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Networking is the Key to Star Performance in Everything You Do.Many people's idea of networking relates to the 'size of their Christmas Card List, rather than the quality of their relationship with each person on that list. Similarly those people network, but few reap the rewards of zeroing in on their potential. Here are some ideas to help fill the gap between where you are now and where you can be. 1 Be Generous - Give without expectations and you will be surprised at how it returns to you. It may not come from the same source but a new client, referral, or opportunity will show up because of your efforts. 2 Be Consistent - As in marketing, the more consistent your networking efforts the more productive they become. 3 Gift your contact - Imagine you are buying your contact a gift for their work - what might it be? Understanding what your contact is looking for is the key to developing rapport and mutual understanding. 4 Get Involved - Getting involved puts you in a consistent position of visibility. It allows you to retain 'Top of Consciousness' positioning and when people need someone your name will spring to mind. 5 Be a Powerful Resource & Facilitator for Others- Expand your network and facilitate for others. Use your networking resources to bridge people you know with others. What goes around comes around. 6 Learn the Needs of Others then Help Fill Those Needs - Can your business fill their needs? Who do you know who can? Either way you have a win/win situation. 7 Building relationships - is more important than collecting lots of leads. Think quality vs. quantity. Connect deeper vs. on the surface. 8 It's More Important to Receive Business Cards than Hand Them Out - This puts you in a position to be able to follow up. 9 Consistently Follow Up - It's not enough to have a network. Follow up and continue developing your relationships and network. Have a good reason to follow up and ask "How can I help you?" 10 Develop Evangelists - Build relationships with Centres of Influence who connect with your ideal client or customer. Offer support and information exchange in return for referrals. 11 Be Connected - The 6 Degrees of Separation Theory states that we are only 6 people away from finding anybody we need to know. Be curious and you will be surprised at what people, resources, and information are at your finger-tips. 12 Develop You - You can grow your career or business as big as you can grow yourself. Start here! Networking is the key to Star Performance in everything you do. You can build a 'virtuous circle' of networking contacts in as little as five weeks 'from scratch' and maintain that network for a lifetime. Margaret Stead - Dream Architect, helps individuals, executives and business owners market themselves online into new jobs, careers - building customer-employer relationships and increasing their job satisfaction. She offers personal coaching, workshops, tutorials, classes and reports on the telephone and in one to one meetings that help people just like you do job hunting that gets results. You can learn more about these terrific resources at www.careersnet.com |  | | | RELATED ARTICLES Learning a Foreign Language Many people love learning languages or would like to learn a language and use their language skills in a job. In today's global economy the demand for language skills continues to grow as governments, businesses and organisations build relationships with foreign interests. Searching for a Federal Job Many years ago searching for a federal job was a long, complicated and drawn out process. Today, it has been become far less complex and is now just a three-step process. Finding a federal job used to be accomplished through postings in a government office branch and sometimes in libraries. Today, finding an opening can be done right on the Internet. There is a web site that lists federal jobs also lists many state, local and even private business positions. Many of the federal, state and local jobs can be applied for right online. If a position requires a resume, individuals can take advantage of online resume development and transmission. The Perfect Resume The perfect resume offers Logical Proofs:    Facts Quantifiable data Logical conclusions Achievement and success statements Relevant professional goals/accomplishments Limits the use of jargon Maximizes use of occupation/industry-specific key words Your capabilities and skills Clear, specific, measurable, and quantifiable words and phrases Sells you based on your achievements to date Resume Writing Dos and Donts Do these thingsInclude your full name - don't use nicknames or abbreviationsUse a telephone number that you can always answer - use a cell phone if possible or make sure there is an answering machine at the listed phone numberUse bullet points to highlight information - it is much easier for an employer to absorb relevant information while scanning your résuméPrint your résumé and cover letter on high quality paper - when printing your résumé you should use paper with at least 50% cotton contentBe concise and get to the point - say what you need to say and nothing moreUse action words and descriptive phrases - be creative when trying to get your point across using as few words as possibleTarget your résumé - address your résumé to the position you are applying for to show that you are really interested in working for that companyFocus on relevant facts only - list skills, accomplishments and personality traits you know the employer is looking forList quantitative support for statements made - back up your skills and experiences with real scenarios, facts and figuresBegin statements with action verbs - action verbs demonstrate your importance to the achievement or experience being describedDon't do these thingsHave any grammatical errors - always have someone else proofread your résumé for errors and flowHave any spelling mistakes - always spell check your résumé, your contact's name, and the company's nameMisrepresent your background or experience - employers oftentimes verify this information and can fire you if it is discovered that you were dishonestFill in employment gaps with unrelated information - wait to discuss this information in person to put a positive spin on itUse lengthy paragraphs - employers notoriously skip over paragraphs in résumésUse long sentences - just like paragraphs, the reader easily skips over long sentencesUse personal pronouns - keep your résumé impersonal for a more professional imageForget to list basic skills - all employers want to see that you are a team player, take charge of situations and are reliable Get a Life Why Dont Ya?! It's okay to take your job seriously, to be a stickler for professionalism, and sure it's wonderful to take your responsibilities seriously. However, you have to be a bit careful when you allow your job to become your LIFE. Resume Writing - Things to Consider You are looking for a job and you are out to land the job of a lifetime. It can happen! Before you consider want ads, job websites, or making inquiries of companies you are interested in, you will need a resume. Your resume writing can either make or break a job opportunity. Travel Writer Jobs, What Are They And How To Find Them Travel writing jobs are few and far between. Getting into this field is hard to do and requires a lot of training and experience. But, there are many benefits to them. There are many individuals who would love to get employment opportunities in this field. And, because the world is faster and faster becoming accessible to more people, increasing employment availability can be found for travel jobs as well. But, how does a person get in and how do they do their job? Tell Me About Yourself The need to tell people about yourself may present itself during an informal conversation with a colleague, on the Little League field with a neighbor, on the phone with a past acquaintance, or in a face-to-face meeting for a job opportunity. "Tell me about yourself" is a favorite question that has befuddled many an unsuspecting candidate. Job Interview Mistakes To Avoid By avoiding these 8 simple mistakes, you can improve your chances ofhaving a successful interview and landing the job of your dreams. 10 Steps to Escape the Job World and Create the Life You Really Want 1. GET THE POINT ? OF LIFE, THAT IS. How many of us will look back in our old age and wish we'd gone to more meetings or put in more overtime. The point? Despite pressure to "play it safe" by sticking with your day job ("...but dear, you have a good job, you want to be HAPPY too?") you have every right to follow your entrepreneurial dreams. With the realization that life is for living comes the understanding that it is up to you ? and you alone ? to create the kind of life you really want. 2. GET THE RIGHT PICTURE. Be honest. How much time do you spend bitching about your lousy boss, hellish commute and on and on? As satisfying as a good gripe session is, you're wasting precious energy on the wrong picture. Five minutes a day spent visualizing your ideal work-life and fashioning a plan to get you there will move you far closer to your goal than 30 minutes of complaining about what you don't want. Bottom line: You won't see yourself doing it until you can see yourself doing it.3. GET CLUED INTO YOUR PASSION. The most successful entrepreneurs love what they do. Haven't quite figured out where your passion lies? Start paying attention to situations or things that grab and keep your attention. Focus less on your skills (what you CAN do) or your resume (what you HAVE done) and instead, try to tune into what it is you really LOVE and WANT to do. What types of things did you love to do as a child? What kinds of characteristics or talents do people compliment you on? What kind of work or lifestyles do you envy? If you don't yet have the knowledge or skills to turn your heart work into a business venture, make it your business to fill the gaps.4. GET A GRIP ON "IT." In her book Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, Susan Jeffers says IT is what scares you ? and ultimately, what's holding you back from going after your dream. Perhaps your fear centers on money, or that you're not "smart enough," or that you'll fall flat on your face. Let's face it ? shaking up your life is scary. Yet, "Unless you walk out into the unknown," says Tom Peters, "the odds of making a profound difference in your life are pretty low." So go ahead and indulge in your worst-case fantasy. Then get busy figuring out what steps you can take to prevent it from happening.5. GET REAL. You've seen the easy money pitches: "Earn $1,000 a week stuffing envelopes in the comfort of your own home." Sounds great, right? Now, snap out of it! Launching your own business takes time and effort. You should also expect a drop in income ? at least in the beginning. Now is the time to revisit the ideal life you outlined in Step 2 and ask yourself, "How much do I really want my ideal life? What am I willing to do or give up to get it?" If you are serious about living life on your own terms, the sacrifice will be worth it.6. GET INFORMED. Change always seems scarier when you have either inadequate, or worse, inaccurate information. Go to the library. Join associations. Talk to people who have started similar businesses. Take classes. Read trade publications. Subscribe to ezines. The more informed you are, the less "risky" the risks become. 7. GET READY. A goal has been described as a dream with a deadline. Take out a calendar. Even if you haven't nailed down all the details, you should still go ahead and set a target date for when you want your "new life" to begin. Besides being a great source of motivation, knowing how much time you have between now and "D-ream day" lets you create a realistic plan for hitting it. 8. GET SUPPORT. Enthusiasm is contagious, but so is pessimism. Avoid the nay Sayers and try to seek out others who share your passion for living life on your own terms. Consider meeting weekly with other aspiring entrepreneurs to generate ideas, share information and help each other stay on track.9. GET GOING. To keep from being overwhelmed ? yet still make headway ? break your larger goal down into more manageable steps. Then, no matter how hectic thing get, pledge to take at least one action a day. Even the smallest actions ? jotting down a new idea, reading a single page, or making one phone call ? start to add up. And, once you actually get the ball rolling, it's hard to stop!10. GET GRATITUDE. At the same time you're setting your sights on achieving your future goal, be mindful of how much abundance you have in your life RIGHT NOW! Changing course is a journey. Count your blessings and enjoy the ride. When you think about it, it's all we really have. When Bad Interviews Happen to Good Candidates Going through the motions of a bad interview is like peeling back the layers of an onion. Sally learned this lesson the hard way, hands-on during an interview that should have been a piece of cake. Sally applied for a position that fit her qualifications perfectly. When she received an invitation to interview, Sally believed she was a shoo-in for the job. Feeling confident, she approached the interview in a lax manner. She didn't prepare and prematurely celebrated an offer she was convinced would be extended. Making The Best Of Yourself At Interview You are just about to leave university You are just setting out in the job market You have a number of hurdles to get over before you have the job you have been dreaming of. You find the thought of an interview daunting. You want to make a good impression and succeed! Bullseye Interviewing An interview is much like a blind date. You have sweaty palms, heart palpitations, shaky nerves and a preconceived notion of what could happen. The perfect scenario unfolds in your mind, where you are calm, cool and collected, dressed smartly, totally in control, enthusiastically meeting the other person's gaze and brimming with confidence. However, that idea has begun to unravel, because as of right now, you are LATE, because you got lost, forgot your resume, wore a shirt that is making you sweat and have pulled a muscle breaking in new shoes. As you are being led to the boardroom, you're informed that your possible Superiors will be sitting in. Panic sets in with the realization that this blind date is over before it even begun. Rich Career, Poor Career What makes for a rich career? It is more than just the salary and benefits. A rich career is one that suits your talents and provides an opportunity to make a meaningful contribution, as well as one that provides the right compensation. Dont Stop! Your Transition is Still Moving! Q. I'm looking for a new job and plan to work with a career consultant next month. Meanwhile, I'm working on the garden and some friends are coming to stay for a week. Believe And Get Hired Good things seem to come in bunches, especially in a job search. Ever wonder why? How To Answer Your Call In Mid-Life Hank Bochenski's story proves it is never too late to walk away from a life you feel trapped in and do something that you really love. Interview Tips - Ten Top Dos & Donts for Winning Interviews In this day and age it can become increasingly difficult to even get your foot in the door and get an interview; once you've accomplished that you will want to make sure you continue to put your best foot forward and nail the interview as well. Unfortunately, as great as their skills, experience and education are; the interview is where many people lose a job opportunity to their competition. Understanding what is acceptable and what is not acceptable in an interview are critical to receiving a job offer. Employees, Get Used to Working under Surveillance Let's face it. Monitoring employees' e-mail, tracking their Internet use, logging everything done at keyboards has become the norm in Corporate America. Powerful Phone Interviews Phone interviews are de rigueur with many organizations. |
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