matters when it comes to your resume is the hiring manager for the kind of job you're targeting. If you're submitting your resume for the kinds of jobs you and I targeted with this resume, and you're not getting interviews, then we need to chat. Otherwise, I'm confident that the document we've collaborated on is going to be effective in helping you reach your dream job."

If the client persists with wanting changes based on opinions from family and friends, you will agree to make changes — on two conditions:

1. This will be considered an "additional version" of the resume, and you will charge them your hourly rate to make any changes (payable in advance) AND
2. They will need to sign a hold-harmless statement that you are making the changes to their document against your professional judgment and that you will not stand behind that document like you would their original document (including any guarantees or warranties, either expressed or implied).

The most common reason for a jobseeker to ask others for feedback is fear and doubt. They are anxious about their job search and they are seeking reassurance from their friends and family members. Unfortunately, the people they are soliciting feedback from aren't the best judge of what they need in their job search. They may unintentionally sabotage the jobseeker because they want to "help."

Recognize that your client is operating from a place of uncertainty. Reassure them that they have made the right decision by engaging the services of an expert to help them in their job search — but that they need to trust your experience and expertise in order to be successful.

Clients Are Less Concerned About Price If They Get Value

Many resume writers tell me that their clients are price-sensitive. But they may not actually be price-sensitive … they may be value-sensitive.

Why can some resume writers charge $2,000 for a resume, when you have a hard time getting $350? The answer isn't necessarily in the skill of you as a resume writer, or the financial situation of the client.

More likely, the difference is the value that the client perceives from his or her investment.

What is the first question people often ask when they want to purchase something? "How much does it cost?" And, that's only after we've turned the object over and over looking for the price tag.

Price is simply a dollar amount assigned to an item or service. You may have even set your resume writing prices arbitrarily — lots of other people are basing their resume writing services on an hourly rate of $50/hour, and according to the 2011 Resume Writers' Digest Annual Industry survey, and nearly a third of resume writers charging $300-$499 for a resume, so (you think to yourself), I'm going to charge $350.

As a business owner, you want to stay competitive without alienating your resume clients. It's a matter of profit as well. If you come in too low, then you're leaving money on the table. (And, some clients may actually be turned off if you charge too little!)

While the concepts of price and value have gotten trapped together, they are not synonymous. Two resume prospects may initially seem very similar. Both are account executives in their mid-30s, making a salary of $45,000 a year. Their personal situations are similar — both married, with a young child at home. But when you quote a price of $600 for a resume to both of them, and one books, and the other one doesn't.

One values the impact that a professionally written resume can have on his ability to meet his career goals. Therefore, value must appeal to a prospect's needs.

Value refers to the significance that we apply to a good or service. It is tied into the perception of your business brand. Honda has built a reputation as a solidly made car. As such, people will invest more in one because it will keep their families safe and they can drive it for a long time. The decision, to buy, moves beyond mere price to what is perceived as the additional benefit that comes along with purchasing this kind of car. 

Translating Value
As you work to present your services to the prospective resume clients, consider how you will translate the value of your brand as well as the price. Time and time again, business owners who reach their customers on a more personal level with their marketing strategies are delivering value along with their price. If a customer feels that they will get value from your services (beyond the price they pay), they will buy — and continue to buy — from you.

So, how do you do that? Look at your services and ask yourself a few questions. What can you do for your clients that they can't do for themselves? In many instances, it's write an interview-winning resume. And the "interview-winning" part is the key. Lots of people can write a resume. Fewer of them can write one that engages the hiring manager or recruiter to call immediately.

What It Comes Down To
Is price or value more important? They are not the same, but communicating the value of your services to customers can keep them buying, even if the price is higher than the competition.

Loyalty may also run deeper when you build your brand on value rather than just price.