Successful Kickstarter Campaign

Successful Kickstarter Campaign I have been asked a lot about Kickstarter.  Bottom line:  I love it.  It is an awesome way to get your thing (company, product, etc.) funded. Check out this really cool Kickstarter campaign I learned about on a LinkedIn group Im on: Lono Sprinkler Controller. They had an idea (allow you to control your yard sprinklers with an iPhone app) and asked for $75k to get it up and running.  As of right now they are almost at $90k.  Clearly, people want this. I love the humorous video at the top of the page.  The details of the product/solution/benefits and the technicalities of the product and project are listed below the video. On the right side you can see that donate as little as $15, or as much as $899 (or $5k), and what you get for those levels. This is a brilliant way to fund a project.  No longer do you need to go to Angel Investors or VCs (which is overkill for most people/startups).  If you have an idea, dig into Kickstarter and see what others are doing, how they are doing it, who is successful, etc.  Very cool stuff Successful Kickstarter Campaign I have been asked a lot about Kickstarter.  Bottom line:  I love it.  It is an awesome way to get your thing (company, product, etc.) funded. Check out this really cool Kickstarter campaign I learned about on a LinkedIn group Im on: Lono Sprinkler Controller. They had an idea (allow you to control your yard sprinklers with an iPhone app) and asked for $75k to get it up and running.  As of right now they are almost at $90k.  Clearly, people want this. I love the humorous video at the top of the page.  The details of the product/solution/benefits and the technicalities of the product and project are listed below the video. On the right side you can see that donate as little as $15, or as much as $899 (or $5k), and what you get for those levels. This is a brilliant way to fund a project.  No longer do you need to go to Angel Investors or VCs (which is overkill for most people/startups).  If you have an idea, dig into Kickstarter and see what others are doing, how they are doing it, who is successful, etc.  Very cool stuff

Learn How to Spot Retail Resume Skills

Learn How to Spot Retail Resume SkillsRetail resume skills are an important part of the professional resume, but it is not always easy to spot them. A well-written resume may seem straightforward enough, but sometimes you will need some extra help in determining what is good and what is bad.The first and most important component of a professional resume is the introduction. You can get away with a pretty simple introduction if you know what your audience is. A general introduction or you can break the presentation down to the different sections. This helps you get a clearer picture of what you should be emphasizing in your resume.You may also want to give a little bit of background before heading into your references section. If you are a member of an organization that offers training or work experience in the field you are applying for, then include that information here. It does not have to be long, but it does need to be included.Then you need to include a summary section that inc ludes your skills and abilities. You can explain those things in a way that shows how you are different from the competition.In the summary section, you can also go over some of the qualifications you have that might be mentioned in your references section. This will help you save time since you will already know what is needed. This is also a good way to include you talents or certain areas that you excel in.If there is any pertinent information about you in your references, then you need to include that as well. This will make sure that you have listed everything in a timely manner and not left anything out.Next, you will want to focus on your retail resume skills. This can be broken down into four different categories, depending on what type of work you did. You will want to highlight your sales skills, customer service skills, and administrative skills.Some people will claim that all resumes are the same, but this is simply not true when it comes to retail resume skills. By focu sing on these four skills, you will end up with a much more appealing resume that other people will want to read.

Success Coach New Job Avoid Failure with a Success Coach

Success Coach â€" New Job Avoid Failure with a Success Coach Have you ever worked happily for a company for several years then made a job change that didn’t work out? A success coach would have helped you excel.It’s common for recruiters to see this pattern on resumes:10+ years of progressive responsibility with one company.One or two years with a second company.One or two years with a third company.When they see this, recruiters wonder if you know how to fit into a new culture. It makes them leery of advancing you as a candidate.Get an Onboarding Success CoachFacts are, you’re at high risk for derailing your career when you move from one company to another. This is because acculturation or assimilation can be tough. Smart people see the risk and hire success coaches to guide them through their first months on a new job.If you don’t do this, you can fall victim to what recruiters call “tissue rejection,” shorthand for “S/he got fired because they couldn’t fit in.”It’s real. Recent Korn Ferry research found that between 10% and 25% of new hires leave within six months. An earlier study by the Center for Creative Leadership found that 40% to 50% of new leaders fail within 18 months.While those numbers aren’t all about fit, tissue rejection ruins many careers.Acculturation vs AssimilationWhen you hire a success coach, it’s good to know if you want to acculturate or assimilate.If you’ve been hired to lead change, you will want to acculturate â€" which means adapting to enough aspects of the culture to be accepted â€" but not going native.If you simply need to fit in, you will want to assimilate â€" which means adapting to the dominant culture â€" and not trying to lead change.Knowing your goal will help you find the right success coach and design an effective strategy.Success Coaching ExamplesWhat might this type of coaching look like? Read on for three examples.Success Coaching Example 1Tim Toterhi, an ICF certified coach, and founder of Plotline Leadership in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, shared this story.Situation: A client company hired Tim to coach their newly hired Chief Marketing Officer.The Marketing team had experienced a leadership lapse during the CMO search. They didn’t have a clear vision, strategy, or deliverables, and were rapidly losing credibility with the firm’s executives.Risk Assessment:Tim coached the new CMO through a due diligence process to understand the situation and the expectations of her C-suite colleagues, team members, and other stakeholders.She and Tim then looked at which of her skills would be useful and identified gaps where she would need to leverage her team or outside resources.They also looked at potential derailers, in her case difficulty with small group communications.Action: Following the risk assessment, Tim and his client worked on her individual development, team development, and an approach to strategic and tactical planning.The CMO:Led her team in creating and sharing a compelling vision, strategy, and plan.Translated the plan into individual goals and made assignments.Found and led some quick wins that helped her group re-establish credibility.Results: The CMO and her team earned enough trust to see their vision for a complete organizational rebrand supported in the C-suite and adopted. She was off to a running start.Success Coaching Example 2Rebecca Zucker, a Bay Area  CTI certified coach and Partner at Next Step Partners, described a structured process she used to coach a new executive.Situation:Rebecca’s client had been hired to lead a new function.Risk Assessment:Rebecca conducted 360-degree interviews with her client’s manager and other key stakeholders. The talks covered these topics:Her client’s perceived strengths thus far.Concerns thus far.How her client could best partner with each stakeholder.What her client’s top three priorities should be over the next six months.The first steps her client should take.What might get in her client’s way.Action:Rebecca and her client looked at t he themes, identified two main goals, and created a detailed plan. They then went over the plan with her client’s manager (the coaching sponsor) and verified alignment.Results:The 360-degree process let Rebecca’s client understand her new company more completely and quickly than would have been possible if she had been on her own. As a result, she gained the full support of her manager and colleagues and successfully established the new function.Success Coaching Example 3David Ezell, a licensed clinician at Darien Wellness in Connecticut, specializes in male psychology and coaching and counseling C-level executives. He shared this story.Situation: One of David’s clients had been successful in the music industry and wanted to change jobs to start representing recording artists.Risk Assessment: Because David had been working with his client for over a year, they both knew that the client tended to go to automatic thoughts/reactions in stressful situations.Action: David recommend ed an app that let his client quickly and discretely record the details of troubling situations and capture his automatic thoughts.They then reviewed the thought records together, decided if his client’s reactions were appropriate, and, if not, constructed better responses.Results:David’s client had received some rough feedback after starting a consulting job. Their use of cognitive restructuring helped him overcome the first impression he had made and get a rep job offer â€" which he turned down.Three months later he landed a rep job that was a better culture fit. He’s been there for almost two years.Get a Success Coach â€" Don’t Onboard YourselfAs you can see, fitting into a new executive role in a new culture can be complicated in endless ways.Whether your new company pays, or you do, consider hiring a success coach to help you make the best possible start in your new job.Ask people you respect for referrals. Check to be sure the person you hire is a certified coach from a good program or a licensed counselor. You can see more helpful selection criteria  here.Working with a coach might well stop you from derailing your career and ending up with a resume that makes recruiters want to avoid you.You Might Also LikeUnusual Effective Advice for the Stalled Job SeekerA coach can also be just the ticket to find a new job!Image: Fotolia/alphaspirit Updated October 2018 2017 2020, Donna Svei. All rights reserved.Donna SveiDonna Svei, an executive resume writer and former C-level executive, retained search consultant, and CPA, writes all of AvidCareerists posts. She has written for and been quoted by leading business, general, and career media outlets, including Forbes, Mashable, Fast Company, Entrepreneur, Business Insider, Lifehacker, Ask.com, Social Media Today, IT World, SmartBrief, Payscale, Business News Daily, and the Muse. Let her background and experience inform your job search strategy and decision making.Learn more about Donnas executive resume w riting service or email Donna for more information. Job Search â€" Transition to New Job (3 Posts)

A Creative Resume Example for Graphic Design Job Seekers

A Creative Resume Example for Graphic Design Job Seekers A Creative Resume Example for Graphic Design Job Seekers Resumes come in all “flavors.” And those flavors are based on two critical factors â€" the position for which the resume is being created and the “culture” of the organization. An MBA graduate who is applying to an investment banking firm, for example, will craft a resume that is more traditional in format (sometimes called conservative). A graphic designer, on the other hand, looking at a position with a creative avant-garde startup agency, will write a resume that is far more “creative” in order to fit the “culture” of that company.As a graphic designer, you fall into the latter category for resume designs and formats. You can get creative with color, typography, and even the structure of the background and experience you will be listing. But before we get into those considerations, some general tips will give your resume that added “boost” that will make a potential employer take a second look. Here are some of those key resume writing tips.1. Lose the Typic al Career Objective StatementNo hiring manager, whether a part of an HR department of a large organization or a startup founder, is interested in your career goals. Unless, of course, they relate to their goals. But they are not really interested in what you want. They are interested in what value you can bring to them.And if you want something extra, be sure to check additional resume examples developed by our career experts!So, whether you call it a “career objective” or a “summary,” the focus must be on what you can bring to the organization, not what you want out of your next job. This section should appear at the top of your resume, but be very careful with your wording â€" the focus must be on the organization’s needs, not yours.2. Brevity is CriticalNo matter how many years of experience you have had, a resume should ideally be one page in length. This will require that you work through your previous job experience and identify only those tasks and achievements that relate directly to the opening you are seeking to fill. There will be plenty of time for expanding on those other experiences during the interview process. Your goal at this point is to get that interview.3. Customize Each ResumeOne size does not fit all, and you cannot just submit the same resume to all potential employers. You customize a resume by carefully analyzing the job posting and the requirements and skills that are listed. You identify the keywords in those posting and get them into your resume, as close to the top as possible. Digital screenings are commonplace now, and those keywords will be what the machine picks up as it sorts resumes to trash or sends on for further review.4. Focus on AchievementsAs a graphic designer, your achievements must relate to what you have done thus far. This is a bit different from other types of positions. For example, someone in sales may be able to point out a specific increase in sales as a result of his activities. As a graphic design er, you don’t have such concrete figures. Yours is creative business, and achievements are a bit more difficult to identify, especially if you are a recent graduate looking for an entry-level position. Because your skills and talents are so visual in nature, you must direct the hiring manager to your website or a portfolio of your designs. Those designs may include work that you have done for actual clients or in coursework you have completed. And, of course, if you have received any recognition or awards for your designs, you will want to include them.Resume Example for a Graphic Designer (Word version)Download resume example (.docx)Resume Sample for Graphic Design Jobs (text version)John Smith Graphic designer Portfolio: dribbble.com/johnsdesignsemail: john@anawesomedesigner.comContact Phone: 555-555-5555Profile: A graphic designer with 12 years of experience as both a freelancer and team member. A pro who is ready to bring his creativity and design skills to a progressive or ganization looking to increase its contemporary client base.Work Experience           Freelance Design Agency â€" Self-Employed 2012 PresentDesign logos, marketing materials, posters, brochures, and websites for small business clients in numerous niches. Designs have been recognized by AIGA and featured on the Association’s website.XYZ Design Agency 2007 2012Specific projects for business clients â€" logos, websites, marketing materials. Successfully served over 100 clients with their design needs. Reason for Leaving: Agency owner retired and the agency closed.SKILLS: Here, you will list the most relevant design skills that relate to the position posting and summarize your achievements in each of those areas.Other PassionsSaving the PlanetExotic Animal RescueDeep Sea DivingEducation             Kemper School of Graphic Design 2005 â€" 2007Completed entry, middle, and advanced programs Received awards for best logo design, best brochure, and best posterUniversity of Arizona 2001 â€" 2005BA in Graphic Art. 3.8 overall GPA. Deans ListConclusionsStruggling to come up with a memorable “look” for your resume? Check out as many creative resume templates as possible and pick ones that catch your eye. Then customize each to match your personal brand and suit your needs.  Experiment with colors, splashy fonts, and such, based on what you see on the organization’s website. previous article A Cool Resume Example For Bartenders With Quick And Creative Resume Writing Tips next article Resume Example For First Job: Learn How to Craft an Entry-Level Application That Gets You Hired you might also likeA Model Resume Example That Will Get Results

Resume Writing Reviews - Find the Finest Reviews to Help You Write a Resume

Resume Writing Reviews - Find the Finest Reviews to Help You Write a ResumeIf you're looking for the very best resume writing reviews on the web, then I've got a few recommendations for you. You'll find that some of the 'best' resume writing reviews are actually totally bogus and they never tell you the absolute truth.This is not the best way to get a resume written for you if you're a first-time or amateur writer. Let me be clear: there are some very qualified writers out there who could get you hired with their resumes. The fact is, these people just don't have the time to write resumes every day.That's why I recommend that you hire the top-notch resume writers in your town. Sure, you can Google it, but you're going to end up with a bunch of companies trying to convince you that they are the best. All of them are telling you some version of that.The major problem with this is that they are all just simply trying to make money off of you. When they tell you they can do it, they are lying. They are not qualified.Don't let this fool you. A resume doesn't have to be perfect in order to get you hired. If you have even the slightest idea what you're doing with it, you're going to get the same job (or better) than anyone else who has the resume.You have to get yourself in a position where your resume stands out and gets the attention of the hiring manager. And the only way to do that is to use the very best resume writing reviews you can find.Look at the things they say about resumes, then spend your time creating a resume that takes a page from theirs. Don't settle for anything less. Your resume will get all of the attention, which will allow you to apply for more jobs.You need to be certain that your resume is the very best possible one you can create, which is why I recommend that you read the resume writing reviews before you start. You will find that there are many professional writers out there who can do great jobs for you.

How Your Social Media Can Make or Break You as a Job Candidate - CareerEnlightenment.com

How Your Social Media Can Make or Break You as a Job Candidate You’ve probably heard some conflicting stories from friends and family about the power or problems of social media in work â€" the employee who used it too much and didn’t get things done, or the job seeker who scored the role of a lifetime based on their successful Twitter account.Is it a help or a hindrance to your job search? That depends on how you manage your social media presence…Social media job-maker: your mutual friends and followers are an assetOnce relevant people and organizations start to follow you back on social media â€" perhaps you respond to their comments or you tell them how much you loved their new product â€" you’ll get others naturally following you in a sort of domino effect. This is because Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and other social media sites recommend people you might like to follow, based on your mutual interests or follower patterns.You shouldn’t beg a Twitter account or Instagram star to follow you, because that isn’t the way to look pr ofessional or smart, but you can gently interact and become useful to them. If you use social media scheduling software, you can monitor certain hashtags and accounts in individual columns, meaning when the right opportunity comes up to give advice or send them a link, you’ll be there. You could even create a blog post about it. And when a job vacancy arises, you know the brand and industry inside out.Of course, a large number of followers and ‘likes’ can look good, but the quality of your followers is also important, so don’t think buying 10,000 ‘likes’ will lead to a job. The Ask a Manager blog points out that, if you have good traffic statistics for a personal blog, the figures should be listed on your CV.Social media job-maker: your feed presents you as an industry enthusiastEven if you’re just starting out in your chosen industry, your enthusiasm can take you a long way. Building a carefully curated Twitter feed or Instagram account could be the thing that shows y ou’re not just applying to any and every industry â€" you’ve got your heart set on this one.For example, if you want to work in the interior design industry, your Instagram feed should be your way of showing off your eye for design: interesting buildings you’ve seen, design magazines you’ve bought, cool events you’ve attended, and so on (all appropriately hashtagged!).On Twitter, supercharge your reach by taking part in Twitter chats relevant to your industry niche â€" as long as they don’t coincide with work hours. A good example is #IntDesignerChat, aimed at anyone interested in interior design, ranging from architects to furniture brands. Buffer has a list of useful tips on joining a Twitter chat. Want to Read More Articles Like This One?Sign up here to receive weekly updates from Career Enlightenment, and never miss another powerful job searching tip! SUBSCRIBE! You have Successfully Subscribed!We hate spam too. Unsubscribe any time. Social media deal-breaker: Li nkedIn is looking threadbareMany news outlets have recently reported that the EU is looking to crack down on hiring managers snooping on prospective candidates’ social media accounts. A working party, Article 29, has suggested that dramatic changes in EU data protection laws (due to come into force in May 2018). This would restrict employers to collecting social media data that are relevant to the job vacancy.However, talking to the BBC, a technology specialist at the Linklaters law firm said LinkedIn content would be considered ‘fair game’ in these searches because it’s a professional networking site. If LinkedIn takes on a bigger focus, your profile must be up-to-date and competitive to make a good first impression â€" whether you use it to directly apply for jobs, or just to build a network.If you’ve been at work or at a university for a while, you can sometimes forget that LinkedIn is ticking away in the background. Take a fresh look at your account, from your photogra ph (is it professional-looking, or is your friend lurking in the background?) to your ‘projects’, and your descriptions of each previous job role. Careless typos and other simple errors shouldn’t be your calling card.Social media deal-breaker: harsh comments are more than just wordsEven off-topic content, that you don’t consider relevant to your job, can come back to bite you from your timeline. A senior member of staff at the British Council was sacked for gross misconduct after her negative social media comments about Prince George were published by The Sun newspaper in 2016.She had referred to Prince George’s ‘white privilege’ and added that ‘I don’t believe the royal family has any place in a modern democracy’, thinking her comments were part of a private Facebook message.Though the employee apologized to Kensington Palace, she was still dismissed from her job. Nearly a year later, she revealed she has struggled to find work since the incident. Whilst your so cial media comments might not make newspaper headlines, a major slip-up that costs you your job could easily affect your future employment.

Dana Manciagli, Speaker, Featured in New York Times Square Jumbotron!

Dana Manciagli, Speaker, Featured in New York Times Square Jumbotron! First, Dana Manciagli was featured in a story as a solopreneur who has used a do-it-yourself public relations service to secure some great media placements, which led to a feature on a New York Times jumbotron. The ProfNet organization selected Dana to be the feature on their digital jumbotron in Times Square, New York! She was up there on Thursday, September 4, 2014. Times Square Billboard_DanaManciagli_090414 The purpose of the megatron was to highlight Danas success as a solopreneur who uses ProfNets effectively to get a lot of media placements. They select a success story per week then select one for the month to be featured on the megatron. Here is the article that prompted the megatron opportunity: I recently caught up with ProfNet member, Dana Manciagli, a global career expert, speaker and author of Cut the Crap, Get a Job. Manciagli recently quit her 30-year career in sales/marketing to embark on solopreneur venture. Within the first months that she has been in business she has received hundreds of thousands of impressions in top-tier and trade publications such as The Fiscal Times and Forbes â€" all with the help of ProfNet. “I started my own business about 17 months ago as a solopreneur. I have a business plan and ‘securing PR’ was certainly a critical component to raise the awareness of my business and to gain credibility as an expert. However, I could not afford a large or small PR agency. When I learned about ProfNet at a speaker conference, I joined immediately. Within months, I had placements in large national and regional publications such as Forbes, U.S. News World Report, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Times, The Fiscal Times, Investor’s Business Daily and more.” I wanted to hear some tips for how to successfully respond to reporters’ queries straight from the source. Here’s what she had to say: How do you choose which ProfNet queries to respond to each day? I glance at each one in my genre and, while it’s tempting to respond to some outliers, it’s pretty clear which ones I am a true expert in. I also put myself in the shoes of the writer or requestor and ask myself if my insights will be great or simply more blah, blah, blah. What do you include in a typical response? I always build two core sections. Naturally, the subject always says “Profnet ” to make it easy for the recipient. Then, the first section says,“ I am your expert because” and I list 3 short bullet points like “Author of Cut the Crapâ„¢, Get a Job!”. The second section says “Here are my insights for you” and I do 3 bullet points of the items I want the recipient to learn from me. In this section, I not only state, very succinctly, what my point is, but I follow it up with one example or additional point for clarity. No more than that. I close with, “I am able to respond to you in a timely way if you need any additional information or a phone call.” Do you have tips for experts who are responding to ProfNet queries? Absolutely, I have six tips: 1) The “Law of Threes”: Only provide three main reasons why you (or your client) is an expert in this field and only three main pieces of insight. Otherwise it’s too long. However, if they ask six questions, use numbers to break each one apart. 2) Don’t ramble: Even after three insights, you should make no more than three short back-up statements or real life examples. Make it real for them, but don’t try to teach them about every little detail. 3) Research: Although speed with your response is critical, when they tell you the website or publication and you are not familiar with it, go there! Know their audience and read some articles in the same genre. 4) Use good grammar and proof it before pressing “enter.” The last thing they need is sloppy grammar. 5) Paste their request below your signature block: I copy and paste the entire request below my signature block (which has my phone, city, email address and website). That way, when they call or write back, I am quickly able to read their request vs. saying “what publication? What type of article to whom?” 6) Thank the writer after you are placed. Tell them what a great job they did and how much you appreciate being included. Ask to be on their short list of resources and commit to being super responsive.