It is a mistake to think of your resume as a history of your past, as a personal statement or as some sort of self expression. Sure, most of the content of any resume is focused on your job history. But write from the intention to create interest, to persuade the employer to call you. If you write with that goal, your final product will be very different than if you write to inform or catalog your job history.
Most people write a resume because everyone knows that you have to have one to get a job. They write their resume grudgingly, to fulfill this obligation. Writing the resume is only slightly above filling out income tax forms in the hierarchy of worldly delights. If you realize that a great resume can be your ticket to getting exactly the job you want, you may be able to muster some genuine enthusiasm for creating a real masterpiece, rather than the feeble products most people turn out.
The good news is that, with a little extra effort, you can create a resume that makes you really stand out as a superior candidate for a job you are seeking. Not one resume in a hundred follows the principles that stir the interest of prospective employers. So, even if you face fierce competition, with a well written resume you should be invited to interview more often than many people more qualified than you.
Set aside at least three hours (that's an average length of time to complete a resume if all goes smoothly). Before you start, print out the following set of notes and tape it to your computer, on the wall next to your desk, or someplace where you'll see it throughout the process.
Resume Tips:
Your resume is about your future; NOT your past.
It is not a confessional. In other words, you don't have to tell all. Stick to what's relevant and marketable.
Don't write a list of job descriptions. Write achievements!
Promote only skills you enjoy using. Never write about things you don't want to repeat.
Be honest. You can be creative, but don't lie.
Avoid These Resume Mistakes!
Avoid these advertising mistakes at all costs!
People have taken a number of approaches trying to do their own advertising ranging from silly all the way to insulting. These people choose there approach for various reasons. Some were ignorant about advertising and marketing while others were acting on incorrect information - usually in the form of cliches such as "sex sells." If you're in doubt, I can assure you that unless your business is in Nevada, sex does not sell. If you're going to handle your own advertising, here are a few things to avoid:
Pictures that have nothing to do with your product or service - If your company is in the carpet cleaning business there is no reason to have a picture of a baby. No one is going to say "What a cute baby, I think I want this company to clean my carpets." The same goes for pictures of sexy people (male or female) in provocative poses and little clothing.
Cheesy headlines - I actually saw an ad with a headline that said "We might be able to afford a bigger ad if you'd buy something from us." Yes, this will probably get someone's attention, but do you want to be remembered as the company that is having financial problems?
Illegible fonts - Most people will not take the time to decipher your ad when it is written in brush script, in which case, even the most persuasive copy is rendered useless. You want to use simple, clean fonts for headlines and body copy. Save the artistic fonts for accents and things of that nature.
8 BIG Small Business Mistakes
Here’s an interesting notion: Do you realize that there are mistakes you can make at various stages of your business’ growth that can be slowly killing it for months or even years if you don’t watch for them?
Well, these mistakes do exist and they are not just reserved for the rookie companies. Many working businesses, including those you might think are “successful” because they’ve been around for 10+ years, are often still making them… and are possibly losing a lot of money and/or wasting a lot of time in the process.
Although some of these big and sneaky mistakes seem aimed more at service type companies, they really do fit the bill for almost any type of industry. I’ve done my best with the listings below to give examples to prove it.
Underestimating Project/Service Time- This is a big one and it pertains to service companies as well as companies that sell a product. This is a service company’s bread and butter. If you don’t estimate your time to perform each and every service in your repertoire, you will get burned and there is little you can do about it but bite the bullet and learn from it. The best way to estimate time is to do it once yourself or watch your best employee do the task and then throw in a little fudge factor on top of it. For product companies, time becomes an issue with logistics so be aware!
Not Knowing YOUR Company Numbers/Incorrectly Setting Prices- Notice I emphasized the word “your”. It’s a common mistake to use a competitor’s as your pricing gauge without actually knowing why they use those numbers. Think about the nightmare you will get yourself into if you take a competitor’s price, cut it by 10% and then start selling. What if the competition has a bad pricing structure and is barely making money or even losing money?!?! What if your costs are more than theirs?!?! You can use competitor as a starting point but you can’t base your whole strategy on it.
Different industries have their own variables as far as costs go and you need to be aware of them for your project or product pricing. What you pay for a product you are going to sell is not the only cost to have in your head when you are pricing products. How much your labor and materials cost for a service is only a piece of an hourly rate. Employees cost more than just salary and not every employee is part of your labor cost. Every company has insurance to pay for. There are tons of overhead expenditures that need to be part of your price. Oh, by the way, the big one that many people forget about in their price is the quality factor. What you include as “standard services” or “standard product features” as well as job site etiquette or in store service or warranties all need to go into your pricing. I’ll get to more on why in the next segment.
Not Charging for All of Your Time & Costs- This seems like a stupid statement to some but I bet most business owners will admit that they have given away a little too much of the farm at times. Hey, there is nothing wrong with giving a little extra here and there to show you care. But either way, that’s not what I’m talking about here. What concerns me are those that put a lot of quality into their work or products or stores and do not cover the cost for it. As an example, say you run a service company and your competitors don’t do a certain standard service that you do. You can’t just undercut their price to steal a job; you need to have that cost covered in your rate and advertise the fact that it comes with the price upfront. Stores undermine themselves, for example, when they put more people on the floor for customer service but don’t charge for it. These things cost you money and when your competitors don’t do them it costs them less money. Put out better service and then under price them, and your competition just has to wait a little bit for you to fall on your face so they can swoop back in.
As a business owner you need to believe that you are providing your clients worthwhile wares that deserve to be paid for. If you get the chance to explain why your prices are higher, then take that opportunity and do it. If they don’t like the fact that you include things that others charge extra for later or that you treat them better, then they are most likely completely price shoppers. You don’t want them as regular customers anyway. Trust me.
Not Getting Paid Fast Enough- That’s right, the old cash flow issue. As long as you are actually making enough money to pay the bills, this problem can be solved, prevented or at least made to be not as bad as it could be. Here’s the deal:
First off all, bill customers very promptly. It is very common for a small business to not have the procedures or systems in place to get invoices generated and out the door in a timely fashion (see the next segment for more). Again, this would seem unlikely since that’s the reason why we are doing the work- to get paid. But it is very easy for the people responsible for getting this info to the billing people to be too busy to get it there or not have enough organization to give it to them the right way.
The second part to slowing down or stopping a regular cash flow crunch is to make the quickest payment deals possible with customers and the slowest possible with vendors and employees. If there is any way not to pay employees any more than twice a month, you better do it. Contractors always have an issue with this. If you must pay weekly, then tell them before they are hired that they will be getting the first week held back, essentially buying you a week. It will help, I promise.
Part three involves credit. If your company can get a credit card, then get it. This allows for certain important things to be bought (that you can afford) that might come up during a cash flow crunch. Better yet, especially if you have no choice but to deal with 45+ day customer payments, do your best to get a company line of credit. This is a must if you plan on selling to the government or doing commercial service work. These clients often have 60 to 90 day wait periods.
Failure to Have Solid Systems and Procedures in Place- Too many procedures (known as “red tape”) is the reason why many people start their own business in the first place. Unfortunately, having no procedures and systems in place at all is not an alternative. Depending on the type of industry, business owners must come to a happy medium or chaos and the unknown will ensue. Some basic examples where procedures or systems are needed include billing, collections, payroll, hr (interviewing, hiring, vacations, benefits, job responsibilities, etc.), manufacturing, operating equipment, maintaining equipment, inventory, sales calls/visits and logistics to name a few.
Even a one person show needs to have some admin procedures in place. This will make it easier to hire temps and subcontractors and control what they are doing for you. Without at least a watered down version of a system or procedure to do everyday work, you will be to blame for causing many major headaches as your company grows. I can’t emphasize how important this is for when you bring on new employees. I’m sure you heard this before, but I am also a big proponent of having an employee handbook even for one employee. It’s amazing the trouble people can cause business owners just because they allow you to pay them.
Spending Advertising Money Just to Say You Advertise- I would almost rather see my clients not advertise then to spend without regard to tracking the results. There is no point in a marketing campaign if you do not put things in place that allow you to measure how well the plan is working. The other wasteful part of marketing that many people make the mistake of doing, is not tracking their previously successful campaigns. Why some people think that just because a $400 dollar a month ad worked once very well for one busy season, that it will automatically work every year after that is beyond me.
Spreading Yourself Too Thin- This is a classic mistake made by every entrepreneur. The key is to figure out when you are at that “wearing too many hats” point and start getting some help. The solution here is to know your strengths and to be able see when you are not performing the duties that demand these skills. If you are the best sales person on the company, you can’t get caught up in day-to-day operations. If you do, sales will slip and eventually you won’t have any operations to worry about. Think about this to help you figure out if you are spread too thin: Did you really go into business for yourself to work 80+ hours a week?
Not Getting Help Soon Enough- Set goals to know when to hire people to take over where you are light on knowledge. Not getting help or waiting too long can kill a company. Most people who start a business do it because they are good at the technical end or the sales end. If you know the best way to make a widget, then your strength is in production and that is where your time should be spent. Hire an outside company or consultant to take care of the sales and marketing and then hire inside when you can afford someone full time. Don’t be something to your company that you are not. It will only hold you back.
The three big issues people like to tackle themselves but usually are least knowledgeable about are legal issues, accounting/bookkeeping issues and daily operations issues. The odds are that these three things are your weakest link so if you don’t have a partner that has the background for these subjects, then be prepared to get help as soon as possible. It’s preferable that you do this before you start a business.
Although looking for these problems at any time is a good idea, the end of a year or season is an excellent business interval to make sure you are not making these errors. Take the time, or make the time, to fix these problems. If you don’t know how to reverse the problems, then get some help. If you really don’t have enough time to either figure out if you have these issues or know they are there and can’t break away long enough to do it right, then get some help.
Automotive Marketing... The 3 Mistakes Everyone Makes Marketing To Car Dealers
When trying to sell a car dealer your products or services most sales are lost because of these 3 reasons.
The main reason that your sales are not where they should be is because most dealers never receive your message. Unless you are a huge company with an advertising budget in the millions most dealership owners and general managers will never see your message. Car Dealers are constantly bombarded with everything from window decals to water filtration systems and averages state that your prospect will have to see your message at least 7 times before they will have a favorable opinion about your products and services. How many times are your dealers seeing your message?
Another important point that happens in most campaigns is the message is too long. You must have copy that gets right to the point. If your message is 7 pages long and requires the prospect to spend 15 minutes reading it chances are they wont. Take a look at the length and see what points you really need to make. Most marketing and sales agents make the mistake of tyring to sell the prospect with their copy and adding in every little feature and benefit about their product. Instead offer a teaser approach and get them to contact you for additional information. This will allow you to focus on hot prospects while testing your marketing message.
The final reason that most campaign fail is not using enough marketing mediums to contact your prospect. We all know that an appointment with the decision maker offers the best opportunity to sell your product or service, but in the automotive marketing world we all know that is next to impossible. With the phone being the next best followed by direct mail and internet marketing. You must make an effort to use every form to reach your dealers. How many are you currently using?
If you incorporate these ideas into your current sales and marketing campaigns your sales and profits will explode and If you need the most exclusive automotive direct mail and marketing list with complete contact information on 21,545 Auto Dealers for only $297 visit: http://www.AutoDealerList.com
Couple’s Mistakes And Misconceptions On Sex
Summary:
There are many among us who enjoy the pleasurable moments that comes with sex but there are others who somehow feel that they haven’t experienced that “peek” feeling others talk about when it comes to intercourse. Bear in mind that there are also many sexually active couples whose sparks fade and experience certain pitfalls when it comes to the passion and feelings that sexual pleasures used to have ignited in them.
The most common mistake that most couples commit that ...
Keywords:
adult
Article Body:
There are many among us who enjoy the pleasurable moments that comes with sex but there are others who somehow feel that they haven’t experienced that “peek” feeling others talk about when it comes to intercourse. Bear in mind that there are also many sexually active couples whose sparks fade and experience certain pitfalls when it comes to the passion and feelings that sexual pleasures used to have ignited in them.
The most common mistake that most couples commit that makes their sexual activities uninteresting is because they always expect sex every time to be that mind-blowing which is not a reality most of the time. When sex becomes such a routine and there is no room for twists, creative styles and techniques, it physically becomes boring and such a chore to do.
Plus, there is the fact that most people have such high expectations from their partners during sexual intercourse and when the passion and sensations they anticipate or expect are not met then the sexual act now creates feelings of disappointment and anxiety. This is most especially applicable for those who are trying sex for the first time or are trying it with a different partner and they make such unrealistic expectations. If you have experienced wild, you can’t expect it to be like this every time. Sex has its different cycles and tempos. There’s the slow sensual sex and on the extreme you have the wild quickies for the spur of the moment urges.
The whole sexual act is not only about the intercourse. You also have your foreplay, your oral sex and there is even manual stimulation with the use of the hand or the fingers. You can always work around these for some excitement and change in your usual sexual routine.
While there is nothing wrong to watch a pornographic video to help arouse your sexual desires, most couples make the mistake of using this instead of relying on each other to sexually arouse the other. You can always use your own moves and your own body to stimulate your partner instead of depending on x-rated videos. Not everything on porn is actually satisfying in bed so try not to follow everything on it. Remember that they are sexual fantasies and actors are portraying them for you.
Sex would be more exciting if partners try to explore themselves what gives pleasure to the other. Also, try not to compare your sexual experiences in the past with your current one. Everyone has his or her own unique style of feeling pleasure and of giving it. Be creative and play along.
Are You Inadvertently Making One Of These 3 Mistakes Trying To Start A Woman's Sexual Motor?
Summary:
Three common mistakes that men make trying to turn a woman on...
Keywords:
sex, more sex, husband, wife, marriage, relationship, lady, ladies, woman, women, man, men, horny, sexual
Article Body:
It’s Not In Your Looks
You can have a perfect forehead, chin, smile, and even a perfect pair of dimples but none of these will start a woman’s sexual motor. You can work out at the gym all week long, week after week and look like Mr. Atlas, but you aren’t going to start a woman’s sexual motor with your muscles.
Granted, you might get her attention for a brief moment – just like any other kind of abnormality she might notice would get her attention – but your looks won’t turn her sexual motor on. Why? Once a woman decides to enter into a relationship, looks no longer matter to her – if they ever mattered to her at all.
Now, I’m not dismissing the necessity for neatness, trimness, and cleanliness. These are things a woman expects of a man. But, they are not what start her sexual motor.
It’s Not In What You Have
You can wave big wads of cash around. You can wear Armani suits. You can wear a Rolex. You can drive a super expensive car. You can flaunt any other material possessions in front of a woman and you simply aren’t going to turn her on. (As obvious as this may seem, there are men worldwide trying to capture a woman’s attention by means of their possessions.)
The danger with this approach is that you may trigger her “greed factor” such that she is attracted to you in terms of what she can “get” from you. But, because she’s not being true to herself, sex will be something she despises. This phenomenon can easily be seen in “marriages” where an attractive young woman is married to an old and wealthy man. Both the man and the woman know that the marriage is based on purely selfish motives and nobody’s sexual motor has ever been started based on selfishness.
It’s Not Your Social Status
Many men mistakenly believe that if they were in a position of prominence, or if they were a celebrity, or if they held some kind of high-profile social rank, that they would then be able to start a woman’s sexual motor.
And in fact, there are cases where a woman is attracted to a high social status man simply for the attention and prestige that being affiliated with such a man will bring to her.
But once again, this kind of a relationship is founded on shallow and hollow premises. And, as it has been proven again and again, the very thing the woman was attracted to will soon become the thing she despises the most. And when a woman despises, her sexual motor is definitely turned off.
The number of women throughout history who have left high-profile men in favor of a “no-name” man is incalculable. In fact, the tabloid magazines show us this phenomenon on a regular basis – where some starlet has dumped the celebrity she has been dating and is now dating some unknown man who is just short of being down-right ugly. Why would women do this? Because the “no-name” guy clearly knows how to start her sexual motor while the prominent guy did not.