Fake Job Postings

Three months ago,
a loved one applied for a job
he really really wanted.
He went through the entire interview process.
He razzled and dazzled the management team.
He thought he had the job.

The job went to someone else.

Why?
Because the management team
had a specific employee in mind for the position.
They had to post the job
and interview candidates
because that was company policy.

My loved one was frustrated
but not for long.
The day after the first job was filled,
he was contacted about another job.
He had impressed the management team
during his interviews
and they knew they wanted to hire him.

This time,
he went through the entire interview process
and HE was the favored candidate.
He starts his new job in a week.

A preferred candidate is one reason
you might not have gotten that job.
Dawn Lennon shares some other reasons.

But just because you didn’t get THAT job,
doesn’t mean you won’t land another job
within the same company.

Use Action Verbs

The most important writing
associated with a novel
isn’t contained between the covers.
It is the back cover copy
or blurb,
150 words or less
convincing readers to buy the book.

The blurb should invoke an emotional response.
It should contain the key words
that many readers look for.
It should also use strong action words.

Writing a press release
is much like writing a blurb.
We may have more words
(but not many more)
but the writing has to be as tight.

As Jim Crawford,
president of Crawford PR,

shares
“You have ten seconds
to get the reader’s attention,
so don’t waste their time.
To engage quickly,
stick to short, pithy sentences
that state the news in clear, simple language
and grab the reader’s attention.
Use action verbs for punch and zip,
particularly in your headline
and lead sentence.”

Sell your message
in your press releases.
Make every word count.

Published
Categorized as Marketing

Training Session Attendance

We’re all very busy
so often when management requests
we attend a training session,
we look for a reason, any reason,
not to attend.

When I worked for a big beverage company
however,
we ALL attended the training sessions.
Why?
Because we knew the management team,
ranging from the CEO to our bosses,
were attending these same training programs,
and they always asked who bailed.

Yes, sometimes
they had additional management training sessions
but they always attended
the employee training sessions also.

As Bill Catlette and Richard Hadden,
authors of
Contented Cows Still Give Better Milk
,
share
“There should be no executive parking spaces
when it comes to training.
Managers must participate enthusiastically
and, more important,
be able to demonstrate the skills
they expect everyone else to learn.”

If possible,
all employees of a company
should attend training sessions,
even management.

Take The Good

I once worked for a complete asshole.
This man was a womanizing jerk
and a condescending bastard.
If the company could have fired him,
they would have.

But they couldn’t,
not without taking a big financial hit,
because he was so damn good at his job.

I tolerated his sexist jokes,
and his PMS comments,
to learn from him.

I learned what to do
(his area of expertise)
and what not to do
(slap female employees on the ass).
He’s one of the reasons
why I became successful.

There are no perfect mentors.

Take the good,
leave the bad,
and learn from both.

Sales Style Matters

When a certain writer
stands up at our writing meetings,
many of us groan.
She has a lot of knowledge
and expertise
but it takes her 15 precious minutes
to get to her point.

A few days ago,
a telemarketer for a charity called.
I have respect for this charity.
It is a cause I’ve given to.
But the telemarketer talked so quickly
and so abrasively
that I said ‘no.’

The myth that
great products sell themselves
is exactly that
– a myth.

Your sales style matters.

Spend time developing your sales style,
perfecting it,
ensuring it works with your prospects.

Published
Categorized as Sales

Priority Dilution

In a recent poll,
58.5 percent of managers said
they were struggling with priority dilution,
struggling with completing
the most important tasks first.

We can’t do it all.
We simply can’t.

As Rory Vaden shares
“Today, when there are more tasks
more than you could ever possibly get to,
the key skill company leaders must develop
is how to decide
what activities to engage in,
and which ones to let go.”

For writers,
the most important task
is fresh writing.
When we see a fellow writer
in a time crunch,
we’ll offer to help her promo,
research topics,
take on her volunteer duties
(like judging contest entries),
and yes, even complete her edits
but we can’t help her with the fresh writing.

Many of us will ask
“How many words did you write today?”
in order to keep
each other on track,
focused on this priority.

Complete your priority items.
Delegate the rest.

Yahoo Mail And System Upgrades

A publisher site went down
(a system upgrade fuck up).
I, along with 100’s of other writers,
changed all links,
eliminating the link to the publisher site.

When the site resumed service,
very few of us bothered
to change our links back.

Yahoo Mail has been down
on and off
for the past week.
(another system upgrade fuck up)
It works.
It doesn’t work.
It doesn’t work with Firefox.
Users can’t sign in.

I have multiple personal
Yahoo Mail accounts.
I’ve been with them for 20 years.
But even I’m getting frustrated.

Assume your system upgrade
will fuck up
and have an alternative,
something you can put in place immediately.

Because once users switch
or change their habits,
they are unlikely to switch back.

Small Fish In A Small Pond

A loved one had his references checked
by one of the foremost reference checking companies
in the country.
(yes, that IS a business)

The CEO of the company
assured everyone involved
that because he valued their business,
he would personally handle this reference check.
All contact went directly through him.
He referred to consultants
and assistants
but no one ever saw or spoke to them.

Because his industry is niche,
he could possibly service
every prospect in the country.
He could be a business of one
but we don’t know.
His company was so damn professional.

As Mike Michalowicz shares

“A laser focus on one niche market
affords you the time
to appear at all the industry events,
even if your entire corporate team
is just you.
By concentrating all your efforts
on one industry niche,
you will frequently meet the same people.
The more often they see you,
the more likely they are to conclude that
“you are everywhere.”
To those select people,
your business is bigger.”

If the service/product is niche enough,
a company of one
can corner it
and look large.

Ask A Successful Person

Under one of my pen names,
I write only short stories and novellas.
In October,
I’m hosting a spotlight on short romantic fiction
for my writing chapter.
I’m contacting the
best writers, editors, publishers
for their tips on how to write short.

Yes, I’ll be giving back
but I’ll also be learning.
I plan to walk in their footsteps
and achieve my own success.

As Doug Smith shares

“In my time spent with successful leaders,
I have learned that what Brian Tracy says is true,
“Success leaves tracks.”
If someone has become successful in life,
it did not happen by accident.
It happened on purpose.
If you will take the time
to spend time with these people,
they can literally walk you
through step by step
what they did to become successful.”

Learn from a successful person
and find your own success.

Improvements

Last night,
I watched an infomercial
for a new type of string trimmer.
This trimmer’s string doesn’t break.
The infomercial demonstrated
how the trimmer could cut through metal.

As a string trimmer user,
this scares the shit out of me.

I remember when the string trimmers first launched.
There were demonstrations
on how the trimmers wouldn’t hurt users
because the string broke off.

Having a trimmer with an unbreakable string
isn’t an improvement for me.
It is a step backward in product development.

I hope the product developer
is targeting the extreme string trimmer crowd.
Unfortunately,
I suspect the product pitch
echoed the infomercial,
positioning it as a replacement trimmer
with the general public as the target.

More isn’t always better.
An improvement
doesn’t always appeal
to all of the current users.