Favorite Friday LinkedIn Maintenance (OR ELSE!)

Favorite Friday LinkedIn Maintenance (OR ELSE!) July 17, 2008, I was passionate about an idea but didnt expect it to spread as fast as it did. LinkedIn Maintenance: Do This Right Now (or else?) was one of my more popular posts.  I talked about HOW to backup your LinkedIn network and LinkedIn Profile. The scare tactic was that if you didnt do it, and LinkedIn deleted (or suspended) your account, you were hosed. Read the post here: LinkedIn Maintenance: Do This Right Now (or else?), and then follow the instructions to back up your stuff! Favorite Friday LinkedIn Maintenance (OR ELSE!) July 17, 2008, I was passionate about an idea but didnt expect it to spread as fast as it did. LinkedIn Maintenance: Do This Right Now (or else?) was one of my more popular posts.  I talked about HOW to backup your LinkedIn network and LinkedIn Profile. The scare tactic was that if you didnt do it, and LinkedIn deleted (or suspended) your account, you were hosed. Read the post here: LinkedIn Maintenance: Do This Right Now (or else?), and then follow the instructions to back up your stuff!

Finding The Perfect Hotel For Your Trip

Finding The Perfect Hotel For Your Trip Whether its a road trip or international travel, most of us love to travel.  Its exciting to think about and decide on where we want to go and what we want to see and experience.  But then comes the details.  Where are you going to spend your nights and find a space you can temporarily call your own?  While there are a ton of booking sites out there, here are some tips to find the perfect hotel for your travels. Use Comparison Sites With so many websites that search for hotels, it can be confusing to know which one is best.  Generally, there are two kinds of sites.    Those that quote rates for specific hotels,  like  Booking.com and Agoda.com.  And those that aggregate the quoted rates from the other sites, like Hotellook.com.  The sites that aggregate can save you some time in your price comparisons.  But remember, too, that  not all sites have access to all hotel properties, so if youre wanting to get the best value it can pay off to look at all your options. Check The Ratings With a Grain of Salt What previous travelers have posted about a particular property can be valuable in finding a good place to stay.  If you see multiple comments about something really bothersome, it might be a property you want to pass on.  But if theres only one or two complainers in a long list of positives, theyre probably just that complainers. Again, check multiple sites reviews.  That way youll be sure to get an accurate idea what to expect.  And as you do that, dont forget to check the ratings on sites that focus on ratings, like TravelandLeisure.com or Oyster.com.  A little extra checking now can mean a much more pleasurable experience when you arrive. Destination Recommendations If your destination is a more of a  tourist attraction, youll also want to check the destination website.  Frequently, theyll list recommended lodging in the area.  This is especially useful with destinations that are more rural in nature (e.g. Redwood National Park), and the only lodging available is small locally-owned facilities.    Often, these small facilities dont list on any of the major sites, so this is the only way to find them. Cross Check Once youve found what you think is the perfect place, it worth the time to do a cross check on another site, or the resources mentioned above.  Youre not just spending your money, youre spending your time.  While it can be costly to have to switch to another hotel, thats less important than the time and hassle. Ive found some of the most awesome lodging properties by doing my homework.  And theres nothing quite like walking into your room, getting a big smile on your face, and saying wow!

Is 2018 The Year You Launch Your SideHustle

Is 2018 The Year You Launch Your SideHustle Many of us aspire to having our own business, or at least a sidehustle that brings in some extra cash. So why havent you started working on it?   Fact is, years seem to fly by ever more quickly.   So December 31, 2018 is going to be here in eleven very quick months. Eleven months that youll look back on and ask, where did it go? Rather than find yourself at the end of 2018 and had yet another year of your life tick off with nothing to show but a pile of rent receipts and paystubs, maybe its time to act.   Now.   So take that budding business idea youve got and do something with it.   Heres how to start. Check Out Your Idea Its natural to think that your idea is the next big thing.   Or at least something that will be profitable. But is it, really?   Do some investigation by: Asking friends if theyd buy it. Checking to see if its been done, or is now being done. Do a cursory check on similar businesses to see if your idea has already been patented or theres someone else already doing it. Once youve done these preliminaries, its time to take the next step.   Picking a business or product name. Pick a Business Name If youre going to open a weekend shop at the local swap meet or craft market, this might be easy.   Ashley Smith dba My Creations might do.   If its a product or service thats going to be more widely sold and used, youll probably want to do a little homework on name selection. Check out what other similar businesses in other cities are named.   Remember, its generally okay to use a similar name as long as its slightly different.   So, for example, suppose youd like to use Widgets and Things but its already out there.   Instead, you might use Widgets, Wonders, And Things. Where ever youre located, the local city, county, or state will keep a registry of businesses.   Once you have a name selected, registering a limited company, a partnership, or a sole proprietorship is just a matter of filling out the forms.   Those can usually be found online. Get Necessary Licenses and Documents Depending on where you are, and the form of your business, youll need to get applicable licenses.   If youre anything   other than a sole proprietor, youll also need to decide on and often file with the government the document that legally create your business entity. Decide whether you want to set up your business as a sole proprietor, a partnership, or some other business form that is used where you reside. Each form has distinct liability and tax implications.   You may want to consult a lawyer and accountant if youre not sure whats best for your situation. Get A Web Presence In todays connected world of the internet and social media, theres virtually no business that cannot benefit from having a web presence.   That doesnt necessarily mean a website.   It might be as simple as a Facebook Business Page. If youve got a large or even a modest number of Facebook friends, letting them know what you do is a great way to begin promoting your business. And having a distinct online business identity makes you look more professional to would-be customers or clients. Do It Now. Of course, theres a lot more to starting and running a business, even if its just a sidehustle.   But these are the basics. Whats important is that you begin, today, to do whats necessary to make your ideas and dreams a reality. If not today, when?   Its up to you.   Do it now!

Did You Trick Anyone - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Did You Trick Anyone - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career As if you ordinarily invite us to see the real you, Halloween gave you the proper opportunity to pretend. That is pretend to try and fool us with your mask or costume. At work I saw witches who believe they were wearing clothes becoming someone with a worse attitude. Ghosts who believe we don’t know they regularly hide from hard work. And, some French style maids who appeared in slightly more scanty clothes, basically wearing the same underwear that artificially pushes them in, up and out on the average Monday. In other words, you’re not really fooling us the rest of the year. It’s just that Halloween gives you a little more permission to reveal yourself by pretending you are someone or something else. The same is true on social media. You try to fool us, but we eventually know what’s really going on in your life. On Facebook, I’ve begun a experiment that is pretty telling. Outside of my true friends, colleagues and former students, I am staying “friends” with people I really don’t know. I have about 500 stranger-friends, kind of like sister-wives. As a trained sociologist now in business, I don’t have a better opportunity to watch a worldwide panorama of personal thoughts, societal mores and of course, what people photograph before they eat. I don’t know if you’ve seen the same thing, but fundamentally I “see” people doing these things of social media: Love Hate Amuse themselves The current social media formats allow such a simple typology, because there’s so little subtly in any post, or more properly put: so few characters allowed. Look at your Facebook. You see mostly short bursts of: Love: Anything quoting Mother Teresa Hate: Anything quoting Herman Cain or Ron Paul about immigrants, the unemployed or poor people Amusing: snide truisms like “the grass is greener where you water it.” No matter what anyone of us tries to be, social media will eventually reveal us for whom we really are. The same is true for any other communication over time. A very close friend who’s a psychiatric nurse had a date with someone who looked like a legitimate prospect for the dreaded/longed for long-term relationship. When he didn’t call her again, she moaned, “How could he not like me? I was much better than I really am!” The spooky thing is, we will eventually see you for who you are. Consider being you earlier and more often. Author: Nance Rosen is the author of Speak Up! Succeed. She speaks to business audiences around the world and is a resource for press, including print, broadcast and online journalists and bloggers covering social media and careers. Read more at NanceRosenBlog. Twitter name: nancerosen

Resume Writing App - How To Choose A Top Resume Writing App

Resume Writing App - How To Choose A Top Resume Writing AppThere are many different resume writing apps that are available in the market. Some of them are paid, while others are free. The paid ones are great in terms of quality and reliability.Writing a resume is a long and complicated process. It is necessary that you hire a professional resume writer who can do the job for you. One of the best ways to search for a professional resume writer is through search engines. There are many people who use the online form of searching.There are many different companies that provide these services. When looking for these, it is important that you hire a company that is very professional. If you want to save time, you should consider using the internet. You can search on the Internet and find many different websites. However, the thing that you should remember is that you need to choose a professional.There are many people who choose to hire a resume writer on their own. The main reason for th is is that they don't have the knowledge or experience in the field. This is not the best method. You should hire a professional if you want to avoid plagiarism.Another way to find a good professional is by looking at their past clients. They should be able to provide you with reviews from past clients so that you can know the type of service they provide. A good resume writer should have good references so that you can trust them.The next thing that you need to do is to choose a professional resume writer who can provide you with your dream job. There are many of them in the market. You just need to look for one that has good references so that you can have confidence in the work.The important thing that you need to remember when hiring a professional resume writer is that you must choose one that will provide you with a quality resume. It is important that you have a high level of professionalism so that your resume looks professional. In addition, your resume should be able to hi ghlight all the information that you can provide about yourself.If you want to avoid the hassle of finding a professional resume writer, you should hire a writer who is able to do the job for you. In order to find this, you just need to keep your eyes open and your ears tuned. Remember that you can also save a lot of time if you hire someone who is more familiar with the market. In the end, you should be able to hire a good writer for a cheap price.

Playing with Fire Asking the Wrong People for LinkedIn Recommendations - Pathfinder Careers

Playing with Fire Asking the Wrong People for LinkedIn Recommendations - Pathfinder Careers Playing with Fire: Asking the Wrong People for LinkedIn Recommendations This morning, I opened up my email to find a LinkedIn recommendation request waiting for me.   However, nothing was ringing a bell about  the person who requested it I flat-out didnt know who they were! I puzzled over their name wondering if I was having a momentary lapse in memory as to why I couldnt recall them.   This individual definitely wasnt in my immediate network.   Then I checked their name against my client list.   Zip. Finally, I clicked on the persons profile, struggling to recall how I knew them.   Only after I got onto their page did I realize that I had met this person only once previously at a conference where we were discussing resumes.   The conference set-up  included a computer  work station,  and fuzzy details in my memory helped me recall that I had encouraged that individual to get onto  LinkedIn as a way to build their contact base up. Since connecting on that networking site, I havent heard anything from this person.   If they were hoping to build a meaningful relationship, then they failed by not cultivating it to hopefully lead up to a potential recommendation. The mere fact that they even asked me to write a recommendation tells me two things: 1) They dont understand the  impact of how credibility matters on LinkedIn. 2) They must be floundering around (and completely desperate) to even consider asking a complete stranger to write a recommendation. My reply back: Dear [persons name]: I received your LinkedIn reference request this morning, and quite frankly, I dont feel comfortable writing this, as I barely know you. I believe we met once at  [conference name]  in  [city name]  last year, if my memory serves me correctly. Unfortunately, I dont have any experience observing your knowledge, work ethic, abilities, or skills, nor do I know you well enough on a personal level to make any kind of judgment call, let alone write a testimonial. Requests like these are best reserved for colleagues, former or current supervisors, co-workers or people that have more first-hand familiarity of your professional abilities. LinkedIn is all about credibility, and I know you will understand that this is the reason why I will politely decline your request. I simply cannot answer to that, although I am sure you are an accomplished professional. The danger in playing with fire  in a situation like this  is that you should never attempt something so desperate and completely reckless.   In my mind, this  inquiry pretty much shot down this requesters credibility and ethics. To make another point: There  has been a growing practice of swapping professional testimonials on LinkedIn,  which actually  dilutes the power that this networking  tool has to offer.   Adopting the Ill scratch your back if you scratch mine approach  to  rack up testimonials is a sure-fire way to ruin your reputation among industry professionals when requesting unwarranted or baseless recommendations.   Providing patsy trades is ineffective, and most employers parsing through LinkedIn can smell these a mile away, and have learned to steer clear as a result. I strongly believe in my personal brand, integrity and credibility, as do most professionals.   In the past, yes,  I have exchanged a few select recommendations, but  only with people that view me in the same esteem that I view them, as we have worked closely with each other and have direct, specific knowledge of each others work habits and personal strengths. For the most part, however, the majority of my LinkedIn testimonials are  from clients who feel very comfortable (and enthusiastic) in providing  first-hand reports of  the quality and integrity of my work.   That alone is the value of having testimonials convince either a prospective client or employer to investigate you further. Professionals  should hold their career credentials, from resume to cover letter to LinkedIn profile,  at the same standard of high ethics and transparency. Your career reputation depends on it.

Summary Sunday Whats New In Job Search

Summary Sunday Whats New In Job Search If you are a first-time job seeker or its been a while since you last looked, then youll want to  know  about whats new in  job  search. Use the information in this weeks summary to update your job search strategy. Youll find help to focus your job search, ideas on how to interview more convincingly just by changing the words you use plus learn about new artificial intelligence which evaluates your personality. Not long ago, a reader asked if I could write more about job search tips for people over 50. I  told the reader that while there are some very specific issues the over 50 job seeker faces regarding age discrimination, almost every job search article is applicable to the older job seeker. Im pointing this out now because even though these articles may seem to relate only to older job seekers, they absolutely apply to any job seeker! JOB SEARCH How To Job Hunt If You Havent In Years by Kerry Hannon | Forbes If you are 50 or 60+ years old and job seeking, then you need a refresher. This article includes 8 tips from Steve Dalton, author of the 2 Hour Job Search. The 5 Key Factors To Consider When Finding Your Next Job by Eileen Williams | The Feisty Side Of Fifty If you plan on looking for a new job, then start the process by getting clear about what you are looking for. As Williams says, you probably spent more time planning a vacation than you have planning your job search. Without a clear vision of what you want to do next, its going to be difficult to conduct a productive job search. How to Make Recruiters Come to You by J.T. ODonnell | Forbes Job searching requires pro-active steps to help attract companies to you. And even with low employment, you still wont land an interview for every job you apply to. There are helpful tips in this article you wont want to miss. JOB INTERVIEW The Most Powerful Words to Use During Your Interview by  Madeleine Burry | The Balance Careers Every word spoken during a job interview leaves an impression. Thats why its so important to carefully select the words you use. Review this list of powerful words and substitute some of your words with these. COMPANY CULTURE How to Tell if a Company’s Culture Is Real, or Just Lip Service by   Andy Talajkowski | Glassdoor Here are some ways to evaluate a company before, during and after the interview to make sure it delivers on its promises. CAREER How to Stop Worrying What Other People Think of You by Lolly Daskal | Lolly Daskal Youll find  15   ways to eliminate the worry and free yourself to be yourself. LINKEDIN This New AI Tool Serves Up Creepily Accurate Assessments of Your Work Style by Donna Svei | Fast Company Have you heard of Emma? She is a Chrome Extension powered by Artificial Intelligence that analyzes LinkedIn profiles and provides a summary of the persons personality. Pretty powerful stuff.